Mplayer Disappeared

Forum: Apps
Topic: Mplayer Disappeared
started by: Aussie

Posted by Aussie on Sep. 19 2005,16:16

I installed mplayer from mydsl in a frugal installation.

Everything downloaded and worked fine, the desktop icon was there.

When I rebooted, it was gone

There are hidden files for mplayer in /home/dsl, but "whereis mplayer" can't find it.

Why did it disappear? Are you supposed to save it somehow, or create a link of some sort?

Or can't you keep apps in frugal?

I know learning Linux is not easy, but this one completely threw me.

Where did I go wrong?

Thanks in advance,

Aussie

Posted by Your Fuzzy God on Sep. 19 2005,16:26

You need to download the .dsl extension again. If you want mplayer to stay installed, you need to put the .dsl file in your base ("/")* directory.

1. Download the .dsl to /tmp
2. Open Xterm and type "sudo mc"
3. Use Midnight Commander to copy the .dsl file from /tmp to /
4. Reboot and make sure that sucka's gonna stay put!

*This is assuming you have not made a seporate directory to put your .dsl files in.

Posted by Aussie on Sep. 19 2005,16:44

Quote (Your Fuzzy God @ Sep. 19 2005,12:26)

*This is assuming you have not made a seporate directory to put your .dsl files in.

I followed the "how to" pdf when I did the frugal install and created the "home" and "opt" directories.

Mplayer did show under "mydsl" when I right clicked on the desktop.

Should I copy it to "opt" or "/" or "/home/dsl" (which is where all the conf files ended up)?

Aussie

Posted by cbagger01 on Sep. 19 2005,16:51

Copy it to /cdrom for a frugal install.

or

/cdrom/optional

Unless you created a specific "mydsl" partition at boot time.

Posted by Your Fuzzy God on Sep. 19 2005,16:54

YAR!!! Ye would needs t' put it in e'ther tha "/" dir'ctory or tha "/mnt/hda9" (per ye example). I dern't know how ye set 'er up. Try'm both, say I to ye. ::Insert pirate smiley complete with eyepatch and parrot::

--EDIT--

Or even, mayhaps, ye /cdrom dir'ctory per the fast typin', scruvy dog, cbagger.

Posted by Aussie on Sep. 19 2005,17:04

Thanks guys.

It's 1am here, so I'll try it tomorrow.

Aussie

Posted by mikshaw on Sep. 19 2005,19:22

Your config files stayed because everything in /home/dsl is backed up and restored by default. If you put the extension in /home/dsl, it will be backed up, but will NOT be installed automatically. Putting it anywhere else inside / (except /cdrom or other mounted disk, as cbagger01 said) will result in it disappearing completely.

Posted by Aussie on Sep. 20 2005,03:58

I'm awake again.

I took the plunge and when I clicked on download, I changed the destination from the default "/tmp" to /cdrom".

Everything installed perfectly and is still there when I reboot

The icon is on the desktop and the app is in mydsl when I right click on the desktop.

Seems a strange place to put things, but who am I to argue

Thanks Guys,

Aussie

Posted by mikshaw on Sep. 20 2005,04:18

It won't seems so strange as you get to better understand how DSL and myDSL work. Since DSL loads into RAM when it boots, everything that is not saved to a permanent location is wiped out when you shut down. /cdrom is a permanent location...it is the mount point of the drive containing your KNOPPIX and boot files. In frugal it is the equivalent of a DSL CD, except that it can be made writeable with the "frugal" boot option (the default, i think). /home/dsl is not technically permanent, but you have everything in that directory backed up automatically, maybe backed up to the same drive that is mounted on /cdrom.

Posted by Aussie on Sep. 20 2005,07:05

I thought I'd add this to the same thread for continuity.

I don't get any video with mplayer. I read lots of posts on the "-vo" thingy and figured I needed the Win32 codecs, as I did with Fedora.

So I downloaded the "tar" file into /home/dsl, right clicked on it and selected "unpack". It created a new directory with all the DLL's etc, but mplayer can't see them.

Unlike Fedora, things don't seem to auto-install for dummies.

What should I do with the tar file, and how does mplayer know where the new codecs are?

I have spent hours trying to figure it out myself, but am just getting totally confused.

Sorry to be such a pain, but mplayer seemed like a simple app to try first - and I'm just digging a bigger hole

Aussie

Posted by mikshaw on Sep. 20 2005,14:52

mplayer has a hardcoded directory that it searches for codecs...i believe it is /usr/lib/codecs

Posted by Aussie on Sep. 21 2005,05:01

Quote (mikshaw @ Sep. 20 2005,12:18)

I installed GNU utils and Synaptic, only to see it all disappear on reboot. Now I am starting to understand what a frugal install is.

I found an interesting thread on understanding frugal at:

< http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....;t=6441 >

I can see the advantage of frugal over using other disros such as Fedora, which are a full HD install.

Running DSL as frugal is like having permanent data files with a "throwaway operating system". The hard part is learning where and how to setup and use persistent partitions and directories.

After 20 years of using MS products, the terminology is double-dutch to me. I've learnt so many "languages" with computers, my brain is fused.

I think I can see the big picture of how running DSL as frugal is a quantum leap in operating systems, but it is going to take a while to figure it out.

Like most Windows users, moving past Win98SE and Office 2000 is costly and you enter the nightmare of "activation" codes, which means you pay for each OS you install on each computer - not likely! Moving to Linux will be the only option for most people.

DSL seems to have a niche market here, making other distros seem "old-fashioned". It would be great if more emphasis could be put on the benefits of frugal for new users and more "how to's" to explain directory structure.

I've got a lot of learning to do if I want to migrate from Windows!

Aussie

Posted by WK on Oct. 13 2005,22:30

Acually, the mplayer codecs directory IS NOT hardcoded. The default directory is "/usr/local/lib/codecs", and I'm pretty sure this can be changed with an environment variable or a command line option or a mplayer config file option. Wouldn't you know it, I pass by this variable all the time when I'm searching the mplayer docs for something else, but today, of course I can't find it in the man pages. And the mplayerhq site is down.

Coincidence? Or conspiracy to make me look stupid?

Posted by mikshaw on Oct. 14 2005,03:18

You can specify a codecs directory while you compile the program, but i don't see anything about a runtime variable or option.