Arch Linux

dave1953

Member

Registered: 2021-05-23

Posts: 35

VLC Codec Issue

Running Arch Gnome. Amongst others installed VLC using the yay command. All seemed okay.

Fully updated system this morning using yay -Syyu and attempted to play a .mkv video file which VLC refused stating it needed an additional video Codec and an audio Codec. Never known this before, so had a look and installed various additional codecs but still wouldn't play.

So on a whim I loaded up Linux Mint on a live USB and guess what - yes you got it, the file (and a couple of others I had tested) worked straightaway.

Strange, works in Mint but not Arch?

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 13,418

Re: VLC Codec Issue

What was the error, exactly, and what did you install, exactly?

5hridhyan

Member

From: 127.0.0.1

Registered: 2025-12-25

Posts: 73

Re: VLC Codec Issue

 pacman -Qs ffmpeg

Even if VLC is installed via yay, playback depends on the system FFmpeg build, if you are missing the full ffmpeg stacks then it might be the cause.

Last edited by 5hridhyan (2026-01-02 14:51:43)

---

We don’t finish life. We just learn to love the unfinished lines.  — Grok

dave1953

Member

Registered: 2021-05-23

Posts: 35

Re: VLC Codec Issue

Thanks for the help. I installed VLC using yay -S vlc. I also checked and ffmpeg is fully installed, fully working. The message vlc reports is as follows -

Codec not supported:
VLC could not decode the format "h264" (H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10))
Codec not supported:
VLC could not decode the format "eac3" (A/52 B Audio (aka E-AC3))

Seems odd that VLC on Arch won't play the .mkv file, yet Linux Mint did, straightaway.

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 13,418

Re: VLC Codec Issue

h264 decoding is handled by vlc's ffmpeg plugin, an optional dep that pacman told you about when you installed vlc. eac3 likely is, too. See `pacman -Qi vlc`.

seth

Member

From: Don't DM me only for attention

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 72,057

Re: VLC Codec Issue

No, it's not "strange"
Install vlc-plugin-ffmpeg and stop using "-Syyu", check the pacman manpage (no, it is the correct one - yay is just a terribly written pacman wrapper - seems odd, doesn't…)  for what the second "y" actually does and understand why that puts undue stress on mirrors and your local package database into jeopardy.

Edit: F5ck

Last edited by seth (2026-01-02 15:37:55)

---

How to upload text · How to boot w/o GUI · Disable Windows Fast-Start! · Fix your xinitrc

system72

Member

Registered: 2025-11-22

Posts: 469

Website

Re: VLC Codec Issue

https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x8 … ugins-all/

---

7712 0a9f 0e6b F099 091d  438b 8b38 5527 5dfd D001

dave1953

Member

Registered: 2021-05-23

Posts: 35

Re: VLC Codec Issue

Thanks all for the advice, I shall certainly follow this up and looking forward to learning something new.