Thinkpads Forum

I keep toying with the idea of running Linux, and the one thing that keeps sending me back to Windows and Mac OS is the difficulty in getting DVD movie playback to work.

The simple fact is, I like to watch movies on my laptop, and so far every attempt I've made (last time on Ubuntu 6.06 I spent four hours downloading codecs) has ended in error messages instead of entertainment.

What I want is something as easy as PowerDVD for Windows, download the program, run the installer, watch movies on my X41. If I need one distro or another to do that I don't mind, as long as its easy and doesn't require me to learn how to write code or compile kernels and the like. I'm just an end-user and want a robust and stable OS on my X41.

Anything out there?

I've been using MPlayer in SuSE 9.3 for a while now. You don't need to compile from source unless you want to. I used available RPMs, and everything works fine. You also have to install one RPM with all the codecs necessary. That's it, 2 RPMs. MPlayer has played everything I have thrown at it so far, and I'm very happy with it. CPU load is also very modest. About 25% on a Pentium III 1133MHz watching a DiVX movie.

So what do I need to download under Suse to play DVD movies? I'm not interested in DIVx or the like, just to rent a movie, pop it into the drive and watch.

Also, does MPlayer care about region code, and if so, is there a way to reset the counter for the software (my drive is region free)?

Andrew

asiafish wrote:So what do I need to download under Suse to play DVD movies? I'm not interested in DIVx or the like, just to rent a movie, pop it into the drive and watch.

Also, does MPlayer care about region code, and if so, is there a way to reset the counter for the software (my drive is region free)?

Andrew

Most Thinkpads come certified to work with SuSE v9 or better without issues and the X41 2525-FUU is on the list. This includes stuff that would usually be an issue like Atheros wireless drivers, gigabit ethernet, 1400*1050 res, bluetooth and the thinkpad buttons.

To get this though, you must buy the Novell version of SuSe that costs about $50. It will play DVDs out of the box, wireless will work out of the box etc etc. YOu have to pay for it as it includes some non-open source stuff.

It just works.

Period.

Alteratively, get the open source version for free and add on wifi and DVD for yourself. Not a big deal if you have even basic techie skills and there is llots of documentation on the web on how to do it.

Uninstall the current version of Xine (it comes deliberately crippled to prevent playing DVDs due to copyright issues).

Then follow the very simple instructions here.

For $50 its worth a try. I'd love a way to get Mac stability on ThinkPad hardware.

asiafish wrote:I keep toying with the idea of running Linux, and the one thing that keeps sending me back to Windows and Mac OS is the difficulty in getting DVD movie playback to work.

The simple fact is, I like to watch movies on my laptop, and so far every attempt I've made (last time on Ubuntu 6.06 I spent four hours downloading codecs) has ended in error messages instead of entertainment.

What I want is something as easy as PowerDVD for Windows, download the program, run the installer, watch movies on my X41. If I need one distro or another to do that I don't mind, as long as its easy and doesn't require me to learn how to write code or compile kernels and the like. I'm just an end-user and want a robust and stable OS on my X41.

Anything out there?

I totally agree with asiafish. I keep toying with various Linux distributions and it seems to be, at least at this point, complicated to download all the various MPlayer, xine etc. programs and codecs. Maybe I don't want to spend that much time just to watch DVD's.........

Well I'll keep trying anyway, maybe it will get easier...

Ron

Or under Fedora Core 5, go to http://freshrpms.net/, follow the instructions on the main page and then
and you are all set.

Easyubuntu. Check it out if you run Ubuntu and want all the multimedia stuff, including all the codec support. http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/

I have used Linux now since January 2006 and am continuously amazed at what is available. If you used application x in windows there is more than likely and app that will do the same think in Linux.

The Linux world is an eye opener, I find it amzaing how much of a one sided software world you are in if you run windows.

M

I'm not aware of any FREE distros of linux that allow playing comercial DVDs. This is because companies like PowerDVD have to pay to unlock comercial DVD security. Since Linux is free no one is going to pay the price to unlock the security. In order to play comercial DVDs with Linux you have to download and install libraries LIBDVDCSS and LIBDVDREAD separately. Google will locate a download site for these libraries. Once you've downloaded and installed these packages most players MPlayer, Xine, etc.. will play comercial DVDs. I play comercial DVDs using Xine or Mplayer without problems. BTW there is also a codec for mplayer that will allow you to play windows WMV files which is a proprietary format, but it's not on mplayer's web site.

SLED 10, the standard IBM Thinkpad install for Linux, allows you to watch movies, just follow all of the instructions:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=31975