SilverBear's Guide to Enabling Multimedia in Mepis 7.x
Beware:
Patent and copyright laws operate differently depending on where you live. For example certain ways of circumventing Content Scramble System (CSS) aren't currently legal in USA. This guide is provided as information for those living in places where following these steps is not illegal, and where the distribution of some software is not outlawed without relevant permits, licenses or contracts. It is up to you to determine the legality of following these steps, as up-to-date information cannot be provided here concerning all the various legal jurisdictions of the world.
I am not a lawyer, but I do advise you to keep your sweet seat out of trouble. For more information about some of these issues, see this link to Harvard Law School:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/openlaw/DVD/dvd-discuss-faq.html
1: WARNING! This only applies to the 32-bit ["traditional"] version of Mepis 7.0.
2: Users of the 64-bit version?
Sorry. I don't know for sure. See: MEPIS Wiki: Install 32 bit packages on 64 bit system
Please advise me if you have success, and I will include your instructions on this page, with all due credit.
3: Users of MEPIS 6.0 or 6.5
I advise you upgrade to the 7.0 version of MEPIS Linux. Be advised there are several important differences, and you cannot upgrade via Synaptic; you must do a new installation. Version 6.0 and 6.5 are based on Ubuntu 6.04, whereas version 7.0 returns Mepis to it's traditional Debian base: in this case, Debian Stable 4.0 “Etch.”
If you do not wish to change to MEPIS 7.0, there is a version of this page for Mepis 6.x 32-bit systems. Check the drop-down menu in the left navigation panel.
For MEPIS Linux 7.0 users: the debian-multimedia-keyring is in the debian-multimedia repository. And the debian-multimedia repository is in your sources.list, but it is not enabled by default. Read the above “Beware” section before proceeding.
The 5 Steps
Step 1: Enable the Debian-Multimedia.org Repository
Since it is already listed, the quickest way is probably to enable the debian-mutlimedia repo via Synaptic:
1.1] KMenu > System > Package Manager [Synaptic Package Manager] Enter Root password when prompted.
1.2] In Synaptic Window: Settings > Repositories [click]. In the Repositories Window, scroll down to the line that contains debian-multimedia and checkmark the box at the left. Click OK at the bottom.
1.3] You will most likely be prompted to reload your sources: don't forget to do it! Click the blue Reload button on Synapic's main toolbar. It will take a minute or more for synaptic to download all the refreshed contents of all your enabled repositories.
Step 2: Open a Terminal window as Root.
Since the quickest way to finish the rest of these steps is through the CLI [Command Line Interface, AKA Konsole or terminal] I will switch gears here and advise you to close Synaptic if it is still open, and open a terminal window with Konsole: KMenu > System > Terminal Program [Konsole]
You will most likely get a termial window with a system prompt like this, with your username and computer name:
silverbear@klingon:~$
The colon is followed by two symbols: the tilde indicates you are logged in to your home directory, and the $ indicates you are logged in as a regular user. In order to get root status, issue the superuser command and enter the root password when prompted.
su
That ought to give you a system prompt that looks like this:
root@klingon:/home/silverbear#
Now you are doing business as root, still logged into your regular-user home directory, and the # sign shows that you have root powers.
Step 3: Get the PGP Keys to Debian Multimedia Repository
The first package to install is debian-multimedia-keyring. By default, it is not installed on your system, so you have two choices :
3.1] Direct download: Download this (right click and Save Link As...): debian-multimedia-keyring package . . . Save this .deb file to your desktop or /home/user directory.
In Konqueror, navigate to where you saved the .deb, and double-click it. This should launch KPackage, loading the .deb file you clicked. Then you can continue to install it with KPackage. You will need to give the root password when prompted.
3.2] With apt-get. Logged in as root:
apt-get install debian-multimedia-keyring
And ignore the apt-get warnings about the missing GPG key.
The above choices are copied from the debian-multimedia.org website. Silverbear recommends method #2.
Step 4: Install the right codecs and utilities
Note: there is another way to do this, via Synaptic. But since SilverBear Linux is about doing things the easy way, this is a great opportunity to experience the power of Linux: not only is the GUI point-and-click method not the easiest or quickest in this case, but since success breeds success, this is a great intro to the Command Line if you've not used it before.
Warning: Be advised, again, that some totalitarian governments forbid some of these multimedia packages. It is your responsibility to google each of them, and to determine for yourself whether or not your self-styled masters permit you to install these packages on your computer. These instructions are for general educational purposes only, and ought to be actually used only by free people living in free lands. I am not advocating them for use where they are not permitted! An important part of SilverBear Linux is being free, not being in prison or struggling with a life-crushing fine.
The easiest way to tell a computer what to do is issue the right commands, and let it do the work. Some of these commands have been translated into a visual, graphic approach, known as “point-and-click.” While this method, pioneered by Apple Computers, is a great asset, it is currently the case in Apple, Microsoft, and Linux operating systems that NOT ALL of the necessary commands to subdue the Silicon-life-form Wild Beast on your desktop are available in GUI, point-and-click style.
4.1] Copy and paste the following list of packages into a text file with KWrite. Save it as debian-multimedia-install.txt in your user home directory.
dvdauthor install dvdbackup install dvdrtools install dvd+rw-tools install flashplugin-nonfree install k9copy install libmad0 install lame install lame-extras install libavifile-0.7c2 install libdvdcss2 install libdvdnav4 install libdvdplay0 install libdvdread3 install liblame0 install libxine1-ffmpeg install mencoder install msttcorefonts install transcode install vamps install w32codecs install
4.2] Open a terminal window as root [see Step 2, above]
Issue these 3 commands, in this order:
apt-get update dpkg --set-selections </home/your-username/debian-multimedia-install.txt apt-get dselect-upgrade
The first command may take a minute or two to finish. It updates the list of available packages, since you have changed your list of package repositories. The second command activates dpackage with the list of packages contained in your new text file. The third command instructs apt-get to install these, and only these. If a package is already installed on your system, it will be ignored, not re-installed.
Step 5: Multimedia in Firefox
For me on MEPIS 7.0, Youtube, BBC videos and CNN videos all work without this additional step. It used to be necessary in earlier version of MEPIS [and Ubuntu] using Firefox, so I include it “just in case.”
5a] If you also want to play multimedia in the Firefox web browser you may probably need to edit [as root] this file: /etc/mplayerplug-in.conf Set the following options:
- enable-smil=1
- enable-helix=1
- enable-rm=1
- enable-mpeg=1
- enable-ogg=1
- enable-wmp=1
- enable-qt=1
- enable-gmp=1
- double=yes
- zoom=yes
5b] All done! Contribute a dollar, pound, euro, yen, yuan or shekel to mepis.org if this works well for you!
Internet Explorer?