The VideoLAN Forums

When I upgraded to Ubuntu 18.04 it also changed VLC to 3.3.8. When I was using 16.04 I was more than happy with VLC 2.2.2. I won't go into detail, but there are things I don't like about it the new version. On my Windows machine I'm using 2.2.8 & that is good too. I read that the Linux version of that is 2.2.7. I would prefer not to remove VLC completely & lose a lot of settings. I will if I have to. A long time ago I had 2 different versions of VLC in Windows. There were types of files that played better on each version. I'm pretty much a newbie in Linux. When I try to do command line I sometimes screw things up. I always make a fresh clone before trying so I can easily put things back.

In Debian derivatives including Ubuntu, you need to pin the VLC version before you upgrade. This is not specific to VLC, so please refer to the apt documentation. Note that it is not generally possible to downgrade post-facto.

Rémi Denis-Courmont I have no Idea what you are talking about pinning VLC. Are saying I would have to take an old 16.04 clone & start the whole upgrade over? As I said, I'm a Linux newbie & it was a real pain doing the upgrade. After you run the upgrade command at the end it tells you things it cannot find that you have to install. Doesn't say how to do it. Just had to Google. Besides a lot of it being over my head, there are often a dozen entirely different answers on those forums. It was hit & miss & pulling my hair out for days before I got it to work.

From what I'm reading from that link, it looks like the opposite of what I want. It is saying you can pull a program from a newer version to an older possibly more stable version of Linux. I want my version from 16.04 on my 18.04. I didn't see anything there that appeared to do what I want. Also from reading that it looks like if you didn't get your parameters just right there is potential for a major screw up. I never had a lot of success using Wine in 16.04 to try to run a couple Windows programs, but then I never tried that hard to figure it out. It looks like my install of it didn't survive the upgrade. I was just thinking that or some other program might let me run a Windows version. Virtualbox is not an option. The Windows VLC in it plays choppy. Appreciate your help, but I need to get to bed now. If anyone posts any more replies it may be a while before I answer. Thanks.

You did not even finish reading the first paragraph, did you?

You did not even finish reading the first paragraph, did you?

Yes I did. The first paragraph says "Pinning is useful if you want only some things from a newer version of Ubuntu". The 2nd paragraph says "Pinning is a process that allows you to remain on a stable release of Ubuntu (or any other debian system) while grabbing packages from a more recent version." I have the newest stable version of Ubuntu. I want the version of VLC from my OLDER version. That was 2.2.2. I don't want anything newer than 2.2.8, the version I use on my offline Windows 8.1 machine. One of the reasons is the audio is slightly breaking up on some videos whether I use built in analog stereo or try c-media USB. Never did that before the upgrade. Does it even on some videos from my favorites folder that I have watched many times. My motherboards are from when Intel 7th generation Kaby Lake first came out in January 2017.

First paragraph

There is also package holding, which allows you to not update the package.

Rémi Denis-Courmont VLC has been updated. If I wanted to pin it & keep 2.2.2, I would have had to do that BEFORE my upgrade from 16.04 t0 18.04. I'm already upgraded. It was a struggle to get 18.04 working & I have already made enough tweaks to it that starting over is just not an option. In your 1st reply you said "Note that it is not generally possible to downgrade post-facto." So why did you continue answering & then criticize me that you thought I just didn't read the link? Downgrading in Windows is as simple as clicking the older version exe file. It will ask you if you want to keep your settings. Version 3 was just not compatible with my video driver. I only use Windows for a few necessary programs I just couldn't find a Linux equivalent. Since Microsoft bricked security updates for 7th generation trying to force me to that 10 spyware I took it offline. A friend made me a more "user friendly" version of Ubuntu. He has moved & no longer using the same email address.

If you or anyone else have no more answers I'm probably stuck with it. Any ideas? Anyone?