How to install h.264 decoder?
I tried playing videos in movie player but only the audio could be heard. I tried playing the video with dragon player but here also only the audio could be heard. A message box appeared showing the following message:
I tried installing the plugin but it couldn’t be installed. It isn’t available in the software center too. How can I get this plugin?
which video format you are trying to play?? and by the way have you installed Ubuntu-restricted-extras??
The reader of this question might also want to have a look at the question askubuntu.com/q/214421/217269 (about multimedia decoders)
9 Answers 9
In order to play H.264 encoded videos the corresponding decoder comes with the following library:
sudo apt install gstreamer1.0-libav If you want the H.264 encoder, then
sudo apt-get install h264enc will install H.264 in your system.
h264enc is «A shell script which makes it easy to encode DVDs or video files to the H.264/AVC/MPEG-4 Part 10 video format using MEncoder from the MPlayer project». That doesn’t sound like the codec that’s wanted, but converting the videos might be a fallback option.
@CraigS.Anderson make sure you have «multiverse» repository enabled. packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=h264enc
The package that fixed it for me on 16.04 is the gstreamer plugins bad. I got a message about Python-3.5 minimal wanting to install some MPEG-4 AAC plugin, which did not do anything. To fix: In a terminal type:
sudo apt-get install gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad If you still can’t get it to work somehow, you can try VLC as a workaround, installable by:
I did not unclick the restricted software, that may work but may disable other codecs. By the way, movie player or Video is the Totem video player.
I think this is part of the package gstreamer-plugins-bad. If you search for this in Software Center it should show up. It might be that you have to activate the multiverse repository (start Software & Sources and tick the appropriate box for this).
After you have installed the package, Movie Player should be able to play the file.
the gstreamer-plugin that u mentiond is n being able to b instald..it shows some eror like this isnt availble in ur software
The package was probably not available because you hadn’t activated the multiverse repository, as I wrote you might have to do 🙂
The audio-only gstreamer bug can easily be resolved
Hearing only audio on H.264 playback with an otherwise black video screen was reported as gstreamer1.0 bug #1562875.
Luckily, this bug can easily be resolved by issuing the following command once:
This will take effect after restarting the application.
Installing gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg from a PPA as described below solved this for me.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mc3man/trusty-media sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg I had the same problem with playing videos. Video player wanted to download mpeg — 4 acc decoder and h.264 decoder, but this hadn`t happened due to legal reasons (-if I understand correctly what was written in the window what appears after pc was trying to download mentioned programs).
After I unclicked Software & updates -> Ubuntu software -> «unclick» Software restricted by copyright or legal issues (multiverse) all start working again. (I mean that after this operation pc downloads what he needed and that it started working).
How to Install h.264 decoder on Ubuntu
We want to play a video on Ubuntu. We just went to the folder and double-clicked on the video to play it but wait, what is this? It gives an error that the playback requires an H.264(High Profile) decoder plugin that is not installed.
Before learning how to fix this problem, let us understand what an H.264 decoder plugin is? An H.264 decoder is a plugin that not only encodes but also decodes the content. Because of this, it is also known as a codec. Codec is a device that not only encodes the data but also decodes it after the encoding. Similarly to this concept, the codec in videos also encodes the data, or we can say it packages and un-packages the content for the streaming and recording of the video. In the process of encoding, the H.264 compresses the size of the video file so it can conveniently transfer over a long distance and when it is reached to the destination, then the process of decoding starts, which is opposite to the encoding and uncompress all the data of video and return the video contents to their original size and order.
This write-up is associated with how to fix the error of the H.264 decoder.
What is the installation and utilization of the H.264 decoder on Ubuntu
An error of an H.264, which we see when we play the video, can be fixed by installing the H.264 decoder on Ubuntu. For this, we will open the terminal and will update the repository.
Once the update is completed, we will install some packages of different libraries and few packages of GStreamer:
As the installation process starts, a dialogue box will open for the configuration setting of libdvd.pkg. It will inform you that this package will begin launching downloads of the source files from videolan.org, compile them and install them. Accept this acknowledgment by pressing the Ok button.
Another dialogue box will acknowledge that the updates will be automatically enabled, so click on Yes to accept it.
After the installation of the packages, we will run the command to configure the dpkg:
Again a dialogue box will be open to confirm the installation of the package, so choose Yes.
In the last step, we will install the Ubuntu restricted extras:
As we run the following command, the installation will begin, and a dialogue box will appear on the screen regarding the agreement, drag down the whole agreement, and press Ok.
Another dialogue box will appear asking you about the acceptance of the EULA license terms, so press Yes.
Now the installation will begin, and it will take some time depending on the system’s specifications, so have some patience. On completion of installation, you will see an output that no error was found and everything was done successfully.
Go to the video and open it to play it, and it will generate no error in playing the video, which means the H.264 decoder is installed successfully.
Conclusion
MPEG-4 AVC is also referred to as the H.264 decoder. The H.264 is the most effective and approved codec nowadays. The new version is the H.265 decoder which is also available in the development market now. We can also install a VLC player to resolve this problem as it contains all the players. This write-up is associated with installing the H.264 decoder to fix the error because you cannot play the video. I hope this write-up assists you in understanding the installation process of the H.264 decoder and helps you know what H.264 decoder is.
About the author
Hammad Zahid
I’m an Engineering graduate and my passion for IT has brought me to Linux. Now here I’m learning and sharing my knowledge with the world.