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When I try to launch mp4 video files in Ubuntu 14.04, there is only shown a green screen but no video. The audio is running normally. I use the standard video application in Ubuntu, I think this is totem and uses gstreamer.

Tried this fix here, but it didn't help: http://www.webupd8.org/2012/06/fix-mp4-playback-in-ubuntu-1204.html

uloco
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1 Answers1

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That link is about some odd looking fix for Ubuntu 12.x, I think it might even be detrimental on Ubuntu 14.04 (I did not have to do such a thing).

MP4 is the container, check what codec it uses by right clicking -> Properties -> Audio/Video tab: Check container and Video codec

I usually use VLC, which can play most formats out of the box, but I just tried to play an MP4 with Quicktime container and H.264 video codec with Totem. A pop-up told me to install gstreamer1.0-libav and some i386 packages, which must be an error (this is a 64 bit platform I'm working on).

  1. Solution: Plugins

Make sure you have the following packages installed: gstreamer1.0-libav, gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad, gstreamer1.0-plugins-good -- should be installed already and optionally gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly

If that doesn't work, post the container format, audio and video codec and we'll see. Or use VLC ^^

  1. Solution: Different output channel

If missing decoder plugins aren't the cause, you can install the gnome-media package to run gstreamer-properties, where you can test the output and change the output plugin (X Window System (no XV) seems to solve this issue for some people.

  1. "Solution": VMware player

Since you said you're running Ubuntu in a VMware player instance: There might be some issues with that (see here).

I don't know a fix for that, but using VLC instead seems to work. Or switching to VirtualBox.

Benjamin Maurer
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  • The properties are the same: Container: Quicktime, Codec: H.264 / AVC. I installed the package gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad this one was missing, but nothing changed. Do I have to reboot or something else? – uloco Feb 27 '15 at 10:48
  • Mh, according to http://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/documentation/plugins.html , that should have been it. Could type dpkg -l | grep gstreamer into a terminal and post the output to some kind of pastebin, e.g., http://paste.ubuntu.com/ – Benjamin Maurer Feb 27 '15 at 11:40
  • Ok, here's the link: http://paste.ubuntu.com/10447117/ – uloco Feb 27 '15 at 11:42
  • OK, this is possibly a bug. Could you install gnome-media then run gstreamer-properties and on the Video tab, click "Test" for Video Output. What do you see? You may try to set the output to "XWindow System (no XV)" and see if the green screen disappears. – Benjamin Maurer Feb 27 '15 at 11:58
  • I tried this before. I see a standard video test image, independent of what I choose for output. I installed vlc-player now and it works fine... Totem is still giving me the green screen though. – uloco Feb 27 '15 at 12:06
  • I forgot to mention, that I am running Ubuntu in vmware player. Could this be possibly causing the problem? – uloco Feb 27 '15 at 12:07
  • Oh, yes totally. Bc. gstreamer might want to use HW acceleration and VMs sometimes do funny things. Also, there seem to be some issues with VMware: https://communities.vmware.com/message/2330200 But I can't say much about this and can't test it now. I usually use Virtualbox – Benjamin Maurer Feb 27 '15 at 12:12
  • Ok, thank you for your help. I will be using vlc from now on this VM. Your answer helped me clear things up, so heres your check ;) – uloco Feb 27 '15 at 12:25
  • Cool thanks. I've updated the answer accordingly. – Benjamin Maurer Feb 27 '15 at 12:55