comparison DOCS/xml/en/faq.xml @ 16004:3bed758b6eae

Big cleanup all over the place; wording/grammar/typo fixes as usual, many entries rephrased for better clarity and shortness, a bit of old cruft removed, better semantic markup, consistency...

16003:d7a8675c2fe1

How do I translate <application>MPlayer</application> to a new language?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Read the <ulink url="../../tech/translations.txt">translation HOWTO</ulink>,
it should explain everything. You can get further help on the
<ulink url="http://mplayerhq.hu/mailman/listinfo/mplayer-docs">MPlayer-docs</ulink>
mailing list.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>

</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
Are there binary (RPM/deb) packages of <application>MPlayer</application>?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
See the <link linkend="debian">Debian</link> and <link linkend="rpm">RPM</link>
section for details.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
How can I build a 32 bit <application>MPlayer</application> on 64 bit Athlon?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Try the following configure options:
<screen>
./configure --target=athlon_xp --cc="gcc -m32" --as="as --32" --with-extralibdir=/usr/lib

</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
I have a Matrox G200/G400/G450/G550, how do I compile/use the mga_vid driver?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Read the <link linkend="mga_vid">mga_vid</link> section.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
During 'make', <application>MPlayer</application> complains about X11 libraries.
I don't understand, I DO have X installed!?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
... but you don't have the X development package installed. Or not correctly.
It's called <filename>XFree86-devel*</filename> under Red Hat, and
<filename>xlibs-dev</filename> under Debian Woody,
<filename>libx11-dev</filename> under Debian Sarge. Also check if the
<filename class="directory">/usr/X11</filename> and
<filename class="directory">/usr/include/X11</filename> symlinks exist (this
can be a problem on Mandrake systems). They can be created with these commands:
<screen>
     # ln -sf /usr/X11R6 /usr/X11
     # ln -sf /usr/X11R6/include/X11 /usr/include/X11
</screen>
Your distribution may differ from the
<ulink url="http://www.pathname.com/fhs/">Filesystem Hierarchy Standard</ulink>.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>
</qandadiv>

<qandadiv id="faq-general">

</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
The <option>-xy</option> or <option>-fs</option> option doesn't work with
the x11 driver (<option>-vo x11</option>) ...
</para></question>
<answer><para>
It does, but you have to explicitly specify software scaling (very slow) with the
<option>-zoom</option> option. You better use XF86VidMode support: You must
specify the <option>-vm</option> and the <option>-fs</option> option, and you're
done. Make sure you have the right modelines in your <filename>XF86Config</filename>
file, and try to make the <link linkend="dga">DGA driver</link> and
<link linkend="sdl">SDL's DGA driver</link> work for you. It's much
faster. If SDL's DGA works, use that, it'll be even faster.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
What is the meaning of the numbers on the status line?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Example:
<screen>A: 2.1 V: 2.2 A-V: -0.167 ct: 0.042 57/57 41% 0% 2.6% 0 4 49%</screen>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>A: audio position in seconds</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>V: video position in seconds</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>A-V: audio-video difference in seconds (delay)</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>ct: total A-V sync correction done</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>frames played (counting from last seek)</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>frames decoded (counting from last seek)</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>video codec CPU usage in percent (for slices and DR this includes
video_out)</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>video_out CPU usage</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>audio codec CPU usage in percent</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>frames needed to drop to maintain A-V sync</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>current level of image postprocessing (when using
<option>-autoq</option>)</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>current cache size used (around 50% is normal)</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>playback speed as a factor of original speed</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
Most of them are for debug purposes and will be removed at some point.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
What if I don't want them to appear?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Use the <option>-quiet</option> option and read the man page.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
Why is video_out CPU usage zero (0%) for some files?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
It's not zero, but it's called from the codec and thus cannot be measured
separately. You should try to play the file using <option>-vo null</option> and
then <option>-vo ...</option> and check the difference to see the video_out speed.
</para></answer>
<answer><para>
You are using Direct Rendering, where the codec renders to the video memory
itself. In this case, the decoding percentage contains the display percentage, too.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
There are error messages about file not found <filename>/usr/local/lib/codecs/</filename> ...
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Download the binary codecs from our
<ulink url="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/">codecs page</ulink>
and install it.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>

</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
My computer plays MS DivX AVIs with resolutions ~ 640x300 and stereo MP3 sound
too slow. When I use <option>-nosound</option> option, everything is OK (but quiet).
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Your machine is too slow or your sound card driver is broken. Consult the
documentation to see if you can improve performance.
</para></answer>

<question><para>
<application>MPlayer</application> dies with
<screen>MPlayer interrupted by signal 4 in module: decode_video</screen>
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Try running <application>MPlayer</application> on the machine you compiled on.
Or recompile with runtime CPU detection
(<command>./configure --enable-runtime-cpudetection</command>).
Don't use <application>MPlayer</application> on a CPU different from the one
it was compiled on, without using the feature mentioned just now.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
I have problems with [your window manager] and fullscreen xv/xmga/sdl/x11 modes ...
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Read the <link linkend="bugreports">bug reporting guidelines</link> and send us
a proper bug report.
Also try experimenting with the <option>-fstype</option> option.

Your CPU <emphasis role="bold">and/or</emphasis> video card <emphasis role="bold">and/or</emphasis>
bus is too slow. <application>MPlayer</application> displays a message if this is the case (and the
dropped frames counter goes up fast).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
If it is an AVI, maybe it has bad interleaving. Try the <option>-ni</option> option.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
Your sound driver is buggy, or you use ALSA 0.5 with <option>-ao oss</option>.
See the <link linkend="audio">sound card section</link>.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
The AVI has a bad header, try the <option>-nobps</option> option, and/or <option>-mc 0</option>.
</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

</para></question>
<answer><para>
Use the <option>-dvd-device</option> option to refer to the directory
that contains the files:
<screen>
mplayer dvd://1 -dvd-device /path/to/directory
</screen>
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>
</qandadiv>

</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
I'd like to seek +/- 1 frames instead of 10 seconds.
</para></question>
<answer><para>
You can step forward one frame by pressing <keycap>.</keycap>.
If the movie was not paused it will be paused afterwards
(see the man page for details).
Stepping backwards is unlikely to be implemented anytime soon.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
How can I make <application>MPlayer</application> remember the options I use
for a particular file, e.g. <filename>movie.avi</filename>?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Create a file named <filename>movie.avi.conf</filename> with the file-specific
options in it and put it in <filename class="directory">~/.mplayer</filename> or
in the same directory as the file.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>
</qandadiv>

<qandadiv id="faq-encoding">
<title>Encoding</title>
<qandaentry>

<answer><para>
Once you have selected your title, and made sure it plays fine with
<application>MPlayer</application>, use the option <option>-dumpstream</option>.
For example:
<screen>
mplayer -dumpstream dvd://5 -dumpfile <replaceable>dvd_dump.vob</replaceable>
</screen>
will dump the 5th title of the DVD into the file
<replaceable>dvd_dump.vob</replaceable>
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<answer><para>
MPEG files can be concatenated into a single file with luck.
For AVI files, you can use <application>MEncoder</application>'s
multiple file support like this:
<screen>
mencoder -ovc copy -oac copy -o out.avi file1.avi file2.avi
</screen>
This will only work if the files are of the same resolution and codec.
You can also try
<ulink url="http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/">avidemux</ulink> and
<application>avimerge</application> (part of the
<ulink url="http://www.transcoding.org/">transcode</ulink>
tool set).
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
How can I fix AVI files with broken index or interleaving?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Simply copy the video and audio streams into a new file, and
<application>MEncoder</application> generates the index.
Of course this cannot fix possible bugs in the video and/or audio streams.
It also fixes files with broken interleaving, thus the
<option>-ni</option> option will not be needed for them anymore.
<screen>
mencoder -idx <replaceable>input.avi</replaceable> -ovc copy -oac copy -o <replaceable>output.avi</replaceable>
</screen>
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
How can I fix the aspect ration of an AVI file?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
You can do such a thing thanks to <application>MEncoder</application>'s
<option>-force-avi-aspect</option> option, which overrides the aspect
stored in the AVI OpenDML vprp header option. For example:

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
I can't encode DVD subtitles into the AVI!
</para></question>
<answer><para>
You have to specify the <option>-sid</option> option correctly!
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
How can I encode only selected chapters from a DVD?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Use the <option>-chapter</option> option correctly, like: <option>-chapter 5-7</option>
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
I can't encode an ASF file to AVI/MPEG-4 (DivX) because it uses 1000 fps.
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Because ASF uses variable frame rate but AVI uses a fixed one, you
have to set it by hand using <option>-ofps</option>.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>


<qandaentry>

<option>-ffourcc</option> option.
You may also change the FourCC of existing files in the same way:
<screen>
  mencoder <replaceable>input.avi</replaceable> -o <replaceable>output.avi</replaceable> -ffourcc XVID
</screen>
Note that this will set the FourCC as XVID rather than as DIVX.
This is recommended as DIVX FourCC means DivX4, which is a very basic
MPEG-4 codec, whereas DX50 and XVID both mean full MPEG-4 (ASP).
Therefore, if you change the FourCC to DIVX, some bad software or
hardware players may choke on some advanced features that
<systemitem class="library">libavcodec</systemitem> supports, but DivX

16004:3bed758b6eae

How do I translate <application>MPlayer</application> to a new language?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Read the <ulink url="../../tech/translations.txt">translation HOWTO</ulink>,
it should explain everything. You can get further help on the
<ulink url="http://mplayerhq.hu/mailman/listinfo/mplayer-translations">MPlayer-translations</ulink>
mailing list.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>

</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
Are there binary (RPM/Debian) packages of <application>MPlayer</application>?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
See the <link linkend="debian">Debian</link> and <link linkend="rpm">RPM</link>
section for details.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
How can I build a 32 bit <application>MPlayer</application> on a 64 bit Athlon?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Try the following configure options:
<screen>
./configure --target=athlon_xp --cc="gcc -m32" --as="as --32" --with-extralibdir=/usr/lib

</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
I have a Matrox G200/G400/G450/G550, how do I compile/use the
<systemitem>mga_vid</systemitem> driver?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Read the <link linkend="mga_vid">mga_vid</link> section.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
During 'make', <application>MPlayer</application> complains about
missing X11 libraries. I don't understand, I <emphasis>do</emphasis>
have X11 installed!?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
... but you don't have the X11 development package installed. Or not correctly.
It's called <filename>XFree86-devel*</filename> under Red Hat, and
<filename>xlibs-dev</filename> under Debian Woody,
<filename>libx11-dev</filename> under Debian Sarge. Also check if the
<filename class="directory">/usr/X11</filename> and
<filename class="directory">/usr/include/X11</filename> symlinks exist (this
can be a problem on Mandrake systems).
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>
</qandadiv>

<qandadiv id="faq-general">

</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
What is the meaning of the numbers on the status line?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Example:
<screen>A: 2.1 V: 2.2 A-V: -0.167 ct: 0.042 57/57 41% 0% 2.6% 0 4 49% 1.00x</screen>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry><term><systemitem>A: 2.1</systemitem></term>
<listitem><para>audio position in seconds</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><systemitem>V: 2.2</systemitem></term>
<listitem><para>video position in seconds</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><systemitem>A-V: -0.167</systemitem></term>
<listitem><para>audio-video difference in seconds (delay)</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><systemitem>ct: 0.042</systemitem></term>
<listitem><para>total A-V sync correction done</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><systemitem>57/57</systemitem></term>
<listitem><para>frames played/decoded (counting from last seek)</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><systemitem>41%</systemitem></term>
<listitem><para>video codec CPU usage in percent
  (for slice rendering and direct rendering this
  includes video_out)</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><systemitem>0%</systemitem></term>
<listitem><para>video_out CPU usage</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><systemitem>2.6%</systemitem></term>
<listitem><para>audio codec CPU usage in percent</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><systemitem>0</systemitem></term>
<listitem><para>frames dropped to maintain A-V sync</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><systemitem>4</systemitem></term>
<listitem><para>current level of image postprocessing (when using
<option>-autoq</option>)</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><systemitem>49%</systemitem></term>
<listitem><para>current cache size used (around 50% is normal)</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><systemitem>1.00x</systemitem></term>
<listitem><para>playback speed as a factor of original speed</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
Most of them are for debug purposes, use the <option>-quiet</option>
option to make them disappear.
You might notice that video_out CPU usage is zero (0%) for some files.
This is because it is called directly from the codec and thus cannot
be measured separately. If you wish to know the video_out speed, compare
the difference when playing the file with <option>-vo null</option> and
your usual video output driver.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
There are error messages about file not found <filename>/usr/local/lib/codecs/</filename> ...
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Download and install the binary codecs from our
<ulink url="http://mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design7/codecs.html">codecs page</ulink>.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
How can I make <application>MPlayer</application> remember the options I
use for a particular file, e.g. <filename>movie.avi</filename>?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Create a file named <filename>movie.avi.conf</filename> with the file-specific
options in it and put it in <filename class="directory">~/.mplayer</filename>
or in the same directory as the file.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>

</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
My computer plays MS DivX AVIs with resolutions ~ 640x300 and stereo MP3 sound
too slow. When I use the <option>-nosound</option> option, everything is OK (but quiet).
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Your machine is too slow or your sound card driver is broken. Consult the
documentation to see if you can improve performance.
</para></answer>

<question><para>
<application>MPlayer</application> dies with
<screen>MPlayer interrupted by signal 4 in module: decode_video</screen>
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Don't use <application>MPlayer</application> on a CPU different from the one
it was compiled on or recompile with runtime CPU detection
(<command>./configure --enable-runtime-cpudetection</command>).
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
I have problems with <replaceable>[your window manager]</replaceable>
and fullscreen xv/xmga/sdl/x11 modes ...
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Read the <link linkend="bugreports">bug reporting guidelines</link> and send us
a proper bug report.
Also try experimenting with the <option>-fstype</option> option.

Your CPU <emphasis role="bold">and/or</emphasis> video card <emphasis role="bold">and/or</emphasis>
bus is too slow. <application>MPlayer</application> displays a message if this is the case (and the
dropped frames counter goes up fast).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
If it is an AVI, maybe it has bad interleaving, try the
<option>-ni</option> to work around this.
Or it may have a bad header, in this case <option>-nobps</option>
and/or <option>-mc 0</option> can help.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
Your sound driver is buggy. See the <link linkend="audio">audio section</link>.
</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

</para></question>
<answer><para>
Use the <option>-dvd-device</option> option to refer to the directory
that contains the files:
<screen>
mplayer dvd://1 -dvd-device <replaceable>/path/to/directory</replaceable>
</screen>
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>
</qandadiv>

</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
I'd like to seek +/- 1 frame instead of 10 seconds.
</para></question>
<answer><para>
You can step forward one frame by pressing <keycap>.</keycap>.
If the movie was not paused it will be paused afterwards
(see the man page for details).
Stepping backwards is unlikely to be implemented anytime soon.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>
</qandadiv>

<qandadiv id="faq-encoding">
<title>Encoding</title>
<qandaentry>

<answer><para>
Once you have selected your title, and made sure it plays fine with
<application>MPlayer</application>, use the option <option>-dumpstream</option>.
For example:
<screen>
mplayer dvd://5 -dumpstream -dumpfile <replaceable>dvd_dump.vob</replaceable>
</screen>
will dump the 5th title of the DVD into the file
<replaceable>dvd_dump.vob</replaceable>
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<answer><para>
MPEG files can be concatenated into a single file with luck.
For AVI files, you can use <application>MEncoder</application>'s
multiple file support like this:
<screen>
mencoder -ovc copy -oac copy -o <replaceable>out.avi</replaceable> <replaceable>file1.avi</replaceable> <replaceable>file2.avi</replaceable>
</screen>
This will only work if the files are of the same resolution
and use the same codec.
You can also try
<ulink url="http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/">avidemux</ulink> and
<application>avimerge</application> (part of the
<ulink url="http://www.transcoding.org/">transcode</ulink>
tool set).
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
How can I fix AVI files with a broken index or bad interleaving?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
To avoid having to use <option>-idx</option> to be able to seek in
AVI files with a broken index or <option>-ni</option> to play AVI
files with bad interleaving, use the command
<screen>
mencoder <replaceable>input.avi</replaceable> -idx -ovc copy -oac copy -o <replaceable>output.avi</replaceable>
</screen>
to copy the video and audio streams into a new AVI file while
regenerating the index and correctly interleaving the data.
Of course this cannot fix possible bugs in the video and/or audio streams.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
How can I fix the aspect ratio of an AVI file?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
You can do such a thing thanks to <application>MEncoder</application>'s
<option>-force-avi-aspect</option> option, which overrides the aspect
stored in the AVI OpenDML vprp header option. For example:

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
I can't encode DVD subtitles into the AVI!
</para></question>
<answer><para>
You have to properly specify the <option>-sid</option> option.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
How can I encode only selected chapters from a DVD?
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Use the <option>-chapter</option> option correctly, like: <option>-chapter 5-7</option>.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
I can't encode an ASF file to AVI/MPEG-4 (DivX) because it uses 1000 fps.
</para></question>
<answer><para>
Since ASF uses variable framerate but AVI uses a fixed one, you
have to set it by hand with the <option>-ofps</option> option.
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>


<qandaentry>

<option>-ffourcc</option> option.
You may also change the FourCC of existing files in the same way:
<screen>
  mencoder <replaceable>input.avi</replaceable> -o <replaceable>output.avi</replaceable> -ffourcc XVID
</screen>
Note that this will set the FourCC to XVID rather than DIVX.
This is recommended as DIVX FourCC means DivX4, which is a very basic
MPEG-4 codec, whereas DX50 and XVID both mean full MPEG-4 (ASP).
Therefore, if you change the FourCC to DIVX, some bad software or
hardware players may choke on some advanced features that
<systemitem class="library">libavcodec</systemitem> supports, but DivX