Run VLC as Root

oldtimeyjunk · 2012-02-12 16:44:25

Hello all.

Installed VLC a couple of days ago only to get errors. Running VLC in the Console tells me that you cannot run it as Root.

Why do I want to run it as Root? I use Root as my main account. Please don't bother posting comments that I shouldn't be using Root as my main account. It's my Computer and I'll do what I want with it. Just for the record, I used Root for three years on my old Ubuntu box and never broke a single thing.

So, my question is, how can I get VLC to run as a Superuser/Root?

Last edited by oldtimeyjunk (2012-02-12 16:45:42)

karol · 2012-02-12 16:46:15

Not sure what the "Console" is, but have you read https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ru … ps_as_root ?

oldtimeyjunk · 2012-02-12 16:51:03

karol wrote:

Not sure what the "Console" is, but have you read https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ru … ps_as_root ?

When I say "Console", I mean "Terminal".
Sorry, but I accidentally clicked "Report" instead of "Quote" the first time >:(

oldtimeyjunk · 2012-02-12 16:52:14

I've tried "gksu vlc" and it still gives me an error.

fsckd · 2012-02-12 16:52:30

oldtimeyjunk wrote:

Sorry, but I accidentally clicked "Report" instead of "Quote" the first time >:(

No problem.

karol · 2012-02-12 16:53:40

If you mean http://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra/i686/terminal/ , the link I provided should help.

desm0tes · 2012-02-12 16:54:52

oldtimeyjunk wrote:

I've tried "gksu vlc" and it still gives me an error.

Did u install gksu?

oldtimeyjunk · 2012-02-12 16:56:08

desm0tes wrote:

oldtimeyjunk wrote:
I've tried "gksu vlc" and it still gives me an error.
Did u install gksu?

Yes. I understand it's a very silly mistake to make though XD.

oldtimeyjunk · 2012-02-12 16:56:54

karol wrote:

If you mean http://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra/i686/terminal/ , the link I provided should help.

When I said Terminal, I meant any Terminal in general - XFCE Terminal, GNOME Terminal, XTerm etc.
How has this anything to do with what I've posted?

desm0tes · 2012-02-12 16:57:43

What error do u get using gksu then?

oldtimeyjunk · 2012-02-12 17:00:11

desm0tes wrote:

What error do u get using gksu then?

When I run "vlc" as Root I get...

VLC is not supposed to be run as root. Sorry.
If you need to use real-time priorities and/or privileged TCP ports
you can use vlc-wrapper (make sure it s Set-UID root and
cannot be run by non-trusted users first).

When I run "gsku vlc" I get the same error.

karol · 2012-02-12 17:00:29

Hmm, I can run mplayer as root, but vlc gives me

[root@black media]# vlc ut4_Deception_v1.flv 
VLC is not supposed to be run as root. Sorry.
If you need to use real-time priorities and/or privileged TCP ports
you can use vlc-wrapper (make sure it is Set-UID root and
cannot be run by non-trusted users first).

I get the same error with gksu.

oldtimeyjunk wrote:

karol wrote:
If you mean http://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra/i686/terminal/ , the link I provided should help.
When I said Terminal, I meant any Terminal in general - XFCE Terminal, GNOME Terminal, XTerm etc.
How has this anything to do with what I've posted?

'terminal' and 'console' are sometimes used to call the non-X environment. I simply wanted to make sure are you running vlc from the console (framebuffer) or from X.

Last edited by karol (2012-02-12 17:05:06)

oldtimeyjunk · 2012-02-12 17:03:18

Hold up.
I also have SMPlayer. After looking through the menus, it does just about what I wanted to do with VLC (steam stuff from my Tower PC and play DVD's).
Also, after a quick search on the internet I found this thread: http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=269491. Seems you have to compile it which I've never been that good at, so I think I'll pass.

SS4 · 2012-02-12 17:38:54

VLC is compiled not to run as root from upstream. You can change a flag in the PKGBUILD though, put the following in the pkgbuild

--enable-run-as-root

lilsirecho · 2012-02-12 19:36:15

Perhaps you can use my method of creating vlc run-as-root.

Use ABS to obtain the vlc PKGBUILD from the abs repos extra.

Cp the vlc package given in /var/abs/ extra to /var/local(x)

Edit the PKGBUILD to add the following:

 ..enable-run-as-root \

Then run in the same directory:

 makepkg --asroot PKGBUILD

This will generate the appropriate pacman compatible tar.

Then install with:

 pacman -U /var/local(x)/vlc...etc .pkg.tar.xz.

This generates a root-enabled vlc.

I have used this procedure with VLC for years to enable run as root.

I run my system as root as do you.

To prevent over-riding vlc in next pacman -Syu, use --ignore vlc or prepare a new PKGBUILD from ABS download.

Works every time, takes a good half hour to prep.!!!

Last edited by lilsirecho (2012-02-12 19:38:34)

ewaller · 2012-02-12 20:14:39

You might also create a non-root user for the express purpose of running vlc. From the root account, you could drop root privileges and run vlc as the other user. This is a workaround, but it might solve your problem if you don't want to rebuild vlc.

duster · 2012-08-18 11:18:13

hi and sorry if this ressurects an old thread upfront...

but im very interested in rebuilding vlc to run as root downloaded abs from the repository but not sure how to rebuild it. anyone care to explain in a little more detail for me? thanks.

lilsirecho · 2012-08-18 15:40:25

Perhaps I can elucidate the procedure with an actual PKGBUILD.

As root, use abs to download the extra repo.

Cd /var/local
cp /var/abs/extra/vlc/* /var/local
nano PKGBUILD

 # $Id: PKGBUILD 164719 2012-08-04 05:32:21Z giovanni $
# Maintainer: Giovanni Scafora <giovanni@archlinux.org>
# Contributor: Sarah Hay <sarahhay@mb.sympatico.ca>
# Contributor: Martin Sandsmark <martin.sandsmark@kde.org>

pkgname=vlc
pkgver=2.0.3
pkgrel=2
pkgdesc="A multi-platform MPEG, VCD/DVD, and DivX player"
arch=('i686' 'x86_64')
url="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/"
license=('LGPL2.1' 'GPL2')
depends=('a52dec' 'libdvbpsi' 'libxpm' 'libdca' 'qt' 'libproxy' 
         'sdl_image' 'libdvdnav' 'libtiger' 'lua' 'libmatroska' 
         'zvbi' 'taglib' 'libmpcdec' 'ffmpeg' 'faad2' 'libupnp' 
         'libshout' 'libmad' 'libmpeg2' 'libmodplug' 'libass' 
         'xcb-util-keysyms' 'ttf-freefont')
makedepends=('live-media' 'libnotify' 'libbluray' 'flac' 'kdelibs'
             'fluidsynth' 'libdc1394' 'libavc1394' 'lirc-utils'
             'libcaca' 'librsvg' 'portaudio' 'oss' 'libgme' 'xosd'
             'projectm' 'twolame' 'aalib' 'libmtp' 'libdvdcss'
             'gnome-vfs' 'libgoom2' 'libtar' 'vcdimager')
optdepends=('avahi: for service discovery using bonjour protocol'
            'libnotify: for notification plugin'
            'ncurses: for ncurses interface support'
            'libdvdcss: for decoding encrypted DVDs'
            'lirc-utils: for lirc plugin'
            'libavc1394: for devices using the 1394ta AV/C'
            'libdc1394: for IEEE 1394 plugin'
            'kdelibs: KDE Solid hardware integration'
            'vdpau-video: vdpau back-end for nvidia'
            'libva-driver-intel: back-end for intel cards'
            'libbluray: for Blu-Ray support'
            'flac: for Free Lossless Audio Codec plugin'
            'oss: for OSS audio support'
            'portaudio: for portaudio support'
            'twolame: for TwoLAME mpeg2 encoder plugin'
            'projectm: for ProjectM visualisation plugin'
            'libcaca: for colored ASCII art video output'
            'libgme: for libgme plugin'
            'librsvg: for SVG plugin'
            'gnome-vfs: for GNOME Virtual File System support'
            'libgoom2: for libgoom plugin'
            'vcdimager: navigate VCD with libvcdinfo'
            'xosd: for xosd support'
            'aalib: for ASCII art plugin'
            'libmtp: for MTP devices support'
            'fluidsynth: for synthesizer MIDI FluidSynth'
            'smbclient: for SMB access plugin'
            'libcdio: for audio CD playback support')
conflicts=('vlc-plugin')
replaces=('vlc-plugin')
backup=('usr/share/vlc/lua/http/.hosts'
        'usr/share/vlc/lua/http/dialogs/.hosts')
options=('!libtool' '!emptydirs')
install=vlc.install
source=("http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/${pkgname}/${pkgver}/${pkgname}-${pkgver}.tar.xz")
md5sums=('a7e79565e3df07dcf9abc6cad3ac26bb')

build() {
  cd "${srcdir}/${pkgname}-${pkgver}"

  sed -i -e 's:truetype/freefont:TTF:g' modules/text_renderer/freetype.c

  ./configure --prefix=/usr \
              --sysconfdir=/etc \
              --disable-rpath \
              --enable-oss \
              --enable-faad \
              --enable-nls \
              --enable-lirc \
              --enable-pvr \
              --enable-ncurses \
              --enable-realrtsp \
              --enable-xosd \
              --enable-aa \
              --enable-vcdx \
              --enable-upnp
  make
}

package() {
  cd "${srcdir}/${pkgname}-${pkgver}"

  make DESTDIR="${pkgdir}" install

  for res in 16 32 48 128; do
    install -D -m644 "${srcdir}/vlc-${pkgver}/share/icons/${res}x${res}/vlc.png" \
        "${pkgdir}/usr/share/icons/hicolor/${res}x${res}/apps/vlc.png"
  done
}

At the ./configure step...--prefix=/usr\ Press enter to enable new entry

enter....enable-run-as-root \ ...Dont' forget the backslash
Then....exit and save.

 makepkg --asroot PKGBUILD

This will start the build process. You will probably fail to complete due to dependencies.(many)

Use pacman to download and install all of the listed depends.

Return to the makepkg step and reenter it.

The process takes about half hour or more.

At completion...run:

pacman -U /var/local/vlc-(ID for package) .pkg.tar.xz

This will establish the VLC version downloaded and you can run as root.

You have to do this every upgrade to VLC or ignore the upgrade as you wish.

I may have missed a step but have used this procedure for three years now.

ewaller · 2012-08-18 15:41:10

Look at this wiki article

Having linked that, really, don't run big complex GUI apps as root. But, it is your computer

Edit: snaked by lilsirecho

Last edited by ewaller (2012-08-18 15:42:42)

lilsirecho · 2012-08-18 15:42:52

ewaller:

Give me a ring for lunch!

ewaller · 2012-08-18 15:44:19

lilsirecho wrote:

ewaller:
Give me a ring for lunch!

Roger that. I got your email. I work about 5 miles from you, I look forward to it

duster · 2012-08-18 17:01:39

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain how to do this... and ewaller not to ignore you... i do understand the issues with running as root... but for what i do with this machine i do as much homework as i can on a subject to make sure i dont fumble and break it but i do hear ya on the risks

AGT · 2013-03-30 01:04:19

Hello.

I also found this on YouTube:

Edit the executable file /usr/bin/vlc.
Search for and change the following in a hex editor: geteuid
Replace it with: getppid

Save the file.
Run VLC.

It seems to be working.

I guess you would have to do this after each update to VLC.

oh1oh9 · 2014-04-13 15:49:25

thank you agt i was having this same issue and i used bless hex editor in text mode and it worked.

Inxsible · 2014-04-13 16:11:16

oh1oh9, welcome to the forums. this thread is very old. please do not necrobump old threads.

Closing...

Arch Linux

#1 2012-02-12 16:44:25

Run VLC as Root

#2 2012-02-12 16:46:15

Re: Run VLC as Root

#3 2012-02-12 16:51:03

Re: Run VLC as Root

#4 2012-02-12 16:52:14

Re: Run VLC as Root

#5 2012-02-12 16:52:30

Re: Run VLC as Root

#6 2012-02-12 16:53:40

Re: Run VLC as Root

#7 2012-02-12 16:54:52

Re: Run VLC as Root

#8 2012-02-12 16:56:08

Re: Run VLC as Root

#9 2012-02-12 16:56:54

Re: Run VLC as Root

#10 2012-02-12 16:57:43

Re: Run VLC as Root

#11 2012-02-12 17:00:11

Re: Run VLC as Root

#12 2012-02-12 17:00:29

Re: Run VLC as Root

#13 2012-02-12 17:03:18

Re: Run VLC as Root

#14 2012-02-12 17:38:54

Re: Run VLC as Root

#15 2012-02-12 19:36:15

Re: Run VLC as Root

#16 2012-02-12 20:14:39

Re: Run VLC as Root

#17 2012-08-18 11:18:13

Re: Run VLC as Root

#18 2012-08-18 15:40:25

Re: Run VLC as Root

#19 2012-08-18 15:41:10

Re: Run VLC as Root

#20 2012-08-18 15:42:52

Re: Run VLC as Root

#21 2012-08-18 15:44:19

Re: Run VLC as Root

#22 2012-08-18 17:01:39

Re: Run VLC as Root

#23 2013-03-30 01:04:19

Re: Run VLC as Root

#24 2014-04-13 15:49:25

Re: Run VLC as Root

#25 2014-04-13 16:11:16

Re: Run VLC as Root

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