MPlayer FAQ
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!
- you can find an updated manual here: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/man/
- updated docs here: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/
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
- http://www1.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/tech/slave.txt
- mplayer -slave -idle -input=/fifo
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?
- -vf yadif with mcedeint is reccomended by mplayer and ffmpeg devels.
- see comparison at http://guru.multimedia.cx/deinterlacing-filters/
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?
- use xvattr
- rpm packages at http://dag.wieers.com/packages/xvattr/
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?
- instructions here : http://home.c-otto.de/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
- read libavcodec/amr.c and install amr codec, then recompile mplayer
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.
- ffmpeg is fighting gcc again.
- stay out of this fight. stick your fingers in your eyes and hope for the best.
- you can view a different ffmpeg vs gcc fight at this bugzilla:
- http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=11203
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 mplayer 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