Note: omxplayer has been deprecated since 2020; resources are directed at improving vlc.

This is because omxplayer:

• uses openvg for OSD and subtitles which isn't supported on Pi4.
• uses openmax which has been deprecated for a long time & isn't supported with 64-bit kernels
• does not support software decode
• does not support advanced subtitles
• does not support playback from ISO files.
• does not integrate with the X desktop

Please try using vlc. If there are features of omxplayer that vlc does not handle then try reporting here.

OMXPlayer is a command-line video player for the Raspberry Pi. It can play video directly from the command line and does not require a desktop. OMXPlayer leverages the OpenMAX API to make use of the hardware video decoder in the GPU. Hardware acceleration along with direct command-line use on ARM silicon allows ultra low overhead, low power video playback. OMXPlayer was developed as a testbed for the XBMC Raspberry Pi implementation and is quite handy to use standalone.

git clone https://github.com/popcornmix/omxplayer.git

omxplayer's built-in help and the man page are all generated from this README.md file during make. You may need to change the Makefile if you modify the structure of README.md!

Run this script which will install build dependency packages, including g++, and update firmware

./prepare-native-raspbian.sh

Build with

make ffmpeg
make -j$(nproc)

Install with

sudo make install

You need the content of your sdcard somewhere mounted or copied. There might be development headers to install on the running Pi system for the crosscompiling.

Edit Makefile.include and change the settings according your locations.

make ffmpeg
make
make dist

Installing OMXPlayer

You may want to specify a valid font path inside the omxplayer shell script. Copy over omxplayer-dist/* to the Pi /.

Usage: omxplayer [OPTIONS] [FILE]

-h  --help                  Print this help
-v  --version               Print version info
-k  --keys                  Print key bindings
-n  --aidx  index           Audio stream index    : e.g. 1
-o  --adev  device          Audio out device      : e.g. hdmi/local/both/alsa[:device]
-i  --info                  Dump stream format and exit
-I  --with-info             dump stream format before playback
-s  --stats                 Pts and buffer stats
-p  --passthrough           Audio passthrough
-d  --deinterlace           Force deinterlacing
    --nodeinterlace         Force no deinterlacing
    --nativedeinterlace     let display handle interlace
    --anaglyph type         convert 3d to anaglyph
    --advanced[=0]          Enable/disable advanced deinterlace for HD videos (default enabled)
-w  --hw                    Hw audio decoding
-3  --3d mode               Switch tv into 3d mode (e.g. SBS/TB)
-M  --allow-mvc             Allow decoding of both views of MVC stereo stream
-y  --hdmiclocksync         Display refresh rate to match video (default)
-z  --nohdmiclocksync       Do not adjust display refresh rate to match video
-t  --sid index             Show subtitle with index
-r  --refresh               Adjust framerate/resolution to video
-g  --genlog                Generate log file
-l  --pos n                 Start position (hh:mm:ss)
-b  --blank[=0xAARRGGBB]    Set the video background color to black (or optional ARGB value)
    --loop                  Loop file. Ignored if file not seekable
    --no-boost-on-downmix   Don't boost volume when downmixing
    --vol n                 set initial volume in millibels (default 0)
    --amp n                 set initial amplification in millibels (default 0)
    --no-osd                Do not display status information on screen
    --no-keys               Disable keyboard input (prevents hangs for certain TTYs)
    --subtitles path        External subtitles in UTF-8 srt format
    --font path             Default: /usr/share/fonts/truetype/freefont/FreeSans.ttf
    --italic-font path      Default: /usr/share/fonts/truetype/freefont/FreeSansOblique.ttf
    --font-size size        Font size in 1/1000 screen height (default: 55)
    --align left/center     Subtitle alignment (default: left)
    --no-ghost-box          No semitransparent boxes behind subtitles
    --lines n               Number of lines in the subtitle buffer (default: 3)
    --win 'x1 y1 x2 y2'     Set position of video window
    --win x1,y1,x2,y2       Set position of video window
    --crop 'x1 y1 x2 y2'    Set crop area for input video
    --crop x1,y1,x2,y2      Set crop area for input video
    --aspect-mode type      Letterbox, fill, stretch. Default: stretch if win is specified, letterbox otherwise
    --audio_fifo  n         Size of audio output fifo in seconds
    --video_fifo  n         Size of video output fifo in MB
    --audio_queue n         Size of audio input queue in MB
    --video_queue n         Size of video input queue in MB
    --threshold   n         Amount of buffered data required to finish buffering [s]
    --timeout     n         Timeout for stalled file/network operations (default 10s)
    --orientation n         Set orientation of video (0, 90, 180 or 270)
    --fps n                 Set fps of video where timestamps are not present
    --live                  Set for live tv or vod type stream
    --layout                Set output speaker layout (e.g. 5.1)
    --dbus_name name        default: org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.omxplayer
    --key-config <file>     Uses key bindings in <file> instead of the default
    --alpha                 Set video transparency (0..255)
    --layer n               Set video render layer number (higher numbers are on top)
    --display n             Set display to output to
    --cookie 'cookie'       Send specified cookie as part of HTTP requests
    --user-agent 'ua'       Send specified User-Agent as part of HTTP requests
    --lavfdopts 'opts'      Options passed to libavformat, e.g. 'probesize:250000,...'
    --avdict 'opts'         Options passed to demuxer, e.g., 'rtsp_transport:tcp,...'

For example:

./omxplayer -p -o hdmi test.mkv

Key bindings to control omxplayer while playing:

1           decrease speed
2           increase speed
<           rewind
>           fast forward
z           show info
j           previous audio stream
k           next audio stream
i           previous chapter
o           next chapter
n           previous subtitle stream
m           next subtitle stream
s           toggle subtitles
w           show subtitles
x           hide subtitles
d           decrease subtitle delay (- 250 ms)
f           increase subtitle delay (+ 250 ms)
q           exit omxplayer
p / space   pause/resume
-           decrease volume
+ / =       increase volume
left arrow  seek -30 seconds
right arrow seek +30 seconds
down arrow  seek -600 seconds
up arrow    seek +600 seconds

A key config file is a series of rules of the form [action]:[key]. Multiple keys can be bound to the same action, and comments are supported by adding a # in front of the line. The list of valid [action]s roughly corresponds to the list of default key bindings above and are:

DECREASE_SPEED
INCREASE_SPEED
REWIND
FAST_FORWARD
SHOW_INFO
PREVIOUS_AUDIO
NEXT_AUDIO
PREVIOUS_CHAPTER
NEXT_CHAPTER
PREVIOUS_SUBTITLE
NEXT_SUBTITLE
TOGGLE_SUBTITLE
DECREASE_SUBTITLE_DELAY
INCREASE_SUBTITLE_DELAY
EXIT
PAUSE
DECREASE_VOLUME
INCREASE_VOLUME
SEEK_BACK_SMALL
SEEK_FORWARD_SMALL
SEEK_BACK_LARGE
SEEK_FORWARD_LARGE
STEP

Valid [key]s include all alpha-numeric characters and most symbols, as well as:

left
right
up
down
esc
hex [keycode]

For example:

EXIT:esc
PAUSE:p
#Note that this next line has a space after the :
PAUSE: 
REWIND:left
SEEK_FORWARD_SMALL:hex 0x4f43
EXIT:q

omxplayer can be controlled via DBUS. There are three interfaces, all of which present a different set of commands. For examples on working with DBUS take a look at the supplied dbuscontrol.sh file.

The root interface is accessible under the name org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.

Root interface methods can be accessed through org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.MethodName.

Stops the currently playing video. This will cause the currently running omxplayer process to terminate.

No effect.

Root interface properties can be accessed through org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Get and org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Set methods with the string "org.mpris.MediaPlayer2" as first argument and the string "PropertyName" as second argument.

Whether or not the player can quit.

Whether or not the player can is fullscreen.

Whether or not the player can set fullscreen.

Whether the display window can be brought to the top of all the window.

Whether or not the player has a track list.

Name of the player.

Playable URI formats.

Supported mime types. Note: currently not implemented.

The player interface is accessible under the name org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.Player.

Player interface methods can be accessed through org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.Player.MethodName.

Skip to the next chapter.

Skip to the previous chapter.

Play the video. If the video is playing, it has no effect, if it is paused it will play from current position.

Pause the video. If the video is playing, it will be paused, if it is paused it will stay in pause (no effect).

Toggles the play state. If the video is playing, it will be paused, if it is paused it will start playing.

Stops the video. This has the same effect as Quit (terminates the omxplayer instance).

Perform a relative seek, i.e. seek plus or minus a certain number of microseconds from the current position in the video.

Seeks to a specific location in the file. This is an absolute seek.

Set the alpha transparency of the player [0-255].

Seeks the video playback layer.

Mute the audio stream. If the volume is already muted, this does nothing.

Unmute the audio stream. If the stream is already unmuted, this does nothing.

Returns a array of all known subtitles. The length of the array is the number of subtitles. Each item in the araay is a string in the following format:

<index>:<language>:<name>:<codec>:<active>

Any of the fields may be blank, except for index. language is the language code, such as eng, chi, swe, etc. name is a description of the subtitle, such as foreign parts or SDH. codec is the name of the codec used by the subtitle, sudh as subrip. active is either the string active or an empty string.

Returns and array of all known audio streams. The length of the array is the number of streams. Each item in the array is a string in the following format:

<index>:<language>:<name>:<codec>:<active>

See ListSubtitles for a description of what each of these fields means. An example of a possible string is:

0:eng:DD 5.1:ac3:active

Returns and array of all known video streams. The length of the array is the number of streams. Each item in the array is a string in the following format:

<index>:<language>:<name>:<codec>:<active>

See ListSubtitles for a description of what each of these fields means. An example of a possible string is:

0:eng:x264:h264:active

Selects the subtitle at a given index.

Selects the audio stream at a given index.

Turns on subtitles.

Turns off subtitles.

The current file or stream that is being played.

Execute a "keyboard" command. For available codes, see KeyConfig.h.

Player interface properties can be accessed through org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Get and org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Set methods with the string "org.mpris.MediaPlayer2" as first argument and the string "PropertyName" as second argument.

Whether or not the play can skip to the next track.

Whether or not the player can skip to the previous track.

Whether or not the player can seek.

Whether or not the player can be controlled.

Whether or not the player can play.

Return type: boolean.

Whether or not the player can pause.

The current state of the player, either "Paused" or "Playing".

When called with an argument it will set the volume and return the current volume. When called without an argument it will simply return the current volume. As defined by the MPRIS specifications, this value should be greater than or equal to 0. 1 is the normal volume. Everything below is quieter than normal, everything above is louder.

Millibels can be converted to/from acceptable values using the following:

volume = pow(10, mB / 2000.0);
mB     = 2000.0 * log10(volume)

Restart and open another URI for playing.

Returns the current position of the playing media.

Returns the minimum playback rate of the video.

Returns the maximum playback rate of the video.

When called with an argument it will set the playing rate and return the current rate. When called without an argument it will simply return the current rate. Rate of 1.0 is the normal playing rate. A value of 2.0 corresponds to two times faster than normal rate, a value of 0.5 corresponds to two times slower than the normal rate.

Returns track information: URI and length.

Returns the aspect ratio.

Returns the number of video streams.

Returns video width

Returns video width

Returns the total length of the playing media.