How to view rm files in mplayer?

[mcewanw]

I just installed the xine-extra-codecs1 package and I could view real media rm files no problem in gxine. My problem is that I can't view them in mplayer! I thought mplayer might share the same codecs but I just get a blank screen when I try to open the relevant real media file url.

Anyone know how to get mplayer working with rm files? I'm using Mplayer-1.0rc1 and it plays DVD's fine, but not real media.

[alienjeff]

Real Media files play fine in this version, the standard issue dotpup I downloaded and installed on my Puppy v2.12 box.

Code: Select all

sh-3.00# mplayer -v
MPlayer 1.0pre7try2-3.3.4 (C) 2000-2005 MPlayer Team

[tempestuous]

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MPlayer 1.0pre7try2-3.3.4 (C) 2000-2005 MPlayer Team

That's not standard, just old.

The most recent version(s) of MPlayer is 1.0rc1, located here -
http://dotpups.de/dotpups/Multimedia/Mplayer-1.0rc1/
This version has many advanced features, as explained here -
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=13216

Extensive codec support is built-in, and a few extra win32 codecs have been added as well.
Certainly for .rm (RealMedia) or .rv (RealVideo) files, no additional codecs should be required.
I just played a RealVideo file now (with the latest Real10 codec) with MPlayer1.0rc1 -

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sh-3.00# mplayer /root/360x288Real10.rv
MPlayer 1.0rc1-3.4.4 (C) 2000-2006 MPlayer Team
...
Playing 360x288Real10.rv.
Cache fill:  0.00% (0 bytes)   
REAL file format detected.
Stream description: Video Stream
Stream mimetype: video/x-pn-realvideo
Stream description: Audio Stream
Stream mimetype: audio/x-pn-realaudio
Stream mimetype: logical-fileinfo
VIDEO:  [RV40]  360x288  24bpp  25.000 fps    0.0 kbps ( 0.0 kbyte/s)
Clip info:
 copyright: (C) 2005
 comment: 
==========================================================================
Opening video decoder: [realvid] RealVideo decoder
Selected video codec: [rv3040] vfm: realvid (Linux RealPlayer 10 RV30/40 decoder)
==========================================================================
==========================================================================
Opening audio decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg/libavcodec audio decoders
AUDIO: 44100 Hz, 1 ch, s16le, 64.1 kbit/9.08% (ratio: 8010->88200)
Selected audio codec: [ffcook] afm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg COOK audio decoder)
==========================================================================
AO: [alsa] 44100Hz 1ch s16le (2 bytes per sample)
Starting playback...
VDec: vo config request - 360 x 288 (preferred colorspace: Planar I420)
VDec: using Planar I420 as output csp (no 0)
Movie-Aspect is 1.25:1 - prescaling to correct movie aspect.
VO: [xv] 360x288 => 360x288 Planar I420 
A:  12.7 V:  12.7 A-V:  0.009 ct: -0.090 319/319 31%  4%  1.6% 4 0 0%

The best way to troubleshoot is to launch MPlayer from the commandline, like this -
mplayer http://mysite.com/myfile.rm
or if the link is rtsp -
mplayer rtsp://mysite.com/streamName

[alienjeff]

That's not standard, just old.

I said "standard issue" not "standard." Clicking on the Puppy Package Manager and choosing dotpups from Puppy v2.12, this is the mplayer readily available and pointed to by this version of Puppy.

"New" ain't necessarily "better."

[tempestuous]

Yes, new is never automatically better.
The MPlayer-1.0rc1 dotpups are better for good reasons, beyond being new. Those reasons are explained in the earlier link.

The "Puppy package manager" is a link to http://www.puppylinux.org/wikka/DotPup
Unfortunately, much of the information on that page is outdated, but it does include this good advice:

"Since DotPups are so unofficial there are many different repositories of them.
If you want an automated way of looking at it you should dry MU's excellent PSI (Puppy Software Installer) http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=10960
Another main place to check is http://puppyfiles.org/dotpupsde/dotpups/
Also check these forum links old http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=672
and new http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=5448"

[mcewanw]

yes, sorry, MPlayer-1.0rc1 appears to be working fine with rm files afterall. I only have a dialup internet connection and the delay before the file started playing was much longer than with gxine, so I wrongly assumed mplayer wasn't working right. By luck, sometime later, I left mplayer running for a bit whilst I was doing something else and suddenly the real media file started playing! I suppose mplayer simply must cache more of the file before beginning to play.

Thanks for your help.

[mcewanw]

Actually, your compilation of mplayer seems to be very good tempestuous. On the whole, it works better for me than gxine in puppy 2.17.1.

I wonder why it wasn't used instead of gxine in 2.17.1?

The only "major" problem I have with it now (in 2.17.1) is that seamonkey in that version assumes gxine as its default player (and the bbc site replies to a clicked link with the suggestion that I don't have the real codecs installed - which isn't true - I actually have the xine-extra-codecs too). I expect someone has explained somewhere on this forum how to make mplayer the default player from seamonkey such that rm files are automatically played on clicking a seamonkey link? I don't plan to install firefox instead, not at the moment anyway.

[tempestuous]

Regarding the MPlayer cache size, I set this at a relatively high 2MB, since this is recommended for DVD playback.
To reduce the cache size, modify /root/.mplayer/config for the non-gui player, and /root/.mplayer/gui.conf for the gui.

To associate MPlayer with Seamonkey (or Firefox)
Option 1:
Delete the gxine plugin at /usr/lib/seamonkey-1.0.8/plugins/gxineplugin.so
and install the "mozplugger" plugin -
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=17750
This will utilise MPlayer to play supported video streams (including RealVideo) embedded in webpages
... but it's not always successful because webpage designers are sometimes Linux-unfriendly.

Option 2:
In Seamonkey, go to Edit > Preferences > Helper Applications
and associate these filetypes with mplayer (or gmplayer for the gui) -

application/vnd.rn-realmedia rm
video/vnd.rn-realvideo rv
video/x-pn-realvideo rv
audio/x-pn-realaudio ra,rm,ram
audio/x-realaudio ra,rm,ram

This won't play the video embedded in the webpage, it will launch MPlayer in a separate window.

[disciple]

You'll also find that the mplayer browser plugin works great (better than using mozplugger, which I just use for pdf) for most embedded media. I'm not sure if I got it at http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 981&t=8024 or used a generic binary.