That link is about some odd looking fix for Ubuntu 12.x, I think it might even be detrimental on Ubuntu 14.04 (I did not have to do such a thing).
MP4 is the container, check what codec it uses by right clicking -> Properties -> Audio/Video tab: Check container and Video codec
I usually use VLC
, which can play most formats out of the box, but I just tried to play an MP4 with Quicktime container and H.264 video codec with Totem. A pop-up told me to install gstreamer1.0-libav
and some i386 packages, which must be an error (this is a 64 bit platform I'm working on).
- Solution: Plugins
Make sure you have the following packages installed: gstreamer1.0-libav
, gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad
, gstreamer1.0-plugins-good
-- should be installed already and optionally gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly
If that doesn't work, post the container format, audio and video codec and we'll see. Or use VLC ^^
- Solution: Different output channel
If missing decoder plugins aren't the cause, you can install the gnome-media
package to run gstreamer-properties
, where you can test the output and change the output plugin (X Window System (no XV)
seems to solve this issue for some people.
- "Solution": VMware player
Since you said you're running Ubuntu in a VMware player instance: There might be some issues with that (see here).
I don't know a fix for that, but using VLC instead seems to work. Or switching to VirtualBox.