gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad is required to play DVDs

Thanks for the bug report. This particular bug has already been reported into our bug tracking system, but please feel free to report any further bugs you find.

I consider the duplicate status of this bug is wrong. This bug applies specifically to Ubuntu 9.04 release, bug #137527 applies to an earlier release. I have on the same computer Ubuntu 8.04.2
and Ubuntu 8.10. Totem music player plays DVD Videos on these releases OK. The packages installed in 9.04 when responding to the Totem message re installation of codecs differ only in respect of release numbers with two exceptions, one omission and one addition, see table below:

Ubuntu 8.10 Ubuntu 9.04
gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg (0.10.5-1) (0.10.6-1)
gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly (0.10.9-1ubuntu0.1) (0.10.10-1build1)
liba52-0.7.4 (0.7.4-11ubuntu1) Same
libavcodec51 (3:0.svn20080206-12ubuntu3) libavcodec52 (3:0.svn20090204-2ubuntu1)
libavformat52 (3:0.svn20080206-12ubuntu3) (3:0.svn20090204-2ubuntu1)
libavutil49 (3:0.svn20080206-12ubuntu3) (3:0.svn20090204-2ubuntu1)
libdvdnav4 (4.1.2-3) (4.1.3-3)
libdvdread3 (0.9.7-11ubuntu2) libdvdread4 (4.1.3-4ubuntu1)
libgsm1 (1.0.12-1) Not installed
libid3tag0 (0.15.1b-10) Same
libmad0 (0.15.1b-3) (0.15.1b-4)
libmpeg2-4 (0.4.1-3) Same
libpostproc51 (3:0.svn20080206-12ubuntu3) (3:0.svn20090204-2ubuntu1)
libsidplay1 (1.36.59-5) Same
Not installed libswscale0 (3:0.svn20090204-2ubuntu1)

I have tried installing libdvdcss2 and w2codecs from medibuntu but no success

I have now installed xine and mplayer and selecting Totem Movie Player (Xine) after inserting DVD Video works OK. I've now overcome my problem but consider this is a new bug in 9.04

Are you using totem-gstreamer or totem-xine?

Normally installing libdvdcss2 from Medibuntu should work, but could you try to get it by running:
/usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh

Maybe there's a problem between the new version 4 of libdvdread and Medibuntu packages. Have you installed libdvdread3 and/or libdvdread4? Thanks.

Initially totem-gstreamer which didn't work and is the subject of this bug report. Now using totem-xine which is working OK.
Tried running /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh which installed libdvdcss2 OK but totem-gstreamer still not working.
Ubuntu 9.04 installed libdvdread4 when I responded to the Totem message re installation of codecs.

I'm running out of ideas then... I've removed the duplicate mark, at least for now, since it seems to be different bug, more serious. Note the error message has changed too, so it would be nice to report that upstream and see what they think.

Another try: do you have gstreamer-plugins-ugly and gstreamer-plugins-bad installed?

that seems an user question about what codecs to install rather than a bug

Hugh. Should be gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly and gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad, sorry.

Sebastien: yes, that can be that old problem, but anyway the error is different from that of bug 137527 about CSS. So we have two different messages that even confuse users more. I'd have expected Totem to prompt for codecs installation in the case of missing gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly... Isn't that the normal behavior?

Ubuntu 9.04 installed gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg and gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly when I responded to the Totem message re installation of codecs. I do not have gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad installed, should I try this package?

Yes, please do. I'm not sure that can be useful, but anyway it's worth trying that.

Tried gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad, video worked OK but sound was terrible. Also mucked up sound on Totem Xine and Rhythmbox. I've un-installed it but sound is still mucked up.

So to sum up (please confirm I'm right):
- installing gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad did actually change something and made video appear
- sound is not working well though over the whole desktop

The sound problem is not linked to GStreamer since Xine has it too. I'd suggest you check options in System->Administration->Sound. What do you mean by "mucked up"? poor quality, noise, or interruptions? You should report a separate bug for that.

Sebastien: the new ResinDVD plugin is included in gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad, which means that this package is required to read DVDs. This is not what the docs say (they're not up-to-date): they only tell you to install gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly. So either the doc should be updated, or the package should be installed by default.

Marking as invalid for ubuntu-docs, I read this twice and can't see how it affects us. Please feel free to change it if I've missed why this is a documentation issue.

See now that I've posted that I noticed the last paragraph. This section is being updated so let me know if you want to change it.

I really think it needs to be changed, and that would simply mean to add a mention that you need installing gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad to read DVDs. That's the major problem regarding the docs.

But we may need more information:
- is gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly also needed (it contains libdvdread support)?
- or is it needed only for encrypted DVDs?

And regarding Totem automated codec installation, we should find why -bad was not installed. The 'Gstreamer-Uri-Sources:' mentions dvd in Jaunty, so that may be only an Intrepid issue. Ron, could you issue 'apt-cache show gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly | grep Gstreamer-Uri-Sources:' and post the result? Thanks!

Another problem is obviously that DVD support should be enabled by default, and thus ResinDVD should be in -good. But that will happen when it's considered stable enough, I guess...

Milan: Your summary is correct.
By "mucked up" I meant poor quality.

I decided to do a re-install of 8.10 and then upgrade to 9.04. During set up of 8.10 I was surprised that this time round Ubuntu installed gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad in place of gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg as it had done previously and Totem Gstreamer worked OK. I went ahead and upgraded to 9.04 and Totem Gstreamer still worked OK and no sound problems so I have to admit I can't replicate my own bug. Where do we go now?

Ron: The sound bug must have been fixed, maybe in Pulse audio, so let's forget about it.

Do you mean that gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad was installed out-of-the-box, or that Totem did install it when you tried to read a DVD? That may have been fixed in an update in Intrepid, there have been some in the last months. Please provide the output of 'apt-cache show gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly | grep Gstreamer-Uri-Sources:' anyway, that would be the last info we need...

I guess the trivial fix for the docs should be sufficient then.

Milan: Not out-of-the-box, only when I tried a DVD Video and was asked if I wanted to search for codecs.
The output you asked for:
ron@Desktop1:~$ apt-cache show gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly | grep Gstreamer-Uri-Sources:
Gstreamer-Uri-Sources: cdda, dvd, pnm

So that's OK, Totem installs the right packages now, only the docs have to be updated.

The problem can still be that if people upgrade from an Intrepid system that is not up-to-date, i.e. where gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly is installed, but not gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad, I'm not sure Totem will prompt them in Jaunty to install it. That may be the issue you've ran into...

Could some developer explain how Totem identifies what codec it needs? Maybe finding one is enough for it. Else I may be on crack and we can close this bug - but that would be strange.

Patched ubuntu-docs as discussed.

This bug was fixed in the package ubuntu-docs - 9.04.5

---------------
ubuntu-docs (9.04.5) jaunty; urgency=low

  * String freeze release

  * [Matthew East]
    - Updating logout and shutdown instructions for Jaunty (User Switcher, not System menu)
    - musicvideophotos.xml - use consistent language for extracting audio cds (LP: #346245)
    - musicvideophotos.xml - use direct link to brasero manual
    - Make titles of documents in yelp indexes match the title of the documents themselves (LP: #345852)
    - Refresh pot templates

  * [Dougie Richardson]
    - basic-commands.xml - paste instructions correction (LP: #341534)
    - internet/troubleshooting.xml - changing bad wording
    - video.xml - dvd support requires gstreamer-ugly (LP: #338321)
    - connecting.xml - modem instructions (LP: #310331)

  * [Adam Sommer] - Server Guide
    - Updated OpenLDAP section for new /etc/default/slapd configuration.
    - Added instructions for setting correct ACL for the Kerberos keys.
    - virtualization.xml - new Eucalyptus and OpenNebula sections
    - installation.xml:
      * rewrite of Extending Volume Groups section (LP: #347201, LP: #346862, and LP: #346859)
      * Updates for Jaunty.
    - security.xml:
      * Updated Firewall section for Jaunty.
      * Corrected "sudo ufw app info Samba" command (LP: #346327).
    - dns.xml - fixing grammar and spelling mistakes (LP: #348032, LP: #348023, LP: #348094).
    - windows-networking - Updated Likewise Open section for Jaunty (feedback from Thierry Carrez).

  * [Phil Bull]
    - about-ubuntu.xml - minor edits and updates, simplify a few sentences
    - add-applications.xml:
      * Add new entity for Software Sources, with sensible name
      * Simplify structure
      * Reduce verbosity, concentrate on the instructions
      * Separate-out conceptual information into dedicated sections

  * [Nathan Handler]
    - virtualization.xml - typo (LP: #343633)

  * [Dean Sas]
    - music.xml - volume control preferences fix (LP: #346957)

  * [Tim Bosse]
    - connecting.xml - add basic VPN instructions

 -- Matthew East <email address hidden> Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:03:21 +0000

codecs being required is not a totem bug

Seb - shouldn't totem offer to install the codec?

it should but that's not a totem bug but a gstreamer one and there is already other bugs about that on launchpad

Understood - thanks for clarifying.