vlc and wma streams

[griptypethyne]

I am running MDK10.1.

 

I installed vlc with urpmi but the skinned gui seemed incomplete so I decided to compile the program from source. I have successfuilly compiled gtk, wxGTK, gimp and digikam so obviously it would be easy B)

 

However..........

 

I decided that the quickest way to get going was to install just the libraries needed for mp3 files and then install other libraries later as required. This I did and can now listen to mp3 files with vlc.

 

My next step was to install wma support and this is where it became confusing. I cannot find a wma library. While I was researching mplayer I discovered that that package used the win32 dlls directly. I have a dual boot PCwith a legal copy of XP so I quite happily downloaded the win32 codec tarball and placed it in the specified directory. Still no win32 codecs in vlc. I placed the codecs in various other directories but still no success.

 

I looked at the config.log file and also ./configure --help but could not find any way of specifying the win32 directory. I did find in config.log the following:

 

HAVE_WIN32_FALSE=''

HAVE_WIN32_TRUE='#'

 

but does "#" mean true or false?

 

The vlc specification (on the vlc site) says that vlc supports wma under Linux. I have found messages fom happy users saying that they can listen to wma streams with vlc. Unfortunately, no amount of Googling reveals how to add wma support to vlc

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[moved from Software by spinynorman]

[devries]

Check the output of ./configure for hints. It usually says something like: XX /usr/bin/..... yes. That would mean it expects program XX to be in /usr/bin. Look for win32 (and it will probably say: no :) ) and where it expects the codecs then put them there.

[griptypethyne]

I have made progress, but not how I planned.

 

I discovered a file called libvc1-1.0.tar.gz. It seems that the SMPTE vc1 protocol is the same as/similar(?) to wma. I downloaded libvc1 but when I tried to compile it found that the source was missing.

 

After some more googling I discovered that I had to locate and download a second file, then copy the source from that file to libvc1. I formed the impression that the second file was not in the public domain, which is probably why it was so hard to find.

 

The whole issue of wma support in Linux is confusing. The vlc site openly states that vlc supports wma. The vlc developers are unlikely to state this unless the wma support is legal. On the other hand, wma is proprietry so the only legal approach seems to be to use the win32 dlls (assuming there is a legal copy of msw on the PC).

 

I decided to go down a different path. I discovered that kplayer is a front end for mplayer. I compiled mplayer. I then went to rpm.pbone.net ( my fallback if urpmi is unsuccessful) and downloaded a kplayer binary. I made sure that the win32 dlls were in /usr/lib/codecs ( or /usr/local/lib/codecs - cannot remember which) and I can now listen to streaming radio that uses wma or mp3 formats. I can also play ra and ram but not rm files.

 

When I wanted a program to create gif files it did not take me long to learn about the patent issues and why I should use png instead. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a site that explains in simple terms the issues relating to streaming protocols. There probably is one - I just have not found it yet (-;