Linux Format forums

kevanf1 · LXF regular Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2005 8:34 pm Posts: 125

I know the DeCSS files are a grey area legally. But how about Xine unhobbled and perhaps a link to the DeCSS package with full detailed instructions on how to install on various boxes? I've tried many times with my SuSE PC's never with any success. I've tried through YaST but the version is always the same. I've even tried uninstalling the SuSE provided version and it still came back!!!! Obviously I've done something wrong somewhere and one day I will learn exactly what Confused

but until that day...I cannot watch any of my legally owned and probably rendered on a Linux PC in Hollywood DVDs on my Linux box Crying or Very sad

zarathustra · Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2005 5:14 pm Posts: 83

Welcome to my world. I never did figure that one out with SuSE they one day released SUSE xine screwed and as good as useless, but MP3 as standard, Red Hat done the opposite! So both regard the others policy as wrong? I guess it's just one of those things. personally I also tried not only removing SuSE's xine but blanking my discs and reinstalling without using their version or any related software etc. However when I installed a version *which was compatible, or should have been* it still went belly up and refused to play DVD's so it's not quite Xine, at least that's what i believe, rather there is something in the underlying SuSE base which has been fiddled. That's just my two penneth worth and I really hope I'm wrong as that idea of linux equating with freedom is skewed in this instance. Such is one reason why i bid a very sad farewell to SuSE.

Regards Zara...

P.S. If you really need your linux box to run DVD's I'm afraid you may have to similarly forgo SuSE

nelz · Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 4:53 pm Post subject: RE: How about Xine unhobbled?

LXFDVD65 has xine, including SUSE rpms from packman. I believe these are supposed to work with encrypted DVDs, as long as you have libdvdcss installed.
_________________
Unix is user-friendly. It's just very selective about who it's friends are.

kevanf1 · LXF regular Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2005 8:34 pm Posts: 125

Hi Nelz, Zara. Well first I have to agree with you Zara. I love using SuSE but this is more than annoying. Yes, I think there is something underlying with SuSE and Xine. I downloaded the correct files including all the Win 32 compatible codecs from Packman. Installed as instructed and....nope. On the version of Xine that SuSE ship there is a warning that it might not work properly together with a hyperlink to a page on the official SuSE website. Which does not work! It goes to the front page of the SuSE/Novell website and no deeper.

Nelz, I'll take a look on the DVD. I have it somewhere I know because I've bought the last 6 or 7 LXF's at least all the DVD version.

I may give Kubuntu a try with DVD's as my friend has downloaded it for me. I also have Fedora Core 3 somewhere (LXF DVD no doubt).

Rhakios · Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 9:03 pm Post subject: RE: How about Xine unhobbled?

Well, I followed the instructions on the pacman site for building libxine with libdvdcss and it has worked fine on the two computers I have installed it on, 1 32 bit and 1 64 bit.
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Bye, Rhakios

ryptyde · Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 1:58 am Post subject:

There's nothing more annoying than not having your favourite media player fully functional.I've not been fortunate or patient enough to get Xine working as I want.

I have had good fortune using VLC media player on FC 2 and currently on FC 3.

EDITED: downloaded Xine and will give it a try again soon.

MC · Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:02 am Posts: 5

I have read on a forum recently (cannot remember which one) that dvd playback software on all SuSE distros is deliberately crippled, no amount of tweaking will get it to work properly DeCSS or not. I personally have switched to SimplyMepis off a recent LXFD d\loaded the small DeCSS library and installed and Xine and Kaffeine working perfectly with any region dvd.

Rhakios · Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 6:42 pm Post subject:

Round objects.
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Bye, Rhakios

Nigel · Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 8:27 pm Post subject:

Funny... I'm running SuSE 9.2, straight out of the box, and all I had to do was install the DeCSS library and make sure I had the right permissions for /dev/dvd - Xine plays dvds fine for me.
I did have a bit more hassle when I set up SuSE 8.2, but that (IIRC) was because I didn't have the right symlinks/permissions.
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Hope this helps,

Nigel.

Gordon · Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 10:13 pm Post subject:

SUSE 9.3 64 bit install on Athlon 64 3000+. Playback of Any DVD can work. I did it as follows.

compile libdvdcss as follows:

./configure --prefix=/usr
make
(now as root)
make install

Then do the same for libdvdread and libdvdnav. Next thing to do is unpack the xine-lib tarball. Inside the xine-lib source tree is a directory with the name 'src'. Unpack libdvdcss, libdvdnav and libdvdread inside the xine-lib/src directory. Change back to the xine-lib directory, which is the root of the source tree and do a

./configure --prefix=/usr
make
(now as root)
make install

This should install the new xine libraries over the original ones supplied by SUSE. Hey presto! Xine now plays your commercial DVD's. You may still get the warning about some features being disabled. To get rid of this install the xine-ui src with;

./configure --prefix=/usr
make
(now as root)
make install

And the warning about some features being disabled will be removed. But if you ever install xine-lib or xine-ui from a YAST Online Update you will overwrite your carefully created xine with another disabled SUSE version and you will have to follow the steps outlined above to re-install xine-lib and xine-ui.

This works well on my box. Hope it does on yours. Wink

_________________
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent

Gordon · Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 10:22 pm Post subject:

PS The above procedures for installing xine on SUSE should also let kaffeine and other apps which depend on libxine to play commercial DVD's.

Cool

_________________
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent

ryptyde · Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 5:48 pm Post subject:

OK,grabbed the libxine1-1.0.1cvs-050511.i686.rpm and ui-0.99.3cvs-050511.i586.rpm and all is well now here in FC3 land. Smile

kevanf1 · LXF regular Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2005 8:34 pm Posts: 125

Cheers Gordon. I will give that a try. I never give up Laughing

it took me years to get Linux running properly so that I could use it productively. It's been good fun though.

Gordon · Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 9:11 pm Post subject:

Hi Kevanf1, me too. I first tried Linux in 1995, before windows95 came out. It was a pig to get installed and it took me months to figure everything out. It was an old Slackware and I only had a 400 mega-byte drive on a 486 DX2 66 at the time. But once I'd got it up and running I was amazed. A fully 32 bit OS with a single memory map. Coloured file listings at the command prompt, a virtual desktop MUCH bigger than the screen resolution and more. This year I finally ditched windows altogether for my newly built Athlon 64 bit system. I've used windows 3.1 win95 win98 and winXP they're all crap, only good for playing games. I've also used many Linux distros over the years and currently run SUSE 9.3 brilliant.

Keep trying and let me know if you get xine working. This is the beauty of Linux. You can mess about all you want with the system and those times you mess it up you learn a tremendous amount trying to fix it. That's how I found out.

Linux, I love it. Very Happy

_________________
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent

birdra · Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 10:04 pm Post subject:

I've never had any problems using the Packman binaries and DeCSS script on any version of Suse 9.x. Xine will still come up with the warning, but all of DVDs play just fine regardless of region.