play dvd, mp3, and divx in unix

[jak]

is an x windowing environment necessary to play dvd, mpeg, divx and mp3 media in unix, or can i run an app from commands in unix to start a viewer, im working on a in car computer for media and didnt want it to just shut down when i kill the car and if im not mistaken i wont screw up the os by power cycling unix
any help appreciated
jack

[SpookyEddy]

mplayer can play movies without X if you have framebuffer support in your kernel (and a supported card). However I think the options are fairly limited and I suspect you don't get the option to playback in fullscreen mode.

Regards

eddy

[Redwolf]

Divx=good to go, just dl the codec at www.divx.com .

mp3s=use xmms, the Winamp alternative. Or one of the many audio players in KDE.

DVDs=now you have a problem. There are many solutions to platy DVDs, but the legallity of such is consitered illegal under the DMC-f###ing-A.

[SpookyEddy]

Just checked and you can get full screen using framebuffer if you use....

mplayer -vo fbdev -vop scale=1024:-2 -fs /path/to/file.avi

As you can see you have to force the scaling and I believe its done in software (but could be wrong). However it works fine on my XP 1800+ with GeForce4 mx. With the correct codecs installed mplayer supports divx, DVD, vcd, svcd, mp3's, ogg's, shoutcast streaming and all kinds of other stuff.

Regards

eddy

[jak]

now what is the situation with dos, can i do all of the same in a dos environment?

[SpookyEddy]

Some video codecs are available for dos but I have no idea how easy they are to get hold of or use. I would think performance would be fairly diabolical due to the limitations inherent in running under dos, but thats just a hunch.

[SpookyEddy]

For Dos checkout......

http://www.multimediaware.com/mpeg/

Says it plays back a variety of media formats as long as you have a processor that supports 32-bit protect mode (so a 386 or better). No idea if its any good but can't hurt to take a look.

[jak]

hrmm alright, does anyone have any other ideas about a good os i can throw on this machine that doesnt mind power cycling and will play dvds with out much trouble, dont need to be fiddling with an os on the road

[jak]

you know i wonder if beos is light enough it can run without a hitch like this, and i know beos can support divx, and dvds run from cd since i used to run it almost exlusively, heh big waste, a shame it didnt get any more popular

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what i just realized, im going to have to run windows if i want tv out to work, i dont think any other os "flawlessly" err maybe i should use a better term, natively, support the tv out funtion to the lcd screen in the car