Ubuntu – Cannot play avi or mp4 file in both Movie Player and VLC

codecsvideo playervlc

I downloaded some videos (both mp4 and avi) and I am unable to play them both in Movie Player and VLC.

In Movie Player, it displays error message saying "Could not determine type of stream".

When I see the properties of those video files, there is no information on 'Audio/Video' tab. There should be information about audio and video codec, bitrate, etc.

Are these videos corrupt? Or, am I missing some codecs?

Best Answer

My solution was to go to Tools > Preferences in VLC and, in the Video tab:

Check the box for Enable video (if it's unchecked).
Check the box for Window decorations (if it's unchecked).
Set the Output drop-down menu to X11 video output (XCB).

Then Save your changes. That may fix the problem.

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Ubuntu – No sound on VLC and default movie player

Re-installing a package is a good start, but if often doesn't do enough to bring back all the defaults. Try starting the package more fresh with these steps:

$ sudo apt-get remove --purge alsa-base pulseaudio indicator-sound
$ sudo apt-get install alsa-base pulseaudio indicator-sound
$ sudo alsa force-reload
$ killall pulseaudio; rm -r ~/.config/pulse/* ; rm -r ~/.pulse*; rm ~/.config/pulse

You may have to reboot.

Best Answer

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