Install Linux

Linux Mint 19.1 refuses to install VLC. After Software Manager found the update for VLC (it was not listed at first) it "runs" easily but refuses to install VLC.

SOS, unfortunately. Worse, I see a message from Bla bla that says "VLC in Mint 19.1 works flawlessly."

Thank you Dan. What's the Data mini-ribbon connector called? Please. I don't have an extra.

Don't know if this will help. Thank you a million times for trying to!


george@george-System-Product-Name:~$ sudo apt-get update
[sudo] password for george:
Ign:1 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable InRelease
Hit:2 https://deb.opera.com/opera-stable stable InRelease
Hit:3 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable Release
Ign:4 http://packages.linuxmint.com tessa InRelease
Hit:5 http://packages.linuxmint.com tessa Release
Get:6 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security InRelease [88.7 kB]
Hit:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic InRelease
Hit:8 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu bionic InRelease
Get:9 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates InRelease [88.7 kB]
Get:12 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports InRelease [74.6 kB]
Fetched 252 kB in 1s (201 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
george@george-System-Product-Name:~$ sudo apt-cache search VLC
browser-plugin-vlc - multimedia plugin for web browsers based on VLC
cubemap - scalable video reflector, designed to be used with VLC
dvblast - Simple and powerful dvb-streaming application
forensics-extra-gui - Forensics Environment - extra GUI components (metapackage)
fp-units-multimedia - Free Pascal - multimedia units dependency package
fp-units-multimedia-3.0.4 - Free Pascal - multimedia units
freeplayer - wrapper around vlc for French ADSL FreeBox
freetuxtv - Internet television and radio player
getstream - DVB streaming application
hdhomerun-config - Configuration utility for Silicon Dust HD HomeRun
hdhomerun-config-gui - GUI Configuration utility for Silicon Dust HD HomeRun
kaffeine - versatile media player for KDE
laditools - Linux Audio Desktop Integration Tools
libbluray-bdj - Blu-ray Disc Java support library (BD-J library)
libbluray-bin - Blu-ray disc playback support library (tools)
libbluray-dev - Blu-ray disc playback support library (development files)
libbluray-doc - Blu-ray disc playback support library (documentation)
libbluray2 - Blu-ray disc playback support library (shared library)
libhdhomerun-dev - Development library for Silicon Dust HD HomeRun
libhdhomerun4 - Library for Silicon Dust HD HomeRun
libvcdinfo-dev - library to extract information from VideoCD (development files)
libvcdinfo0 - library to extract information from VideoCD
libvlc-bin - tools for VLC's base library
libvlc-dev - development files for libvlc
libvlc5 - multimedia player and streamer library
libvlccore-dev - development files for libvlccore
libvlccore9 - base library for VLC and its modules
mimms - mms (e.g. mms://) stream downloader
mpris-remote - command-line interface for mpris compatible media players
phonon-backend-vlc - Phonon VLC backend
phonon4qt5-backend-vlc - Phonon4Qt5 VLC backend
pidgin-mpris - sets your available message to your currently playing track
python3-pafy - Download videos and retrieve metadata from YouTube
python3-streamlink - Python module for extracting video streams from various websites
python3-streamlink-doc - CLI for extracting video streams from various websites (documentation)
smtube - YouTube videos browser
streamlink - CLI for extracting video streams from various websites to a video player
vlc - multimedia player and streamer
vlc-bin - binaries from VLC
vlc-data - common data for VLC
vlc-l10n - translations for VLC
vlc-plugin-access-extra - multimedia player and streamer (extra access plugins)
vlc-plugin-base - multimedia player and streamer (base plugins)
vlc-plugin-fluidsynth - FluidSynth plugin for VLC
vlc-plugin-jack - JACK audio plugins for VLC
vlc-plugin-notify - LibNotify plugin for VLC
vlc-plugin-qt - multimedia player and streamer (Qt plugin)
vlc-plugin-samba - Samba plugin for VLC
vlc-plugin-skins2 - multimedia player and streamer (Skins2 plugin)
vlc-plugin-svg - SVG plugin for VLC
vlc-plugin-video-output - multimedia player and streamer (video output plugins)
vlc-plugin-video-splitter - multimedia player and streamer (video splitter plugins)
vlc-plugin-visualization - multimedia player and streamer (visualization plugins)
vlc-plugin-vlsub - VLC extension to download subtitles from opensubtitles.org
vlc-plugin-zvbi - transitional dummy package
winetricks - package manager for Wine to install software easily
x264 - video encoder for the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard
libdvd-pkg - DVD-Video playing library - installer
george@george-System-Product-Name:~$ vlc
VLC media player 3.0.4 Vetinari (revision 3.0.4-0-gf615db6332)
[0000563fea035570] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.

Break.
Break. At about this point a full VLC window was launched. The too familiar orange traffic cone was presented. I loaded a DVD. VLC wan't presented as a choice in the drop down window. Chose "Media Player." No dice. SOS.
End break.



qt5ct: using qt5ct plugin
qt5ct: D-Bus global menu: no
qt5ct: D-Bus system tray: no
[0000563fea0394e0] main playlist: playlist is empty
QObject::~QObject: Timers cannot be stopped from another thread
george@george-System-Product-Name:~$ cvlc
VLC media player 3.0.4 Vetinari (revision 3.0.4-0-gf615db6332)
[0000559b3f9ddbe0] dummy interface: using the dummy interface module...
[0000559b3f9094e0] main playlist: playlist is empty

OK, we're closer. VLC is actually installed, just, for whatever reason, not working correctly. Can I see which vlc packages you have installed already? Run

dpkg -l | grep -i vlc

...and post up the output.

Thank you!

george@george-System-Product-Name:~$ dpkg -l | grep i vlc
grep: vlc: No such file or directory
george@george-System-Product-Name:~$

This reminds me of the old Elvis song "Return to Sender," product unknown.

You missed a "-"

dpkg -l | grep -i vlc

Sorry! By the way, thanks a million for your help with this problem!

george@george-System-Product-Name:~$ dpkg -l | grep -i vlc
ii libvlc-bin:amd64 3.0.4-1ubuntu0.2 amd64 tools for VLC's base library
ii libvlc5:amd64 3.0.4-1ubuntu0.2 amd64 multimedia player and streamer library
ii libvlccore9:amd64 3.0.4-1ubuntu0.2 amd64 base library for VLC and its modules
ii vlc-bin 3.0.4-1ubuntu0.2 amd64 binaries from VLC
ii vlc-data 3.0.4-1ubuntu0.2 all common data for VLC
ii vlc-plugin-base:amd64 3.0.4-1ubuntu0.2 amd64 multimedia player and streamer (base plugins)
ii vlc-plugin-qt:amd64 3.0.4-1ubuntu0.2 amd64 multimedia player and streamer (Qt plugin)
ii vlc-plugin-video-output:amd64 3.0.4-1ubuntu0.2 amd64 multimedia player and streamer (video output plugins)
george@george-System-Product-Name:~$

OK, so VLC itself seems to be complete. Now I vaguely recall from the release notes that since Mint 18, it no longer installs certain libraries and codecs by default. We can just instruct the system to install them - if they're already installed, it'll just skip the packages safely.

sudo apt-get install mint-meta-codecs libdvdcss2

Holy fudge mo moto, Batman, that's a long list! Muchas gracias good sir!

george@george-System-Product-Name:~$ sudo apt-get install mint-meta-codecs libdvdcss2
[sudo] password for george:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
libavdevice57 libdbus-glib1.0-cil libdbus1.0-cil libgdata2.1-cil
libgkeyfile1.0-cil libgtk-sharp-beans-cil libgudev1.0-cil libllvm7
libmono-data-tds4.0-cil libmono-system-data4.0-cil
libmono-system-enterpriseservices4.0-cil libmono-system-numerics4.0-cil
libmono-system-runtime-serialization4.0-cil
libmono-system-servicemodel-internals0.0-cil
libmono-system-transactions4.0-cil libmono-system-xml-linq4.0-cil
libmono-zeroconf1.0-cil libnewtonsoft-json5.0-cil libnotify0.4-cil
libsdl2-2.0-0 libtaglib2.1-cil libuchardet0 libwnck-common libwnck22
linux-headers-4.15.0-48 linux-headers-4.15.0-48-generic
linux-headers-4.15.0-50 linux-headers-4.15.0-50-generic
linux-headers-4.15.0-51 linux-headers-4.15.0-51-generic
linux-image-4.15.0-48-generic linux-image-4.15.0-50-generic
linux-image-4.15.0-51-generic linux-modules-4.15.0-48-generic
linux-modules-4.15.0-50-generic linux-modules-4.15.0-51-generic
linux-modules-extra-4.15.0-48-generic linux-modules-extra-4.15.0-50-generic
linux-modules-extra-4.15.0-51-generic
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following additional packages will be installed:
adobe-flashplugin cabextract chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra gstreamer1.0-libav
gstreamer1.0-vaapi libavcodec-extra libavcodec-extra57 libhal1-flash
libmspack0 libunshield0 unrar unshield vlc vlc-l10n vlc-plugin-notify
Suggested packages:
x-ttcidfont-conf msttcorefonts ttf-bitstream-vera | ttf-dejavu
ttf-xfree86-nonfree xfs libnspr4-0d libnss3-1d gstreamer1.0-vaapi-doc
Recommended packages:
adobe-flash-properties-gtk | adobe-flash-properties-kde vlc-plugin-samba
vlc-plugin-skins2 vlc-plugin-video-splitter vlc-plugin-visualization
The following packages will be REMOVED:
libavcodec57
The following NEW packages will be installed:
adobe-flashplugin cabextract chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra gstreamer1.0-libav
gstreamer1.0-vaapi libavcodec-extra libavcodec-extra57 libdvdcss2
libhal1-flash libmspack0 libunshield0 mint-meta-codecs unrar unshield vlc
vlc-l10n vlc-plugin-notify
0 upgraded, 17 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 21.9 MB/21.9 MB of archives.
After this operation, 80.5 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Get:1 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu bionic/partner amd64 adobe-flashplugin amd64 1:20190709.1-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 [9,819 kB]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe amd64 libavcodec-extra57 amd64 7:3.4.6-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 [4,591 kB]
Get:3 http://packages.linuxmint.com tessa/import amd64 libdvdcss2 amd64 1.4.2-dmo1 [56.9 kB]
Get:4 http://packages.linuxmint.com tessa/main amd64 mint-meta-codecs all 2018.11.28 [5,316 B]
Get:5 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe amd64 chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra amd64 75.0.3770.90-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 [1,112 kB]
Get:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/main amd64 libmspack0 amd64 0.6-3ubuntu0.2 [37.4 kB]
Get:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/universe amd64 cabextract amd64 1.6-1.1 [21.8 kB]
Get:8 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe amd64 gstreamer1.0-libav amd64 1.14.4-0ubuntu1~ubuntu18.04.1 [121 kB]
Get:9 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe amd64 gstreamer1.0-vaapi amd64 1.14.4-1~ubuntu18.04.1 [310 kB]
Get:10 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/universe amd64 libunshield0 amd64 1.4.2-1 [20.8 kB]
Get:11 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe amd64 libavcodec-extra all 7:3.4.6-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 [14.3 kB]
Get:12 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/universe amd64 libhal1-flash amd64 0.3.3-2 [11.4 kB]
Get:13 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/multiverse amd64 unrar amd64 1:5.5.8-1 [129 kB]
Get:14 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/universe amd64 unshield amd64 1.4.2-1 [10.2 kB]
Get:15 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe amd64 vlc-l10n all 3.0.4-1ubuntu0.2 [5,638 kB]
Get:16 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe amd64 vlc-plugin-notify amd64 3.0.4-1ubuntu0.2 [18.3 kB]
Fetched 21.9 MB in 5s (4,264 kB/s)
dpkg: libavcodec57:amd64: dependency problems, but removing anyway as you requested:
vlc-plugin-base:amd64 depends on libavcodec57 (>= 7:3.4.4) | libavcodec-extra57 (>= 7:3.4.4); however:
Package libavcodec57:amd64 is to be removed.
Package libavcodec-extra57 is not installed.
libavformat57:amd64 depends on libavcodec57 (>= 7:3.4.6) | libavcodec-extra57 (>= 7:3.4.6); however:
Package libavcodec57:amd64 is to be removed.
Package libavcodec-extra57 is not installed.
vlc-plugin-video-output:amd64 depends on libavcodec57 (>= 7:3.4.4) | libavcodec-extra57 (>= 7:3.4.4); however:
Package libavcodec57:amd64 is to be removed.
Package libavcodec-extra57 is not installed.
libavfilter6:amd64 depends on libavcodec57 (>= 7:3.4.6) | libavcodec-extra57 (>= 7:3.4.6); however:
Package libavcodec57:amd64 is to be removed.
Package libavcodec-extra57 is not installed.
libgegl-0.3-0:amd64 depends on libavcodec57 (>= 7:3.4.2) | libavcodec-extra57 (>= 7:3.4.2); however:
Package libavcodec57:amd64 is to be removed.
Package libavcodec-extra57 is not installed.
libchromaprint1:amd64 depends on libavcodec57 (>= 7:3.4.1) | libavcodec-extra57 (>= 7:3.4.1); however:
Package libavcodec57:amd64 is to be removed.
Package libavcodec-extra57 is not installed.
libavdevice57:amd64 depends on libavcodec57 (>= 7:3.4.6) | libavcodec-extra57 (>= 7:3.4.6); however:
Package libavcodec57:amd64 is to be removed.
Package libavcodec-extra57 is not installed.

(Reading database ... 428536 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing libavcodec57:amd64 (7:3.4.6-0ubuntu0.18.04.1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libavcodec-extra57:amd64.
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Unpacking libdvdcss2:amd64 (1.4.2-dmo1) ...
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Preparing to unpack .../16-mint-meta-codecs_2018.11.28_all.deb ...
Unpacking mint-meta-codecs (2018.11.28) ...
Setting up unrar (1:5.5.8-1) ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/unrar-nonfree to provide /usr/bin/unrar (unrar) in auto mode
Setting up libmspack0:amd64 (0.6-3ubuntu0.2) ...
Setting up libhal1-flash (0.3.3-2) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.60ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.23+linuxmint5) ...
Setting up vlc (3.0.4-1ubuntu0.2) ...
Setting up vlc-l10n (3.0.4-1ubuntu0.2) ...
Setting up libavcodec-extra57:amd64 (7:3.4.6-0ubuntu0.18.04.1) ...
Processing triggers for mintsystem (8.4.2) ...
Setting up cabextract (1.6-1.1) ...
Setting up libdvdcss2:amd64 (1.4.2-dmo1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.27-3ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for libvlc-bin:amd64 (3.0.4-1ubuntu0.2) ...
Setting up gstreamer1.0-vaapi:amd64 (1.14.4-1~ubuntu18.04.1) ...
Setting up chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra (75.0.3770.90-0ubuntu0.18.04.1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.8.3-2ubuntu0.1) ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.13.3-11ubuntu1.1) ...
Setting up vlc-plugin-notify:amd64 (3.0.4-1ubuntu0.2) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.17-2) ...
Setting up adobe-flashplugin (1:20190709.1-0ubuntu0.18.04.1) ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/adobe-flashplugin/libflashplayer.so to provide /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/flashplugin-alternative.so (mozilla-flashplugin) in auto mode
Setting up libunshield0:amd64 (1.4.2-1) ...
Setting up gstreamer1.0-libav:amd64 (1.14.4-0ubuntu1~ubuntu18.04.1) ...
Setting up unshield (1.4.2-1) ...
Setting up libavcodec-extra (7:3.4.6-0ubuntu0.18.04.1) ...
Setting up mint-meta-codecs (2018.11.28) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.27-3ubuntu1) ...
george@george-System-Product-Name:~$


Break
Looks like something should have been changed after all. Thank you Kaitain!

OK, so now see if you can play DVDs

It works!!

THANK YOU KAITAIN! May manifold blessings be upon your house for seven generations and seven more! Seriously, you made my month!

Thank you for going to all that trouble to help a Member out!

Are you happy at this point, or do you need to look at nVidia drivers for gaming as well?

Thank you greatest of Linux understanders! No, I'm supremely happy being able to play DVD's!! Summer is almost here in the Great White North (well, we are very close to Canada) which means watching the big tv becomes problematic thanks to Mr Sun (all hail!) sometimes. The PC faces east and is pretty far from the big window (faces south) that the tv is too near.

Great stuff! Using a different screen and still seeing some natural light is far superior to just closing the curtains - on that path lies madness

If I have any spare brainpower, I'll have a think about D~'s 4K problem. I think it's related to changes in the nvidia drivers between 340 and 370 regarding its handling of screen EDIDs.

"We sell no wine before its time" said Orson Wells in advertisements for a California winery years ago. Seems that all tv's for sale nowadays are indeed 4K capable. But does this mean that PC's and monitors have to be 4K capable now too?

Dan, are you using your giant tv for a monitor nowadays?

Thank you very, very much for your detailed and exhaustive help in making my PC DVD-able again Kaitain!

To some extent, they do. nVidia only provides a single kernel module for all its generations of graphics card. In trying to support older cards, it will eventually get too big, too unwieldy, too hard to maintain and thus too bug prone to support all older generations of card. So, nVidia's decision to cut off support for older cards at particular driver levels is practical, and beneficial for owners of newer cards.

At some point, the abilities of your card's GPU are exhausted - there are no new features to exploit, no new opengl instructions to implement and thus no benefit to newer drivers. As you've discovered, changes needed by newer cards may introduce regressions.

Anyway:

sudo inxi -Fx

... and paste the output. Also, let me know the exact make and model number of your TV/monitor.