Introduction
This tech support guide aims to help users who encounter no sound issues while playing MP4 videos on Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS. The guide covers key concepts, steps, and references to help resolve this problem.
Symptoms
The user reports that an MP4 video, specifically "output-2.mp4," made using FFmpeg doesn't play sound when played on Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS. The file properties show no audio. However, the video plays fine on other platforms.
Possible Causes
There are several possible causes for this issue:
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The MP4 file might be missing or damaged audio streams.
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The FFmpeg configuration or installation might be incorrect.
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The Ubuntu multimedia codecs might be outdated or missing.
Solutions
Solution 1: Check the MP4 File
Use a media player that supports MP4 format with audio, such as VLC media player, to check if the file has audio. If the audio plays fine, then the issue might be with the Ubuntu media player.
Solution 2: Re-encode the MP4 File with FFmpeg
Use the following command to re-encode the MP4 file with FFmpeg:
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vcodec libx264 -acodec aac output.mp4
Solution 3: Install or Update Ubuntu Multimedia Codecs
Install or update the multimedia codecs using the following command:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras