How to Install MPlayer and MEncoder on Fedora

MPlayer and MEncoder are no longer actively maintained, but they’re still available through RPM Fusion if you need them for legacy content or specific workflows. Most users should consider modern alternatives like mpv (MPlayer’s successor) or ffmpeg for transcoding, but this guide covers the traditional setup.

Enable RPM Fusion Repository

RPM Fusion hosts packages Fedora doesn’t include in its official repositories. Add both free and nonfree repos:

sudo dnf install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

Install MPlayer and MEncoder

Once RPM Fusion is enabled:

sudo dnf install mplayer mencoder

Verify the installation:

mplayer --version
mencoder -version

Codec Support

Modern Fedora includes most codecs through FFmpeg dependencies, so manual codec installation is rarely necessary. If you encounter unsupported formats, first try upgrading your codec libraries:

sudo dnf install ffmpeg

Playing RMVB and Legacy Formats

RMVB files may require additional libraries. Install compatible C++ runtime libraries:

sudo dnf install libstdc++ libstdc++-devel

Test playback with verbose output to diagnose issues:

mplayer -v file.rmvb

Common MPlayer Usage

Play a file with subtitles:

mplayer -sub subtitle.srt video.mkv

Seek to a specific time (in seconds):

mplayer -ss 120 video.mp4

Loop playback:

mplayer -loop 0 file.mp3

MEncoder for Transcoding

MEncoder is useful for batch conversions, though ffmpeg is generally preferred for new scripts. Convert AVI to MP4:

mencoder input.avi -o output.mp4 -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4 -oac lavc -lavcopts acodec=aac

Extract audio from video:

mencoder input.mkv -ovc copy -oac copy -of rawaudio -o audio.aac

Resize video during encoding:

mencoder input.avi -o output.avi -vf scale=1280:720 -ovc lavc -oac copy

Modern Alternatives

For new projects, consider these maintained tools:

mpv: Modern MPlayer fork with better hardware acceleration and subtitle handling
ffmpeg: Industry standard for encoding, decoding, and format conversion
HandBrake: GUI-based video transcoder

Install mpv as an alternative:

sudo dnf install mpv

Troubleshooting

If MPlayer crashes or won’t play certain files:

Check available codecs: mplayer -ac help and mplayer -vc help
Try forcing a specific codec: mplayer -ac mad file.mp3
Enable verbose logging: mplayer -v file.mkv 2>&1 | tee debug.log
Consult man mplayer and man mencoder for full option documentation