These instructions work with Xubuntu 8.04.1 LTS as well as XX (Xubuntu Xtreme) 8.04.1 LTS and the upcoming XXCE (Xubuntu Xtreme Cloudy Edition) 8.04.1 LTS which I finally finished remastering to a CD last night. Stay tuned for a release annoucement.
I have been using Xubuntu Xtreme 8.04.1 LTS exclusively for the last few months. While I enjoy using the OS, I did find one flaw: Totem would not play DVDs out of the box. I also observed this flaw on Xubuntu 8.04.1 after installing the necessary codecs. Well, I did some searching and found a solution. Once I find a way to fix this bug on the root level, I will releases new versions of Xubuntu Xtreme and XXCE. In the meantime, you can use the following instructions to get Totem to play DVDs.
http://ph.ubuntuforums.com/showthread.php?p=5509148
1. Open Thunar (Can be found on the Menu under Accessories)
2. From the menu at the top of Thunar select Edit
3. From the Edit menu select Preferences
4. From the File Manager Preferences dialog, click on the tab labeled Advanced
5. From the Advanced tab click on the blue linked word Configure
6. From the Removable Drives and Media dialog, click on the tab labeled Multimedia
7. From the Multimedia tab for the Audio CDs Command locate the entry totem cdda:/
8. Change that to totem cdda://
9. From the Multimedia tab for the Video CDs/DVDs Command locate the entry totem dvd:/
10. Change that to totem dvd://
11. Close all dialogs and exit Thunar
12. Insert your CD or DVD and enjoy
Its funny. I was looking for info on doing a remaster and came across your instructions on how to get totem to play DVD’s and CD’s. I thought “good someone else had figured it out”. Turns out that you link to my post on it. I was impressed. The instructions seem so simple when I think someone else wrote it.
As far as fixing it system wide for all new accounts. You will want to modify.
/etc/xdg/Thunar/volmanrc
And fix:
AutoplayAudioCdCommand=totem cdda:/
AutoplayVideoCdCommand=totem dvd:/
Comment by FredW — October 22, 2008 @ 9:39 PM
Thanks for the comment. And thanks for the info I needed. I just tested it out, and it works! DVDs now play upon insertion. Now I can finally finish work on XXCE Linux.
Comment by Darth Chaos — October 23, 2008 @ 2:19 AM