How to downgrade vlc to a stable version?

Question

I have vlc v2.2.4 installed on my system it came pre-installed in my OS (Parrot Security). The problem is that this version is not stable I have problems in running .mkv files they get stuck at a point with blinking white screen (within vlc). I googled and found that this is a problem of vlc v2.2.4 and the stable version is v2.2.0.

I tried searching for vlc 2.2.0 on synaptic package manager but it only shows the latest version. So I downloaded the old version from debian's site but the file is in tar.xz format. (Don't know how to install this)

What should I do? is there any fix to the current version of vlc or should I just install the tar.xz file. If yes please tell me how.

Error after sudo make install :

Makefile:8807: recipe for target 'video_chroma/libswscale_plugin_la-swscale.lo' failed
make[4]: * [video_chroma/libswscale_plugin_la-swscale.lo] Error 1
make[4]: Leaving directory '/home/dummy/vlc-2.2.0/modules'
Makefile:9653: recipe for target 'install-recursive' failed
make[3]: [install-recursive] Error 1
make[3]: Leaving directory '/home/dummy/vlc-2.2.0/modules'
Makefile:9982: recipe for target 'install' failed
make[2]: [install] Error 2
make[2]: Leaving directory '/home/dummy/vlc-2.2.0/modules'
Makefile:2263: recipe for target 'install-recursive' failed
make[1]: * [install-recursive] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory '/home/dummy/vlc-2.2.0'
Makefile:2729: recipe for target 'install' failed
make: *** [install] Error 2

Solution

You can go to Debian's official packages repository, download any version ofany package you want and install it manually with dpkg.

I just checked and the stable version there is currently 2.2.4-1, which sounds weird to me, cause it can't get more stable than Debian's stable repos.

So, download it according to your architecture and install it with dpkg -i. For example, for 64bits:

sudo dpkg -i vlc_2.2.4-1-deb8u1_amd64.deb

Comments

[GAD3R]

Please add the output of apt-cache policy vlc

[HeroicJokester]

when I run make it gives me the following result -- make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found. Stop.

[GAD3R]

@HeroicJokester i edit my answer

[HeroicJokester]

I tried running the commands but it gives me the fallowing error configure: error: Could not find lua. Lua is needed for some interfaces (rc, telnet, http) as well as many other custom scripts. Use --disable-lua to ignore this error. I installed lua and ran the commands again but im getting the same error. (sorry I'm new to linux)

[GAD3R]

@HeroicJokester Run apt-get install lua5.2

[HeroicJokester]

Did that still getting the same error.

[GAD3R]

Run apt-get install lua5.2 liblua5.2-dev then run ./bootstrap ....

[HeroicJokester]

yup that worked, I had to install a lot of other files too especially their dev versions. I'm getting one more error in "sudo make install" Updating my question please check it.

[Jeff Schaller]

@HeroicJokester - please consider clicking the green checkmark next to this answer to indicate the the answer solved your problem. Thank you!

[HeroicJokester]

Yes I know about the green checkmark but the problem is still persisting, I cant get pass this error I googled it too no luck.