[KDE] SM or Mplayer wont work

[CharlieDaves]

So. Suddenly smplayer (front end to mplayer from what I've read) suddenly disappeared from my PC. Weird
even weirder is when I install it, I keep getting an error

mplayer/mpv failed to start

and then about 20 lines of code rubbish stuff.
Still, for whatever reason, smplayer remembers my movie history.
I've attempted remove, purge and install(again)

I am sure this has been asked before but is there a way to like re-install or reset software or check what's installed. I know there is a dpkg command, but I was wondering about just

sudo apt install kubuntu-standard

but what is the "force" override command. I thought if was -f but honestly don't know.

Thanks again all.
I must return to my migraine

[claydoh]

and then about 20 lines of code rubbish stuff.

This rubbish stuff probably will provide info or clues on what is actually happening. Often a good a good starting point.

If the problem is with mplayer (the bit that actually plays the video) or some other component or video codec, then (re)installing smplayer is not going to do anything useful.

[CharlieDaves]

Rubbish stuff. Please tell me whats useful !

/usr/bin/mpv --no-config --no-quiet --terminal --no-msg-color --input-file=/dev/stdin --msg-level=ffmpeg/demuxer=error --no-fs --hwdec=no --sub-auto=fuzzy --no-input-default-bindings --input-x11-keyboard=no --no-input-cursor --cursor-autohide=no --no-keepaspect --wid=58720284 --monitorpixelaspect=1 --osd-level=1 --osd-scale=1 --sub-ass --embeddedfonts --ass-line-spacing=0 --sub-scale=1 --sub-text-shadow-color=#ff000000 --sub-codepage=ISO-8859-1 --sub-pos=100 --volume=86 --cache=auto --screenshot-template=cap_%F_%p_%02n --screenshot-format=jpg --softvol=yes --softvol-max=110 --term-playing-msg=MPV_VERSION=${=mpv-version:}

INFO_VIDEO_WIDTH=${=width}

INFO_VIDEO_HEIGHT=${=height}

INFO_VIDEO_ASPECT=${=video-params/aspect}

INFO_VIDEO_FPS=${=container-fps:${=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=${=current-demuxer:${=demuxer}}

INFO_SEEKABLE=${=seekable}

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:}

INFO_STREAM_PATH=${stream-path}

--audio-client-name=SMPlayer --term-status-msg=STATUS: ${=time-pos} / ${=duration:${=length:0}} P: ${=pause} B: ${=paused-for-cache} I: ${=core-idle} VB: ${=video-bitrate:0} AB: ${=audio-bitrate:0} /media/mm3/S-Drive/bBits Finished/Inferno.The.Great.Fire.of.London.2022.1080p.HDTV.H 264-DARKFLiX[rarbg]/Inferno.The.Great.Fire.of.London.2022.1080p.HDTV.H 264-DARKFLiX.mkv

[claydoh]

Smplayer is a front end to either Mplayer 2, or MPV, and in our case it seems to lean towards MPV.
Check that you have mpv installed, type mpv in the terminal, it should show some basic info, including some ffmpeg library info (potentially useful as these are needed for video decoding). or you can open Muon or Synaptic and search yo see if these are present. But if mpv was removed, smplayer would also have been removed along with it, as it is a hard dependency,. at least on 22.04 it seems to be.

Then try playing a video with mpv directly.

Go to a dir with a video that plays properly in VLC or another program, right click and select mpv if that is an option. See if it plays. If not, hit F4 while in Dolphin to toggle open a terminal, and type mpv filename
mpv has a minimal GUI that should appear via hovering over the bottom of the video if it doesn't show permanently.

If it does not play, we will want to see what the terminal says.
If it does play, I dunno. Maybe try deleting your smplayerrc configuration file as well as the separate smplayer directory in your home dir. Look for them in ~/.config

If you weren't on Focal, I would suggest looking at Haruna player, it has become my desktop player of choice recently. And very much Plasma to boot

[CharlieDaves]

Smplayer is a front end to either Mplayer 2, or MPV, and in our case it seems to lean towards MPV.
Check that you have mpv installed, type mpv in the terminal.

mpv not installed.
5minutes later
mpv now installed, and smplayer now able to play the mkv files that vlc, doesn't recognise the "subtitle codec" and I haven't found out why or a fix.

Thanks Again Claydoh