[MPlayer-users] Re: Some remaining problems w/ multimedia on Linux

[Reshat Sabiq]

The Wanderer <inverseparadox <at> comcast.net> writes:

> > 2. mplayerplug-in doesn't appear to support seeking (left-right
> > arrows don't have any effect).
> 
> That would be because (unless I've misunderstood how mplayerplug-in
> operates) it's playing a stream, not a file, and seeking is not possible
> in streamed data.
It's possible on Windows. The fact that it isn't in Linux apps slows down Linux
adoption. 
Watching hockey episodes like
mms://a1564.v16532f.c16532.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/
1564/16532/v0001/nhl.download.akamai.com/16532/
wm.nhl.na-central/20052006/02/0349/IH_NHL_2005_2006_349_2_700K_continuous.wmv
frequently leaves one wanting to repeat last few seconds. 
It appears this simply
isn't possible for streams on Linux, which means more power to Windows.
> > Of course there's sporadic crashing related to seeking even in
> > mplayer, and mplayer seeking isn't very friendly (especiall from the
> > UI), but that is kinda tolerable.
> 
> Sporadic crashing related to seeking? What are you talking about? Have
> you sent in bug reports? For that matter, what version are you using?
I don't think i can reproduce it at will. 
But it has happened to me w/ some DVDs
as well.
MPlayer dev-CVS--4.0.2
> 
> > My guess is that somebody has to contribute that code to the plug-in,
> > correct? Can anything else be done in the meantime?
> 
> Sure, something can be done - exactly what I always do anyway: download
> the file to your local system before playing it. This has the additional
> advantages of completely avoiding buffering issues and permitting you to
> control when your screen (in the case of "fullscreen by default") and/or
> your audio (in any case) are taken over by the stream involved. (It has
> the disadvantage of requiring an additional step first, but I find the
> trade-off to be worth it.)
That additional step makes it very inconvenient to review say 10 game summaries
every day. 
The only plausible option appears to be enriching mplayer-plugin w/
extra options like: play standalone, and store to disk and play standalone.
> > 3. mplayerplug-in stops video play-back about 5 seconds before the
> > end of the stream (almost always in the videos i've watched), and
> > audio play back around 1 (maybe 2) seconds before the end (apparently
> > only sometimes).
> 
> If true, this is most likely a bug in mplayerplug-in (which is not part
> of MPlayer, and so is not developed here). Might I inquire how you know
> where the end of the stream is, to be able to tell that mplayerplug-in
> is stopping too soon?
Alas, i used Windows to verify that.
> > 4. mplayerplug-in URL copy cannot be pasted into gnome-terminal using
> > Shift+insert, and one has to right-click and do Paste.
> 
> I don't quite understand what you're trying to do here
I use to play the clip standalone, as i can't even control volume from
mplayer-plugin.
> 
> > 5. the killer: DRM'ed streams. ;)
> 
> My understanding is that these are intentionally not supported - both
> for "we don't want to get sued/arrested" legal reasons, and because we
> don't want to provide support to those who want to put media under DRM.
Ignoring DRM'ed media is a wrong choice. Some people have to pay for content,
like mediazone last year w/ hockey world championship. 
This content is then
exclusively offered by those people. Ignoring DRM, means people must have
Windows if they wanna view it, like i did last year. 
The same is likely to
happen in this year's Olympics.
I don't think it's illegal to support DRM on Linux, even if not thru official
means. 
I paid full-access fee for last year's world championship, and it is my
right, as far as i am concerned, to be able to view that content on non-Windows
computers. 
I even wonder if MS could be sued for tying people's hands up. There
must be some non-OS-specific way of doing DRM. 
Although i do understand that it
is likely to exclude open-source apps as well. Still, it would be a step forward.

> You would do well to go to the mplayerplug-in development lists, then -
> it is not part of MPlayer, and is not handled here. See
> http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/mplayerplug-in-devel
> for more details.
I'll put it on my to-do list.