=================Solved======================= the problem was caused by my ATI drivers and the video was using hardware acceleration in both VLC and Movie player.
i deselected the video acceleration and reset the settings in movie player and it is now working fine. thanks. ** Changed in: gstreamer0.10 (Ubuntu) Status: New => Opinion ** Description changed: it does not play mp4 or flv format after an update which also included installation of vlc player. surprisingly vlc player played the same media once after installation and thereafter refused to. only blank black screen with a progress bar is seen. these formats used to play before the update. i am running ubuntu 10.10 i have tried uninstalltion of all codecs and the players to no avail. thanks, ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10 Package: libgstreamer0.10-0 0.10.30-1build2 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.35-22.35-generic 2.6.35.4 Uname: Linux 2.6.35-22-generic i686 NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx Architecture: i386 Date: Mon Oct 25 19:21:06 2010 ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/totem InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Release i386 (20101007) ProcEnviron: - LANG=en_US.UTF-8 - SHELL=/bin/bash + LANG=en_US.UTF-8 + SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: gstreamer0.10 -- movie player does not play flv or mp4 formats https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/666294 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Desktop Bugs, which is subscribed to gstreamer0.10 in ubuntu. -- desktop-bugs mailing list desktop-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/desktop-bugs