Hi all, I am trying to run get_iplayer on a raspberry pi "Raspbian GNU/Linux 7 (wheezy)" after using it for years on Windows. I followed the instructions here https://squarepenguin.co.uk/downloads/raspbian/  to install get_iplayer and now have get_iplayer 2.97-ppa26, installed, however after installation I  was getting an error that ffmpeg could not be found so I followed the instructions here /thread-964.html to install ffmpeg. get_iplayer now downloads and can find ffmpeg but I am now gettin the following error:


INFO: Begin converting file: /home/pi/i_player_recordings/Postman_Pat_Special_Delivery_Service_Series_3_-_1._Postman_Pat_and_the_Cornish_Caper_b083r6nt_original.partial.mp4.ts
/usr/bin/ffmpeg: error while loading shared libraries: libx264.so.142: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

How do I install the required libraries and point ffmpeg to them?

Please note I am a complete linux numpty so please be gentle.

It looks like you need to install libx264 runtime library (to handle iPlayer video with ffmpeg). The package name should be libx264-142.

I am struggling to get ffmpeg working and have followed the instructions, however when I run get_iplayer it downloads ok but I then get this error:
Any advice? The download process works perfectly, but since updating get_iplayer I cannot get the conversion to work.....

I am sure it is really simple, but as a 'novice' I am struggling on this one ;-)


Many thanks for any help

OK after many hours I've now fixed the above problem (I've no idea how but know it involved libx264-142). Now I have another problem that I can't seem to fix:

raspberrypi 4.1.19+ #858 (I belive it is a Pi B+)
Writing the file to /media/usb/ (Mounted USB flash drive)

Here is the verbose output:

Any help gratefully received.

Kind regards

For the benefit of future readers, I'm going to take a run at clearing up this RPi cluster**** once and for all.

• The Raspbian instructions on this site are incomplete. You will NOT have a fully-working version of get_iplayer at the end of the installation - additional steps are required.
  
• Read this section of the release notes to understand why additional steps are required
  
• Read this section of the release notes again to understand why additional steps are required
  
• Also see the Raspbian section of this page: https://github.com/get-iplayer/get_iplayer/wiki/unixpkg
  
• After installing get_iplayer, install a working version of ffmpeg on Raspbian Jessie by following the instructions here: /thread-964.html
  
• Perform ALL of the steps in the above post, including the addition of ffmpeg to get_iplayer preferences. If you don't, get_iplayer will continue to use the obsolete avconv utility and your downloads will fail.
  
• Depending on how you originally set up your system, you may find that some of the supporting libraries that ffmpeg requires to handle iPlayer media formats are not installed, leading to "error while loading shared libraries" messages. The missing libraries can be installed with your package manager. The name of the library in the error message will generally be the same, or nearly the same, as the related package. For example, libx264.so.142 (missing in the OP example) is installed with the libx264-142 package.
  

EDIT: The ffmpeg build referenced above links to libx264-142, which is only supplied with Raspbian Jessie. Raspbian Wheezy users should configure get_iplayer to use avconv (instead of ffmpeg) and the hls TV modes. The default hvf TV modes will not work with avconv. This approach may work for Raspbian Jessie as well.

Many thanks for the replies, much appreciated. I have followed to the letter and understand why ffmpeg does not work. However I cannot find out how to install the missing libx264-142 package, or the repositories where it might be hiding. If I try to install libx264-142 the result is: "E: Unable to locate package libx264-142". It is not the end of the world if the .ts file is not converted to mpeg as I can still play it without the conversion. I shall wait for the next version to be ready and hope this solves it.  Kind regards.

I can see the relevant DEB file in the main Raspbian repository, but I have no way to verify that it works - I got rid of my Pi long ago. I can tell you that the next version of get_iplayer will be no help to you - these ffmpeg problems are purely related to Raspbian.  However, a Raspbian user will need to assist you from here. If none appears, you may want to try your luck on the get_iplayer mailing list.

ashgwr, I am having exactly the same problem trying to install the libx264-142 package. The package appears to be installed with Raspbian Jessie so updating to that should, I would have thought, get things working but I have no idea as to why the package will not install on wheezy.

Looking at the package lists in Raspbian repo, it appears that libx264-142 is indeed only supplied with Jessie. Wheezy and Stretch have different versions. The person who created the ffmpeg build must have used Jessie - I've updated my earlier post accordingly. I can't say if you would do any harm by installing the libx264-142 DEB on a Wheezy machine, but it may not be a risk you should take just for get_iplayer.

I have loaded Raspbian Jessie (clean new install) on the Pi and followed the instructions in this thread and it works perfectly with the conversion to mp4 at the end. I think I had missed the fact that Wheezy does not allow ffmpeg to work, Jessie does with get_iplayer.

Regards

Good news. There appears to be a proper ffmpeg package available in the Raspian repo for stretch, so when that arrives you should be able to avoid this hassle in the future.