Question: Why can't I play MP3 files in xmms on Linux?

Answer:  

Red Hat decided to remove MP3 support from XMMS in Red Hat 8.0 and
above.  Since Athena 9.2 uses Red Hat 9.0, the XMMS installed at
/usr/bin/xmms does not have MP3 support by default.  You can read more
about this at http://www.redhat.com/advice/speaks_80mm.html

You can, however, use xmms in the outland locker, which does support MP3
playing.  To do so, type "athrun outland xmms" at the athena prompt.

If you have a private workstation, you may also choose to enable MP3
support in the installed version of xmms (/usr/bin/xmms).  The xmms
project has made RPMs available with the MP3 plugin.  They are
available at http://havardk.xmms.org/dist/xmms-1.2.7-rh8-rh9-rpm/

Update: MP3 support in XMMS was restored in Athena version 9.2.16,
which was released on September 1, 2003.

Note: Installing third party RPMs on a private workstation can cause
Athena updates to fail from time to time.  You should keep a record
of any third party RPMs you install, so that you can easily
uninstall them if they interfere with an update.  Athena Consulting
does not support third party RPMs.

Last Updated: $Date: 2004/03/08 16:29:31 $