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I have recently uninstalled ubuntu-web-browser from my ubuntu 14.04 using synaptic package manager as I don't use it. Now I can't start vlc media player nor play any file using vlc. It sort of opens and then immediately closes down automatically. I get this when I try opening vlc in the terminal:

VLC media player 2.1.4 Rincewind (revision 2.1.4-0-g2a072be)
[0x8f6d910] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
[0x8ff7368] skins2 interface error: no suitable dialogs provider found (hint: compile the qt4 plugin, and make sure it is loaded properly)
[0x8ff7368] skins2 interface error: cannot instantiate qt4 dialogs provider
[0x8ff7368] [cli] lua interface: Listening on host "*console". VLC media player
2.1.4 Rincewind
Command Line Interface initialized. Type `help' for help.

I have installed ubuntu anew twice because of this vlc problem. But only this time I realised it was due to uninstallation of ubuntu-web-browser that vlc stops working. I know this because I tested that vlc runs before I uninstalled the mines and the other games and then ubuntu browser. But after uninstalling these, vlc won't start. So I suspect uninstalling these is the cause.

Now my question is if vlc depended on some packages that were uninstalled due to uninstallation of some other stuff, then why would those packages be removed even when vlc had dependency on them? (am I wrong, or missing something?) How are the dependencies maintained during uninstallation? Also, how can I get vlc running without installing ubuntu again?

New absurd observation:

I uninstalled the games in ubuntu using the following command found here

sudo apt-get remove --purge gnome-mahjongg gnomine gnome-sudoku aisleriot

and same problem occurs !!! Vlc stopped working, and same error message in terminal! Anyone knows what the problem is, and how to solve it?

Yet another absurd observation

This time I uninstalled the games using apt-get remove, but vlc keeps working. Then unity-tweak-tool gives error message while starting. This was solved by installing unity-webapps-service as said here. Then vlc stops working, giving that message again!

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2 Answers2

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You asked,

Now my question is if vlc depended on some packages that were uninstalled due to uninstallation of some other stuff, then why would those packages be removed even when vlc had dependency on them?

Answer: No, apt package management system, which Ubuntu uses, doesn't remove a package upon which other packages depend, even if you want to uninstall some of them. That would be silly. For a typical example, consider package libc6. It's one of the core packages of Ubuntu and hence, lots of packages depend on It. But uninstalling one or two from them, won't remove libc6.

Moreover, If you deliberately want to remove a package, upon which lots of packages depend, Ubuntu or specifically apt system will warn you before actual uninstall. But if you wish, you can uninstall that package too! In this case, the other packages which depend on this, also get removed.

Case 1:

Let, There be three packages named core-x, a and b. a and b both depend of core-x package. Now, if you try to remove package b, core-x will not be removed, since it is still needed for functioning of a.

Case 2:

Again consider our fictitious packages. If you now try to remove core-x package by putting in apt-get remove line, core-x will get removed with both a and b package, because these two (a and b) won't function without core-x.

Your second question was -

how can I get vlc running without installing ubuntu again?

For this, try removing vlc with purge option and re-install again. A command like below will do the job.

sudo apt-get --purge autoremove libvlc5

and install it with

sudo apt-get install vlc

Bonus: By using libvlc5 instead of plain vlc, you are just experiment with Case 2 where you removed a package, upon which other packages depend.

Hope this helps.

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Anwar
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Vlc problem is solved when I did these:

  • completely removed vlc
  • removed the driver of my ZTE modem (ZTE MF-193E) that uses qt plugins to run
  • installed vlc again; and vlc runs normally

Later I installed the modem driver again, but this time vlc kept working!

fossfreedom
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