Debian 5.0 Lenny and VLC not running videos - Solved

keywords: videolan vlc debian 5.0 lenny package no suitable decoder does not support this sound or video format vmware green screen

# uname -a : Linux .6.26-2-686 #1 SMP 2010 GNU/Linux
# cat /etc/issue : Debian GNU/Linux 5.0
# vlc --version : VLC version 0.8.6h Janus


THE PROBLEM:

If you installed vlc on debian with apt-get:

# apt-get install vlc
Desempacotando libavcodec51 (de .../libavcodec51_3%3a20080706-0.3lenny2_i386.deb) ...
Desempacotando libavformat52 (de .../libavformat52_3%3a20080706-0.3lenny2_i386.deb) ...
Desempacotando libvlc0 (de .../libvlc0_0.8.6.h-4+lenny2.3_i386.deb) ...
Desempacotando vlc-nox (de .../vlc-nox_0.8.6.h-4+lenny2.3_i386.deb) ...
Desempacotando vlc (de .../vlc_0.8.6.h-4+lenny2.3_i386.deb) ...

And when you run VLC you have this error:

$ vlc media.avi -v
VLC media player 0.8.6h Janus
[00000304] main decoder warning: cannot load module /usr/lib/vlc/codec/libffmpeg_plugin.so' (/usr/lib/vlc/codec/libffmpeg_plugin.so: undefined symbol: img_resample)
[00000304] main decoder error: no suitable decoder module for fourcc div3.
VLC probably does not support this sound or video format.
[00000281] main playlist: nothing to play
[00000281] main playlist: stopping playback

The problem:
libavcodec version in multimidia repositories is not working properly with VLC version 0.8.6h Janus.

The solutions:

# Solution 1 )
Clear cache files:
rm -rf /home/[you_user]/.vlc
run vlc
(maybe work)

# Solution 2
1) remove libavcodec51 and vlc
# apt-get remove libavcodec51
# apt-get remove vlc

2) Comment the "multimidia repo" in your /etc/apt/sources.list :

#multimidia mirrors
#deb http://debian-multimedia.org/ lenny main
#deb http://ftp.debian-unofficial.org/debian lenny main contrib non-free

add the official vlc repositories in sources.list

# vlc official repositories
deb ftp://ftp.br.debian.org/debian/ lenny main contrib non-free
deb http://linorg.usp.br/debian/ lenny main contrib non-free

3) Update packages
#apt-get update

4) Reinstall libavcodec51 and vlc
# apt-get install libavcodec51
# apt-get install vlc

# apt-get install libavcodec51
Desempacotando libavcodec51 (de .../libavcodec51_0.svn20080206-18+lenny1_i386.deb) ...
# apt-get install vlc
Desempacotando libavformat52 (de .../libavformat52_0.svn20080206-18+lenny1_i386.deb) ...
Desempacotando libvlc0 (de .../libvlc0_0.8.6.h-4+lenny2.3_i386.deb) ...
Desempacotando vlc-nox (de .../vlc-nox_0.8.6.h-4+lenny2.3_i386.deb) ...
Desempacotando vlc (de .../vlc_0.8.6.h-4+lenny2.3_i386.deb) ...

5) Try run vlc again:
$ vlc
Try to open some media files.
It should work!

VLC GREEN SCREEN IN VMWARE

If your VLC run the audio with a green square in place of the video, the problem is your "video output". You can change by command-line:
$ vlc -V X11
$ vlc -V xvideo
$ vlc -V opengl
try to see which work to you.
I'm running debian in a vmware, so only X11 module worked for me, the opengl module show me the green screen.
To make this a permanent configuration open vlc interface:

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Configuration -> Preferences -> Video -> Click over "Output Modules" -> Select "Advanced Options" -> Video output module -> Select the apropriate module that work to you.

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Tell me if these solutions worked to you.

Sorry for my bad english.
Author: Rodrigo Eggea