need help with GUI on mplayer

[deanrantala]

I just want to know how you compile mplayer with gui support. The documentation said --gui=yes in your config file. Do they mean when I do the pre-biuld configure? I tried that and it says "uknown argument: gui=yes".

I also linked mplayer to gmplayer and tried finding the dir where the skins go: there is no dir for them - and just what does "$PREFIX" mean anyway? Well, anywayz, when I try launching gmplayer, I get a message at the bottom saying no gui support compiled into mplayer. I need to know how I configure, compile, and install mplayer with gui suport.

And for the record: mplayers documentation is unusually pretty detailed. But the layout of it sucks and is in no way clear about how to do a simple install - they don't even tell you about special requirements for particular things until AFTER they tell you to compile!!

[Hayl]

~/.mplayer/config

# Write your default config options here!
gui=yes
skin=Blue

btw, have you downloaded a skin yet? i don't think it normally comes with one and it won't run gui unless you have one.

<edit>yes, i was right: it does not come witha skin. quote from their docs - section 1.3</edit>

As MPlayer doesn't have a skin included, you have to download them if you want to use the GUI. See the download page. They should be extracted to the usual system-wide directory ($PREFIX/share/mplayer/Skin), or to $HOME/.mplayer/Skin. MPlayer by default looks in these directories for a directory named default, but you can use the -skin newskin option, or the skin=newskin config file directive to use the skin in */Skin/newskin directory

[deanrantala]

Thanks. Yeah, I downloaded a skin, but since it compiled without gui support, there was no proper place to put it.

I'm checking that config file out right now....

[deanrantala]

Ehh... Its a no-go. The problem is I need to get mplayer going for the firs time to have that directory (and all files in it) created. I can't get mplayer going, however if theres no gui support. I need to know how to *compile* mplayer with gui support. When I tried launching it before, it said gui support was not compiled into mplayer. So even if I created all them dir's and files, it would do nothing...

[Hayl]

Originally posted by deanrantala
Ehh... Its a no-go. The problem is I need to get mplayer going for the firs time to have that directory (and all files in it) created. I can't get mplayer going, however if theres no gui support. I need to know how to *compile* mplayer with gui support. When I tried launching it before, it said gui support was not compiled into mplayer. So even if I created all them dir's and files, it would do nothing...

the gentoo ebuild uses these to set it up to use the gui:

--enable-gui --enable-x11 --enable-xv --enable-vm --enable-png

[deanrantala]

Thanks again. The configure went good. I'm compiling right now.

I'm also gonna make note to have mplayerHQ tidy up a bit on the documentation. Excelent software, poor manual - after all, they're geeks - not language teachers...

[Icarus]

Originally posted by deanrantala
I'm also gonna make note to have mplayerHQ tidy up a bit on the documentation. Excelent software, poor manual - after all, they're geeks - not language teachers... People have been complaining about their docs for years, the most common responce from them is something like "STFU you n00b and learn to RTFM"

or something along those lines :)

[deanrantala]

Got it working fine now.

Problem with documentation? Has anyone here went for any degrees in the IT sector? If so you most likely had to take "tachnical writing" (as I did). For those of you who know what I'm talking about - thats probably why their documentation is like that. For those of you who don't know: Most of us who go to school for programming of most other IT degrees are required to take "technical writing". It is a course that teaches you how to write basic letters, reports, and documantation. The books, however, teach you to write the stuff as if your writing docunentation for the ENIAC.:rolleyes: . Many programmers write documentation based on what they learn from those lessons, and it is more than often not laid out in a concise and logical way - but the way that the "books" taught them.

They need *someone else* to re-do the documantattion IMHO