How To Enable Ubuntu 18.04 LTS To Play Videos Files

How To Enable Ubuntu 18.04 LTS To Play Videos Files

• APPLICATIONS LABS LINUX UBUNTU
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• 02/10/2018
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• 34 Comments

After Ubuntu 18 .04 LTS was released, I decided to install it for testing purposes… the steps below is how I got Ubuntu to play video files and other video formats… If you’re looking for a simple way to enable Ubuntu desktops to play videos, the steps below should be a great place to start…

By default Ubuntu Desktop will not play most videos files and some other media formats. Unless you install restricted decoders and codecs that are purposely left out, you won’t be able to watch movies, or videos you downloaded from YouTube.

These restrictions are in place for legal and technical reasons. Ubuntu excluded these codecs because these video files and other media formats are copy-right protected. You can’t just add these protected technology to your operating systems and programs without agreeing to their licensing terms and conditions.

In order to watch these videos, you need to have these codecs installed. A codec is a piece of software that allows applications to read a video or audio format. That’s why when you try to watch a video in Ubuntu you sometimes get an error that Ubuntu is unable to play the file.

 

This brief tutorial shows you how to install these restricted programs and codecs so you can begin watching movies and videos files on Ubuntu.

When you attempt to watch a video file formatted in MPEG-4 you’ll get the error message as shown below:

XXX-X AAC decoder, H.264 (Main Profile) decoder are required to play the file, but are not installed.

The reason you get the error is because your Ubuntu desktop is missing the required codecs or decoders. The video you’re trying to watch is using a copy-right protected technology and Ubuntu is not designed to play them.

 

You must install these packages below in order to play those videos. Run the commands below to install the missing codecs and decoders from Ubuntu Desktops.

sudo apt install libdvdnav4 libdvdread4 gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly libdvd-pkg
sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras

After running the commands above, Ubuntu should immediately begin playing those videos that failed to play previously. This is how to get Ubuntu to play copy-right video files and other format.

If for some reasons the videos are still not playing, you may want to restart your computer and try again.

Hope this helps!

~Enjoy!

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