Media Test Files for Ubuntu Linux

This section contains various Media “Test” Files for testing Ubuntu (Linux) Compatibility.

Ubuntu is a popular “flavor” of Linux used by FreeGeek (and many others!). The version of Ubuntu used on the “Grant Boxes” is 8.04 (April 2008) also known as “Hardy Heron.”

Contents 1 Media Formats 2 Media Test Files 2.1 Video Test Files 2.2 Audio Test Files 2.3 Image Test Files 2.4 Other File Formats 3 See Also 4 External Links

Media Formats

A short list of some common media formats.

Common video formats:

• wmv (Windows media video file)
• mpg (MPEG Video File)
• mp4 (MPEG-4 Video File)
• avi (Audio Video Interleave File)
• mov (Apple QuickTime Movie)
• rm (Real Media)
• swf (Macromedia Shockwave Flash Movie)
• flv (Flash Video File — not common)

Common audio formats:

• wma (Windows media audio file)
• mp3 (MP3 Audio File)
• wav (WAVE Audio File)
• ra (Real audio)
• ram (Real audio media)

Media Test Files

Note: Files are hosted at mediafire.com

Also Note: If you have difficulty playing a file, try saving it to the desktop and playing it from there. See Instructions for the Macromedia Shockwave Flash File below. (It was noticed that for some reason the .mp3 file has this problem. This “bug” is under investigation…)

Video Test Files

• Windows Media Video .wmv Test File (103k)
• Mpeg .mpg Test File (776k)
• Audio Video Interleave .avi Test File (785k)
• QuickTime .mov Test File (1,270k)
• Macromedia Shockwave Flash .swf Test File (5,138k)
  • Playing the Flash File is a bit more complicated:
    1. When downloading, save the file to the desktop.
    2. When download is complete, Right click on the file you just made on the desktop.
    3. Select: Open With Other Application.
    4. Select: Firefox
    5. Hopefully, if all goes well, the file should run under Firefox.

Audio Test Files

• Windows Media Audio .wma Test File (27k)
• MP3 Audio Test File (53k)
• Wave Audio .wav Test File (53k)

Image Test Files

Below: png image:

Left: Tux. (png image test)

Below: gif image:

Left: Tux. (gif image test)

Other File Formats

RAR File Archive Format

Some programs that you may need to download from the web may be saved in the RAR file format. A .rar file is similar a .zip file (See Wikipedia article on RAR archive file format) Linux uses “unrar” to read .rar files.

Unrar is not automatically included in the 8.04 (Hardy) version of Ubuntu. To get Unrar:

• Click System>Administration>Synaptic Package Manager
• Enter your password
• When the Synaptic Package Manager window appears:
• Click search, and search for: unrar
• After the search, Right click on ‘unrar’ and select: Mark for installation
• Then click: Apply

Here is a simple .rar test file:

• RAR Test File (453k)

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See Also

• Mount Hood CC Ubuntu Linux Startup Guide
• Mount Hood CC Ubuntu Linux FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
• Blog for MHCC Ubuntu/Linux Questions

External Links

• http://www.freegeek.org/ — Freegeek
• http://www.ubuntu.com/ — Ubuntu Home Page
• http://tldp.org/ — The Linux Documentation Project
• http://www.fileinfo.net/filetypes/video — Video File Formats
• http://www.fileinfo.net/filetypes/audio — Audio File Formats