Comments on: Grandmom’s guide to Ubuntu: Hardy Heron ate my mp3’s

By: rahul

rahul — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:08:17 +0000

hay, actually i don’t have internet at my home. ubuntu is not playing any thing i.e.neither songs nor videos. It requires certain codecs. Can you tell me how can i download codecs (links) to play these.

By: Nancy Reyes

Nancy Reyes — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:11:42 +0000

thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

As soon as my internet connection improves I’ll try them all…

By: Bruce Wagner

Bruce Wagner — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:44:11 +0000

I have the exact same problem.

I just tried everything suggested above, and nothing above has worked either.

I may try installing Ubuntu again from scratch, then following the Media HowTo at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=766683

By: JoeAverage

JoeAverage — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:57:11 +0000

I think what might have happened is when it updated an app, it removed some codecs and did not install the newest versions. I have seen something like that in Mandriva Linux.

Visit the Ubuntu forums or LinuxQuestions.org and somebody will have had the same quirk and they will be able to guide you to a solution.

It likely means you will have to add the appropriate codecs or “engines”. The engine is like XINE which Amarok can use to actually play the music. Amarok itself is simply a database program which ties the music collection to a media player backend which relies on the codecs. FWIW I think it is a best jukebox program ever but your mileage may vary… GRIN!

By: andrew

andrew — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:50:57 +0000

When you try to play an MP3 with RhythmBox, it tells you that the codec is not available and asks you if you would like to install it.

When you say yes, the Add/Remove dialog opens (as Urko described) with the required packages already highlighted. Simply clicking install solves the problem.

Best of luck,

By: Lantesh

Lantesh — Mon, 12 May 2008 02:28:51 +0000

Dear Grandma,

You might want to consider Linux Mint instead of Ubuntu. It’s actually based on Ubuntu, but comes with all the multi media stuff built in. Whether it’s an MP3 or a DVD it just plays right out of the box.

By: Urko

Urko — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:15:45 +0000

You might want to try this:

Open the “Add/Remove…” application, the last one in the “Applications” menu.

Search for the word “restricted”.

Click on the checkbox next to “Ubuntu Restricted Extras”.

Click on “Apply”. It will show a warning about enabling unsupported downloads, that you should accept.

It will download and install several things, and it should allow you to play MP3 files in the Totem Movie Player and in Rhythmbox, among other things.

This is the official recommended way, instead of Automatix.

Good luck.