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<h1><a name="faq">5. FAQ</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#compilation">5.1 Compilation</a></li>
<li><a href="#general">5.2 General questions</a></li>
<li><a href="#file_playing">5.3 File playing problems</a></li>
<li><a href="#driver_problems">5.4 Video/audio driver problems (vo/ao)</a></li>
<li><a href="#dvd">5.5 DVD playback</a></li>
<li><a href="#feature_requests">5.6 Feature requests</a></li>
<li><a href="#encoding">5.7 Encoding</a></li>
</ul>
<h2><a name="compilation">5.1 Compilation</a></h2>
<dl>
<dt>Q: Compilation stops with an error message similar to this one:
<pre>
In file included from mplayer.c:34:
mw.h: In function `mplMainDraw':
mw.h:209: Internal compiler error in print_rtl_and_abort, at flow.c:6458
Please submit a full bug report,
with preprocessed source if appropriate.
</pre>
</dt>
<dd>A: This is a known problem of gcc 3.0.4, upgrade to 3.1 to solve the problem.
How to install gcc is described <a href="users_against_developers.html">here</a>.
</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Configure ends with this text, and MPlayer won't compile!<br>
<code>"Your gcc does not support even i386 for '-march' and '-mcpu'."</code>
</dt>
<dd>A: Your gcc isn't installed correctly, check the <code>config.log</code> file
for details.</dd>
<dt> </dt>
<dt>Q: What does "No such file or directory" mean?</dt>
<dd>A: Probably there is no such file or directory.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: What's the problem with gcc 2.96?</dt>
<dd>A: <b>We strongly discourage the use of gcc 2.96!!!</b><br>
Read <a href="users_against_developers.html#gcc">this</a>
document for details. If you still really really want to use it, be sure to
get the latest release, but remember that you are on your own. Do <b>not</b>
report bugs or ask for help on the mailing lists. We will <b>not</b> provide
any support in case you run into problems.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Great, I have gcc 3.0.1 from Red Hat/Mandrake, then I'm fine--!</dt>
<dd>A: No, since there have been/are issues with these compilers as well.
To check the status of current compilers' MPlayer support, see the
<a href="documentation.html#1.3">Installation</a> section.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I tried to compile MPlayer, but I got this output:
<pre>
In file included from /usr/include/g++-v3/bits/std_cwchar.h:42,
from /usr/include/g++-v3/bits/fpos.h:40,
from /usr/include/g++-v3/bits/char_traits.h:40,
from /usr/include/g++-v3/bits/std_string.h:41,
from /usr/include/g++-v3/string:31,
from libwin32.h:36,
from DS_AudioDecoder.h:4,
from DS_AudioDec.cpp:5:
/usr/include/wchar.h: In function Long long int wcstoq(const wchar_t*,
wchar_t**, int)':
/usr/include/wchar.h:514: cannot convert `const wchar_t* __restrict' to
`const
</pre>
</dt>
<dd>A: Upgrade your glibc to the latest release. On Mandrake, use 2.2.4-8mdk.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: ... gcc 2.96 ... (Yes, some people are STILL flaming about gcc 2.96!!)</dt>
<dd>A: Quoted from a
<a href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/mplayer-users/2001-October/005351.html">mail</a>
A'rpi sent to the
<a href="http://mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/mplayer-users/">mplayer-users</a>
list (the word 'ideg' is described below):
<blockquote>
<p>And we have idegs. And our idegcounter overflowed again and again.</p>
<p>Unfortunately MPlayer is out of our control. It's used by lamers, Linux users
who can't even use Windows, and never tried to compile a kernel. They installed
(with default options) Mandrake or Red Hat or SuSE, and without RTFM'ing they
send messages saying 'it doesn't work! help me! please! i'm new to Linux!
help! oh! help me!'. We can't stop them, but at least we try to force them to
RTFM and to read the messages of ./configure and MPlayer.</p>
<p>And you clever guys come and flame us with gcc 2.96 and binary packages.
Instead of helping users or making patches to help solve problems.</p>
<p>Half of our spare/free time is spent by answering silly mails here and
making newer tricks and checks to configure to avoid such mails.</p>
<p>And there is a balance. On the one side are you, clever guys, saying we are
very bad because we don't like buggy gcc 2.96, and on the other side there are
the 'new to Linux' guys who are showing us gcc 2.96 is buggy.</p>
<p>Conclusion: We can't be good. Half the people always will say we are bad.</p>
<p>Maybe we should close the project, make it closed source, commercial, and
provide install support for it. then we could leave current work, so
development could go faster, and we could earn lots of money with it and buy a
big house, etc etc. Do you really want it? It seems.</p>
</blockquote>
</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Where can I find information about gcc 2.96 bugs?</dt>
<dd>A: <a href="users_against_developers.html#gcc">This</a>
document describes why Red Hat released 2.96 and other interesting things.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: SDL output doesn't work or compile. The problem is ...</dt>
<dd>A: It was tested to work with SDL 1.2.x and may run on SDL 1.1.7+.
It does <b>not</b> work with any previous version. So if you choose to use such
a version, you are on your own.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I am still having trouble compiling with SDL support. gcc says something
about "undefined reference to `SDL_EnableKeyRepeat'". What now?</dt>
<dd>A: Where did you install the SDL library? If you installed in /usr/local
(the default) then edit the top level config.mak and add
"-L/usr/local/lib" after "X_LIBS=". Now type make. You're done!</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: It doesn't compile, and it misses uint64_t inttypes.h and similar things
...</dt>
<dd>A: Copy etc/inttypes.h to the <b>MPlayer</b> directory
(<code>cp etc/inttypes.h .</code>) and try again ...</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I have Linux running on a Pentium III but <code>./configure</code>
doesn't detect SSE ...</dt>
<dd>A: Only kernel versions 2.4.x support SSE (or try 2.2.19 or newer, but
be prepared for problems).</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I have a G200/G400, how do I compile/use the mga_vid driver?</dt>
<dd>A: Read the <a href="video.html#2.3.1.7">mga_vid documentation</a>.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Are there rpm/deb/... packages of <b>MPlayer</b>?</dt>
<dd>A: You can make a .deb package for yourself, check the
<a href="documentation.html#6.1">Debian packaging</a> section.
There are links to official Red Hat RPM packages available on our
<a href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/dload.html">download page</a>.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: During 'make', MPlayer complains about X11 libraries. I don't understand,
I DO have X installed!?</dt>
<dd>A: ... but you don't have the X development package installed. Or not
correctly. It's called XFree86-devel* under Red Hat, and xlibs-dev under
Debian. Also check if the <code>/usr/X11</code> and <code>/usr/include/X11</code>
symlinks exist (this can be a problem on Mandrake systems). They can be created
with these commands:<br>
<code>$ ln -sf /usr/X11R6 /usr/X11</code><br>
<code>$ ln -sf /usr/X11R6/include/X11 /usr/include/X11</code><br>
Your distribution may differ from the
<a href="http://www.pathname.com/fhs/">Filesystem Hierarchy Standard</a>.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I can't compile SVGAlib. I'm using kernel 2.3/2.4 ...</dt>
<dd>A: You have to edit SVGAlib's Makefile.cfg and comment
<code>BACKGROUND = y</code> out.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I compiled MPlayer with libdvdcss/libdivxdecore support, but when
I try to start it, it says:<br>
<code>> error while loading shared libraries: lib*.so.0: cannot load
shared object file: No such file or directory</code><br>
I checked up on the file and it IS there in <code>/usr/local/lib</code> ...</dt>
<dd>A: Add <code>/usr/local/lib</code> to <code>/etc/ld.so.conf</code> and run
<code>ldconfig</code>.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Hmm, strange. When loading the mga_vid.o kernel module, I found this in
the logs:<br>
<code>Warning: loading mga_vid.o will taint the kernel: no license</code></dt>
<dd>A: The latest kernel modutils require a flag indicating the license (mainly
to avoid kernel hackers debugging closed source drivers).
Upgrade your kernel, modutils and <b>MPlayer</b>.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: When compiling <b>MEncoder</b>, it segfaults at linking!!!</dt>
<dd>A: This is a linker problem. Upgrading binutils should help (2.11.92.* or newer
should be good). Since it is not our fault, please do <b>not</b> report!</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: MPlayer dies with segmentation fault upon pthread check!</dt>
<dd>A: chmod 644 /usr/lib/libc.so</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I'd like to compile <b>MPlayer</b> on Minix!</dt>
<dd>A: Me too. :)</dd>
</dl>
<h2><a name="general">5.2 General questions</a></h2>
<dl>
<dt>Q: The <code>-xy</code> or <code>-fs</code> option doesn't work with the x11
driver (<code>-vo x11</code>) ...</dt>
<dd>A: It does, but you have to explicitly specify software scaling (it's SLOW!)
with the <code>-zoom</code> option. You better use XF86VidMode support:
you must specify the <code>-vm</code> and the <code>-fs</code> switch, and
you're done. Make sure you have the right modelines in your XF86Config file, and
try to make the <a href="video.html#2.3.1.3">DGA driver</a> and
<a href="video.html#2.3.1.4">SDL's DGA driver</a> work for you.
It's much faster. If SDL's DGA works, use that, it'll be EVEN faster!</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: What is the meaning of the numbers on the status line?</dt>
<dd>A: Example:
<code>A: 2.1 V: 2.2 A-V: -0.167 ct: 0.042 57/57 41% 0% 2.6% 0 4 49%</code>
<ul>
<li>A: audio position in seconds</li>
<li>V: video position in seconds</li>
<li>A-V: audio-video difference in seconds (delay)</li>
<li>ct: total A-V sync correction done</li>
<li>frames played (counting from last seek)</li>
<li>frames decoded (counting from last seek)</li>
<li>video codec cpu usage in percent (for slices and DR this includes video_out)</li>
<li>video_out cpu usage</li>
<li>audio codec cpu usage in percent</li>
<li>frames needed to drop to maintain A-V sync</li>
<li>current level of image postprocessing (when using <code>-autoq</code>)</li>
<li>current cache size used (around 50% is normal)</li>
</ul>
Most of them are for debug purposes and will be removed at some point.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: What if I don't want them to appear?</dt>
<dd>A: Use the <code>-quiet</code> option and read the man page.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Why is video_out cpu usage zero (0%) for some files?</dt>
<dd>A1: It's not zero, but it's called from the codec and thus cannot be measured
separately. You should try to play the file using <code>-vo null</code> and then
<code>-vo ...</code> and check the difference to see the video_out speed.</dd>
<dd>A2: You are using Direct Rendering,
where the codec renders to the video memory itself. In this case, the
decoding percentage contains the display percentage, too.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: There are error messages about file not found <code>/usr/lib/win32/</code>
...</dt>
<dd>A: Download the
<a href="ftp://ftp.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/w32codec-0.90.tar.bz2">Win32 codecs</a>
from <b>our</b> FTP site (avifile's codec package has a different DLL set) and
install it.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Are there any mailing lists on MPlayer?</dt>
<dd>A: Yes! See the bottom of the info page on
<a href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/info.html">our homepage</a> to subscribe!</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I've found a nasty bug when I tried to play my favorite video!!
Who should I inform?</dt>
<dd>A: Please read the <a href="bugreports.html">bug reporting guidelines</a>
and follow the instructions.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I have problems playing files with the ... codec. Can I use them?</dt>
<dd>A: Check the
<a href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/codecs-status.html">codec status</a>,
if it doesn't contain your codec, read the
<a href="codecs.html#2.1.3">codec documentation</a>, especially the
<a href="codecs.html#2.2.3">codec importing HOWTO</a> and contact us.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Umm, what is "IdegCounter"?</dt>
<dd>A: A combination of a Hungarian and an English word. "Ideg" in Hungarian means
the same as "nerve" in English, and is pronounced as something like "ydaegh".
It was first used to measure the nervousness of A'rpi, after some (umm) "mystic"
disappearance of CVS code ;)</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: And what is "Faszom(C)ounter"?</dt>
<dd>A: "Fasz" is a Hungarian word you don't want to know, the others are
connected to the perverted minds of the MPlayer developers.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: LIRC doesn't work, because ...</dt>
<dd>A: Are you sure you are using <code>mplayer</code> instead of
<code>mplayer_lirc</code>? Note that it was <code>mplayer_lirc</code> for a
long time, including the 0.60 release, but it was recently changed back to
<code>mplayer</code>.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Subtitles are very nice, the most beautiful I've ever seen, but they slow
down playing! I know it's unlikely ...</dt>
<dd>A: After running <code>./configure</code> , edit <code>config.h</code> and
replace <code>#undef FAST_OSD</code> with <code>#define FAST_OSD</code>. Then
recompile.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: The onscreen display (OSD) is flickering!</dt>
<dd>A: You use a vo driver with single buffering (x11,xv). With xv,
use the <code>-double</code> option. Also try <code>-vop expand</code></dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: What exactly is this libavcodec thing?</dt>
<dd>A: See the <a href="codecs.html#2.2.1.2">FFmpeg section</a>.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: But configure tells me "Checking for libavcodec ... no"!</dt>
<dd>A: You need to get libavcodec from FFmpeg's CVS. Read the instructions in
the <a href="codecs.html#2.2.1.2">FFmpeg section</a>.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Icewm's taskbar keeps covering the movie in fullscreen mode!</dt>
<dd>A: This shouldn't happen anymore, if it still does use the
<code>-icelayer</code> option and report it to the
<a href="http://mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/mplayer-users/">mplayer-users</a>
mailing list.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I can't access the GUI menu. I press right click, but I can't access any
menu items!</dt>
<dd>A: Are you using FVWM? Try the following:<br>
Start -> Settings -> Configuration -> Base Configuration<br>
Set "Use Applications position hints" to "Yes".</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: How can I run MPlayer in the background?</dt>
<dd>A: Use: <code>mplayer <options> <filename> < /dev/null &</code></dd>
</dl>
<h2><a name="file_playing">5.3 File playing problems</a></h2>
<dl>
<dt>Q: ... works with avifile/aviplay but doesn't with MPlayer.</dt>
<dd>A: <b>MPlayer</b> != avifile.
The only common thing between these players is the Win32 DLL loader.
The codecs (DLL) set, synchronization, demultiplexing etc is totally
different and shouldn't be compared.
If something works with aviplay it doesn't mean that <b>MPlayer</b> will work
and vice versa.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Audio goes out of sync playing an AVI file.</dt>
<dd>A: Try the <code>-bps</code> or <code>-nobps</code> option. If it does not
improve, read <a href="bugreports.html">this</a> and upload the file to FTP.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: MPlayer exits with some error when using l3codeca.acm.</dt>
<dd>A: Check <code>ldd /usr/local/bin/mplayer</code> output. If it contains<br>
<code>libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x4???????)</code><br>
where "?" is any number then it's OK, the error is not here. If it is:<br>
<code>libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00??????)</code><br>
then there is a problem with your kernel/libc. Maybe you are using some
security patches (for example Solar Designer's OpenWall patch) which
forces loading libraries to very low addresses.
Because l3codeca.acm is a non-relocatable DLL, it must be loaded to
0x00400000, we can't change this. You should use a non-patched kernel,
or use <b>MPlayer</b>'s <code>-afm 1</code> option to disable using l3codeca.acm.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: My computer plays M$ DivX AVIs with resolutions ~ 640x300 and stereo mp3
sound too slow. When I use -nosound switch, everything is OK (but quiet).</dt>
<dd>A: Your machine is too slow or your soundcard driver is broken. Consult the
documentation to see if you can improve performance.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: MPlayer dies with "MPlayer interrupted by signal 4 in module: decode_video".</dt>
<dd>A: Try running <b>MPlayer</b> on the machine you compiled on. Or recompile
with runtime CPU detection
(<code>./configure --enable-runtime-cpudetection</code>). Don't
use <b>MPlayer</b> on a CPU different from the one it was compiled on,
without using the feature mentioned just now.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I have problems with [your window manager] and fullscreen xv/xmga/sdl/x11
modes ...</dt>
<dd>A: Read the <a href="bugreports.html">bug reporting guidelines</a> and send us a
proper bug report.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: But it works with avifile!</dt>
<dd>A: So what?</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Then avifile is better!</dt>
<dd>A: Then use avifile, it has a nice GUI and nice C++ code :)</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I got this playing mpeg files: Can't find codec for video format 0x10000001!</dt>
<dd>A: You have an old version of codecs.conf at <code>~/.mplayer/</code>. Upgrade
it from <code>/etc/</code>.<br>
<b>OR</b> you have the <code>vc=</code> option or something similar in your
config file(s).</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: When starting MPlayer under KDE I just get a black screen and nothing happens.
After about one minute the video starts playing.</dt>
<dd>A: The KDE arts sound daemon is blocking the sound device. Either wait until the
video starts or disable the arts-daemon in kontrol center. If you want
to use arts sound, specify audio output via our native arts audio driver
(<code>-ao arts</code>). If it fails or isn't compiled in, try SDL
(<code>-ao sdl</code>) and make sure your SDL can handle arts sound. Yet
another option is to start <b>MPlayer</b> with artsdsp.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I have an AVI that produces a gray screen when played with
<code>-vc odivx</code> and a green one with <code>-vc divx4</code>.</dt>
<dd>A: It's not a DivX file, but an M$ MPEG4v3 . Update your codecs.conf.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: When I play this movie I get video-audio desync and/or MPlayer crashes
with the following message:<br>
<code>DEMUXER: Too many (945 in 8390980 bytes) video packets in the buffer!</code></dt>
<dd>A: This can have multiple reasons.
<ul>
<li>Your CPU <b>and/or</b> video card <b>and/or</b> bus is too SLOW.
<b>MPlayer</b>displays a message if this is the case (and the dropped frames
counter goes up fast).</li>
<li>If it is an AVI, maybe it has bad interleaving. Try the <code>-ni</code>
option.</li>
<li>Your sound driver is buggy, or you use ALSA 0.5 with <code>-ao oss</code>.
See the <a href="sound.html">sound card section</a>.</li>
<li>The AVI has a bad header, try the <code>-nobps</code> option, and/or
<code>-mc 0</code>.</li>
</ul></dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I have an MJPEG file which works with other players but displays only a black
image in MPlayer.</dt>
<dd>A: Disable the Windows DLL in <code>codecs.conf</code>, or use the
<code>-vc ffmjpeg</code> option (compile MPlayer with libavcodec for this to work).</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: When I try to grab from my tuner, it works, but colors are strange. It's OK
with other applications.</dt>
<dd>A: Your card probably misreports its colorspace capacity. Try with YUY2 instead
of default YV12 (see the <a href="documentation.html#2.5">TV input documentation</a>).</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: When I start playing, I get this message but everything seems fine:<br>
<code>Linux RTC init: ioctl (rtc_pie_on): Permission denied</code></dt>
<dd>A: You need root privileges or a
specially set up kernel to use the new timing code. For details see the
<a href="documentation.html#1.3">installation section</a> of the documentation.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I have A/V sync problems. Some of my AVIs play fine, but some play with
double speed!</dt>
<dd>A: You have a buggy sound card/driver. Most likely it's fixed at 44100Hz, and
you try to play a file which has 22050Hz audio. Try the resample audio plugin.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: All the WMV (or other..) files I play create a green/gray window and there is
only sound! MPlayer prints:<br>
<code>Detected video codec: [null] drv:0 (NULL codec (no decoding))</code></dt>
<dd>A: Update your <code>codecs.conf</code>.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I get very strange percentage values (way too big) while playing files
on my notebook.</dt>
<dd>A: It's an effect of the power management / power saving system of your
notebook (BIOS, not kernel). Plug the external power connector in
<b>before</b> you power on your notebook.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: The audio/video gets totally out of sync when I run MPlayer as root on
my notebook. It works normal when i run it as a user.</dt>
<dd>A: This is again a power management effect (see above). Plug the external power
connector in <b>before</b> you power on your notebook or use the
<code>-nortc</code> switch.</dd>
</dl>
<h2><a name="driver_problems">5.4 Video/audio driver problems (vo/ao)</a></h2>
<dl>
<dt>Q: What about the DGA driver? I can't find it!!!</dt>
<dd>A: <code>./configure</code> autodetects your DGA driver. If
<code>-vo help</code> doesn't show DGA, then there's a problem with your X
installation. Try <code>./configure --enable-dga</code> and read the
<a href="video.html#2.3.1.3">documentation</a>. Alternatively, try SDL's DGA
driver with the <code>-vo sdl:dga</code> option.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: OK, <code>-vo help</code> shows DGA driver, but it complains about
permissions! Help me!</dt>
<dd>A: It works only if running as root! It's a DGA limitation.
You should become root (<code>su -</code>), and try again.
Another solution is making <b>MPlayer</b> SUID root, but it's <b>NOT RECOMMENDED!</b><br>
<code>chown root /usr/local/bin/mplayer</code><br>
<code>chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/mplayer</code><br>
<code>chmod +s /usr/local/bin/mplayer</code><br>
<b>!!!! BUT STAY TUNED !!!!</b><br>
This is a *BIG* security risk! *NEVER* do this on a server or on a computer
that you do not control completely because other users can gain root
privileges through SUID root MPlayer!!!<br>
<b>!!!! SO YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ... !!!!</b></dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: When using Xvideo, my Voodoo 3/Banshee says:<br>
<code>X Error of failed request: BadAccess (attempt to access private
resource denied)<br>
Major opcode of failed request: 147 (MIT-SHM)<br>
Minor opcode of failed request: 1 (X_ShmAttach)<br>
Serial number of failed request: 26<br>
Current serial number in output stream:27</code></dt>
<dd>A: The "tdfx" driver in XFree86 4.0.2/4.0.3 had this bug. This was solved by
<a href="http://www.xfree86.org/cvs/changes_4_1.html">bugfix #621 of the XFree86 4.1.0 CVS log</a>.
So upgrade to XFree86 4.1.0 or later. Alternatively, either download (at least)
DRI version 0.6 from the <a href="http://dri.sourceforge.net">DRI homepage</a>,
or use CVS DRI.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: OpenGL (<code>-vo gl</code>) output doesn't work (hang/black window/X11
errors/...).</dt>
<dd>A: Your OpenGL driver doesn't support dynamic texture changes (glTexSubImage).
It's known not to work with nVidia's binary mess.
It's known to work with Utah-GLX/DRI and Matrox G400 cards. Also with
DRI and Radeon cards. It won't work with DRI and other cards.
it will not work with 3DFX cards because of the 256x256 texture size limit.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I have an nVidia TNT/TNT2 card, and I have a band with strange colors,
right under the movie! Whose fault is this?</dt>
<dd>A: This is a bug of nVidia's binary X driver. These bugs appear ONLY with the
TNT/TNT2 cards, and we can't do anything about it. To fix the problem, upgrade
to the latest nVidia binary driver version. If still bad, complain to nVidia!</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I have an nVidia XYZ card, and when I click on the GUI's display window
to toggle displaying the GUI panel, a black square appears where I clicked.
I have the newest driver.</dt>
<dd>A: Yes, nVidia corrected a previous bug (above), and introduced a new one. Let's
congratulate them. UPDATE: According to
<a href="users_against_developers.html#nvidia">nVidia</a>, this has already been
fixed.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: When I use the GUI with SDL video output, a second video window is created.</dt>
<dd>A: Known, don't use SDL for the GUI yet.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Oh the world is cruel ...! SDL has only <code>x11</code> target, but not
<code>xv</code>!</dt>
<dd>A: Try that <code>x11</code> target again. Now try <code>-vo x11 -fs -zoom</code>.
See the difference? No?! OK, here comes the enlightenment: SDL's
<code>x11</code> target uses xv when available, you don't have to worry about
it ... Note: you can force/disable Xv via SDL using <code>-forcexv</code> and
<code>-noxv</code></dd>
</dl>
<h2><a name="dvd">5.5 DVD playback</a></h2>
<dl>
<dt>Q: While playing a DVD, I encountered this error:<br>
<code>mplayer: ifo_read.c:1143: ifoRead_C_ADT_internal: Assertion nfo_length /
sizeof(cell_adr_t) >= c_adt->nr_of_vobs' failed.</code></dt>
<dd>A: This is a known libdvdread 0.9.1/0.9.2 bug. Use <b>libmpdvdkit</b>, which
is present in MPlayer source, and used by default.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Can I compile libdvdread and libdvdcss on my sweet SPARC under Solaris?</dt>
<dd>A: Who knows ... It's said to work, so please test it and send feedback.
Refer to the documentation of libdvdread and its homepage as well. We're not
the authors of libdvdread. Use <b>libmpdvdkit</b>, which is present in
<b>MPlayer</b> source, and used by default.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: What about subtitles? Can MPlayer display them?</dt>
<dd>A: Yes! See the <a href="cd-dvd.html">DVD chapter</a> of the documentation.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: How can I set the region code of my DVD-drive? I don't have Windows!</dt>
<dd>A: Use the
<a href="http://www.linuxtv.org/download/dvd/dvd_disc_20000215.tar.gz">regionset tool</a>.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Do I need to be (setuid) root/setuid fibmap_mplayer to be able to play a DVD?</dt>
<dd>A: No, only for old-style DVD support. However you must have
the proper rights on the DVD device entry (in <code>/dev/</code>).</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Where can I get libdvdread and libdvdcss packages?</dt>
<dd>A: You don't need to. Use <b>libmpdvdkit</b>, which is present in <b>MPlayer</b>
source, and used by default. Anyway, the packages mentioned can be get from the
<a href="http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/groups/dvd">Ogle site</a>.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Is it possible to play/encode only selected chapters?</dt>
<dd>A: Yes, try the <code>-chapter</code> option.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: My DVD playback is sluggish!</dt>
<dd>A: Use the <code>-cache</code> option (described in the man page)
and try enabling DMA for the DVD drive with the hdparm tool (described in the
<a href="cd-dvd.html">DVD chapter</a> of the documentation).</dd>
</dl>
<h2><a name="feature_requests">5.6 Feature requests</a></h2>
<dl>
<dt>Q: I'd like to seek +/- 1 frames instead of 10 seconds.</dt>
<dd>A: This won't be done. It was, but then it messed up A/V sync. Feel free to
implement it, and send a patch. Don't ask for it.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Where is the Windows version?</dt>
<dd>A: It's not released, and won't be. Look around the Windows scene (open source
ASF parsers, open source ASF encoders, etc) and you'll know why. We don't
want to go to jail. BTW you can compile it yourself, under
<a href="documentation.html#6.8">Cygwin</a>.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
</dl>
<h2><a name="encoding">5.7 Encoding</a></h2>
<dl>
<dt>Q: How can I encode?</dt>
<dd>A: Read the <b>MEncoder</b> <a href="encoding.html">documentation</a>.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: My tuner works, I can hear the sound and watch the video with MPlayer, but
MEncoder doesn't encode audio!</dt>
<dd>A: TV audio encoding for Linux is currently unimplemented, we're working on it.
At the moment it works only on BSD.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I can't encode DVD subtitles into the AVI!</dt>
<dd>A: You have to specify the <code>-sid</code> option correctly!</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: MEncoder segfaults on startup!</dt>
<dd>A: Upgrade DivX4Linux.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: How can I encode only selected chapters from a DVD?</dt>
<dd>A: Use the <code>-chapter</code> option correctly, like:
<code>-chapter 5-7</code></dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: I'm trying to work with 2GB+ files on a VFAT file system. Does it work?</dt>
<dd>A: No, VFAT doesn't support 2GB+ files.</dd>
<dd> </dd>
<dt>Q: Why is the recommended bitrate printed by MEncoder negative?</dt>
<dd>A: Because the bitrate you encoded the audio with is too large to fit the
movie on any CD. Check if you have libmp3lame installed properly.</dd>
</dl>
</body>
</html>