How to Get MP4/H.264 Working on OpenSuSE Tumbleweed

Difficulty: Beginner :ok_hand:

ETA: ~5 minutes :timer_clock:*

* results may vary depending on internet speed.

Prep :man_cook:


First, we need to remove VLC if it is already present on the system because we will use the one provided by a different vendor (VLC). This is because the one that ships with the distro has the H.264 parts disabled due to licencing patents :anger::rage: .

sudo zypper rm vlc

Install :desktop_computer:


# This will add the appropriate repo for Tumbleweed, but it works for LEAP too.
# Just be sure to change the last part after /SuSE/[Version] with yours.
sudo zypper ar https://download.videolan.org/pub/vlc/SuSE/Tumbleweed VLC
sudo zypper mr -r VLC
sudo zypper in vlc

It will install its stuff, there will be package conflicts since this new repo will provide different libraries to ones that might already exist. In this situation, it will prompt you what to do. We will select the 1 option. This will agree to the vendor change. You will do this for everything.

Next, we need to perform an upgrade on anything else it provides.

zypper dup --from VLC

And same as before, it will ask what to do with the conflicting packages. Select 1 for everything. Once that’s done you will need to close any programs that were using the old libraries, or if you’re unsure just do a reboot.

Check :ballot_box_with_check:


Check here to see if it worked. If it is able to play the MP4 Big Bunny video then congrats :confetti_ball: :fireworks: :confetti_ball: you did it.


Official Resources :books:

https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Firefox_MP4/H.264_Video_Support

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Thank you
It was usefull for me.