Kaffeine and .asx streams

[zugunder]

Hi,
Does anyone know what plugins/codecs are necessary for playing .asx streams via Kaffeine (which is, I assume, is a xine-based player, right?).
Thank you.

[doktor5000]

Hard to say, as .asx files are only stream redirects and you didn't tell what video/audio format those streams contain. Typically it should be WMV/WMA as far as i remember.
Kaffeine can also use Gstreamer plugins from what i remember. Maybe you can just give some example links?

But anyways, i'd just try to open them in VLC.

[zugunder]

The link is this:
http://www.vesti.ru/video1.asx?vid=onair
Actually, I can open it with Mplayer without problems, just hoped that Kaffeine would handle it too (just used to it). Kaffeine generally does not have problems opening mms streams (that are, as I assume, related to MS and most likely utilize the same wmv format).
There are unfortunately almost no settings in Kaffeine, available via its GUI.
BTW, is xine still supported or completely dropped by its community? I heard something about it, but can't find where...
Thank you.

[doktor5000]

Well, Firefox proposes for me to open this in VLC, it opens and just works. Sorry, but i don't use Kaffeine ...
Maybe you want to try something different too, e.g. me-tv?

[zugunder]

Thanks, as I mentioned above, MPlayer does this job well for me too. I was just curious why Kaffeine can't do that...
BTW, are there any reasons to prefer VLC over the rest of available players? As far as I know, it uses its own codecs and they are not system-wide, right?

[doktor5000]

It does not need any additional plugins/codecs for the popular file types, it can be used to stream and convert files, and it uses standard libraries and brings a useable frontend with many features. mplayer uses a bundled copy of ffmpeg, so mplayer doesn't use the system one.

[zugunder]

Thank you for the explanations.
BTW, if I remember correctly you promised to make a short manual on Mageia optimization (to make it faster) in one of the threads...
Can I find it somewhere?
Thank you.

[obgr_seneca]

It does not need any additional plugins/codecs for the popular file types, it can be used to stream and convert files, and it uses standard libraries and brings a useable frontend with many features. mplayer uses a bundled copy of ffmpeg, so mplayer doesn't use the system one.

Sure? I thought, Anssi or fwang patched it to use system ffmpeg.

And about the preference of one player or the other, that's just personal preference. The doktor just likes vlc, I can't stand it and prefer mplayer (and one of its guys) or kaffeine if mplayer has any problems.

Oliver

[zugunder]

I have the same reason for using more than one player... However, I did not like VLC when I used it on Win system, but I guess it is more my personal preferences.
As for Kaffeine, it seems to be very stripped by features, though it uses old venerable xine backend, the thing that I like about it.
Anyway, even installation of win32 codecs (recommended on Kaffeine homepage) did not help me, so maybe it is not a problem of codecs?

[doktor5000]

It does not need any additional plugins/codecs for the popular file types, it can be used to stream and convert files, and it uses standard libraries and brings a useable frontend with many features. mplayer uses a bundled copy of ffmpeg, so mplayer doesn't use the system one.

Sure? I thought, Anssi or fwang patched it to use system ffmpeg.

For Mageia 2, yes, but not for Mageia 1. And yes, i do like VLC, and i don't like mplayer

BTW, if I remember correctly you promised to make a short manual on Mageia optimization (to make it faster) in one of the threads...
Can I find it somewhere?

Well, IIRC i didn't promise it, i said i may write some hints how to improve KDE performance, but this will take a while, maybe when i find some time to replace my working system with a Mageia 2 clean installation.

Anyway, even installation of win32 codecs (recommended on Kaffeine homepage) did not help me, so maybe it is not a problem of codecs?

I also use more than one player, mostly i use VLC for movies, converting stuff and listening to music, and XBMC for movies where the 5.1 surround to 2.1 stereo downmix is needed as it has a boost volume function to essentially raise the volume of the center channel where the voice comes from ...

BTW: win32-codecs are deprecated and not needed anymore.

[zugunder]

Well, IIRC i didn't promise it, i said i may write some hints how to improve KDE performance, but this will take a while, maybe when i find some time to replace my working system with a Mageia 2 clean installation.

OK, sorry then - I got it wrong.