vlc/FAQ
2001-11-12 11:37:30 +00:00

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Frequentely Asked Questions for VideoLAN Client
$Id: FAQ,v 1.2 2001/11/12 11:37:30 massiot Exp $
1. Using VLC
1.1 How do I read a DVD ?
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Just launch vlc and use the "open disc" command from the graphical
interface. In case of trouble, you may want to use the command line
interface :
vlc dvd:/dev/dvd
1.2 How do I read an encrypted DVD ?
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It's exactly the same as for a normal DVD. You will need write access to
/dev/dvd, because of the key negociation process.
1.3 How do I switch to full screen display ?
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Press 'f' to toggle fullscreen mode. Note that not all video output
devices support full screen.
1.4 How do I hide the mouse cursor ?
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It should disappear after a few seconds if you stop moving the mouse.
1.5 How do I use vlc if I don't want to install Gnome and all this
#@!£% *$@&§% !@# bloat ?
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You can run :
vlc -I dummy myfile.mpg
Most commands are available from the command line, see vlc --help for
more information.
2. Troubleshooting
2.1 When I start vlc, I don't have any interface coming...
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If you installed a binary package, make sure you also installed an
interface package such as vlc-gtk or vlc-qt. If you installed from
source, make sure the development package for gtk or qt is correctly
installed (often gtk-dev or gtk-devel) and recompile.
2.2 Clicking on "disc" in the interface doesn't do anything
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Wait a few seconds. Key cracking can take much time on some discs. If it
still doesn't work, you can have a more verbose output using "vlc -vvvvv".
Here are a few things to check for :
* Did you install the libdvdcss package ?
* Do you have write access to your DVD device ? For instance :
chmod 666 /dev/hdc
* Does your kernel log contain line about your DVD device ?
* Do you have a link from /dev/dvd to your real DVD device ? For instance
ln -s hdc /dev/dvd
2.3 Running vlc pussycat.mpg doesn't do anything...
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Probably your MPEG-1 file doesn't have any system layer. This is common
for MPEG-1 streams without any audio track. Currently VLC doesn't
automatically detect this format, so you have to manually select it :
vlc --input es pussycat.mpg
2.4 The video runs but the picture is distorted...
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There is probably a problem with the output layer. There are several
ways of troubleshooting it. First, try with another output plug-in, for
instance :
vlc -V sdl
vlc -V x11
Second, try with an unoptimized YUV transform :
vlc --yuv yuv
Third, change your screen depth and/or definition. It quite often helps.
Lastly, have a look at your XFree86 video driver (nVidia for instance
releases optimized drivers for its boards).
2.5 Video is choppy...
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Your system is too slow to decode all pictures. It might be that your
CPU basically isn't fast enough. It can also be that the subsystem is
misconfigured/misdriven. Here are some elements to improve speed :
* Turn on DMA on your DVD device, for instance :
hdparm -X34 -d1 /dev/dvd
* Upgrade to the latest XFree86 version and the latest driver for your
video board ; check that the xvideo plug-in is effectively used with
vlc -vvvv
* Kill other applications running...
2.6 Audio is choppy...
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This is not normal ; it is a known problem and is being investigated.
2.7 Audio and video are out of sync
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This is not normal. Try using another output plug-in (for instance -A dsp),
kill esd or artsd if they are running... This is a known problem and
is being investigated.
2.8 On some DVDs the subtitles are unreadable
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This is a known bug and is being investigated.
2.9 When I try to compile VLC, it breaks on unknown instructions in
idctaltivec.c
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Unset your CFLAGS environment variable. For instance type
export CFLAGS= ; ./configure
Don't try to be cleverer than us :-).
2.10 Sound volume is too low
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This is a known problem.
3. Ports and features
3.1 MacOS X port
3.1.1 Does VLC support the ATI DVD hardware acceleration cards ?
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Currently it doesn't. We'd be glad to support them, but we lack technical
information on them.
3.2 Win32 port
3.2.2 When moving the focus to another window, VLC network input stops
working properly !
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This is a known problem with Win 95-class systems. Upgrade to an NT-class
system.