[ubuntu-uk] BBC video and Firefox etc?

[alan c]

alan c wrote:
> I have a love hate relationship with BBC stuff. I love having it 
> available but hate it when things go wrong.....
> 
> I have just moved to a new machine with a sort of new install of 7.10 
> and have unfortunately reached a status of finding bbc/click video
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/default.stm
>   is not now playing. Annoying because during the general setting up 
> and installing stuff I need, bbc/click did work at one stage of the 
> proceedings.
> 
> I prefer to use firefox, mplayer, and as far as I can see things are 
> almost working but not quite.
> a click on the 'watch  now'  button opens a mplayer plugin window, 
> information text says it is 'buffering', then says it is connecting to 
> a specific server, then buffering a specific rm stream and the 
> progress bar appears to indicate the extent of buffering. It gets to 
> approximately 10 or 15 percent and lingers, then, after a little more 
> time, the status changes to 'Stopped', the progress bar replaced by 
> the start, pause, stop buttons within the mplayer plugin window.
> 
> It is as if mplayer plugin in firefox is not starting to display 
> successfully. A similar sequence happens if I choose the 'launch in 
> stand alone player'
> 
> To preserve my sanity I am glad to have another machine with 7.10, 
> which runs a similar configuration (successfully) as it always did,
> 
> I am aware of
> =============
> Add the medibuntu repo as per these instructions - this is so you can
> install the necessary codecs.
> http://www.medibuntu.org/repository.php
> 
> sudo apt-get update
> sudo apt-get remove totem-mozilla
> sudo apt-get install mozilla-mplayer w32codecs
> =============
> 
> and I believe I have done these actions. however I was also, at an 
> early stage, adding the packages (add/remove programs)(kubuntu if is 
> makes a difference)
> kubuntu restricted extras, and
> ubuntu restricted extras (both desktops are on this machine).
> 
> Later these were removed the same way during trouble shooting.
> Variously I have uninstalled mplayer and plugin, firefox, and manually 
> deleted its config files, reinstalled .... I did not keep a close 
> tally on all of it. Maybe I missed something. Anyhow, bbc click 
> carries on doing, and not doing, the same things!
> 
> I have also done some looking around in synaptic, removing anything I 
> thought might be causing  a problem. Ultimately I am possibly going to 
> have to reinstall just to get a clean mplayer firefox bbc situation, 
> however, it would be really great if I could find out what was going 
> on and put it  right!
> 
> comments most welcomed

Aah! progress of a sort.
I have continued to follow suggestions and follow links  fairly 
exhaustively, to no apparent success, (I am back with mplayer now 
also) until I started changing the  Configure settings obtained by 
right clicking onto the video window inside the firefox mplayer plugin 
window when the window was active: mplayer-in configuration.

The first field was seen to be empty, and I found that a setting 
option of gl  (lower case GL) worked, I had also chosen Audio Output 
as alsa (it had not been this previously)

I had also just previously followed advice in
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=540412
although the only item I believe helped me was the suggestion to 
examine and change the mplayer-in configuration.

I am most grateful for responses, thank you, I will continue to follow 
them tomorrow, (I have to go just now).
-- 
alan cocks
Kubuntu user#10391