Monday, July 7, 2008

HowTo: Install WMV and DVD playback support in Hardy Heron

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Trouble playing some video files? Many formats give linux a run for their money when it comes to playing them as well as they do in Windows.

To fix this, Medibuntu supplies a package called non-free-codecs which is basically "w32codecs", a collection of binary windows codecs. By installing non-free-codecs instead of w32codecs, you'll get the codecs that are optimized for your kernel, whether i386, AMD, or 64-bit.

Some of the major codecs supplied by w32codecs support the following formats:

  • MPEG 1/2/4
  • DivX 3/4/5 (AVI)
  • Windows Media 7/8/9 (WMV)
  • RealAudio/Video up to 9
  • Quicktime 5/6
  • Vivo 1/2
Unfortunately, as many have noticed, the w32codecs and non-free-codecs packages are missing from the Ubuntu sources.

Note: US law permits installing libdvdcss2 and w32codecs to enable playing your legally-obtained DVDs and other multimedia on your computer under 17 U.S.C. Sec. 1201(f).

In order to install these, you need to add a line to your sources file manually, add public key, then update your package lists and install:

gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

add the following line:

deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ hardy free non-free

save and close gedit.

wget http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -
sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude install non-free-codecs libdvdcss2


You should now be able to view videos and DVDs in your favorite video player.

Installing non-free-codecs gives you these files. You'll have to use your intuition to figure out what file corresponds to what codec... but as you can see it's quite a substantial list!

  • AvidQTAVUICodec.qtx
  • BeHereiVideo.qtx
  • CLRVIDDC.DLL
  • CtWbJpg.DLL
  • DECVW_32.DLL
  • LCMW2.dll
  • LCODCCMW2E.dll
  • LCodcCMP.dll
  • QuickTime.qts
  • QuickTimeEssentials.qtx
  • QuickTimeInternetExtras.qtx
  • VDODEC32.dll
  • ViVD2.dll
  • acelpdec.ax
  • alf2cd.acm
  • aslcodec_dshow.dll
  • aslcodec_vfw.dll
  • asusasv2.dll
  • asusasvd.dll
  • ativcr2.dll
  • atrac3.acm
  • atrc.so.6.0
  • avimszh.dll
  • avizlib.dll
  • clrviddd.dll
  • cook.so
  • cook.so.6.0
  • ctadp32.acm
  • ddnt.so.6.0
  • divx.dll
  • divx_c32.ax
  • divxa32.acm
  • divxc32.dll
  • divxdec.ax
  • dnet.so.6.0
  • drv2.so.6.0
  • drv3.so.6.0
  • drv4.so.6.0
  • drvc.so
  • dspr.so.6.0
  • frapsvid.dll
  • huffyuv.dll
  • i263_32.drv
  • iac25_32.ax
  • iccvid.dll
  • icmw_32.dll
  • imaadp32.acm
  • imc32.acm
  • ir32_32.dll
  • ir41_32.dll
  • ir50_32.dll
  • ivvideo.dll
  • jp2avi.dll
  • l3codeca.acm
  • l3codecx.ax
  • lhacm.acm
  • lsvxdec.dll
  • m3jp2k32.dll
  • m3jpeg32.dll
  • m3jpegdec.ax
  • mcdvd_32.dll
  • mcmjpg32.dll
  • mi-sc4.acm
  • mpg4c32.dll
  • mpg4ds32.ax
  • msadp32.acm
  • msg711.acm
  • msgsm32.acm
  • msh261.drv
  • msms001.vwp
  • msnaudio.acm
  • msrle32.dll
  • msscds32.ax
  • msvidc32.dll
  • mvoiced.vwp
  • nsrt2432.acm
  • pclepim1.dll
  • qdv.dll
  • qpeg32.dll
  • qtmlClient.dll
  • rt32dcmp.dll
  • scg726.acm
  • sipr.so.6.0
  • sp5x_32.dll
  • tm20dec.ax
  • tokf.so.6.0
  • tokr.so.6.0
  • tsccvid.dll
  • tsd32.dll
  • tssoft32.acm
  • tvqdec.dll
  • ubv263d+.ax
  • ubvmp4d.dll
  • ultimo.dll
  • vdowave.drv
  • vgpix32d.dll
  • vid_3ivX.xa
  • vid_cvid.xa
  • vid_cyuv.xa
  • vid_h261.xa
  • vid_h263.xa
  • vid_iv32.xa
  • vid_iv41.xa
  • vid_iv50.xa
  • vivog723.acm
  • vmnc.dll
  • voxmsdec.ax
  • vp31vfw.dll
  • vp4vfw.dll
  • vp5vfw.dll
  • vp6vfw.dll
  • vp7vfw.dll
  • vssh264.dll
  • vssh264core.dll
  • vssh264dec.dll
  • vsshdsd.dll
  • vsslight.dll
  • vsswlt.dll
  • wma9dmod.dll
  • wmadmod.dll
  • wmsdmod.dll
  • wmspdmod.dll
  • wmv8ds32.ax
  • wmv9dmod.dll
  • wmvadvd.dll
  • wmvdmod.dll
  • wmvds32.ax
  • wnvplay1.dll
  • wnvwinx.dll
  • wvc1dmod.dll
  • xanlib.dll
  • zmbv.dll

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