How-To: Get Full Multimedia Support and Playback Capabilities in Ubuntu Desktop Linux

By Alexander Grundner | June 12th, 2006 Comments (0)

The purpose of this how-to is to give Ubuntu desktop users (especially new ones coming from the Windows world) the guidance to enable full multimedia support and playback of popular media codecs and technologies in just 3 simple steps. Once completed, your Linux PC will have DVD (CSS) movie playback support, OGG / THEORA / AAC / MP3 / WMA / WMV/ DIVX / XVID / MPEG-1/2/4 / QuickTime support, Skype, Flash, RealPlayer, JAVA, and more.

Note: These instructions are based on Ubuntu’s latest release, 6.06 (Dapper), which integrates the Gnome Desktop Environment; however, the instructions provided should work with later releases.

Now, get ready to put both Totem, Gnome’s default media player, and the Firefox Web browser on steroids!

[B]Multimedia Support the EASY WAY
* All the commands that you will need to copy and paste into the Terminal (Tip: use CTRL+SHIFT+V to paste) will be shown in dark red. To launch the Terminal, go to menu APPLICATIONS > ACCESSORIES > TERMINAL.

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
This command tells the text editor, gedit, to open the sources.list file as root using sudo (aka the Administrator, Super User). Replace the contents with the following and SAVE – IMPORTANT: This list links to U.S. repositories from Ubuntu for Intel/AMD x86 systems, but the URLs can be changed to work with other countries by using your 2-letter country code (reference the original URLs).

Dapper Sources List:

## Ubuntu ‘Main’ Repository
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper main restricted

## Ubuntu ‘Universe’ Repository
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper universe multiverse

## Ubuntu ‘Backports’ Repository
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper-backports main restricted universe multiverse

## Ubuntu Bug Fix Updates
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper-updates main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper-updates main restricted

## Ubuntu Security Updates
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-security universe multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-security universe multiverse

## Canonical ‘Commercial’ Repository
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu dapper-commercial main

## Skype - VoIP Client
deb http://download.skype.com/linux/repos/debian/ stable non-free

Edgy Sources List:

## Ubuntu ‘Main’ Repository
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ edgy main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ edgy main restricted

## Ubuntu ‘Universe’ Repository
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ edgy universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ edgy universe multiverse

## Ubuntu ‘Backports’ Repository
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ edgy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ edgy-backports main restricted universe multiverse

## Ubuntu Bug Fix Updates
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ edgy-updates main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ edgy-updates main restricted

## Ubuntu Security Updates
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu edgy-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu edgy-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu edgy-security universe multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu edgy-security universe multiverse

## Canonical ‘Commercial’ Repository
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu edgy-commercial main

## Skype - VoIP Client
deb http://download.skype.com/linux/repos/debian/ stable non-free

sudo apt-get update
This command updates your PC’s list of currently available packages.

sudo apt-get install totem-xine totem-xine-firefox-plugin libxine-extracodecs flashplugin-nonfree msttcorefonts sun-java5-plugin skype banshee streamtuner xmms realplay f-spot
This installs, what I call, the “multimedia power packages” – IMPORTANT: When prompted with a [Y/N] question in the Terminal window while running the command, ALWAYS select Y for yes.

For DVD & Quicktime support (among other popular codecs), you’ll need to install the w32codecs and libdvdcss2 packages. WARNING: these package may be considered illegal for use in some countries.

cd Desktop
wget -c http://www.debian-multimedia.org/po…11-0.0_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i w32codecs_20060611-0.0_i386.deb
wget -c http://www.debian-multimedia.org/po….9-0.0_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i libdvdcss2_1.2.9-0.0_i386.deb

Tip: Once installed via dpkg you can delete the packages from your desktop.

DONE! Now you have a Linux PC that can play just about every media file a Windows or Mac PC can (sans DRM-wrapped files) and you also get the following A-list programs FREE:

• Banshee – The premier CD Ripper/Music Player/Track Editor with iPod Support on Gnome.
• F-Spot – The premier Photo Manager/Editor/Flickr Uploader on Gnome.
• RealPlayer Gold 10 – The defacto media player alternative to Windows Media Player.
• Skype – The world’s most popular VoIP client.
• Streamtuner – A lightweight browsable Internet Radio directory for SHOUTcast, Live365, etc.

—–
Extras
Firefox - Share audio with Flash and other applications
sudo gedit /etc/firefox/firefoxrc
Change FIREFOX_DSP=”none” to FIREFOX_DSP=”aoss” and save.

Better CPU performance for Pentium x86 chips
sudo apt-get install linux-686

Better CPU performance for HyperThreading and multi-core x86 chips
sudo apt-get install linux-686-smp

NVIDIA driver Install
sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx
sudo nvidia-glx-config enable
—–

Other Ubuntu posts of interest:
Digg - Comments on this story
Ubuntu Wiki - RestrictedFormats
eHomeUpgrade - What’s Hot on the Linux Front? Xgl + Compiz
eHomeUpgrade - How-To: Dual-Boot Ubuntu 6.06 (Dapper) Linux Desktop Along Side Windows XP

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