doc/faq/faq.sgml

   1 <qandaset><title>VLC FAQ</title>
   2
   3 <qandadiv><title>Using VLC</title>
   4
   5 <qandaentry>
   6
   7 <question><para>How do I read a DVD?</para></question>
   8
   9 <answer><para>Just launch VLC and use the "open disc" command from the graphical
  10 interface. In case of trouble, you may want to use the command line.
  11 For instance, provided your DVD device is <filename>/dev/dvd</filename> :</para>
  12
  13 <screen><prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc dvd:/dev/dvd</userinput></screen>
  14
  15 </answer></qandaentry>
  16
  17 <qandaentry>
  18
  19 <question><para>How do I read an encrypted DVD?</para></question>
  20
  21 <answer><para>It is exactly the same as for a normal DVD. You will
  22 need write access to <filename>/dev/dvd</filename>, because of the key
  23 negociation process.
  24
  25 If you compiled your VLC by hand, please bear in mind that you also need
  26 to install libdvdcss. It can be downloaded from the VideoLAN website. It
  27 used to be distributed in the same package as VLC, but now you must install
  28 them seperately.
  29
  30 </para></answer></qandaentry>
  31
  32 <qandaentry>
  33
  34 <question><para>How do I switch to full screen display?</para></question>
  35
  36 <answer><para>Press <keycap>f</keycap> to toggle fullscreen mode. Note
  37 that not all video output devices support full screen.
  38
  39 </para></answer></qandaentry>
  40
  41 <qandaentry>
  42
  43 <question><para>How do I hide the mouse cursor?</para></question>
  44
  45 <answer><para>It should disappear after a few seconds if you stop moving
  46 the mouse.
  47
  48 </para></answer></qandaentry>
  49
  50 <qandaentry>
  51
  52 <question><para>How do I use VLC if I do not want to install Gnome and
  53 all this #@!£% *$@&§% !@# bloat?</para></question>
  54
  55 <answer><para>You can run:</para>
  56
  57 <screen><prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc --intf dummy myfile.mpg</userinput>
  58 </screen>
  59
  60 <para>Most commands are available from the command line, see
  61 <command>vlc --help</command> for more information.</para>
  62
  63 </answer></qandaentry>
  64
  65 <qandaentry>
  66
  67 <question><para>VLC eats my buffer cache, how can I use raw device?</para></question>
  68
  69 <answer><para>If you do not know what is a raw device, do not even read
  70 this answer :-).</para>
  71
  72 <para>There is an experimental support for raw devices in libdvdcss. It
  73 needs that you set up a raw device pointing to your DVD device (under
  74 Linux, use the "raw" utility). Then pass the raw device as second
  75 argument, for instance:</para>
  76
  77 <screen><prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc dvd:/dev/dvd@/dev/raw0</userinput></screen>
  78
  79 </answer></qandaentry>
  80
  81 <qandaentry>
  82
  83 <question><para>How do I use VLC as a client for VLS
  84 streaming?</para></question>
  85
  86 <answer><para>First you must set up a VLS stream. Please refer to the
  87 documentation of the program. Then start VLC:</para>
  88
  89 <screen><prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc udp:</userinput></screen>
  90
  91 <para>You should not need any option. If you are paranoid and want to control
  92 everything, here is the exact syntax:</para>
  93
  94 <screen><prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc udp:[&lt;server&gt;[:&lt;server port&gt;]][@[&lt;bind address&gt;][:&lt;bind port&gt;]]</userinput></screen>
  95
  96 </answer></qandaentry>
  97
  98 <qandaentry>
  99
 100 <question><para>How do I uninstall / reinstall VLC?</para></question>
 101
 102 <answer><para>Why would you want to? ;)</para>
 103
 104 <para>If you are using a source distribution of VLC, for example
 105 a tarball or the CVS, then you have probably used <command>make
 106 install</command> to install the compiled VLC. To remove it just
 107 <command>make uninstall</command>. If you want to install a newer
 108 version than the currently installed one, you should first uninstall
 109 the first one. If you deleted the original source tree, a <command>make
 110 uninstall</command> in the newer tree should still work.</para>
 111
 112 <para>For binary packages, remove old packages first and install the new
 113 ones (normally this should be handled automagically by your sytem).
 114 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 115
 116 <qandaentry>
 117
 118 <question><para>Debian: what should I put in my sources.list for
 119 videolan?</para></question>
 120
 121 <answer>
 122
 123 <para><programlisting>
 124 deb     http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian $(ARCH)/
 125 deb-src http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian sources/
 126 </programlisting></para>
 127
 128 </answer></qandaentry>
 129
 130 <qandaentry>
 131
 132 <question><para>How can I save my VLC configuration?</para></question>
 133
 134 <answer><para>Currently, the only way to save the configuration options
 135 in VLC is through the preferences menu in one of the graphical user
 136 interface plugins.
 137
 138 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 139
 140 <qandaentry>
 141
 142 <question><para>Where does VLC store its config file?</para></question>
 143
 144 <answer><para>Currently, a config file is created on a per user basis
 145 (there is no global configuration file). If you modify the available
 146 options in VLC and save the new configuration, then a configuration file
 147 will be created in your user directory. The precise location of this
 148 file depends on the Operating System you are running: </para>
 149
 150 <itemizedlist>
 151
 152 <listitem><para>Unices (Linux, etc.):
 153 <filename>$(HOME)/.vlc/vlcrc</filename></para></listitem>
 154
 155 <listitem><para>Mac OS X: <filename>/Library/Preferences/VLC</filename>
 156 </para></listitem>
 157
 158 <listitem><para>Windows: <filename>Application Data\vlc\vlcrc</filename>
 159 (Application Data is usually in <filename>C:\Documents and
 160 Settings\your_name</filename></para></listitem>
 161
 162 <listitem><para>BeOS:
 163 <filename>config/settings/vlcrc</filename></listitem>
 164
 165 </itemizedlist>
 166
 167 </answer></qandaentry>
 168
 169 <qandaentry>
 170
 171 <question><para>How do I join an IPv6 multicast stream?</para></question>
 172
 173 <answer><para>You often have to indicate the interface name on your system, for instance :
 174  udp:@[FEDC:BA98:7654:3210:FEDC:BA98:7654:3210%eth0]:1234
 175 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 176
 177 </qandadiv>
 178
 179 <qandadiv><title>Troubleshooting</title>
 180
 181 <qandaentry>
 182
 183 <question><para>When I start VLC, I do not see any interface
 184 coming</para></question>
 185
 186 <answer><para>If you installed a binary package, make sure you also
 187 installed an interface package such as <emphasis>vlc-gtk</emphasis>
 188 or <emphasis>vlc-qt</emphasis>. If you installed from source, make
 189 sure the development package for gtk 1.2 or qt is correctly installed
 190 (often <emphasis>gtk-dev</emphasis>, <emphasis>gtk-devel</emphasis> or
 191 <emphasis>libgtk1.2-dev</emphasis>) and recompile.
 192
 193 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 194
 195 <qandaentry>
 196
 197 <question><para>Clicking on "<emphasis>disc</emphasis>" in the interface
 198 does not do anything</para></question>
 199
 200 <answer><para>Wait a few seconds. Key discovering can take much time on
 201 some discs. If it still does not work, you can have a more verbose
 202 output using <command>vlc -vvvvv</command>. Here are a few things to
 203 check for:</para>
 204
 205 <itemizedlist>
 206
 207 <listitem><para>Did you install the libdvdcss package?</para></listitem>
 208
 209 <listitem><para>Do you have write access to your DVD device?
 210 For instance, under Unix, <command>chmod 666 /dev/hdc</command>
 211 </para></listitem>
 212
 213 <listitem><para>Under Unix, does your kernel log contain line about your
 214 DVD device?</para></listitem>
 215
 216 <listitem><para>Under Unix, do you have a link from <filename>/dev/dvd</filename> to your real DVD device? For instance:</para>
 217 <screen><prompt># </prompt><userinput>cd /dev && ln -s hdc dvd</userinput></screen></listitem>
 218
 219 </itemizedlist>
 220
 221 </answer></qandaentry>
 222
 223 <qandaentry>
 224
 225 <question><para>The video runs but the picture is distorted</para></question>
 226
 227 <answer><para>There is probably a problem with the output layer. There
 228 are several ways of troubleshooting it. First, try with another output
 229 plugin, for instance:</para>
 230
 231 <screen>
 232 <prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc --vout sdl</userinput>
 233 <prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc --vout x11</userinput>
 234 </screen>
 235
 236 <para>Second, change your screen depth and/or definition. It quite
 237 often helps. Lastly, if running Unix, have a look at your XFree86 video
 238 driver (nVidia for instance releases optimized drivers for its boards).
 239 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 240
 241 <qandaentry>
 242
 243 <question><para>Video is choppy</para></question>
 244
 245 <answer><para>Your system is too slow to decode all pictures. It might
 246 be that your CPU basically is not fast enough. It can also be that the
 247 subsystem is misconfigured/misdriven, this happens for example under
 248 Redhat Linux. Here are some elements to improve speed: </para>
 249
 250 <itemizedlist>
 251
 252 <listitem><para>Turn on DMA on your DVD device, for instance:</para>
 253
 254 <itemizedlist>
 255
 256 <listitem><para>Under Linux:</para>
 257
 258 <screen><prompt>% </prompt><userinput>hdparm -d1 /dev/dvd</userinput></screen>
 259
 260 </listitem>
 261
 262 <listitem><para>Under Windows, go to the <emphasis>System</emphasis>
 263 section of the control panel, and go to the <emphasis>Hardware
 264 manager</emphasis> (it is sometimes in a separate tab, and sometimes,
 265 you have to go to the <emphasis>Advanced</emphasis> tab. Then,
 266 righ-click on your DVD player, and check the <emphasis>DMA</emphasis>
 267 checkbox</para></listitem>
 268
 269 </itemizedlist>
 270
 271 <listitem><para>Upgrade to the latest driver for your video board</para>
 272
 273 <para>If you are running Linux, you can additionnaly upgrade to the
 274 latest XFree86 version ; if supported, check that the xvideo plug-in is
 275 effectively used with</para>
 276
 277 <screen><prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc -vvvv</userinput></screen>
 278 </listitem>
 279
 280 <listitem><para>Kill other applications running...</para></listitem>
 281
 282 </itemizedlist>
 283
 284 </answer></qandaentry>
 285
 286 <qandaentry>
 287
 288 <question><para>Audio is choppy</para></question>
 289
 290 <answer><para>This is not normal; it is a known problem and is being
 291 investigated.
 292
 293 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 294
 295 <qandaentry>
 296
 297 <question><para>Audio and video are out of sync</para></question>
 298
 299 <answer><para>This is not normal. Try using another output plugin (for
 300 instance <command>--aout dsp</command>), kill <emphasis>esd</emphasis>
 301 or <emphasis>artsd</emphasis> if they are running. This is a known
 302 problem and is being investigated.
 303
 304 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 305
 306 <qandaentry>
 307
 308 <question><para>Sound volume is too low</para></question>
 309
 310 <answer><para>You can raise it with <command>--volume</command> command
 311 line switch or in the preferences window of your graphical interface.
 312
 313 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 314
 315 <qandaentry>
 316
 317 <question><para>I have no image under DirectX</para></question>
 318
 319 <answer><para>Check that your video card drivers are in their latest
 320 version and that your DirectX is up-to-date.
 321
 322 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 323
 324 <qandaentry>
 325
 326 <question><para>VLC crashes</para></question>
 327
 328 <answer><para>Increase the verbosity level (either in the preferences
 329 or with a <emphasis>-vvvv</emphasis> command line option) and look at the
 330 debug messages (in the terminal or in the Messages window).</para>
 331
 332 <para>If you are convinced that it's a bug in VLC, have a look at the
 333 <ulink url="http://www.videolan.org/support/bug-reporting.html">bug
 334 reporting page</ulink>.
 335
 336 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 337
 338
 339
 340 <qandaentry>
 341
 342 <question><para>Under Unices, i can only play a DVD as root</para></question>
 343
 344 <answer><para>Check that as user you have write access to your DVD drive
 345 / device.
 346
 347 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 348
 349 <qandaentry>
 350
 351 <question><para>I am stuck with option xxx, how do I reset
 352 options?</para></question>
 353
 354 <answer><para>Under unices, remove your
 355 <filename>~/.vlc/vlcrc</filename>; for Windows, remove
 356 <filename>vlcrc</filename> in the videolan subfolder of your
 357 <filename>Application Data</filename> directory.
 358
 359 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 360
 361 <qandaentry>
 362
 363 <question><para>I do not have access to the GUI anymore</para></question>
 364
 365 <answer><para>If you change the default interface module in the
 366 preferences menu to a non GUI module (ie. to a command line interface)
 367 and then save the configuration, the only way to get VLC to show a GUI
 368 again is to run it directly from the command line.</para>
 369
 370 <para>For instance on Windows, you need to open a Command Line
 371 console, go to the directory where you installed VLC (usually
 372 <filename>C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VideoLAN Client</filename>) and then
 373 type <command>vlc --intf win32</command> You will then be able to modify
 374 the configuration again and save it.
 375
 376 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 377
 378 <qandaentry>
 379
 380 <question><para>I have just upgraded to VLC 0.4.5, and now I do not have
 381 any sound with the streams coming from the VLS!</para></question>
 382
 383 <answer><para>This is a known problem. VLC 0.4.5 and later are now
 384 compliant to general usage regarding A/52 sound, and the new behavior
 385 is incompatible with the previous one. VLS version 0.4.0 and later now
 386 fixes this problem. If, for any reason, you wish to keep VLS 0.3.3, you
 387 can still read those streams by launching VLC (0.4.5 or later) with
 388 <command>--vls-backwards-compat</command>.
 389
 390 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 391
 392 <qandaentry>
 393
 394 <question><para>NO VIDEO!! or NO AUDIO!!</para></question>
 395
 396 <answer><para>DON'T PANIC! Use the verbose mode of VLC to search the
 397 problem, you may either set the verbosity option in the interface
 398 preferences or use the <command>-vvvv</command> command line switch to
 399 increase the number of report/error messages given by VLC. If you are
 400 not using a terminal, use the Messages window in the View menu.
 401
 402 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 403
 404 </qandadiv>
 405 <qandadiv><title>Ports and features</title>
 406
 407 <qandadiv><title>MacOS X port</title>
 408
 409 <qandaentry>
 410
 411 <question><para>Does VLC support the ATI DVD hardware acceleration
 412 cards?</para></question>
 413
 414 <answer><para>Currently it does not. We would be glad to support them,
 415 but we lack technical information on them.
 416
 417 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 418
 419 </qandadiv>
 420
 421 <qandadiv><title>Win32 port</title>
 422
 423 <qandaentry>
 424
 425 <question><para>When moving the focus to another window, VLC network
 426 input stops working properly!</para></question>
 427
 428 <answer><para>This is a known problem with Win 95-class systems (ie,
 429 Windows 95/98/Me). Upgrade to an NT-class system (ie, Windows NT/2000 or
 430 XP).
 431
 432 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 433
 434 </qandadiv>
 435
 436 <qandadiv><title>Planned ports</title>
 437
 438 <qandaentry>
 439
 440 <question><para>Do you have plans for a MacOS 9 / OS/2 / &{#!@}~
 441 port?</para></question>
 442
 443 <answer><para>No, nobody reported to be actually working on a MacOS 9
 444 or OS/2 port. If you feel like you could write it, we would of course
 445 welcome it. Currently, the developers are more interested in supporting
 446 the latest Operating Systems and completing the functionalities.
 447
 448 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 449
 450 <qandaentry>
 451
 452 <question><para>Does VLC have dxr2 / dxr3 cards support?</para></question>
 453
 454 <answer><para>This support is currently being developed.
 455 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 456
 457 <qandaentry>
 458
 459 <question><para>Does VLC support RTP?</para></question>
 460
 461 <answer><para>Yes. Just use vlc rtp:@&lt;mcast addr&gt;:&lt;local port&gt;.
 462 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 463
 464 <qandaentry>
 465
 466 <question><para>Does VLC support DVD from all regions?</para></question>
 467
 468 <answer><para>VLC uses <emphasis>libdvdcss</emphasis> to read all
 469 DVD, disregarding their zone. All regions are supported without any
 470 constraint. However, <emphasis>libdvdcss</emphasis> might not be legal
 471 in your country.
 472
 473 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 474
 475 <qandaentry>
 476
 477 <question><para>How can I take screenshots?</para></question>
 478
 479 <answer><para>This is currently unsupported, but will be in a
 480 near future. The latest developments concern recording the video
 481 and the audio to a file. However, under XFree, you may use the
 482 <emphasis>x11</emphasis> video output to take normal screen capture of
 483 the video displayed by VLC.
 484
 485 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 486
 487 </qandadiv>
 488
 489 </qandadiv>
 490
 491 <qandadiv><title>Legal concerns</title>
 492
 493 <qandaentry>
 494 <question><para>May I use the VideoLAN logo?</para></question>
 495
 496 <answer><para>You may freely use the VideoLAN logo using the following
 497 copyright:</para>
 498
 499 <para>
 500 <emphasis>
 501   Copyright (c) 1996-2002 VideoLAN. This logo or a modified version
 502   may be used or modified by anyone to refer to the VideoLAN project
 503   or any product developed by the VideoLAN team, but does not indicate
 504   endorsement by the project.
 505 </emphasis>
 506
 507 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 508
 509 <qandaentry>
 510
 511 <question><para>May I redistribute VLC?</para></question>
 512
 513 <answer><para>You may distribute an original or modified version of a
 514 VideoLAN software as long as you comply with its license terms. It is
 515 the GNU General Public License Version 2 (referred herein as GPL), and
 516 it is in the file named COPYING in our products. The easiest way to
 517 conform to the GPL is to accompany the product you want to distribute
 518 with its sources. For example, if you plan to distribute the 0.4.6
 519 binary version you should include: </para>
 520
 521 <programlisting>
 522    http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/0.4.6/vlc-0.4.6.tar.gz
 523    http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/0.4.6/contrib/
 524 </programlisting>
 525
 526 <para>You do not need to bother explaining where the sources are, but
 527 the sources have to share the same media as the products.</para>
 528
 529 <para>They are other ways to comply with the GPL, but this should be the
 530 simplest because it does not rely on a contract.</para>
 531
 532 <para>There is one additional issue you need to take care of. The VLC
 533 binary from our website can also read encrypted DVDs with the help of
 534 the <emphasis>libdvdcss</emphasis> library. Its use is controversial in
 535 a few countries such as the United States because of a law called the
 536 DMCA. If you are unsure about the legality of using and distributing
 537 this library in your country, please consult your lawyer.
 538
 539 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 540 </qandadiv>
 541
 542 <qandadiv><title>Miscellaneous</title>
 543
 544 <qandaentry>
 545
 546 <question><para>How may I help your project?</para></question>
 547
 548 <answer><para>You might either contribute time, material,
 549 or money. We are also always needing some translators.
 550 You will find all information you need on the <ulink
 551 url="http://www.videolan.org/contribute.html">contribute page</ulink>.
 552
 553 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 554
 555
 556 <qandaentry>
 557
 558 <question><para>Why are your mailing-lists and your website in
 559 english?</para></question>
 560
 561 <answer><para>VideoLAN's developers come from all around the world and
 562 english is the only language they can use to communicate together.
 563 Although great care is given to the translation of VLC in various
 564 languages, maintaining translations of our documentation and website
 565 costs too much more time than we can afford.
 566
 567 </para></answer></qandaentry>
 568
 569 </qandadiv>
 570 </qandaset>