I am new to Ubuntu. I've installed Karmic Koala 9.10 and have Amarok installed by default. I can play commercial cds and have installed the restricted package (the computer doesn't have internet access so I downloaded it via laptop and transferred it to the computer). I've installed the .deb file but still can't play mp3s. Can anyone tell me what to do next? Also, ditto for the dvd player. It won't play dvds.

Hello ed_diaz!

It would be very useful if you could specify your problem a little bit more. Do you get an error message? How does Amarok behave when you try to play an mp3 file? etc.

If you are using Ubuntu with Gnome, make sure you have the mp3 codecs for the gstreamer backend, if you use Kubuntu with KDE and therefore the default xine backend, the package you need is called libxine1-ffmpeg.

The distribution do no ship the mp3 codecs for patent reasons that could cause problems in some countries, it's up to the user to install those.

Mamarok wrote:If you are using Ubuntu with Gnome, make sure you have the mp3 codecs for the gstreamer backend, if you use Kubuntu with KDE and therefore the default xine backend, the package you need is called libxine1-ffmpeg.

The distribution do no ship the mp3 codecs for patent reasons that could cause problems in some countries, it's up to the user to install those.

Thank you, Mamarok. I'll try that.

flightman wrote:Hello ed_diaz!

It would be very useful if you could specify your problem a little bit more. Do you get an error message? How does Amarok behave when you try to play an mp3 file? etc.

I'm using the KUbuntu spin. It acts like it is playing the mp3 very rapidly but no sound is emitted. I don't get any error messages. Amarok version is 2.2.0.

I'm going to try Mamarok's solution. Thank you for your post!

Mamarok wrote:If you are using Ubuntu with Gnome, make sure you have the mp3 codecs for the gstreamer backend, if you use Kubuntu with KDE and therefore the default xine backend, the package you need is called libxine1-ffmpeg.

The distribution do no ship the mp3 codecs for patent reasons that could cause problems in some countries, it's up to the user to install those.

I tried installing libxine1-ffmpeg_1.1.16.3-0ubuntu4_i386.deb for Karmic but a dependency failed. Have any ideas on what I can do?

@ed_diaz: what exact error message do you get? Are you sure you have the sources.list correctly? Also, you should not download an isolated *.deb file, just use the package installer for that.

Mamarok wrote:@ed_diaz: what exact error message do you get? Are you sure you have the sources.list correctly? Also, you should not download an isolated *.deb file, just use the package installer for that.

Can't the computer doesn't have internet access. It is an old intel with a lan card and no modem. I have to buy an external non-Winmodem and haven't had a chance to yet. Got the package from the following site:
http://packages.ubuntu.com/karmic/libxine1-ffmpeg

It said the dependency libavcodec52 was missing.

That's because it is a meta-package that installs other packages, too. Check the dependency of libxine1-ffmpeg with 'aptitude show libxine1-ffmpeg' and make sure you have all the mentioned package dependencies, too.