PROBLEM: xine doesn't play any soundtracks: CD, or DVD, but I can hear CDs when I use Amarok. Secondly, I can hear the movie/DVD's soundtrack using Dragon Player.
1.I loaded v10.04_x86_64_Desktop CD onto a brand new HDD.
2.I tried xine b/c I am looking for a media player that will play a series of *.vob files in sequence automatically.
3.My computer's sound system works fine.
4.I've also installed the following packages prior to installing xine...
sudo apt-get install lame libmp3lame0
sudo apt-get install libk3b6-extracodecs
sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse
sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2
sudo apt-get install w64codecs
FYI, I've tried these other media players below and none of them do what I want to do.
1.Dragon Player - plays one VOB at a time
2.Kaffeine - plays one VOB at a time
3.mplayer - didn't work at all (also uninstall stated that it affected k9copy. It removed it!)
4.kmplayer - didn't work at all. I think it needed mplayer, so it wouldn't have worked anyway.
5.realplayer_v11 - doesn't support DVDs MPEG1/2. It only supports only MPEG4.
6.VLC - kpackagekit|search vlc|select this package: vlc - 1.0.6-1ubuntu1.2(amd64) -> this version works. Default Live CD version doesn't work. I had to remove default version and install this version.
7.xine - plays one VOB at a time
So now I tried number 7 - XINE, but I ran into a problem. It wouldn't play sounds.
Here's what I did to get the sound to work...
1. first attempt to install xine...
enter terminal mode...
sudo apt-get install xine -> failed.
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package xine is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package xine has no installation candidate
2. sudo apt-get install xine-ui -> success
3. sudo apt-get install xine-plugin -> success
4. Kstart|Applications|Multimedia|Xine -> works!
tried to to use setup, but crashed/hanged when I tried to change speakers from Surround 2.0 to Surround 3.0
after reboot I selected DVD (without inserting the DVD yet), and error message appeared.
1.error window 1 - xine engine error....There is no input plugin to handle 'dvd:/"
2.error window 2 (note this is invisible until window 1 is closed - The source can't be read...
closed error message windows
5.I inserted DVD
6. started xine|selected DVD -> player showed movie but no sound.
(Note no error messages appeared this time. If the movie is in the DVD player, xine works just fine.)
[Comment: xine should change these error windows to warnings - Please check you that you have inserted a DVD, or maybe it could open the empty DVD tray. In any case, xine developers should reconsider changing the default behavior in an effort to make it more user friendly.]
7.I tried to change xine's audio driver...
a. I selected xine's toolbox icon
as I scanned the toolbox tabs, most of the tabs state "There is no configuration option available in this user experience level."
So I needed to change the "user experience level".
b. select 'gui' tab| change 'Configuration experience level' from 'Beginner to Expert'|select 'Apply'
c. select 'audio' tab | select audio driver to use drop-down box | select 'oss' | select 'Apply' -> reboot required.
Eureka! This worked! Now xine plays movie with sound!
CD plays with sound.
FYI, I tried 'alsa' first as the audio driver. But this didn't work on my computer.
So I tried to find out which sound driver is in use on my computer. Here what I did to find out what my system uses...
1. Now right clicked speaker icon on lower taskbar|selected 'show master channel'
current mixer = 'HDA ATI SB'
other option is 'HDA ATI HDMI' (select drop-down box without changing the type. view only.)
This wasn't helpful to me, b/c xine didn't provide 'HDA ATI' as an option.
2. now enter terminal mode...
enter command> lsmod <E>
Now scan the long list of modules running. I found the following sound related modules in the long list ...
snd_hda_intel 25677 5
snd_hda_codec 85759 3 snd_hda_codec_atihdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hd a_intel
snd_hwdep 6924 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm_oss 41394 0
snd_mixer_oss 16299 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 87882 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy 1782 0
snd_seq_oss 31219 0
snd_seq_midi 5829 0
sunrpc 228067 12 nfsd,nfs,lockd,nfs_acl,auth_rpcgss
snd_rawmidi 23420 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 7267 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 57481 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_mid i_event
snd_timer 23649 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 6888 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi ,snd_seq
snd 71106 22 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec, snd_hwdep,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_se q_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
I don't see 'alsa' but I do see 'oss'
So I changed xine's audio driver to 'oss' and it worked.
Good luck.
PS - I persevered only b/c xine also can be used to watch TV, and my next kubuntu_10.04 challenge is to learn how to watch TV using my Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1250 PCIe digital ATSC TV card.
Everyday's an adventure.
Also worth noting, xine is quite buggy and has made my system unstable. I've had to reboot several times after making changes to xine settings through using its toolbox. Specifically, using the text editor 'kate' starts to behave irradically and keystrokes don't respond normally. But I gotta have my TV. So I'll try to figure this out and see if it is worth it.