Unable to play the file / Missing decoder on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa

In this tutorial you will learn how to install all commonly used media codecs and fonts for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa. By default when you attempt to play multimedia file using the default media player the error message appears stating that the video or audio player is unable to play file due the the missing decoder.

In this tutorial you will learn:

• How to how to install video and audio codes
• How to how to check for installed decoders, encoders and codes

Software Requirements and Conventions Used

Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions

Category	Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used
System	Installed or upgraded Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa
Software	ffmpeg
Other	Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command.
Conventions	# - requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command $ - requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

How to install missing media codes on Ubuntu 20.04 step by step instructions

1. Install all restricted multimedia media codecs and fonts by executing the following command in your terminal window:

   $ sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras
   

   Furthermore, install additional audio and video handling components including DVD-Video playing library:

   $ sudo apt install libdvdnav4 libdvd-pkg gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly 
   

---

SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER
Subscribe to Linux Career NEWSLETTER and receive latest Linux news, jobs, career advice and tutorials.

---

---

2. You should be now ready to play any multimedia content on your Ubuntu 20.04 system. Optionally use the ffmpeg to check for installed encoders,decoders and codecs:

   $ ffmpeg -encoders
   $ ffmpeg -decoders
   $ ffmpeg -codecs