regarding that flv file (it's not an swf because it's a movie in flash container, not a flash app): http://osdir.com/ml/users/2010-03/msg01348.html has the answer. Consult mplayer documentation (tech/codecs.conf.txt.bz2) about setting up a codecs.conf file (system-wide or in ~/.mplayer/). Find this block in the one provided by mplayer-team (codecs.conf.bz2): videocodec ffvp6f info "FFmpeg VP6 Flash" status working fourcc VP6F driver ffmpeg dll "vp6f" out YV12 and change it to: videocodec ffvp6f info "FFmpeg VP6 Flash" status working fourcc VP6F,FLV4 driver ffmpeg dll "vp6f" out YV12 This fixed it for me. Also, you should enable xv, but that is an Xorg issue, not a mplayer issue. -Zeev
