1 <qandaset><title>VLC FAQ</title>
3 <qandadiv><title>Using VLC</title>
7 <question><para>How do I read a DVD?</para></question>
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>
13 <screen><prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc dvd:/dev/dvd</userinput></screen>
15 </answer></qandaentry>
19 <question><para>How do I read an encrypted DVD?</para></question>
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
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
30 </para></answer></qandaentry>
34 <question><para>How do I switch to full screen display?</para></question>
36 <answer><para>Press <keycap>f</keycap> to toggle fullscreen mode. Note
37 that not all video output devices support full screen.
39 </para></answer></qandaentry>
43 <question><para>How do I hide the mouse cursor?</para></question>
45 <answer><para>It should disappear after a few seconds if you stop moving
48 </para></answer></qandaentry>
52 <question><para>How do I use VLC if I do not want to install Gnome and
53 all this #@!£% *$@&§% !@# bloat?</para></question>
55 <answer><para>You can run:</para>
57 <screen><prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc --intf dummy myfile.mpg</userinput>
60 <para>Most commands are available from the command line, see
61 <command>vlc --help</command> for more information.</para>
63 </answer></qandaentry>
67 <question><para>VLC eats my buffer cache, how can I use raw device?</para></question>
69 <answer><para>If you do not know what is a raw device, do not even read
70 this answer :-).</para>
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>
77 <screen><prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc dvd:/dev/dvd@/dev/raw0</userinput></screen>
79 </answer></qandaentry>
83 <question><para>How do I use VLC as a client for VLS
84 streaming?</para></question>
86 <answer><para>First you must set up a VLS stream. Please refer to the
87 documentation of the program. Then start VLC:</para>
89 <screen><prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc udp:</userinput></screen>
91 <para>You should not need any option. If you are paranoid and want to control
92 everything, here is the exact syntax:</para>
94 <screen><prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc udp:[<server>[:<server port>]][@[<bind address>][:<bind port>]]</userinput></screen>
96 </answer></qandaentry>
100 <question><para>How do I uninstall / reinstall VLC?</para></question>
102 <answer><para>Why would you want to? ;)</para>
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>
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>
118 <question><para>Debian: what should I put in my sources.list for
119 videolan?</para></question>
123 <para><programlisting>
124 deb http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian $(ARCH)/
125 deb-src http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian sources/
126 </programlisting></para>
128 </answer></qandaentry>
132 <question><para>How can I save my VLC configuration?</para></question>
134 <answer><para>In the graphical interface, go to <emphasis>Settings /
135 Preferences</emphasis> and click on <emphasis>Save</emphasis>.
137 </para></answer></qandaentry>
141 <question><para>Where does VLC store its config file?</para></question>
143 <answer><para>Currently, a config file is created on a per user basis
144 (there is no global configuration file). If you modify the available
145 options in VLC and save the new configuration, then a configuration file
146 will be created in your user directory. The precise location of this
147 file depends on the Operating System you are running: </para>
151 <listitem><para>Unices (Linux, etc.):
152 <filename>$(HOME)/.vlc/vlcrc</filename></para></listitem>
154 <listitem><para>Mac OS X: <filename>/Library/Preferences/VLC</filename>
157 <listitem><para>Windows: <filename>Application Data\vlc\vlcrc</filename>
158 (Application Data is usually in <filename>C:\Documents and
159 Settings\your_name</filename></para></listitem>
161 <listitem><para>BeOS:
162 <filename>config/settings/vlcrc</filename></listitem>
166 </answer></qandaentry>
170 <question><para>How do I join an IPv6 multicast stream?</para></question>
172 <answer><para>You often have to indicate the interface name on your system, for instance :
173 udp:@[FEDC:BA98:7654:3210:FEDC:BA98:7654:3210%eth0]:1234
174 </para></answer></qandaentry>
178 <qandadiv><title>Troubleshooting</title>
182 <question><para>VLC has a strange behavior...</para></question>
184 <answer><para>The first thing to do is to delete VLC's configuration
189 <listitem><para>under unices, remove the file
190 <filename>~/.vlc/vlcrc</filename>;</para></listitem>
192 <listitem><para>under Windows, remove the file
193 <filename>vlcrc</filename> in the <filename>vlc</filename> subfolder of
194 your <filename>Application Data</filename> directory.</para></listitem>
198 <para>Then restart VLC ; if it doesn't get any better, read the
199 following questions !</para>
201 </answer></qandaentry>
205 <question><para>When I start VLC, I do not see any interface
206 coming</para></question>
208 <answer><para>If you installed a binary package, make sure you also
209 installed an interface package such as <emphasis>vlc-gtk</emphasis>
210 or <emphasis>vlc-qt</emphasis>. If you installed from source, make
211 sure the development package for gtk 1.2 or qt is correctly installed
212 (often <emphasis>gtk-dev</emphasis>, <emphasis>gtk-devel</emphasis> or
213 <emphasis>libgtk1.2-dev</emphasis>) and recompile.
215 </para></answer></qandaentry>
219 <question><para>Clicking on "<emphasis>disc</emphasis>" in the interface
220 does not do anything</para></question>
222 <answer><para>Wait a few seconds. Key discovering can take much time on
223 some discs. If it still does not work, you can have a more verbose
224 output using <command>vlc -vvvvv</command>. Here are a few things to
229 <listitem><para>Did you install the libdvdcss package?</para></listitem>
231 <listitem><para>Do you have write access to your DVD device?
232 For instance, under Unix, <command>chmod 666 /dev/hdc</command>
235 <listitem><para>Under Unix, does your kernel log contain line about your
236 DVD device?</para></listitem>
238 <listitem><para>Under Unix, do you have a link from <filename>/dev/dvd</filename> to your real DVD device? For instance:</para>
239 <screen><prompt># </prompt><userinput>cd /dev && ln -s hdc dvd</userinput></screen></listitem>
243 </answer></qandaentry>
247 <question><para>The video runs but the picture is distorted</para></question>
249 <answer><para>There is probably a problem with the output layer. There
250 are several ways of troubleshooting it. First, try with another output
251 plugin, for instance:</para>
254 <prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc --vout sdl</userinput>
255 <prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc --vout x11</userinput>
258 <para>Second, change your screen depth and/or definition. It quite
259 often helps. Lastly, if running Unix, have a look at your XFree86 video
260 driver (nVidia for instance releases optimized drivers for its boards).
261 </para></answer></qandaentry>
265 <question><para>Video is choppy</para></question>
267 <answer><para>Your system is too slow to decode all pictures. It might
268 be that your CPU basically is not fast enough. It can also be that the
269 subsystem is misconfigured/misdriven, this happens for example under
270 Redhat Linux. Here are some elements to improve speed: </para>
274 <listitem><para>Turn on DMA on your DVD device, for instance:</para>
278 <listitem><para>Under Linux:</para>
280 <screen><prompt>% </prompt><userinput>hdparm -d1 /dev/dvd</userinput></screen>
284 <listitem><para>Under Windows, go to the <emphasis>System</emphasis>
285 section of the control panel, and go to the <emphasis>Hardware
286 manager</emphasis> (it is sometimes in a separate tab, and sometimes,
287 you have to go to the <emphasis>Advanced</emphasis> tab. Then,
288 righ-click on your DVD player, and check the <emphasis>DMA</emphasis>
289 checkbox</para></listitem>
293 <listitem><para>Upgrade to the latest driver for your video board</para>
295 <para>If you are running Linux, you can additionnaly upgrade to the
296 latest XFree86 version ; if supported, check that the xvideo plug-in is
297 effectively used with</para>
299 <screen><prompt>% </prompt><userinput>vlc -vvvv</userinput></screen>
302 <listitem><para>Kill other applications running...</para></listitem>
306 </answer></qandaentry>
310 <question><para>Audio is choppy</para></question>
312 <answer><para>This is not normal; it is a known problem and is being
315 </para></answer></qandaentry>
319 <question><para>Audio and video are out of sync</para></question>
321 <answer><para>This is not normal. Try using another output plugin (for
322 instance <command>--aout dsp</command>), kill <emphasis>esd</emphasis>
323 or <emphasis>artsd</emphasis> if they are running. This is a known
324 problem and is being investigated.
326 </para></answer></qandaentry>
330 <question><para>Sound volume is too low</para></question>
332 <answer><para>You can raise it with <command>--volume</command> command
333 line switch or in the preferences window of your graphical interface.
335 </para></answer></qandaentry>
339 <question><para>I have no image under DirectX</para></question>
341 <answer><para>Check that your video card drivers are in their latest
342 version and that your DirectX is up-to-date.
344 </para></answer></qandaentry>
348 <question><para>VLC crashes</para></question>
350 <answer><para>Increase the verbosity level (either in the preferences
351 or with a <emphasis>-vvvv</emphasis> command line option) and look at the
352 debug messages (in the terminal or in the Messages window).</para>
354 <para>If you are convinced that it's a bug in VLC, have a look at the
355 <ulink url="http://www.videolan.org/support/bug-reporting.html">bug
356 reporting page</ulink>.
358 </para></answer></qandaentry>
364 <question><para>Under Unices, i can only play a DVD as root</para></question>
366 <answer><para>Check that as user you have write access to your DVD drive
369 </para></answer></qandaentry>
373 <question><para>I do not have access to the GUI anymore</para></question>
375 <answer><para>If you change the default interface module in the
376 preferences menu to a non GUI module (ie. to a command line interface)
377 and then save the configuration, the only way to get VLC to show a GUI
378 again is to run it directly from the command line.</para>
380 <para>For instance on Windows, you need to open a Command Line
381 console, go to the directory where you installed VLC (usually
382 <filename>C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VideoLAN Client</filename>) and then
383 type <command>vlc --intf win32</command> You will then be able to modify
384 the configuration again and save it.
386 </para></answer></qandaentry>
390 <question><para>I have just upgraded to VLC 0.4.5, and now I do not have
391 any sound with the streams coming from the VLS!</para></question>
393 <answer><para>This is a known problem. VLC 0.4.5 and later are now
394 compliant to general usage regarding A/52 sound, and the new behavior
395 is incompatible with the previous one. VLS version 0.4.0 and later now
396 fixes this problem. If, for any reason, you wish to keep VLS 0.3.3, you
397 can still read those streams by launching VLC (0.4.5 or later) with
398 <command>--vls-backwards-compat</command>.
400 </para></answer></qandaentry>
404 <question><para>NO VIDEO!! or NO AUDIO!!</para></question>
406 <answer><para>DON'T PANIC! Use the verbose mode of VLC to search the
407 problem, you may either set the verbosity option in the interface
408 preferences or use the <command>-vvvv</command> command line switch to
409 increase the number of report/error messages given by VLC. If you are
410 not using a terminal, use the Messages window in the View menu.
412 </para></answer></qandaentry>
415 <qandadiv><title>Ports and features</title>
417 <qandadiv><title>MacOS X port</title>
421 <question><para>Does VLC support the ATI DVD hardware acceleration
422 cards?</para></question>
424 <answer><para>Currently it does not. We would be glad to support them,
425 but we lack technical information on them.
427 </para></answer></qandaentry>
431 <qandadiv><title>Win32 port</title>
435 <question><para>When moving the focus to another window, VLC network
436 input stops working properly!</para></question>
438 <answer><para>This is a known problem with Win 95-class systems (ie,
439 Windows 95/98/Me). Upgrade to an NT-class system (ie, Windows NT/2000 or
442 </para></answer></qandaentry>
446 <qandadiv><title>Planned ports</title>
450 <question><para>Do you have plans for a MacOS 9 / OS/2 / &{#!@}~
451 port?</para></question>
453 <answer><para>No, nobody reported to be actually working on a MacOS 9
454 or OS/2 port. If you feel like you could write it, we would of course
455 welcome it. Currently, the developers are more interested in supporting
456 the latest Operating Systems and completing the functionalities.
458 </para></answer></qandaentry>
462 <question><para>Does VLC have dxr2 / dxr3 cards support?</para></question>
464 <answer><para>This support is currently being developed.
465 </para></answer></qandaentry>
469 <question><para>Does VLC support RTP?</para></question>
471 <answer><para>Yes. Just use vlc rtp:@<mcast addr>:<local port>.
472 </para></answer></qandaentry>
476 <question><para>Does VLC support DVD from all regions?</para></question>
478 <answer><para>VLC uses <emphasis>libdvdcss</emphasis> to read all
479 DVD, disregarding their zone. All regions are supported without any
480 constraint. However, <emphasis>libdvdcss</emphasis> might not be legal
483 </para></answer></qandaentry>
487 <question><para>How can I take screenshots?</para></question>
489 <answer><para>This is currently unsupported, but will be in a
490 near future. The latest developments concern recording the video
491 and the audio to a file. However, under XFree, you may use the
492 <emphasis>x11</emphasis> video output to take normal screen capture of
493 the video displayed by VLC.
495 </para></answer></qandaentry>
501 <qandadiv><title>Legal concerns</title>
504 <question><para>May I use the VideoLAN logo?</para></question>
506 <answer><para>You may freely use the VideoLAN logo using the following
511 Copyright (c) 1996-2002 VideoLAN. This logo or a modified version
512 may be used or modified by anyone to refer to the VideoLAN project
513 or any product developed by the VideoLAN team, but does not indicate
514 endorsement by the project.
517 </para></answer></qandaentry>
521 <question><para>May I redistribute VLC?</para></question>
523 <answer><para>You may distribute an original or modified version of a
524 VideoLAN software as long as you comply with its license terms. It is
525 the GNU General Public License Version 2 (referred herein as GPL), and
526 it is in the file named COPYING in our products. The easiest way to
527 conform to the GPL is to accompany the product you want to distribute
528 with its sources. For example, if you plan to distribute the 0.4.6
529 binary version you should include: </para>
532 http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/0.4.6/vlc-0.4.6.tar.gz
533 http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/0.4.6/contrib/
536 <para>You do not need to bother explaining where the sources are, but
537 the sources have to share the same media as the products.</para>
539 <para>They are other ways to comply with the GPL, but this should be the
540 simplest because it does not rely on a contract.</para>
542 <para>There is one additional issue you need to take care of. The VLC
543 binary from our website can also read encrypted DVDs with the help of
544 the <emphasis>libdvdcss</emphasis> library. Its use is controversial in
545 a few countries such as the United States because of a law called the
546 DMCA. If you are unsure about the legality of using and distributing
547 this library in your country, please consult your lawyer.
549 </para></answer></qandaentry>
552 <qandadiv><title>Miscellaneous</title>
556 <question><para>How may I help your project?</para></question>
558 <answer><para>You might either contribute time, material,
559 or money. We are also always needing some translators.
560 You will find all information you need on the <ulink
561 url="http://www.videolan.org/contribute.html">contribute page</ulink>.
563 </para></answer></qandaentry>
568 <question><para>Why are your mailing-lists and your website in
569 english?</para></question>
571 <answer><para>VideoLAN's developers come from all around the world and
572 english is the only language they can use to communicate together.
573 Although great care is given to the translation of VLC in various
574 languages, maintaining translations of our documentation and website
575 costs too much more time than we can afford.
577 </para></answer></qandaentry>