Configuring MP3 Support in Kubuntu Linux

Just upgraded to the latest and greatest version of Kubuntu Linux yesterday, the Dapper Drake edition. Such a smooth upgrade path - just modify your /etc/apt/sources.list file, replacing every instance of breezy with dapper (back the file up first, of course), then you simply run the following commands:

sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude dist-upgrade

I left mine to download and upgrade overnight and the next morning I had a fresh install of Kubuntu Dapper! Easy. And everything was intact from before - NTFS partitions mounted, FireFox on latest version, etc.

Only one problem - my mp3s wouldn’t play in amaroK. Since I spent a long time trawling the web for the solution, I’m going to make life easier for you and show you how to set up mp3 support in Kubuntu:

1. You need to add the Multiverse repository to /etc/apt/sources.list. Add the line deb http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper multiverse. Apparently you modify the nl part to the country you’re in, so mine was gb
2. I think you have to do a quick update here, so from a console window run sudo aptitude update.
3. When that’s done, run the command sudo aptitude install libxine-extracodecs. This will install your mp3 support.
4. Run amaroK. You should probably restart the sound server with killall artsd, or reboot, but I found the mp3 support took effect straight away.

Anyway, I think that’s about right. Give it a go and see what happens, but remember to back stuff up, bless yourself (twice), and don’t blame me if it all goes wrong. I’m finding my way with this stuff too!