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Software > Codecs


Translation(s): English - Italiano - Français - Português


What Are Codecs?

Simply put for most users a codec is a program capable of compressing/decompressing data streams to make them more manageable and consume less bandwidth. To view files that are compressed by codecs, you will need to install a program capable of decompressing them for you.

How to Install Codecs

Basic multimedia playback is achieved trough common codecs included in the Debian repositories. To install other codecs not included with Debian (such as mp3 codecs) you can install restricted codecs from Debian Multimedia repository. Do your own legal due diligence before using restricted codecs.

  1. Install the Debian Multimedia Keyring, downloading it from http://debian-multimedia.org/pool/main/d/debian-multimedia-keyring/debian-multimedia-keyring_2010.12.26_all.deb

  2. Depending on your chosen release, add one of the following lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list file:

    deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org squeeze main non-free
    deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org wheezy main non-free
    deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org sid main non-free
  1. After editing sources update the package cache.

    apt-get update

Visit Debian Multimedia homepage for mirrors and more details about the project.

Debian Squeeze

Install the following packages:

aptitude install gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3 gstreamer0.10-plugins-really-bad ffmpeg sox twolame vorbis-tools lame faad

If you get an error message about DVD Subpicture Decoder missing also install the following:

aptitude install gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad

Debian Wheezy

Install the following packages:

aptitude install gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3 gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg ffmpeg sox twolame vorbis-tools lame faad

DIVX, Quick Time, Real Video, Windows Media, etc...

  1. Do the following (if you're using 64-bit version of Debian, install the w64codecs package):

apt-get install w32codecs
  1. To see what codecs are included in w32codecs:

apt-cache show w32codecs

DVD Playback

DVDs are usually encrypted with CSS. To read them, you must install the following packages:

apt-get install libdvdcss2 vlc 

You can replace vlc with totem-xine, gnome-mplayer or another program capable of playing DVDs depending on your taste.

More information

Windows Media Video playback