The VideoLAN Forums

Hello;

I have got a Windows Me operating system. I downloaded and installed the VideoLAN program. It gives this message:

This program uses Unicode and requires Windows NT/2000/XP.

The videolan.org web site says that if you use Windows Me that you need to download the Unicode from the Microsoft web site. The download page below says the following:

Windows 95/98/Me users: Please note that these versions of Windows are not officially supported. No VideoLAN developer uses any of these systems, which makes them hard to support. VLC should mostly work with them, but some incompatibilities might appear. You might need to download The Microsoft Layer for Unicode on Windows 95/98/Me Systems. The two MSLU files need to be put in the C:\Windows\System\ folder.

Here's the link for the above quote:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html

I did like the videolan.org web site says, downloaded the Unicode from the Microsoft web site, then installed the Unicode under C:\Windows\System\ unicode.

That didn't work so I renamed the folder "folder" - exactly like they said:
C:\Windows\System\ folder


It still doesn't work. Can somebody tell me how to get the Unicode downloaded and installed on my PC so that the VideoLAN program works?

Thanks.

they meant you should put the files directly into C:\Windows\System\

ssbssa;

Thanks for responding. You're right. I see what they're talking about now.

I installed the Unicode in the c:\Windows\System\ folder. I then uninstalled then re-installed the VideoLAN program.

When I try to start the VideoLAN program it gives the same message as before.

There's one thing that I figured out. The Microsoft page for the Unicode download says that there are two parts. The first part is a Unicows.dll file. The second part is a Unicows.lib file
http://www.microsoft.com.nsatc.net/glob ... ounce.mspx

How MSLU Works

MSLU actually consists of two parts.

The first part is a dynamic-link library (DLL)— Unicows.dll —that is redistributed with the application that the user creates.

The second part is a library (LIB) file— Unicows.lib ...

The download that I have installed in the C:\Windows\System folder has only the Unicows.dll. It does not have the Unicows.lib file. That could be why it's not working.

Does anyone have any suggestions about what I might do?

Thanks.

Hi Jim,

The download that I have installed in the C:\Windows\System folder has only the Unicows.dll. It does not have the Unicows.lib file. That could be why it's not working.

I'm having the same problem as you under Windows 98 SE on an old 400MHz laptop using VLC 0.8.6e. Even after installing UNICOWS.DLL I get the same error. I suspect the information on the VLC download page is no longer current, because I went back to an earlier version (0.7.2) and was able to install and run it fine.

However when I played a DivX encoded .AVI it was very pixelated; I guess this could either be due to a) the older version of VLC perhaps not supporting the codec fully, or b) optimization to allow a 400Mhz PC to decode the file. I may experiment with other versions between 0.7.2 and 0.8.6 when I find time.

'later,

Annihilannic

I meant to say in my previous post that I suspect UNICOWS.LIB is only required when you are compiling/linking VLC from source, which I presume is not the case for you.

I have since tried VLC 0.8.6 on the same 400MHz laptop and it runs fine, so the NT/2000/XP requirement appears to have been introduced somewhere between 0.8.6 and 0.8.6e.

Incidentally, the pixelation I mentioned seems to be a feature of the video card/video driver on said laptop as it affects any application that attempts to display a video window.

Windows 98/Me support has been fixed (without much fanfare) in 0.8.6f.

I think it is in the Release Notes.

It took me 6hours+ to fix it.

Thanks alot jb to put in your hard work to fix it. BTW it is again "broken" in the 0.8.6h version, but I don't want you to put in another 6+ hours to fix it again I am very happy the f version works on my old notebook with win98

Thanks and keep up the good work on VLC

Maurice

EDIT: OOps just read the other topic

j-b wrote:
Take the old libwxwidgets.dll from 0.8.6f and put it in the plugins folder of 0.8.6h and it will work. I am going to fix this.