Problems with the video player "Player" (unexpected crash) & Kodi

If you paid for the Ultimate version then you have access to support from the Devolopers - perhaps they can advise you where I could not - I don’t work for Zorin - I’m just a volunteer who also just happens to moderate on the forum and help where I can. I was surprised that you managed to play Ubuntu 20.04 in VM with 72 Mb Graphics - I always run VB with 128 Mb RAM. I’m yet to install a second Graphics Card in my rig so I can dedicate a full card to VM’s. I will PM AZorin and ask him to look into this for you.

Hi,

In some cases with Ubuntu it jerks, but it is a 4K video and it never crashes … If I use a normal video it is fine … Remember that I am a Mac User since 2006 and with Linux do you know what I can do? I had had a Mac Pro (2007) and I have a Mac Book Pro (2014) I don’t need AntiX … I’m new to Linux … and I still have to learn a lot. My next computer will be a 16" Mac Book Pro … Thanks Maurizio.

Maurizio, this whole time, I have been sifting through bug reports that I have found in searching this issue on the web.
Three are quite a lot, which you can search up, as well.
I have found references to a mesa conflict,t hat later was said was patched. Also to gstreamer, which is was closed due to being patched.
Some suggest that it is the kernel. I believe on Ubuntu 20.04, you would see 5.4.0-42 which is the same kernel I am running on my build of Zorin 15 lite.
Does that match your current kernel?

Like Swarfendor, I am not a developer. Just a member of the forum that tries to help where I can if I can. I have not supported development by choosing the Zorin Ultimate OS, so I try to give back for the free Zorin Lite I use by paying it forward on the forum. You however have supported Development and this means that the Zorin Team will put priority toward examining your issue with the OS.
Solving your problem with Totem helps make Zorin OS better. It helps find issues and squash them so that all users benefit.

Hi Maurizio, I’m sorry to hear about your experience. I would be happy to help you with this.

Solution 1

We have recently published software updates which improve hardware compatibility (by including the same Linux kernel and graphics software as in Ubuntu 20.04). That should hopefully fix this issue.

Please try installing these updates by opening the Zorin menu > System Tools > Software Updater.
After installing the updates, please reboot your computer to apply the changes.

Solution 2

If the crashes still happen after installing the updates, it appears that there may have been an issue with your installation medium. We would recommend you to check if the installation medium may have defects by following the steps on this guide: https://zorinos.com/help/install-zorin-os/#boot-from-the-install-drive

If defects are found, we would recommend you to try burning the downloaded Zorin OS .iso file to a different USB drive, as the first drive you used may have experienced wear & tear from prior use or had other physical defects.

Solution 3

If the issue still persists, it might have been caused by a corrupted download file. We would recommend you to try downloading the Zorin OS .iso file again using the latest version of Firefox or Google Chrome without any third-party download managers (in order to avoid file corruption). You can verify whether the file has been downloaded correctly without corruption by verifying that its sha256 checksum matches the one listed after pressing the “View sha256 checksums” button on this page: https://zorinos.com/help/install-zorin-os/#download-zorin-os

To verify the checksum, we would recommend you to use an app called QuickHash, which can be downloaded from here: https://quickhash-gui.org/downloads/

After opening QuickHash, please navigate to the “Files” tab and select the “sha256” Hashing Algorithm before clicking the “Select File” button to choose the Zorin OS .iso file and waiting for the checksum to be generated.

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Hello,

thanks AZorin for the contribution and for all the proposed solutions, but for the moment I think I will not reinstall Zorin OS.
Only Totem does not work well …, with VLC or MPV Media Player I have no problem. Your solutions are too drastic, I will wait for an update or, when I decide to reinstall, I will contact you, now I have no intention … The Operating System fully satisfies me and I appreciate your work.
P.S. I checked the USB with which I did the installation and everything is OK and I downloaded QuickHash and I had no problems.

See you soon, thanks Maurizio

Maurizio,
Yes, re-installation is not the most efficient way to solve one software problem.
However, the first solution offered by Azorin was:

We have recently published software updates...
Please try installing these updates by opening the Zorin menu > System Tools Software Updater.
After installing the updates, please reboot your computer to apply the changes.

Was this ineffective?

I use Xine and have for so long that I forgot I removed Totem. I just went to test a couple things and realized that Totem is not even on my system anymore.
I installed Totem from terminal (which installed from the Ubuntu repo Totem 3.34.1) and then ran it from the terminal.
First immediate effect was a "Browse Error." I have no bookmarks saved in it.
Totem has changed a lot since I last used it on Zorin 12.4.

The first part went well, I see the movies but when I start from a stored movie it crashes …

I repeated this and the videos loaded on the screen. When I selected a stored video, it played without incident. I did not watch a full video, but noticed no choppiness. Interestingly... This new Totem may end up replacing Xine on my system...

Hello,
yes installing updates was ineffective. Now I think I’ll wait if there is any other update … For the moment everything works perfectly, except Totem. I don’t think I’m going to change anything, I’ve worked hard to bring everything to this level of satisfaction.
If you have any solution, in time, let me know.

Thanks Maurizio

If you have any solution, in time, let me know.

Yes, we will keep looking. If I find anything, I will post what I found in this thread.

In my experience using Zorin, there have been times that an update had an adverse effect. Before I could give up trying to solve it and try to complain, Zorin released an update that fixed it.
It is the only distro I have ever tried that is lightning fast with the updates and testing like that and is why I am loyal to the Zorin Distro now.
Waiting for the next update may well be the way to go, too.

I have mini PC similar to this one called a MintBox Mini from Linux Mint and Compulab and though completely different machine the concept is similar, low power silent running etc.

In the BIOS are settings for Power draw and amount of RAM to allocate for Graphics. The default settings were useless when I first go the machine. Particularly the power setting which was 4.5 Watts which I change to 8.5 and totally different machine.
There is also a setting for the amount of ‘shared’ RAM to allocate to Graphics that was, like yours, 256MB so I cranked that up also.
4.5 watts and 256MB might be fine for other uses but not as a desktop PC.

This would seem a good place to start. Mine had only 4 GB RAM and I gave it 1 GB for graphics. 512 MB might be enough but it works fine with Linux on it.

These machines, at least mine, are set to low defaults from the factory as that is there selling point and being passively cooled these defaults assist with ‘cooling’.

I have 2 of these machines (Mint Boxes) both lower spec than yours and they are fine for Youtube or videos mp4 etc but useless until I turned the power up from 4.5 watts. It acts like a governor or restrictor.

Looking at he MSI website I see ‘supports’ on several specs such as 4k video, doesn’t mean ‘works’ out of the box as I discovered upon delivery of my mini PC’s.

If this machine is new to you and you’re setting it up with Linux for the first time then these settings, if present, might be as good as anywhere to begin.

The power settings might be listed under ‘thermal’ or APU thermal or some other non-obvious name as was my case.

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Thanks MBMz10,

but I’ve already looked.
In my Bios there are not the necessary options to make the changes you suggest … and in any case it is a delicate thing that I prefer not to change. For the moment I’m satisfied with that, it’s not a big problem if Video doesn’t work properly. for me it is a software problem, because it works on ubuntu …

Thanks Maurizio

When I will wondering how many days I spend to OS Zorin working with software what I need then for me re-installation for me could be a catastrophy or suicide :slight_smile:

Hi, you are necromancing :skull: :coffin: the one year old thread.
If you like to discuss further, I suggest you to start a new thread.

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