VideoLAN Wiki - User contributions [en]

Win32Compile

2011-12-18T20:12:13Z

Tobias: /* Configure */

How to compile {{VLC}} for [[Windows]].

== Building Methods ==

If you want to build VLC from source, you have several choices:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Method
! Documentation
! Notes
|-
| '''Cross-compile with Mingw on Linux'''
| This page
| '''Preferred''' method (uses cross compilation). On Windows, you should do it in a virtual machine.
|-
| '''Native compilation''' with '''[http://www.mingw.org MSYS+MINGW]'''
| [[Win32CompileMSYSNew]]
| '''Native''' compilation method. MSYS is a minimal build environment to compile Unixish projects under Microsoft Windows.
|-
| '''Native compilation''' with '''cygwin'''
| [[Win32CompileCygwinNew]]
| Build using cygwin as your compile environment. '''Error''' prone, and '''slow'''.
|}

== Obtaining the toolchain ==

Each build method requires its own toolchain:

* '''Debian/Ubuntu''' users can <code>apt-get install gcc-mingw32 mingw32-binutils</code>. <code></code>
* '''Gentoo''' users can <code>emerge crossdev && crossdev mingw32</code>
* '''ArchLinux''' users can <code>pacman -S mingw32-gcc</code>
* '''Fedora''' users should read [[Win32CompileFedora13]]
* Other '''Linux''' systems may attempt http://www.mingw.org/wiki/LinuxCrossMinGW
* Native-compile with '''[http://www.mingw.org MSYS+MINGW]''', should read the [[Win32CompileMSYSNew|documentation]]
* Native-compile with '''[http://www.cygwin.com Cygwin]''', should read the [[Win32CompileCygwinNew|documentation]]

== Get the source code ==
$ git clone git://git.videolan.org/vlc.git

== Prepare [[Contrib Status|3rd party libraries]] ==

Before compiling VLC, you need lots of other libraries. Here is how to get them:

$ mkdir -p contrib/win32
$ cd contrib/win32
$ ../bootstrap --host=i586-mingw32msvc
$ make prebuilt

=== Linux 64bits ===

If you are on linux '''64bits''', you '''MUST''' remove some files:

$ rm -f ../i586-mingw32msvc/bin/moc ../i586-mingw32msvc/bin/uic ../i586-mingw32msvc/bin/rcc

And install your ''qt4-tools''.

=== Fix your contrib path ===

If your Mingw prefix is not ''i586-mingw32msvc'' (you are NOT on Debian or Ubuntu), create a symlink to contribs:
$ ln -sf ../i586-mingw32msvc ../i486-mingw32

=== Go Back ===

Go back to the VLC source directory:

$ cd -

== Configuring the build ==

=== Bootstrap ===
First, prepare the tree:
$ ./bootstrap

=== Configure ===
Then you can to configure the build with the <code>./configure</code> script.

Create a subfolder:
$ mkdir win32 && cd win32

Use the standard configuration:
$ ../extras/package/win32/configure.sh --host=i586-mingw32msvc
'''NB''': use '''YOUR''' Xcompiling prefix here, like ''i486-mingw32''

Alternatively, you can run configure manually:
$ ../configure --host=i586-mingw32msvc
See <code>'../configure --help'</code> for more information.

== Building VLC ==

Once configured, to build VLC, just run:
$ make

== Packaging VLC ==
Once the compilation is done, you can build self-contained VLC packages with the following <code>make</code> rules:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Command
! Description
|-
| <code>make package-win-common</code>
| Creates a subdirectory named <code>vlc-x.x.x</code> with all the binaries. You can run VLC directly from this directory.
|-
| <code>make package-win-strip</code> (might be package-win32-strip)
| Same as above but will create 'stripped' binaries (that is, smallest size, unusable with a debugger).
|-
| <code>make package-win32-7zip</code>
| Same as above but will package the directory in a 7z file.
|-
| <code>make package-win32-zip</code>
| Same as above but will package the directory in a zip file.
|-
| <code>make package-win32</code>
| Same as above but will also create an auto-installer package. You must have NSIS installed in its default location for this to work.
|}

'''''Well done—you're ready to use VLC!'''''

[[Category:Building]]

Win32Compile

2011-12-18T20:00:17Z

Tobias: /* Packaging VLC */

How to compile {{VLC}} for [[Windows]].

== Building Methods ==

If you want to build VLC from source, you have several choices:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Method
! Documentation
! Notes
|-
| '''Cross-compile with Mingw on Linux'''
| This page
| '''Preferred''' method (uses cross compilation). On Windows, you should do it in a virtual machine.
|-
| '''Native compilation''' with '''[http://www.mingw.org MSYS+MINGW]'''
| [[Win32CompileMSYSNew]]
| '''Native''' compilation method. MSYS is a minimal build environment to compile Unixish projects under Microsoft Windows.
|-
| '''Native compilation''' with '''cygwin'''
| [[Win32CompileCygwinNew]]
| Build using cygwin as your compile environment. '''Error''' prone, and '''slow'''.
|}

== Obtaining the toolchain ==

Each build method requires its own toolchain:

* '''Debian/Ubuntu''' users can <code>apt-get install gcc-mingw32 mingw32-binutils</code>. <code></code>
* '''Gentoo''' users can <code>emerge crossdev && crossdev mingw32</code>
* '''ArchLinux''' users can <code>pacman -S mingw32-gcc</code>
* '''Fedora''' users should read [[Win32CompileFedora13]]
* Other '''Linux''' systems may attempt http://www.mingw.org/wiki/LinuxCrossMinGW
* Native-compile with '''[http://www.mingw.org MSYS+MINGW]''', should read the [[Win32CompileMSYSNew|documentation]]
* Native-compile with '''[http://www.cygwin.com Cygwin]''', should read the [[Win32CompileCygwinNew|documentation]]

== Get the source code ==
$ git clone git://git.videolan.org/vlc.git

== Prepare [[Contrib Status|3rd party libraries]] ==

Before compiling VLC, you need lots of other libraries. Here is how to get them:

$ mkdir -p contrib/win32
$ cd contrib/win32
$ ../bootstrap --host=i586-mingw32msvc
$ make prebuilt

=== Linux 64bits ===

If you are on linux '''64bits''', you '''MUST''' remove some files:

$ rm -f ../i586-mingw32msvc/bin/moc ../i586-mingw32msvc/bin/uic ../i586-mingw32msvc/bin/rcc

And install your ''qt4-tools''.

=== Fix your contrib path ===

If your Mingw prefix is not ''i586-mingw32msvc'' (you are NOT on Debian or Ubuntu), create a symlink to contribs:
$ ln -sf ../i586-mingw32msvc ../i486-mingw32

=== Go Back ===

Go back to the VLC source directory:

$ cd -

== Configuring the build ==

=== Bootstrap ===
First, prepare the tree:
$ ./bootstrap

=== Configure ===
Then, you can to configure the build with the <code>./configure</code> script.

Create a subfolder:
$ mkdir win32 && cd win32

Use the standard configure:
$ ../extras/package/win32/configure.sh --host=i586-mingw32msvc
'''NB''': use '''YOUR''' Xcompiling prefix here, like ''i486-mingw32''

You can also, just run configure manually:
$ ../configure --with-contrib=/usr/win32 --host=i586-mingw32msvc

See <code>'../configure --help'</code> for more information.

== Building VLC ==

Once configured, to build VLC, just run:
$ make

== Packaging VLC ==
Once the compilation is done, you can build self-contained VLC packages with the following <code>make</code> rules:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Command
! Description
|-
| <code>make package-win-common</code>
| Creates a subdirectory named <code>vlc-x.x.x</code> with all the binaries. You can run VLC directly from this directory.
|-
| <code>make package-win-strip</code> (might be package-win32-strip)
| Same as above but will create 'stripped' binaries (that is, smallest size, unusable with a debugger).
|-
| <code>make package-win32-7zip</code>
| Same as above but will package the directory in a 7z file.
|-
| <code>make package-win32-zip</code>
| Same as above but will package the directory in a zip file.
|-
| <code>make package-win32</code>
| Same as above but will also create an auto-installer package. You must have NSIS installed in its default location for this to work.
|}

'''''Well done—you're ready to use VLC!'''''

[[Category:Building]]

Win32Compile

2011-12-09T22:49:59Z

Tobias: paths

How to compile {{VLC}} for [[Windows]].

== Building Methods ==

If you want to build VLC from source, you have several choices:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Method
! Documentation
! Notes
|-
| '''Cross-compile with Mingw on Linux'''
| This page
| '''Preferred''' method (uses cross compilation). On Windows, you should do it in a virtual machine.
|-
| '''Native compilation''' with '''[http://www.mingw.org MSYS+MINGW]'''
| [[Win32CompileMSYSNew]]
| '''Native''' compilation method. MSYS is a minimal build environment to compile Unixish projects under Microsoft Windows.
|-
| '''Native compilation''' with '''cygwin'''
| [[Win32CompileCygwinNew]]
| Build using cygwin as your compile environment. '''Error''' prone, and '''slow'''.
|}

== Obtaining the toolchain ==

Each build method requires its own toolchain:

* '''Debian/Ubuntu''' users can <code>apt-get install gcc-mingw32 mingw32-binutils</code>. <code></code>
* '''Gentoo''' users can <code>emerge crossdev && crossdev mingw32</code>
* '''ArchLinux''' users can <code>pacman -S mingw32-gcc</code>
* '''Fedora''' users should read [[Win32CompileFedora13]]
* Other '''Linux''' systems may attempt http://www.mingw.org/wiki/LinuxCrossMinGW
* Native-compile with '''[http://www.mingw.org MSYS+MINGW]''', should read the [[Win32CompileMSYSNew|documentation]]
* Native-compile with '''[http://www.cygwin.com Cygwin]''', should read the [[Win32CompileCygwinNew|documentation]]

== Get the source code ==
$ git clone git://git.videolan.org/vlc.git

== Prepare [[Contrib Status|3rd party libraries]] ==

Before compiling VLC, you need lots of other libraries. Here is how to get them:

$ mkdir -p contrib/win32
$ cd contrib/win32
$ ../bootstrap --host=i586-mingw32msvc
$ make prebuilt

=== Linux 64bits ===

If you are on linux '''64bits''', you '''MUST''' remove some files:

$ rm -f ../i586-mingw32msvc/bin/moc ../i586-mingw32msvc/bin/uic ../i586-mingw32msvc/bin/rcc

And install your ''qt4-tools''.

=== Fix your contrib path ===

If your Mingw prefix is not ''i586-mingw32msvc'' (you are NOT on Debian or Ubuntu), create a symlink to contribs:
$ ln -sf ../i586-mingw32msvc ../i486-mingw32

=== Go Back ===

Go back to the VLC source directory:

$ cd -

== Configuring the build ==

=== Bootstrap ===
First, prepare the tree:
$ ./bootstrap

=== Configure ===
Then, you can to configure the build with the <code>./configure</code> script.

Create a subfolder:
$ mkdir win32 && cd win32

Use the standard configure:
$ ../extras/package/win32/configure.sh --host=i586-mingw32msvc
'''NB''': use '''YOUR''' Xcompiling prefix here, like ''i486-mingw32''

You can also, just run configure manually:
$ ../configure --with-contrib=/usr/win32 --host=i586-mingw32msvc

See <code>'../configure --help'</code> for more information.

== Building VLC ==

Once configured, to build VLC, just run:
$ make

== Packaging VLC ==
Once the compilation is done, you can either run VLC directly from the source tree or you can build self-contained VLC packages with the following <code>make</code> rules:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Command
! Description
|-
| <code>make package-win32-strip</code> (might be package-win-strip)
| Creates a subdirectory named <code>vlc-x.x.x</code> with all the binaries 'stripped' (that is, smallest size, unusable with a debugger)
|-
| <code>make package-win32-7zip</code>
| Same as above but will package the directory in a 7z file.
|-
| <code>make package-win32-zip</code>
| Same as above but will package the directory in a zip file.
|-
| <code>make package-win32</code>
| Same as above but will also create an auto-installer package. You must have NSIS installed in its default location for this to work.
|}

'''''Well done—you're ready to use VLC!'''''

[[Category:Building]]

Win32Compile

2010-06-29T10:05:21Z

Tobias: typo

How to compile VLC for Windows

== Before you start ==

One common desire that leads people to want to rebuild VLC is to "rebuild a debug version" or "add printf()s", but this is not strictly necessary, as VLC includes a debug logging feature by default. If you are using a binary release (or have already built VLC), just run <code>'vlc.exe'</code> and select "Messages..." from the "Tools" menu.

You can also run VLC from the Windows command-line interpreter, <code>cmd.exe</code> (a.k.a. "DOS window"), in which case you'll be able to use the command-line arguments. You can obtain a list of these command line arguments by typing <code>'vlc --help'</code> or <code>'vlc --help --advanced'</code>.

To store a debug log of the current VLC session, you can use <code>'vlc -vvv --extraintf=logger'</code>. You will end-up with a <code>vlc-log.txt</code> file in your current directory.

== Building VLC from source ==

If you want to build VLC from source, you have several choices:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Method
! Documentation
! Notes
|-
| Cross-compile with Mingw32 on Linux
| None: read this page
| '''Preferred''' method (uses cross compilation)
|-
| Native-compile with [http://www.mingw.org MSYS+MINGW]
| [[Win32CompileMSYSNew]]
| '''Preferred''' native compilation method. MSYS is a minimal build environment to compile Unixish projects under Microsoft Windows. It provides all the commonly-required Unix tools (like sh, gmake, and so forth).
|-
| Native-compile with [http://www.cygwin.com Cygwin]
| [[Win32CompileCygwinNew]]
| '''OUTDATED''' native compilation method
|-
| Native-compile with Microsoft Visual C++
| None
| '''Not advised.'''
Even though VLC includes some MSVC project files, this method is advised only if you just want to experiment/play with some basic functionality in VLC. VLC depends on a lot of third-party libraries and building them in MSVC is inconvenient (and in some cases, impossible). If you want to run VLC under the MSVC debugger, use <code>--fast-mutex --win9x-cv-method=1</code> because the debugger usually loses signals sent by PulseEvent().

|}

== Obtaining the build tools ==

Each build method requires its own toolchain:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Method
! Notes
|-
| Cross-compile with mingw32 on GNU/Linux
|
*Debian/Ubuntu users can <code>apt-get install mingw32 mingw32-binutils</code>, however building FFmpeg now requires mingw32-runtime >= 3.15 and w32api >= 3.13 so these will have to be updated manually.
*Gentoo users can <code>emerge crossdev && crossdev mingw32</code>
*Other systems may attempt http://www.mingw.org/wiki/LinuxCrossMinGW

|-
| Native-compile with [http://www.mingw.org MSYS+MINGW]
| Read the [[Win32CompileMSYSNew|documentation]]
|-
| Native-compile with [http://www.cygwin.com Cygwin]
| Read the [[Win32CompileCygwinNew|documentation]]
|}

== 3rd party libraries. ==

VLC modules requires numerous open source projects to work (like AC3 audio decoding or MPEG-4 video decoding).

If you feel you must build these libraries from source, go to extras/contrib and read the README. 

If you want to save yourself a lot of time and energy, use the pre-built versions of these libraries. You may download them from http://people.videolan.org/~jb/Contribs/, named in fashion of contrib-'''yyyymmdd'''-win32-'''version'''-bin-gcc-'''gccversion'''-only.tar.bz2. 

Install the pre-built libraries into the standard directories (/usr/win32/*) by using 
<pre>tar jxf contrib-20061122-win32-bin-gcc-3.4.5-only.tar.bz2 -C /
</pre>
(Note the <code>"-C /"</code>!)

== Configuring the build ==

Once you've got all the files you need in place, you need to configure the build with the <code>configure</code> script.

Good examples can be found in some files: 
<pre>extras/package/win32/configure-mingw.sh

extras/package/win32/configure-msys.sh

extras/package/win32/configure-common.sh</pre>
See <code>'./configure --help'</code> for more information.

== Building VLC ==

Once configured, to build VLC, just run <code>'make'</code>.

Once the compilation is done, you can either run VLC directly from the source tree or you can build self-contained VLC packages with the following <code>make</code> rules:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Command
! Description
|-
| <code>make package-win32-base</code>
| Creates a subdirectory named <code>vlc-x.x.x</code> with all the binaries 'stripped' (that is, smallest size, unusable with a debugger)
|-
| <code>make package-win32-zip</code>
| Same as above but will package the directory in a zip file.
|-
| <code>make package-win32</code>
| Same as above but will also create an auto-installer package. You must have NSIS installed in its default location for this to work.
|}

'''''Well done—you're ready to use VLC!'''''

[[Category:Building]]

Debug

2010-05-08T15:54:57Z

Tobias: /* How to enable it */

When compiling {{VLC}}, you can compile a debug binary using <code>--enable-debug</code> on the ./configure script.

Those debug facts are common to every programs, not only VLC.

== What it is used for ==

Of course, the binary compiled in debug mode will or should behave like the release one (more or less). Differences are
* developers can cause VLC to crash when it reached a suspicious state for development purpose, while release version will not in the same suspicious state
* binary backtraces are meaningful in this mode since symbols are embedded in it.

So its main usage is for developers to use debug-friendly binaries and to reproduce a crash and get its backtrace.

== How to enable it ==

As said above, you basicly just have to add <code>--enable-debug</code> parameter at the [[configure|./configure]] stage. better is to also add <code>--disable-optimizations</code> and not use <code>--enable-release</code>.

== Backtraces ==

A backtrace is a snapshot of a process at the time it is about to crash.

=== What does it look like? ===

Here is a debug-friendly backtrace:
''Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.''
''[Switching to Thread 0xb22e9b90 (LWP 17982)]''
''0xb7a965e8 in CDDAFormatTitle (p_access=0x842afe0, i_track=99 'c') at info.c:630''
''630 info.c: No such file or directory.''
'' in info.c''
''(gdb) bt full''
#0 0xb7a965e8 in CDDAFormatTitle (p_access=0x842afe0, i_track=99 'c') at
info.c:630
psz_name = <value optimized out>
config_varname = <value optimized out>
p_cdda = <value optimized out>
psz_mrl = 0x8277238 "cddax:///dev/sr0@T99"
#1 0xb7a94b0f in CDDAReadBlocks (p_access=0x842afe0) at access.c:264
psz_title = <value optimized out>
go_on = <value optimized out>
p_block = <value optimized out>
p_cdda = (cdda_data_t *) 0x84323c0
i_blocks = 20
__func__ = "CDDAReadBlocks"
[...]
#6 0xb6acfe9c in Demux (p_demux=0x833dcb0) at ../../include/vlc_stream.h:189
p_sys = (demux_sys_t *) 0x842eca8
i_pos = <value optimized out>
p_block = (block_t *) 0x859f380
#7 0xb7f34bae in MainLoop (p_input=0x8429c08) at input/input.c:538
b_force_update = 0
i_ret = <value optimized out>
i_type = 138588128
val = {i_int = 1064861644, b_b..........= 0 '\0', h = 0 '\0'}}
i_intf_update = 1214500117823853
#8 0xb7f362b2 in Run (p_input=0x8429c08) at input/input.c:444
No locals.
#9 0xb7e7917b in start_thread () from /lib/libpthread.so.0
No symbol table info available.
#10 0xb7ddb09e in clone () from /lib/libc.so.6
No symbol table info available.

And here is a not debug-friendly backtrace, unuseful in fact.
''Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.''
''[Switching to Thread -1342661712 (LWP 8792)]''
''0xb7db65ab in __module_Need () from /usr/lib/libvlc.so.0''
''(gdb) bt''
#0 0xb7db65ab in __module_Need () from /usr/lib/libvlc.so.0
#1 0xb7ec5c34 in ?? () from /usr/lib/libvlc.so.0
#2 0xb5487553 in ?? ()
from /usr/lib/vlc/stream_out/libstream_out_transcode_plugin.so
#3 0x00000009 in ?? ()
#4 0xb7ec3c74 in ?? () from /usr/lib/libvlc.so.0
#5 0x0854bef8 in ?? ()
#6 0x08525a00 in ?? ()
#7 0xb7efaf04 in ?? () from /usr/lib/libvlc.so.0
#8 0xb7dce493 in __vlc_object_release () from /usr/lib/libvlc.so.0
#9 0x0000006f in ?? ()
#10 0x00000003 in ?? ()
#11 0x00000000 in ?? ()

As you can see, developers can't cope with last backtrace.

=== Is a backtrace enough to debug? ===

It is not enough for someone else than you to fix a bug.
At least, you really should describe what you were doing, how to reproduce the bug if you can, etc.

If you try to fix a bug with someone else or if you are asking help on your backtrace, better is really to use an up-to-date VLC source-code. Otherwise, say so and maybe give the commit ID/VLC tag you are working on.

== See also ==

* Report_bugs
* VLC_report