Any particular reason you're getting VLC from the AUR? Even if it didn't come preinstalled, the pacman version is much better security- and stability-wise
this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2025
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Yes, the version in the standard Arch repos won't play any mpeg2 videos. I have all the plugins installed so that's not the issue. I ran it in Konsole and it threw some error about VDPAU. I'm using an AMD card so I don't see why that would matter anyway. The VLC flatpak plays it fine but I have other issues with the flatpak. I'm using an RX 9070 XT.
Edit: Worth mentioning I didn't try playing mpeg2 videos in this weird git version after I saw this UI. I doubt it would fix it anyway.
If it doesn't work, give MPV a try !
MPV is for linux what VLC is for Windows...The best player !
I was also a long time VLC player user when I was on Windows. But had also some issues and switched over to MPV !
I would, problem is no support for DVD and Blu-ray menus.
Oh ? Longtime I haven't run any real DVD so I didn't though that was a thing !
Yeah if that's an important feature I guess it won't work :/
Yeah, sadly. I think it used to support it but was removed for some reason. I hate relying on VLC but it's the only viable Linux option.
Your missing vlc-plugins-all.
https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/vlc-plugins-all/
I have all the plugins installed.
Sure but if you're using weird flatpak versions of VLC those plugins won't be invoked because the idea of a flatpak is that it brings it's own plugins. Remove the non-standard versions you installed, put back the regular vlc package from the main repo and it'll work.
the version in the standard Arch repos won’t play any mpeg2 videos. I have all the plugins installed
I know. I installed the flatpak after trying the version in the Arch repos.
it threw some error about VDPAU
Have you tried usung another video output. This is what solved a similar issue for me some years ago. It was on an Intel system though.
I found a solution. The CachyOS repos and kernel appear to work much better on my system. Installing them and rebooting fixed my issues.
That's how VLC 4 looks like. It haven't been released yet. If you want the old UI you should look for the latest release instead (VLC 3.0.21)
Ugh they GMONEified it :(((
Why does it look like what? What about its appearance are you wondering about? It looks normal to me.
Is this a distro-specific UI? It certainly doesn't look like that on Windows, Debian or Linux Mint.
Doesn't it use whatever theme you have your DE set to by default?
Honestly, I don't know - I haven't fiddled with the themes much on my Linux installations. All I can say is that currently, for the 3.x series, out of the box VLC looks very similar between Windows, Debian (KDE Plasma) and Linux Mint (Cinnamon) - all three of which are arguably different DEs.
A couple of other comments have flagged that this is the new 4.x UI, which certainly explains the difference.
Is this a Mandela effect or something? Have I been using a completely different VLC from everyone else all these years?
Oh, you mean it looks different than it used to? Maybe the defaults changed? I notice that with the beta version sometimes.
What did you want it to look like?
I wanted it to look the way it did since I started using it at age 12. The UI is completely different.
Is there a theme setting?
Yes, it changed a few things but it did not restore the UI I am familiar with.
Maybe a upcoming ui?
Since your using the Bleeding Edge version of VLC I assume that.
God, that's upsetting if true. like at least add the ability to restore the original.
I believe that's the upcoming new look of VLC 4.0 since its still in beta. Its taking them a long time though
I can't say i'm a fan of it
I get you, a lot of features are not implemented last time I checked.
So the UI is still astronomically tiny in 2025 with version 4?
If that's how the next update is gonna look when it drops next millennia, I hope they have an option to make it look like it currently does. That minimalist look is horrible, in my opinion.