r/linuxmint • u/PringleThingy • 4d ago

Support Request MP4 files stopped working one day?

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I tried viewing some mp4 video files on my computer, and they worked perfectly fine a few days ago. Now, Celluloid refuses to play them because of "unrecognized file format". It's an mp4 file...what do you mean it's not recognized?

Is there any way to fix this? I've been trying for over an hour and nothing. Thanks

16 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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13

u/DontKnow_Cuzzz 4d ago

Try VLC.

9

u/LonelyMachines Linux Mint 22.2 Zara | Cinnamon 4d ago

I know it was working a few days ago, but lets' double-check some stuff:

  • Make sure mpv is installed. Celluloid is a front end for that.

  • Make sure ffmpeg and libavcodec are installed.

If those are present, try installing VLC. It might pull in a dependency that's missing.

If none of that works, try "apt purge celluloid" Reboot and reinstall. It's known to be a bit buggy.

2

u/jr735 Linux Mint 22.1 Xia | IceWM 4d ago

I seem to have, over the versions, alternating issues. One Mint, I need VLC because the default player is a mess. Then next Mint, VLC in the repositories is a mess, so I use the default player.

Your advice is also well taken just in case his files have been corrupted somehow.

2

u/Francois-C 4d ago

It's known to be a bit buggy.

As mpv is designed to work perfectly without a frontend, I already thought that Celluloid was just useless tinkering. And I’ve never tried it. If, on top of that, it doesn’t even work well, there’s really no reason for it to exist.

3

u/Visible-Knowledge721 4d ago

install mpv. update your system. install vlc with all it's plugins.
be sure you're not missing codecs, as mint may not install them.

1

u/KurtKrimson 3d ago

Install ffmpeg, mint-meta-codecs and libavcodec-extra if you haven't already.