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I installed Ubuntu 22.04 as a minimal desktop install, after a while I realised I could not play any media files due to lack of player. I assume, if I had chosen the option of a full install I would have gotten a working media player. It is too late now though, I have set up everything else just the way I like.

Looking at the store I see various media players, most with bad ratings and comments such as it doesn't work.

How do I install the default player (not sure what it would have been) that should have installed with a full installation? With all the codecs that I would need it to play .mkv and .mp4 files.

mohasi
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1 Answers1

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The totem player seams to be the default video player installed by the gnome version of the desktop-base package.

So you have the following options:

  • Install the totem player directly 
    $ sudo apt install --yes totem
  • Install the entire desktop-base package 
    $ sudo apt install --yes desktop-base
  • Or install some other player e.g. vlc (which is properly the most commonly used player) or mplayer (console only), etc. 
    $ sudo apt-get install --yes vlc

If a missing codec is the problem, take a look at this post. The mkvtoolnix will help you identify the used codes per stream.

Simon Sudler
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    Minor quibble: Human review, and the opportunity to reject a proposed install/removal is important to many users. I wouldn't use `--yes` lightly. – user535733 Jun 10 '22 at 16:03
  • @user535733 you are right, however I consider the "yes/no" question for the recommended packages confusing for the "normal" user. It takes years of Debian/Ubuntu experience to know the contents and functionality packages just be there names. Also the question explicitly mentioned "the store", where the list of installed dependencies and recommends are not even visible. – Simon Sudler Jun 10 '22 at 18:18
  • I tried totem using the command above but it could not play my .mkv files, it opened them but errored with some sort of stream error. I wanted an official solution but it seems installing totem like this might not be the same. – mohasi Jun 10 '22 at 20:22
  • @mohasi It is the same but installing the player software does NOT automatically install required codecs for many media formats, another inconvenient of doing minimal installations. Consider installing the `ubuntu-restricted-extras` package and/or using VLC that works with its own set of codecs. – ChanganAuto Jun 11 '22 at 00:07
  • @ChanganAuto even with the `ubuntu-restricted-extras` totem says "Internal data stream error", whereas VLC seems to play the `.mkv` fine, I've tried multiple ones from different sources. Some do play though. Tried a few .mp4 files, one gave the same error, another crashed Totem. Would it have been like this after a full install? – mohasi Jun 12 '22 at 12:13
  • @mohasi you should add these details to your question... I looks like your issue is not the missing Ubuntu default player, but a missing code for your mkv file. – Simon Sudler Jun 13 '22 at 06:45