I noticed that SUSE 10.2 did not come with the ability to play back many media formats, although RealPlayer was able to play some.

I searched the web and found that it was quite simple to add the ability to play most media files.

First add the Packman and Guru sources for YaST. If you are new to adding installation sources please refer to Adding YaST Installation Sources.

[Guru]
type = rpm-md
name = Guru
baseurl = http://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/misc/suser-guru/rpm/10.2/RPMS/

[Packman]
type = rpm-md
name = Packman
baseurl = http://packman.iu-bremen.de/suse/10.2/

Then open Software Management and install the following packages.

  • libxine1
  • xine-ui
  • libdvdcss (I haven't since I don't have dvds to play)

I also installed.

  • MPlayer
  • SMPlayer

After installing the above I have been able to play all the formats I have encountered. Just as a not I use Amarok for my audio playback.