MPlayer FAQ

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This page will attempt to list all of the frequent questions we get in the #mplayer irc channel on irc.freenode.net.


Official MPlayer Frequently asked Questions: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/HTML/en/faq.html


MPlayer FAQ by relaxed: http://johnvansickle.com/faq


Feel free to add your questions/answers here, and include important error messages.


Please try to get the latest version of mplayer. a lot of the times, a problem is fixed already. problems sometimes occur when the file you are playing is newer than your mplayer version :)


MPlayer information

where is mplayer's config?

  • usually in ~/.mplayer/config
  • on windows its in the mplayer directory where mplayer.exe is. for example c:\mplayer\mplayer.exe the config is c:\mplayer\mplayer\config
    • input.conf and codecs.conf can go there as well.
  • you can find where mplayer looks by using mplayer -v somefile


my docs/man does not have the feature you are talking about!


the video filters (-vf) can be used with mplayer and mencoder. currently -vf ass/-ass does not work with mencoder.


switches can be put into the config. -fs becomes fs=yes or fs=1 or fs=ja (or a few more different ways to say yes/no) -nodouble becomes nodouble=yes


options have the 'no' prefix, to disable defaults or configs. -fs/-nofs -double/-nodouble -framedrop/-noframedrop


gmplayer will not let you change gui.conf while it is running. close gmplayer first, then change gui.conf


Questions from #mplayer channel:

Subtitle/OSD

how do i increase the subtitle font size? / Hi, im using a Mplayer windows gui. is there a way to make subtitles smaller? mpui its named

  • subfont-text-scale=3 in config or mplayer -subfont-text-scale 3 file


none of the "freetype" commands in man work when i attempt to use -subfont-autoscale or -subfont-text-scale it says "unknown option on the command line" or Cannot load bitmap font: /usr/share/fonts/truetype/truetype/msttcorefonts/Arial.ttf

  • install freetype/truetype and recompile mplayer


i recompiled mplayer and now it doesn't complain about -subfont-autoscale or -subfont-text-scale unfortunately, they don't do anything

  • symlink any ttf font to ~/.mplayer/subfont.ttf or
  • specify a font, mplayer -font /dir/somefont.ttf -subfont-text-scale 3 file.avi


is it normal that a subtitle disappear after 7 seconds, not at the end of the time specified in the subtitle file ? or help! some subtitles are missing

  • try -overlapsub or -nooverlapsub


how do i expand the "area" so that the subtitles are lower on the screen/ put the subs in the black bars

  • mplayer -vf expand=:-100::2


how do i view romanian subtitles?

  • -subcp cp1250


General Questions

Hi, My cpu is too slow, help!

  • for mpeg1/2 or mpeg4 try adding -nodouble or mplayer -lavdopts lowres=1 -vfm ffmpeg will use half-res decoding to speed things up as well.
  • for H264 try mplayer -lavdopts skiploopfilter=all file.mkv


Hi folks, is there a way to "tell" mplayer (not gmplayer) not to exit when a file has been played and then wait for some new input? via a fifo or whatever


Anyway to dump a dvd audio stream really fast?

  • mplayer -dumpaudio dvd:// -speed 90 -vc null -vo null -benchmark


i have a corrupt file that mplayer plays, how do i get a new "clean" version of the audio?

  • mplayer file -ao pcm


i have a widescreen lcd monitor and everything is stretched, help!

  • use -monitoraspect 16:10 or -monitorpixelaspect 1.125


how do I set the video window to double size when running mplayer from command line? cannot find it in man file...

  • mplayer -xy 2


How to set video as wallpaper ?

  • mplayer -rootwin yourmovie (Only works with the x11, xv, xmga, xvidix, quartz, macosx and directx video output drivers.)
  • Gnome : gconftool-2 -s /apps/nautilus/preferences/show_desktop -t bool false (to disable background)


why can`t I make bigger the displayed image whit my mplayer? my image is small and black border / frame around tiny video, what gives?

  • mplayer -zoom or zoom=1 in config
  • but first try setting mplayer -vo xv or vo=xv in config


i get errors playing h264 like these "[h264 @ 0xd96950]concealing 1840 DC, 1840 AC, 1840 MV errors" what gives?

  • check your config and options for 'framedrop' and disable/turn it off. try also -noframedrop
  • its possible your file is incomplete, try md5sum against the original or rehash it using your torrent program.


i want a concise comparison of the various video outputs - say, their scores on performance measures - to help choose between em.

  • different vo's are faster/slower on different pc, drivers and video cards, its almost impossible to tell whats fastest for everyone.
  • use mplayer -nosound -benchmark file -vo (vohere) to test your video output speed
  • vo's with hardware accelerated output (like xv, vidix, directx, macosx/quartz) will usually be faster than vesa, fb, gl/gl2. but not always.


whats the best deinterlacing filter?


i want to seek in avi while they are downloading but -forceidx is too slow.

  • use mplayer -demuxer lavf to seek in broken/incomplete avi.


this error when trying to play an audio stream: Win32 LoadLibrary failed to load: avisynth.dll . Is this DLL only available from a licensed windows install?

  • the file is most likely a playlist
  • try mplayer -playlist http://blah
  • also try wget it to make sure its audio and not some html page.


Non-mplayer problems

i want to distribute the win32 codecs, is it legal for me to do so?

  • yes
  • no
  • depends on your country :)
  • See Mike Melanson's answer to this question
  • Unless Microsoft explicitly gives you permission within the End-User License Agreement (EULA) or License Terms that accompany the Products and Services and/or in the guidelines below, you may not copy, modify, distribute, display, license, or sell any Products and Services or components contained in them. from Microsoft Permissions.
  • Microsoft grants you the right to reproduce, install and use a reasonable number of copies of the Client OS Components on computers at your premises that are each running a validly licensed copy of the Client OS Software. from the eula.txt inside one of the codec downloads at microsoft's site.
  • the mpeg4 license for ms codecs is for individuals only:
  • USE OF THIS PRODUCT IN ANY MANNER THAT COMPLIES WITH THE MPEG 4 VISUAL STANDARD IS PROHIBITED, EXCEPT FOR USE DIRECTLY RELATED TO (A) DATA OR INFORMATION (i) GENERATED BY AND OBTAINED WITHOUT CHARGE FROM A CONSUMER NOT THEREBY ENGAGED IN A BUSINESS ENTERPRISE, AND (ii) FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY; AND (B) OTHER USES SPECIFICALLY AND SEPARATELY LICENSED BY MPEG LA, L.L.C.


help! when i play a file over the network i get desync and cpu is at 100%, but if i play it locally its fine!

  • are you using a ne2000 clone NIC? (Realtek cards like RTL8019 or 8029 or 8039). they use some cpu when transferring data.
  • check the ethernet howto for tips and try to decrease your tcp window size.


How to include mplayer in a java application or program or library?


having adjusted the hue/contrast previously, what's an easy way to set them all back to neutral?


i get a 'process input error' with some wmv files and mplayer plays all blocks.

  • its probably a drm protected file
  • run strings -n19 yourfile.wmv and if a url comes out, its drm.
  • if you can play the file on windows you can remove the drm using fairuse4wm (FU4WM) or drmcreep or automateundrm or sidda or drmdbg or drm2wmv.


i want to play and record tv video at the same time with mencoder. OR how do i pipe mplayer/mencoder output to stdout?

  • mplayer devs reccomend using mkfifo (named pipe) instead of stdout.
  • mencoder tv:// -tv driver=v4l:width=324:height=248:outfmt=rgb24:device=/dev/video0:adevice=hw.1,0 -oac mp3lame -lameopts cbr:br=128 -flip -ovc lavc -lavcopts threads=2 -o >( tee filename.avi | mplayer -)


how do i make videos for my ipod?


Build questions/crashes

anyone know how to play mp4 files with sound? i can only see video but no audio

  • check mplayer output for helpful messages.
  • Requested audio codec family [faad] (afm=faad) not available. Enable it at compilation.
  • your mplayer was not compiled with faad support. recompile it after installing libfaad package.


Hi, playing a 3GP file, I get "Cannot find codec 'amr_nb' in libavcodec". How can I solve this please


help i get this crash X11 error: BadAlloc (insufficient resources for operation)?,?% 0 0 MPlayer interrupted by signal 6 in module: vo_check_events or this error "X11 error: BadAccess (attempt to access private resource denied)" using an intel card

  • add Option "LinearAlloc" "8192" to xorg.conf and restart X


How to setup XvMC ?

  • Get xmvc dev lib (libxvmc-dev) and compile MPlayer with --enable-xvmc
  • Point /etc/X11/XvMCConfig to your /lib/libXvMCNVIDIA.so.* , for example : echo "libXvMCNVIDIA.so.1.0.9742" > /etc/X11/XvMCConfig
  • mplayer -vc ffmpeg12mc -vo xvmc yourmovie.mpeg2
  • NB : works only with mpeg2 and mpeg.


i get this error when playing files, whats up? Opening audio decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg/libavcodec audio decoders Compiler did not align stack variables. Libavcodec has been miscompiled and may be very slow or crash. This is not a bug in libavcodec, but in the compiler. Do not report crashes to FFmpeg developers.


mplayer saya: error opening/initializing selected video_out device and -vo x11 does not help!

  • run mplayer -vo help and see if x11 is listed
  • use a different package if its not listed
  • recompile mplayer after getting hte x11-devel or libxv or x11 header files.


Mencoder questions

i try to add subtitles to my video with mencoder but nothing happens, here is my mencoder command : mencoder file.avi -sub file.srt -oac copy -ovc copy.

  • you cant use -sub or -vf with -ovc copy, try -ovc lavc instead


why is encoded video always at a lower bitrate than specified?

  • try using vqmin lavc option
  • it may mean that the encoder is using all possible bits to encode the video and it's not possible to go any higher


Hi, I am looking for a way to automatically convert ogg to mp3 I must give a directory and have everything in converted is it possible to achievve such a thing with mplayer ?

  • use aconvert found in mplayer source TOOLS/aconvert .


i'm converting some video and i get bad desynch!

  • try adding -noskip and/or -mc 0
  • also look at -vf harddup
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