SMPlayer: no playback on any video file on openSuSE 13.2 PC

[jimsea56]

Hello,

I'm posting the following problem report after reviewing multiple threads in online support forums (here at the SMPlayer Support Forum, at Linux Questions.org,
as well as on the openSuSE Forums) about SMPlayer file playback issues.

I currently have SMPlyer 16.4 installed on several of my machines, and on one of them which is running openSuSE 13.2.,
no video files can succesfully be played.

This problem began with the most recent update to SMPlayer 16.4, or the version just previous; this never used to
be a problem on this Linux computer.

The necessary codecs (addressed in many support forums) have been installed on my Linux machines for many years, so they are
not the issue. (For example, VLC plays all videos correctly on the openSuSE computer.)

The problem I'm describing here only occurs on that openSuSE platform; on my Windows machine SMPlayer is functioning fine.

Details:

SMPlayer will no longer play videos of any of the following file types:

vob
flv
mp4

At each playback attempt, an error box appears and displays the following:

"MPlayer/mpv has finished unexpectedly. Exit code: 2"

This message displays in all three of the following cases: When the multimedia engine is set to:

"Other" (which actually defaults it to /usr/bin/mpv, anyway)
"Mplayer" (/usr/bin/mplayer)
"mpv" (/usr/bin/mpv)

The error message outputs for each attempt is below:

__________________________________________________________________

When trying to play vob files:

/usr/bin/mpv --no-config --no-quiet --terminal --no-msg-color --input-file=/dev/stdin --no-fs --vd-lavc-threads=4 --hwdec=no --sub-auto=fuzzy --vo=xv --ao=pulse --stop-screensaver --no-input-default-bindings --input-x11-keyboard=no --no-input-cursor --cursor-autohide=no --no-keepaspect --wid=73400420 --monitorpixelaspect=1 --osd-scale=1 --sub-ass --embeddedfonts --ass-line-spacing=0 --sub-scale=1 --sub-text-font=Arial --sub-text-color=#ffffff --sub-text-shadow-color=#000000 --sub-text-border-color=#000000 --sub-text-border-size=2.5 --sub-text-shadow-offset=5 --sub-text-font-size=50 --sub-text-bold=no --sub-codepage=utf8:ISO-8859-1 --vid=1 --aid=1 --sub-pos=100 --volume=55 --cache=2048 --start=2548 --osd-level=0 --screenshot-template=cap_%F_%p_%02n --screenshot-format=jpg --screenshot-directory=/home/jimfer/Pictures/smplayer_screenshots --audio-channels=2 --af-add=scaletempo --af-add=equalizer=0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0 --softvol=yes --softvol-max=110 --ytdl --term-playing-msg=MPV_VERSION=${=mpv-version:}
INFO_VIDEO_WIDTH=${=width}
INFO_VIDEO_HEIGHT=${=height}
INFO_VIDEO_ASPECT=${=video-aspect}
INFO_VIDEO_FPS=${=fps}
INFO_VIDEO_FORMAT=${=video-format}
INFO_VIDEO_CODEC=${=video-codec}
INFO_AUDIO_FORMAT=${=audio-codec-name}
INFO_AUDIO_CODEC=${=audio-codec}
INFO_AUDIO_RATE=${=audio-params/samplerate}
INFO_AUDIO_NCH=${=audio-params/channel-count}
INFO_LENGTH=${=duration:${=length}}
INFO_DEMUXER=${=demuxer}
INFO_TITLES=${=disc-titles}
INFO_CHAPTERS=${=chapters}
INFO_TRACKS_COUNT=${=track-list/count}
METADATA_TITLE=${metadata/by-key/title:}
METADATA_ARTIST=${metadata/by-key/artist:}
METADATA_ALBUM=${metadata/by-key/album:}
METADATA_GENRE=${metadata/by-key/genre:}
METADATA_DATE=${metadata/by-key/date:}
METADATA_TRACK=${metadata/by-key/track:}
METADATA_COPYRIGHT=${metadata/by-key/copyright:}
INFO_MEDIA_TITLE=${=media-title:}
--term-status-msg=STATUS: ${=time-pos} / ${=duration:${=length:0}} P: ${=pause} B: ${=paused-for-cache} I: ${=core-idle} /home/jimfer/Videos/Bodybuilding/Gustavo Badell/TITANS_VOL_6/vob_01t_007.vob

Playing: /home/jimfer/Videos/Bodybuilding/Gustavo Badell/TITANS_VOL_6/vob_01t_007.vob
(+) Video --vid=1 (mpeg2video)
(+) Audio --aid=1 (ac3)
[vo/xv] Could not grab port 63.
[vo/xv] Warning: this legacy VO has bad quality and performance, and will in particular result in blurry OSD and subtitles. You should fix your graphic drivers, or not force the xv VO.
Failed to initialize a video decoder for codec 'mpeg2video'.
Video: no video
Failed to initialize an audio decoder for codec 'ac3'.
Audio: no audio
No video or audio streams selected.
Exiting... (Errors when loading file)

___________________________________________________________

When trying to to play flv files:


/usr/bin/mpv --no-config --no-quiet --terminal --no-msg-color --input-file=/dev/stdin --no-fs --vd-lavc-threads=4 --hwdec=no --sub-auto=fuzzy --vo=xv --ao=pulse --stop-screensaver --no-input-default-bindings --input-x11-keyboard=no --no-input-cursor --cursor-autohide=no --no-keepaspect --wid=60817508 --monitorpixelaspect=1 --osd-scale=1 --sub-ass --embeddedfonts --ass-line-spacing=0 --sub-scale=1 --sub-text-font=Arial --sub-text-color=#ffffff --sub-text-shadow-color=#000000 --sub-text-border-color=#000000 --sub-text-border-size=2.5 --sub-text-shadow-offset=5 --sub-text-font-size=50 --sub-text-bold=no --sub-codepage=utf8:ISO-8859-1 --sub-pos=100 --volume=55 --cache=2048 --osd-level=0 --screenshot-template=cap_%F_%p_%02n --screenshot-format=jpg --screenshot-directory=/home/jimfer/Pictures/smplayer_screenshots --audio-channels=2 --af-add=scaletempo --af-add=equalizer=0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0 --softvol=yes --softvol-max=110 --ytdl --term-playing-msg=MPV_VERSION=${=mpv-version:}
INFO_VIDEO_WIDTH=${=width}
INFO_VIDEO_HEIGHT=${=height}
INFO_VIDEO_ASPECT=${=video-aspect}
INFO_VIDEO_FPS=${=fps}
INFO_VIDEO_FORMAT=${=video-format}
INFO_VIDEO_CODEC=${=video-codec}
INFO_AUDIO_FORMAT=${=audio-codec-name}
INFO_AUDIO_CODEC=${=audio-codec}
INFO_AUDIO_RATE=${=audio-params/samplerate}
INFO_AUDIO_NCH=${=audio-params/channel-count}
INFO_LENGTH=${=duration:${=length}}
INFO_DEMUXER=${=demuxer}
INFO_TITLES=${=disc-titles}
INFO_CHAPTERS=${=chapters}
INFO_TRACKS_COUNT=${=track-list/count}
METADATA_TITLE=${metadata/by-key/title:}
METADATA_ARTIST=${metadata/by-key/artist:}
METADATA_ALBUM=${metadata/by-key/album:}
METADATA_GENRE=${metadata/by-key/genre:}
METADATA_DATE=${metadata/by-key/date:}
METADATA_TRACK=${metadata/by-key/track:}
METADATA_COPYRIGHT=${metadata/by-key/copyright:}
INFO_MEDIA_TITLE=${=media-title:}
--term-status-msg=STATUS: ${=time-pos} / ${=duration:${=length:0}} P: ${=pause} B: ${=paused-for-cache} I: ${=core-idle} /home/jimfer/Videos/London/Eurostar - London to Paris with Rail Europe.flv

Playing: /home/jimfer/Videos/London/Eurostar - London to Paris with Rail Europe.flv
[ffmpeg/demuxer] flv: Could not find codec parameters for stream 0 (Video: h264, none, 798 kb/s): unspecified size
[ffmpeg/demuxer] Consider increasing the value for the 'analyzeduration' and 'probesize' options
(+) Video --vid=1 (h264)
(+) Audio --aid=1 (aac)
[vo/xv] Could not grab port 63.
[vo/xv] Warning: this legacy VO has bad quality and performance, and will in particular result in blurry OSD and subtitles. You should fix your graphic drivers, or not force the xv VO.
Failed to initialize a video decoder for codec 'h264'.
Video: no video
Failed to initialize an audio decoder for codec 'aac'.
Audio: no audio
No video or audio streams selected.
Exiting... (Errors when loading file)

________________________________________________-

When trying to play mp4 files:


/usr/bin/mpv --no-config --no-quiet --terminal --no-msg-color --input-file=/dev/stdin --no-fs --vd-lavc-threads=4 --hwdec=no --sub-auto=fuzzy --vo=xv --ao=pulse --stop-screensaver --no-input-default-bindings --input-x11-keyboard=no --no-input-cursor --cursor-autohide=no --no-keepaspect --wid=60817508 --monitorpixelaspect=1 --osd-scale=1 --sub-ass --embeddedfonts --ass-line-spacing=0 --sub-scale=1 --sub-text-font=Arial --sub-text-color=#ffffff --sub-text-shadow-color=#000000 --sub-text-border-color=#000000 --sub-text-border-size=2.5 --sub-text-shadow-offset=5 --sub-text-font-size=50 --sub-text-bold=no --sub-codepage=utf8:ISO-8859-1 --sub-pos=100 --volume=55 --cache=2048 --osd-level=0 --screenshot-template=cap_%F_%p_%02n --screenshot-format=jpg --screenshot-directory=/home/jimfer/Pictures/smplayer_screenshots --audio-channels=2 --af-add=scaletempo --af-add=equalizer=0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0 --softvol=yes --softvol-max=110 --ytdl --term-playing-msg=MPV_VERSION=${=mpv-version:}
INFO_VIDEO_WIDTH=${=width}
INFO_VIDEO_HEIGHT=${=height}
INFO_VIDEO_ASPECT=${=video-aspect}
INFO_VIDEO_FPS=${=fps}
INFO_VIDEO_FORMAT=${=video-format}
INFO_VIDEO_CODEC=${=video-codec}
INFO_AUDIO_FORMAT=${=audio-codec-name}
INFO_AUDIO_CODEC=${=audio-codec}
INFO_AUDIO_RATE=${=audio-params/samplerate}
INFO_AUDIO_NCH=${=audio-params/channel-count}
INFO_LENGTH=${=duration:${=length}}
INFO_DEMUXER=${=demuxer}
INFO_TITLES=${=disc-titles}
INFO_CHAPTERS=${=chapters}
INFO_TRACKS_COUNT=${=track-list/count}
METADATA_TITLE=${metadata/by-key/title:}
METADATA_ARTIST=${metadata/by-key/artist:}
METADATA_ALBUM=${metadata/by-key/album:}
METADATA_GENRE=${metadata/by-key/genre:}
METADATA_DATE=${metadata/by-key/date:}
METADATA_TRACK=${metadata/by-key/track:}
METADATA_COPYRIGHT=${metadata/by-key/copyright:}
INFO_MEDIA_TITLE=${=media-title:}
--term-status-msg=STATUS: ${=time-pos} / ${=duration:${=length:0}} P: ${=pause} B: ${=paused-for-cache} I: ${=core-idle} /home/jimfer/Videos/London/London streets (228.) - Evening drive out from Wokingham.mp4

Playing: /home/jimfer/Videos/London/London streets (228.) - Evening drive out from Wokingham.mp4
(+) Video --vid=1 (*) (h264)
(+) Audio --aid=1 --alang=und (*) (aac)
[vo/xv] Could not grab port 63.
[vo/xv] Warning: this legacy VO has bad quality and performance, and will in particular result in blurry OSD and subtitles. You should fix your graphic drivers, or not force the xv VO.
Failed to initialize a video decoder for codec 'h264'.
Video: no video
Failed to initialize an audio decoder for codec 'aac'.
Audio: no audio
No video or audio streams selected.
Exiting... (Errors when loading file)

___________________________________________________________
When trying to play a vob file:


/usr/bin/mpv --no-config --no-quiet --terminal --no-msg-color --input-file=/dev/stdin --no-fs --vd-lavc-threads=4 --hwdec=no --sub-auto=fuzzy --vo=xv --ao=pulse --stop-screensaver --no-input-default-bindings --input-x11-keyboard=no --no-input-cursor --cursor-autohide=no --no-keepaspect --wid=60817508 --monitorpixelaspect=1 --osd-scale=1 --sub-ass --embeddedfonts --ass-line-spacing=0 --sub-scale=1 --sub-text-font=Arial --sub-text-color=#ffffff --sub-text-shadow-color=#000000 --sub-text-border-color=#000000 --sub-text-border-size=2.5 --sub-text-shadow-offset=5 --sub-text-font-size=50 --sub-text-bold=no --sub-codepage=utf8:ISO-8859-1 --sub-pos=100 --volume=55 --cache=2048 --osd-level=0 --screenshot-template=cap_%F_%p_%02n --screenshot-format=jpg --screenshot-directory=/home/jimfer/Pictures/smplayer_screenshots --audio-channels=2 --af-add=scaletempo --af-add=equalizer=0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0 --softvol=yes --softvol-max=110 --ytdl --term-playing-msg=MPV_VERSION=${=mpv-version:}
INFO_VIDEO_WIDTH=${=width}
INFO_VIDEO_HEIGHT=${=height}
INFO_VIDEO_ASPECT=${=video-aspect}
INFO_VIDEO_FPS=${=fps}
INFO_VIDEO_FORMAT=${=video-format}
INFO_VIDEO_CODEC=${=video-codec}
INFO_AUDIO_FORMAT=${=audio-codec-name}
INFO_AUDIO_CODEC=${=audio-codec}
INFO_AUDIO_RATE=${=audio-params/samplerate}
INFO_AUDIO_NCH=${=audio-params/channel-count}
INFO_LENGTH=${=duration:${=length}}
INFO_DEMUXER=${=demuxer}
INFO_TITLES=${=disc-titles}
INFO_CHAPTERS=${=chapters}
INFO_TRACKS_COUNT=${=track-list/count}
METADATA_TITLE=${metadata/by-key/title:}
METADATA_ARTIST=${metadata/by-key/artist:}
METADATA_ALBUM=${metadata/by-key/album:}
METADATA_GENRE=${metadata/by-key/genre:}
METADATA_DATE=${metadata/by-key/date:}
METADATA_TRACK=${metadata/by-key/track:}
METADATA_COPYRIGHT=${metadata/by-key/copyright:}
INFO_MEDIA_TITLE=${=media-title:}
--term-status-msg=STATUS: ${=time-pos} / ${=duration:${=length:0}} P: ${=pause} B: ${=paused-for-cache} I: ${=core-idle} /home/jimfer/Videos/Bodybuilding/2004 NPC Nationals/Men's Prejudging Part II/12050/vob_04t_001.vob

Playing: /home/jimfer/Videos/Bodybuilding/2004 NPC Nationals/Men's Prejudging Part II/12050/vob_04t_001.vob
(+) Video --vid=1 (mpeg2video)
(+) Audio --aid=1 (ac3)
[vo/xv] Could not grab port 63.
[vo/xv] Warning: this legacy VO has bad quality and performance, and will in particular result in blurry OSD and subtitles. You should fix your graphic drivers, or not force the xv VO.
Failed to initialize a video decoder for codec 'mpeg2video'.
Video: no video
Failed to initialize an audio decoder for codec 'ac3'.
Audio: no audio
No video or audio streams selected.
Exiting... (Errors when loading file)
_______________________________________________________________

If anyone can provide any guidance to fix the above issue, I'd be most grateful!

[rvm]

According to the logs some video and audio decoders are missing in mpv.

According to it seems it's necessary to install the FFmpeg libraries from the Packman repository.

[jimsea56]

Thanks for your reply. However, I just checked ffmpeg in YaST and it's from Packman.

Not sure where I go from here.

Jim

[jimsea56]

As an addendum to my comment, above, I'll make sure to check the ffmpeg libraries, in addition to ffmpeg itself.

[jimsea56]

Hi rvm,

I've just checked all of the ffmpeg libraries in YaST, changed the vendor of those that weren't Packman, to Packman, redownloaded those libraries, and bingo!

There were about 10 of them whose vendor had been changed back to the KDE repository from Packman. About 10 others remained on Packman. My update involved degrading several of these libraries, by a minor version number, down one (from 3.0.1-73-2 to 3.0.1-73-1 and switched the vendor back to Packman.)

The videos are now playable. However, I will need to keep an eye on updates as they come in, because the recent updates had definitely broken the functionality of the player temporarily.

Thanks so much for your help! This was a good reminder to check not just the software package itself, but the libraries as well.

Jim
Seattle