OK, what's the trick needed to play MP3 audio?

[trilobyte]

Puppy 5.1.1 full install
HP Omnibook XE2-DB notebook, 11 years old
ESS Maestro sound card

Total Linux noob who knows Window$ well.

I ran the ALSA wizard and heard 2 faint dog barks. I rebooted and got a volume icon showing the speaker as muted. I ran zMixer (I think that's what it's called) and cranked up the master and PCM volumes. Now the volume icon doesn't have an X for muted anymore.

I've only got a 4.6GB HD with a 512MB swap partition, so I didn't want to put music on the HD. I plugged in an external USB HD with tons of MP3 files on it, fantasizing that I could listen to some tunes. Ha ha.

I clicked the "Play" icon on my desktop and it opened gnome MPlayer (name? I'm typing this in Window$). I mounted the external USB drive with my music and tried to play an MP3. You guessed it--nothing.

Searching this forum is bad news. I get lots of posts that don't contain the word MP3 even though that's what I searched for. I don't think the documentation, such as it is, is any better.

From having tried Ubuntu a couple of times on a newer machine, I remember that Linux is in the dark ages re: codecs, whereas any media player you get for Window$ just plays MP3s without having to sacrifice a cow first.

Even though I managed to get an obsolete version of Firefox (3.6.6; current version is 3.6.10) via the Puppy package manager, I'm leery of said package manager since it once totally filled my HD, so that I had to reformat with mke2fs and reinstall Puppy.

I suspect I need to get some codec package, but wading through several hundred threads in the forum after searching for MP3 isn't very appealing. I can't find the documentation that says "if you want to play MP3s, do ...", so I'm asking for a link to the instructions. Tnx.

[trilobyte]

It isn't that I don't hear sound, it's that the slider/progress bar in MPlayer doesn't move. The MP3 file doesn't play.

[Makoto]

Are you sure it's a valid MP3, or not another sound file type with the extension renamed to .mp3? Use a utility like MediaInfo (in either Windows or Linux), in Tree View, to check the details about the file. (If you want, you can even copy and paste the details here, with any file and folder information edited out, just in case.)

[Shep]

I suspect I need to get some codec package,

I doubt it; Puppy has established a reputation for being well provisioned "out of the box" for the most common tasks. You are clicking on the PLAY button, I assume? Can you tell if Mplayer is freezing and has to be killed, or is it just waiting for divine inspiration? Does clicking on anything in Mplayer show there's still life in it?

Go to the command line (MENU >UTILITY> RXVT or CONSOLE) and at the prompt try something like: mplayer /mnt/hda2/mysong.mp3

I expect it will play. If it doesn't, it might at least give some meaningful diagnostics.

[shadow of viper`]

Hello,

If you have some other mediaplayer like gxine or pmusic installed, try playing the mp3 file in there.... if it does work, then the issue could be with your mplayer

i am sure someone will be able to figure out the issue and fix it for you

[shadow of viper`]

look under Menu->Multimedia to find installed media players

[trilobyte]

Assuming I've got everything typed in correctly, I get tons of error messages from mplayer in a Console window. (BTW, it seems easier to noobie me to just click on the Console icon on the desktop than to follow the posted instructions for opening a console window.)

Let's see if I can type them correctly:

mplayer: /usr/lib/libpostprc.so.51: no version information available (required by mplayer)
mplayer: /usr/lib/libavutil.so 49: no version information available (required by mplayer)
mplayer: /usr/lib/libavutil.so 49: no version information available (required by /usr/lib/libavcodec.so.52)
mplayer: /usr/lib/libavutil.so 49: no version information available (required by /usr/lib/libavcodec.so.52)
mplayer: /usr/lib/libavutil.so 49: no version information available (required by /usr/lib/libavcodec.so.0)
mplayer: relocation error: /usr/lib/libavformat.so.52: symbol av_gcd, version LIBAVUTIL_49 not defined in file libavutil.so.49 with link time reference

Yes, one error message appears twice consecutively.

I guess everyone here has long since forgotten that in Window$, if you double-click on an MP3 file, it'll just start playing in the default media player. (I happen to like Winamp and lament to no end that there's nothing nearly as good available in Linux.)

If I single-click on an MP3 file on my external HD in Puppy, GNOME MPlayer appears and does nothing. If I click the play button in MPlayer, nothing happens. One thing I dislike intensely in Puppy is that when it starts, my volume is always turned all the way down and I have to open zMixer and crank up the master and PCM volumes every time.

All the menu buttons work in MPlayer. If I put a music CD in and select File->Disc->Open Audio CD, nothing happens. If I use File->Open and navigate to an MP3 file on my external HD, nothing happens. If I click the play button, nothing happens.

pcd plays an audio CD OK, so I guess ALSA is set up correctly. It's a commercial CD, not an MP3 CD that I made. I don't have an MP3 CD right now.

Pmusic will load an M3U playlist from my external HD, but just displays "Buffering...Please wait" for a while but doesn't play anything. Pmusic also behaves weirdly when navigating through my file system: it seems to display directory contents repeatedly. They're only listed once, but it paints them over and over again several times. Definitely strange.

Whatever media players come installed in Puppy 5.1.1 are what I have; the only thing I have managed to install is an obsolete version of Firefox.

Ah, finally! gxine plays my MP3s on my external HD. May as well remove MPlayer and Pmusic since they don't work. I've never had a media player on any version of Window$ that wouldn't play MP3s.

Thanks for all the help everyone.

L8r.

[Shep]

mplayer: /usr/lib/libpostprc.so.51: no version information available (required by mplayer)
mplayer: /usr/lib/libavutil.so 49: no version information available (required by mplayer)
mplayer: /usr/lib/libavutil.so 49: no version information available (required by /usr/lib/libavcodec.so.52)

You've well and truly messed things up somewhere!

I'm sure no one would have released a pup that didn't play mp3s right out of the box. So alas, something has got mangled at your end. But treat is as a valuable learning experience. You get the chance to try a few more things.

First, I suggest that you check the CD is a true copy. Stick it in the drive and in the console type: md5sum /dev/cdrom

The number it spits out should tally with what is listed at the site where you downloaded the iso which was probably here: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=58978

If that tallys, then do a clean reinstall.

If the CD is revealed to be corrupted, you may consider burning a CD with a later more polished (according to their writeup!) version of Lucid, here: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=60702
I tried Luci 233 as a live CD yesterday. (My ears are still ringing cause it had volumes all set at MAX.) The setup was as automatic as they boast, and all I did was change the pixel setting, to make it fill the screen. It's mediaplayer was automatically set up; it played an mp3 as soon as I clicked on it.

I guess everyone here has long since forgotten that in Window$, if you double-click on an MP3 file, it'll just start playing in the default media player.

That's exactly what happens in puppy.

(I happen to like Winamp and lament to no end that there's nothing nearly as good available in Linux.)

I liked windows for playing midis. I could still do other things at the same time. In puppy all we seem to have is the timidity player, and it wants all of my CPU otherwise it distorts. That was one thing that windows got right, a lightweight midi player.

You've had a bad first experience, but I'm sure you'll have better luck with your re-install.

See and report back with your delight at how well it performs.

[Alan-LB]

I like VLC - works well 'straight out of the box' and is available from Puppy download manager. I have not had any trouble with mp3 files but as suggested above your file may be corrupt - try another.

It will also give you access to hundreds of streamed radio stations from all over the world.

Alan

[ausvirgo]

Hi guys,

Mine does seem to be a codec issue - other .avi files play, and the offending files play in Windows on Media Player Classic (I use the K-Lite Mega codec pack there), but don't load in Lucid Puppy 5.11.

I've checked my md5sum as suggested by Shep, and it's OK.

I ran mplayer in rxvt and got:

# mplayer /mnt/home/New/test.avi
MPlayer SVN-r1.0~rc3+svn20090426-4.4.3 (C) 2000-2009 MPlayer Team
mplayer : could not connect to socket
mplayer: No such file of directory
Failed to open LIRC support You will not be able to use your remote control.

Playing /mnt/home/New/test.avi.


Exiting... (End of file)
#

(note: I copied the .avi file to test for this to avoid any typos with the long complicated original name.)

Tried the same with VLC and got:

# vlc /mnt/home/New/test.avi
VLC media player 1.0.6 Goldeneye
[0x8066896] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
[mp3 @ 0xb6b10250]Header missing
[mp3 @ 0xb6b0e790]MAX_READ_SIZE:5000000 reached
[mp3 @ 0xb6b0e790]Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate

(then nothing for a long, long time until I terminate VLC from it's interface and the console drops back to the # prompt.)

P.S. can anyone tell me how to copy text to or from urxtv or rxtv console windows?

[Shep]

mplayer: No such file of directory

Mplayer seems to have trouble with this file. I wonder is it corrupt or not an avi?

Then vlc seems to treat it as an mp3.

[mp3 @ 0xb6b10250]Header missing
[mp3 @ 0xb6b0e790]MAX_READ_SIZE:5000000 reached
[mp3 @ 0xb6b0e790]Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate

Maybe it is an mp3 renamed as .avi and this is tricking these players? Are there other .avi files that don't play, alongside those .avi that do?

Try renaming it to a .mp3 file. Otherwise, I'm out of ideas.

P.S. can anyone tell me how to copy text to or from urxtv or rxtv console windows?

Highlight some text, then go to the destination and depress the scroll-wheel of the mouse, i.e., you click the mouse wheel.

[Bruce B]

Mine does seem to be a codec issue - other .avi files play, and the
offending files play in Windows on Media Player Classic (I use the K-Lite
Mega codec pack there), but don't load in Lucid Puppy 5.11

If Mplayer is installed in Windows, there is a codec directory. The codecs in
this directory can be copied to Puppy's codec directory.

[tybuzz67]

when i installed Puppy for the first time all basic and essential apps were working. i even downloaded chromium browser and Gimp from quick pet. i enjoyed watching videos with its installed apps then suddenly a month ago i lost my audio. i didn't know how it came about. i remember tweaking the internet wizard because i want my usb modem to work. when i finally got my USB modem working and was trying to view a video in youtube i found out i had no more audio. a month passed when i got a revelation from nowhere...i just remember the setup icon, i click it and found the wizard for alsa sound wizard. i got it into it, followed the instructions, i selected my type of audio in my mobo and finally i had my audio back.
this distro is just great. with its wizard that has helpful hints on how to do things...it's just great

[Shep]

solved? or have you given up?