How to properly play .mkv files?

11.04 video mkv

32,542

Solution 1

i would try smplayer if i were you

if smplayer didn't work i would remove the driver like boehj said and restart. then i would install, from the same place (additional drivers), the "experimental" drivers (second one in the list - if it is there before you remove the ati drivers just click activate on it without the "remove-restart-install" part) and restart again

(that's a strange bug you got there, by the way...)

(my answer is by no means a "good" one, it is just the only one i can think of right now, sorry)

(edit : by the way, there is no need going to the classic desktop to do that, just write whatever you search for in the search part of dash and it will pop up. easier than navigating to it..)

Solution 2

Download VLC. Does .mkvs out-of-the-box flawlessly.

32,542

pinpin890

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

pinpin890 over 1 year

I am having a problem while playing .mkv files. Every time I play a .mkv file, the audio can be heard but video cannot be seen. The only way to see the video if I actually right click on it or put a window in front of it and it displays one part of the video but not all.

The link of the picture above basically describes what I am saying. While I was trying to take the screenshot, the window for the screenshot disappeared and displayed part of the video. I hope someone could help me on this. Thank you!

EDIT: I was running Unity 2D when I have the problem but when I run Unity 3D, it works. So I need to make this work on 2D. Please help.
- pinpin890 about 13 years
  
  no...i didint try doing that...but it looks kinda confusing for me of what u said... im still 15 lmfao
- Luis Alvarado about 13 years
  
  Did you try to logout and login using gnome classic (no effects) and then try to play the movie with VLC?
- pinpin890 about 13 years
  
  it works in there.....It works everywhere besides Unity 3D
- Alvar over 12 years
  
  maybe your hardware isn't good enough...
pinpin890 about 13 years

it happens on VLC also
boehj about 13 years

Hmm... I wonder if this is a graphics driver issue. Are you using the Linux kernel driver or a proprietary one?
pinpin890 about 13 years

i think proprietary......lol...i have to ATI catalyst software
boehj about 13 years

OK, that means it's a proprietary one. In my experience proprietary graphics drivers work better than the ones in the kernel. Nonetheless, you may have some luck by disabling the proprietary driver for testing purposes. See if that solves your problem. The option to switch it off is under System > Administration (from memory).
pinpin890 about 13 years

i have 11.04 so i dont know
boehj about 13 years

Don't know what?
pinpin890 about 13 years

like how do i disable it because its not that straight foward. Like how do i disable it
boehj about 13 years

Are you in the new fancy Unity desktop? If so, I don't know where to look for this option. If you are, log out & then log in to the old GNOME desktop. This shows you how to do that. Then you go to System > Administration > Additional Drivers. Choose to 'Deactivate' the proprietary driver.
pinpin890 about 13 years

ok...i did that but it says remove...could it be the same?
boehj about 13 years

Ahh, sorry. Depending on the driver type you get a different button. 'Remove' for graphics drivers, 'Deactivate' for Ethernet drivers. Remove is a little more drastic I guess. However, if it doesn't help things you can always just re-download the driver from that exact same panel (System > Administration > Additional Drivers.)
pinpin890 about 13 years

PLEASE SEE UPDATED DETAILS
pinpin890 about 13 years

This actually work.....but it has the same problem i have up there...but i am still able to enjoy the movie....thank you!!!