Bunch o' Linux Questions

[Miller88]

Let me start off with an introduction that no one will want to read. For my intro to linux class, we're playing with CentOS linux. I decided to install Ubuntu on my desktop and get it to dual boot - after having to reinstall XP (thanks a lot partition magic) and ubuntu, I got it working pretty well.

How do I install any sort of program that will play mp3s?

Are there any programs that play avi, wmv?

And I installed a program called automatix and I can't uninstall it ... how do I uninstall it?

[Temetka]

There should be a mp3 player installed. If not you can download xmms or Amarok. Both work fine. As far as movie playing, I have given up on finding a decent player. There's just too many codecs and not a lot of players come with more than a standard set of divx and avi built in. I have yet to get linux to play anything compressed with Sorensen (quicktime) or mp4 files. You said you have Ubuntu installed, don't they have a forum or a FAQ for this sort of thing? I don't run any mainline distro's. I use Whax which can be found at remote-exploit.org. It's mainly for security and PEN testing, comes with KDE and Fluxbox. Very minimal on the set of apps installed as it's main reason for existance is network security and not multimedia.

I wish you luck.

[Miller88]

I got three programs working - Juk, Rythmbox and Xine ... but none of them will browse networks.

[Volker]

Remove a rpm package: rpm -e packagename
List all packages: rpm -qa
To play audio and video, install mplayer. Its not the prettiest solution, but the one that can play everything.

[Jedacite]

How do I install any sort of program that will play mp3s?

Myself, I setup my machine to use both xmms and gstreamer. At the very least, I would suggest that you setup gstreamer, as it fix more than just mp3s (see the links at the bottom of the post.)

For playing just an mp3 I prefer to use XMMS.

For playing music, using your music more as a music library I prefer to use RhythmBox.

Are there any programs that play avi, wmv?

You can use Totem if you have the correct codecs and such installed (its used by default) but I prefer to generally use either xine or mplayer myself.

Xine may be installed following the instructions in a link at the bottom of my post. Mplayer should be able to be installed simply with the command "sudo apt-get install mplayer"

And I installed a program called automatix and I can't uninstall it ... how do I uninstall it?

If you installed it via apt, you should be able to simply do "sudo apt-get remove automatix".

If you installed it via a .deb you will have to use dpkg.

If you come across problems, I would make sure that you have the correct repositories enabled. There are universe, and multiverse repositories that are not enabled by default and are not for everyone. Certain codecs and applications will require those repositories to be enabled.

In a later post you mention that neither RhythmBox or Xine will browse networks. If you are referring to Windows File Sharing (a.k.a smb) then you will need to install smbfs "sudo apt-get install smbfs". Myself, I have my Windows Shares automatically get mounted at bootup and browse them with my apps as if they are part of my filesystem.

LINKS:
Installing XMMS: http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Edgy ... .28XMMS.29
Installing gstreamer (avi, mp3, ...): http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Edgy ... dia_Codecs
Installing Xine: http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Edgy ... xine-ui.29

[azimi3]

Remove a rpm package: rpm -e packagename
List all packages: rpm -qa
To play audio and video, install mplayer. Its not the prettiest solution, but the one that can play everything.

Since he's using Ubuntu he won't be dealing with rpm packages but rather deb.

An easy way to get audio codecs and what not initially setup is to use an app called Easyubuntu: http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/

Go to Download, follow the steps it gives. Run the command it tells you to get the GPG key then download and install EasyUbuntu using the link. Once the program is installed go to Applications>>System Tools>>Easy Ubuntu. Just check the boxes for what you want and you should be good to go.

The easiest way to install programs in ubuntu is to use the package manager. This is the last selection in the Applications menu. In this app you just search for the app you want, put a checkbox next to it and hit apply. If you want to uninstall an app just uncheck it and hit apply. Remember there are only a few repositories by default and you can search the web for additional repositories for other specific apps. 75% of the time any program I'm looking for will be in the repos but the drawback is it might not always be the latest version.

[Volker]

Since he's using Ubuntu he won't be dealing with rpm packages but rather deb.

You are right... I stopped reading when he said "CentOS"

[azimi3]

Also, to get WMV files working run the following command in your terminal (assuming you are on a thinkpads forum and you use a computer with i386 architecture):

wget -c http://www.debian-multimedia.org/pool/m ... 0_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i w32codecs_20061022-0.0_i386.deb

[The Spirit of X21]

I've found that installing automatix with Ubuntu solves just about all of my multimedia issues - including playing DVDs!

[al7kz]

visit https://help.ubuntu.com
cheers

[smugiri]

VLC will play a ton of media formats.