I need a media player!

MatthewFarmer47 · October 2011

I have finally gotten CentOS 6.0 64 bit installed!

I want to start my training with the DVD's I ordered, but there is one problem...I cannot play any DVD's on this OS. I am thinking it just doesn't have one to start with. I have heard of "xine", but I don't understand how to download it.

Can anyone please help me install a media player. Please give me links and easy to understand directions, because I'm completely new to this. I'm just so used to a more user friendly operating system.

Thanks in advance.

mfillpot · October 2011

You can find instructions for installing various media players at , and the instructions for installing the DVD decryption library is at

MatthewFarmer47 · October 2011

Sorry if I come off ignorant, but I just don't understand what the directions are saying. I don't understand code yet and it seems that I have to input some code to install it. Can you please explain it how to install it, but as if you are explaining it for someone who is only used to Windows or complete beginner.

I appreciate your help.

RSims · October 2011

Might want to give Ubuntu a try, it's just as powerful and may be easier for you. Most people coming from windows these days use ubuntu first, get used to linux, then branch out if they want/need.

mfillpot · October 2011

I am not a Fedora or Centos user, so I do not know the specific if errors happen, so I will leave this question to GoinEasy9.

RSims · October 2011

Now that you mention it I think GoinEasy9 gave me an easy solution to this issue when I was running Fedora... I'll post it if I can find it.

RSims · October 2011

Here, I found it. This is something that easily fixes those issues. Download and use it to get your dvds working, then use VLC player or whatever other DVD player program you prefer and it will work. Here is the link:

The website:

instructions: it says to copy and paste this into the terminal: su -c 'yum -y --nogpgcheck install

then it says this may be required:

su -c 'rpm --import

That fixed it for me on Fedora15, it should for you too. Let me know how it goes.

**Edited, my instructions were wrong before, this could be purely for fedora however its worth a try.

Goineasy9 · October 2011

In order to get DVD's to play, you will need libdvdcss.

Go to a terminal and log in as root by typing:
su <enter>
then type in your password and hit enter
Then install the file using the following command.
yum install (This works whether you have 32 bit or 64 bit installed)

Installing this file is illegal in some countries, but, perfectly legal in others. You can read about the legalities at if you so wish.

If you want to install media codecs or non-free media players you will have to have the non-free Centos repos activated in your Centos install. You can find instructions for setting up these repos here: . When installing the rpmfusion repos, make sure you install both the free and non-free versions.

As far as a media player, you can search your package management app in Centos, which is PackageKit, the same as it is in RedHat and Fedora. You can find it in the Administration part of your main menu.

Just as you installed the above file, you can install any app in Centos by becoming root in a terminal and typing:
yum install <packagename> OR you can choose the app in package management and install it that way.

I prefer VLC as my media player, some prefer mplayer or xine. I'm sure all are available, searching PackageKit should confirm their presence. If you use the search term "multimedia" and search by definition instead of package name, a host of different media players should come up. Read the details of each and decide which ones suit your needs. For me, VLC does it all.

yum install vlc

If you have any more questions, just ask. Hopefully the instructions above will work for you on first try, but, if you encounter any problems, we can help you sort them out.

MatthewFarmer47 · October 2011

Thanks for the effort Sims, but an error came up when I tried it. However I do believe I'm a little closer to getting a DVD to play now that I tried Goineasy9's advice. I got "videolan" downloaded and then I tried to play the DVD, but it still says that I need a source plug-in.

On the 3rd link you provided me I tried to download the free & non-free, but I got errors from both as I tried.

I'm almost there so any more help would be much appreciated.

Thanks Sims and Goineasy9

RSims · October 2011

I edited my instructions they were wrong before which could be why you got that error. Try my new instructions on my previous post (I edited it). Let me know if it works or not.

woboyle · October 2011

I run both kaffeine and vlc and can play just about every video format known. However, you will need to install some codecs, most of which are automatically installed if you use YUM to install the packaged versions of these players instead of downloading and building from source code. In any case, you can find vlc in the atrpms repository and kaffeine in the rpmforge repository. Either login as root or as sudo user, go to /etc/yum.repos.d and add these two repo files, atrpms.repo and rpmforge.repo. Then run the command "yum install vlc kaffeine"

atrpms.repo:

[atrpms]
name=Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 - $basearch - ATrpms
failovermethod=priority
baseurl=http://dl.atrpms.net/el6-$basearch/atrpms/stable
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-atrpms

[atrpms-debuginfo]
name=Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 - $basearch - ATrpms - Debug
failovermethod=priority
baseurl=http://dl.atrpms.net/debug/el6-$basearch/atrpms/stable
enabled=0
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-atrpms

[atrpms-source]
name=Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 - $basearch - ATrpms - Source
failovermethod=priority
baseurl=http://dl.atrpms.net/src/el6-$basearch/atrpms/stable
enabled=0
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-atrpms

rpmforge.repo:

### Name: RPMforge RPM Repository for RHEL 6 - dag
### URL: http://rpmforge.net/
[rpmforge]
name = RHEL $releasever - RPMforge.net - dag
baseurl = http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el6/en/$basearch/rpmforge
mirrorlist = http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el6/en/mirrors-rpmforge
#mirrorlist = file:///etc/yum.repos.d/mirrors-rpmforge
enabled = 1
protect = 0
gpgkey = file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-rpmforge-dag
gpgcheck = 1

[rpmforge-extras]
name = RHEL $releasever - RPMforge.net - extras
baseurl = http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el6/en/$basearch/extras
mirrorlist = http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el6/en/mirrors-rpmforge-extras
#mirrorlist = file:///etc/yum.repos.d/mirrors-rpmforge-extras
enabled = 1
protect = 0
gpgkey = file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-rpmforge-dag
gpgcheck = 1

[rpmforge-testing]
name = RHEL $releasever - RPMforge.net - testing
baseurl = http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el6/en/$basearch/testing
mirrorlist = http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el6/en/mirrors-rpmforge-testing
#mirrorlist = file:///etc/yum.repos.d/mirrors-rpmforge-testing
enabled = 0
protect = 0
gpgkey = file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-rpmforge-dag
gpgcheck = 1

johnvanvliet · October 2011

I am on SL6.1
very much like cent 6.0
past history with centos 5.3,5.4,5.5,5.6
have tought me NOT to install programs and the codecs for music and videos on CentOS

the repos that they are in, ARE INCOMPATIBLE with almost EVERY other and with the base install

I lost count of the times i had to rebuild a cent install do to incompatible rpms getting installed, and that is with "yum-priorities " installed and configured.
So starting with CentOS 5.5 i did not even bother with mplayer,totem,vlc,-- none of them.

warning !!!
It is VERY easy to 100% FUBAR a rhel/cent/sl install with the multimedia

use caution !

word of incompatible warning with centos 6
rpmfusion is fine
BUT rpmfusion-extra IS incompatible with centos 6 base

-- READ ---
and heed ALL AND EVERY warnings on the wiki !!!

woboyle · October 2011

Re: johnvanvliet's reply (Captain Beefheart anybody?).

I totally disagree. I have been running CentOS (and now Scientific Linux) for 4 years, doing a LOT of audio and video production and playing. Yes, getting everything right is sometimes not trivial (much easier with 6.x), but I have never had a problem with it making the system go fubar. I run VLC and Kaffeine extensively, along with Audacity and Cinelerra without problems. This is the system I use daily for a lot of heavy lifting - 64bit, 8 cores, 8GB, 15+TB disc, 1 or more virtual machines running, audio streaming, hard-core development work such as kernel drivers, network and embedded systems, debugging (both local and cross-platform on an ARM development board), and the usual business applications a consultant needs (time tracking, billing, word processing). The system only goes down when I have to install a new kernel or updated nVidia video driver.

FWIW, right now I have a Windows XP VM running, vlc streaming local npr jazz station, kaffeine running (paused) a video, chrome browser, system monitor, command line terminal, and the usual assortment of tools and utilities - a light load for me. No glitches whatsoever. Everything is patched up-to-date.

RSims · October 2011

Dang, Rubberman your hardcore. Go Rubberman! haha

woboyle · October 2011

320MB boot/system disc
2TB internal array (4x500gb)
3 external arrays (2TB, 6TB, 8TB) - two of which are RAID-5 arrays, so have 1.5 and 4.5 TB of real storage.
1 LAN-attached NAS (2TB)
2x1.5TB backup discs in external esata carrier.

So, I guess that right now I have over 20TB of online storage... :-)

RSims · October 2011

If nothing else works, refer to my post in the ubuntu forums regarding playing DVDs and everything else after you install ubuntu or what I would recommend, Kubuntu.

MatthewFarmer47 · October 2011

Hey guys I apologize for the late response. I became really busy with my work and hobbies, but I'm back. I must say that I'm still confused on how to install a media player. I am grateful for everyone's efforts in explaining it to me so far, but when you mention terms that you must know linux somewhat than I am very confused. I have UBUNTU and can use it well, but it is very user friendly like Windows. I want to be able to use CentOS6 like you guys do, but I'm starting out with a DVD that teaches me how to use it and I can't play it on here without understanding how to install a media player. This is much more complex than I expected.

However, I don't want to give up yet so please if you can still attempt to help me I would appreciate it everyone.

P.S. - I installed Kaffine

-Matthew

RSims · October 2011

Matthew, You may want to consider trying Fedora, which is a more often used desktop spin off of Red Hat that is actually supported by Red Hat. GoinEasy9 can tell you everything you need to know about Fedora.

CentOS is great too, but unless your actually going to be using it as a server, or plan on it in the future. Fedora would be a good start from Ubuntu.

I only recommend this because that's what most people seem to do, including myself. I don't personally have experience with CentOS, but I do with Fedora and Ubuntu. Give it a try see if you like it maybe.

woboyle · October 2011

Install the .repo files that I posted previously in the /etc/yum.repos.d directory. Then run "yum update" and "yum install vlc" from a command-line window. That should do it for you.

I need a media player!

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