Howto do I install multimedia plugins, codecs, libdvdcss in Debian Linux etch 4.0

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Q. I’ve just installed Debian Linux etch 4.0. I was reading your libdvdcss related post. How do I install libdvdcss and other multimedia codecs under Linux?

A. Debian Linux includes xine, totem or other DVD/movie player softwares. However some restricted plugins, mp3 support, DVDs and selected wifi cards out of the box are not supported due to copyright/IP laws.

#1: Update Debian Linux etch repository

Debian multimedia repository includes required packages. Open a file /etc/apt/sources.list
# vi /etc/apt/sources.list
Append following line
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org etch main

#2: Update packages

Run apt-get command:
# apt-get update

#2: Install packages

You can now install packages such as libdvdcss2, mplayer and so on with apt-get command itself:
# apt-get install mplayer w32codecs libdvdcss2
Now install libdvdcss:
# cd /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/examples
# sh install-css.sh

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin, DevOps engineer, and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. Get the latest tutorials on SysAdmin, Linux/Unix and open source topics via RSS/XML feed or weekly email newsletter.