Member Avatar for trashed

i just installed on my machine last version of slackware.for the moment it runs perfectly :cheesy: .
i wanted to be able to play media files but nothing seems to be able to run, neither mp3 or ogg nor mpeg, mpg & avi.
can somebody tell me exactly what i need to install in order to be able to listen and play video+music files?
i tryed several players (xine, xmms, kaboodle, noatun) but nothing changed

  • 4 Contributors
  • 4 Replies
  • 187 Views
  • 5 Years Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by TheOgre

Dani AI

Generated

— The symptom (audio/video players launch but nothing plays) usually comes from one of two places: the audio subsystem on the machine, or missing decoding libraries. and were right to point toward the system side, and ’s question about error output is the right diagnostic angle. The notes below expand on that with practical, Slackware‑appropriate troubleshooting and fixes that weren’t spelled out earlier.

First, capture what the player actually reports in verbose/diagnostic mode and check kernel logs for sound-related messages. Those messages differentiate “no audio device available” from “missing decoder for this format.” If messages mention missing codecs or demuxers, the playback problem is a codecs issue rather than a soundcard problem. Common decoder libraries to look for (not included by many distros for legal reasons) are MP3, Ogg/Vorbis, MPEG and popular AVI codecs; modern multipurpose toolkits (ffmpeg/libavcodec) or players with bundled decoders (MPlayer, VLC) will eliminate many codec gaps.

Second, use a player that provides good diagnostics and broad codec support while installing the specific libraries from SlackBuilds or trusted community packages. For sound backends, make sure the player is set to the correct output (ALSA vs OSS) for the system in use. A quick isolation method is to try a simple uncompressed audio file; if that plays, focus on codecs. If no audio at all plays, the problem is on the device/driver side.

A brief checklist: run a player in verbose mode and read the errors; try MPlayer or VLC (they often succeed where minimal front‑ends don’t); install or build the common codec libraries via SlackBuilds; confirm the player’s audio output backend matches the kernel’s sound stack. These steps address the most frequent causes encountered on Slackware 10 systems.

Recommended Answers

All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for Member #2466

What sound card do you have? You'll need to find out what sound card you have and what module it will need to run.

Then go into /etc/modules.conf and uncomment the line for your sound module. Reboot and everything should be nice sounding :)

Member Avatar for alc6379

Do you get any error messages when you try to play media with any of those players?

Member Avatar for TheOgre

You can also try (as root):

# chmod 755 /dev/dsp
Member Avatar for TheOgre

The OP never said anything at all about iTunes or Mac - they're using Slackware Linux. While the information you posted might be useful, it had nothing to do with the original question.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.