Member Avatar for wallet123

HI there im new to ubuntu and im having a huge problem, i cant play mp4 on ubuntu and whenever i install synaptic package manager, it keeps on presenting me this error in the picture please help

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Brief summary tied to the thread: reported MP4 playback failures and a Synaptic install error; rightly suggested refreshing package data and covered codec/package options, while noted that some distros (like Linux Mint) ship multimedia support out of the box. The core issues to check are (a) whether the package system on the installed Ubuntu is healthy, (b) whether software sources/repositories are reachable, and (c) whether the MP4 file uses an uncommon or damaged codec/container.

Useful inspection commands (safe, read-only checks plus a package-database repair step):

lsb_release -a
file /path/to/video.mp4
dpkg -C
sudo dpkg --configure -a

Interpretation and next actions: a non-current release shown by lsb_release often means repositories were moved or removed for that release; 404 or "Failed to fetch" errors in package output point to repository/URL problems or proxy settings. dpkg -C highlights partially-installed packages; running the configure step clears interrupted installs so the package manager can proceed. The file/media-info checks reveal container and codec names (helpful when deciding whether a codec package or a self-contained player is needed).

Other practical checks: confirm Software & Updates / Sources entries (main, universe/multiverse or their equivalents) and look at apt logs (/var/log/apt) for GPG or 404 errors; ensure no other package GUI is running (locks); and verify the MP4 itself is not corrupted by trying it on another machine or inspecting with a media-info tool. For long-term stability, an upgrade to a supported, recent release (or a distro that includes multimedia codecs by default, as suggested) will make multimedia and package management much easier.

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Member Avatar for rotten69

hhaha.. I like this thread. You're having "a huge problem" as you said. Did you install Ubuntu correctly? what version are you running? did you update your machine using update manager? or

sudo apt-get update

in the terminal

Member Avatar for wallet123

i did!! and i did not sleep last night coz it took me 16 hrs to wait for it to finish, my classmate installed it and i dont have any idea if its correctly installed but i cant play mp4 or download Synaptic Package Manager (i dont really know what does that do but i think it will be a huge help!) what should i do? im running 12.04 ubuuntu and i updated it and upgraded it thanks!

Member Avatar for mike_2000_17

The default package manager for the 12.04 version of Ubuntu is called "Software Center". You should be able to find it in the main menu (with all the other apps). In the software center, you can search for anything that you want to install (games, applications, libraries, etc.) and install it. That's the purpose of a package manager like Software Center or Synaptic.

For mp4 codecs, you need to install the package called ubuntu-restricted-extras (you can search for it in the software center). You can also install it by running the following command in the terminal:

$ sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

If you want to have Synaptic Package Manager, which is what Ubuntu used to have as its default package manager (before Software Center), you can also install it:

$ sudo apt-get install synaptic

And you should then be able to find it in the main menu along with the other apps.
The same goes for Software Center, in case it didn't install it by default (it should have):

$ sudo apt-get install software-center

For playing videos, it might be hard to make sure you have all the codecs for all the formats, what I find easiest is to just install VLC, because it will pull, along with it, pretty much all codecs (except those in ubuntu-restricted-extras), so you can install VLC:

$ sudo apt-get install vlc

As you can see from the above, the apt-get install command is a very quick and easy way to get things installed, I often prefer it to pulling up the package manager and doing all that pointing and clicking.

Member Avatar for naphets

Just switch to Linux-Mint ;)
All the above was done for you.

Edited by naphets
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