How to build and install latest SimpleScreenRecorder from git?

I want to install SimpleScreenRecorder (SSR) from git as recommended by the developer. The binary version crashes and it is possible that the git version already has the fixes for my crash problem.

Main page - SimpleScreenRecorder - Maarten Baert's website

Unfortunately, I can't get the current/latest git version to build on Ubuntu. The instructions are found here: https://github.com/MaartenBaert/ssr

In those instructions, the dev says, " If the 32-bit build fails because libraries are missing, but 64-bit works fine, read the instructions above again :)." That seems to be my problem, but reading the instructions again hasn't clarified my problem. So I am asking here.

Instructions:

sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config qt4-qmake libqt4-dev libavformat-dev libavcodec-dev libavutil-dev libswscale-dev libasound2-dev libpulse-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libx11-dev libxext-dev libxfixes-dev g++-multilib ia32-libs

If the 32-bit version of some library isn't found, but 64-bit works fine, try this:

cd /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/
sudo ln -s libGL.so.1 mesa/libGL.so
sudo ln -s mesa/libGL.so libGL.so
sudo ln -s libGLU.so.1 libGLU.so
sudo ln -s libX11.so.6 libX11.so
sudo ln -s libXext.so.6 libXext.so
sudo ln -s libXfixes.so.3 libXfixes.so
sudo ldconfig

The dev says:

I don't know whether this is the right way to do it, but it works for me. If you are using a proprietary driver, the location of libGL will be different. In that case, use 'libGL.so' instead of 'mesa/libGL.so'. Compiling and installing

NOTE: I do have a proprietary (fglrx) video driver. I think it might be found here (based on what I see in the xorg.log):

/usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/fglrx_drv.so

However, I need specific help on this step!

If you have installed SimpleScreenRecorder as a package from a repository, you should uninstall that version first to avoid conflicts. If you don't do this, the two versions may overwrite each other or use the wrong version of the GLInject library.

The simplest way to compile and install everything is to run:

./simple-build-and-install

This will compile the 64-bit main program and library, and then the 32-bit library. If the 32-bit build fails because libraries are missing, but 64-bit works fine, read the instructions above again :).

That seems to be my main problem. The error I see is:

configure: error: required library missing

However, I also see this:

Detecting ffmpeg/libav ...
Detected ffmpeg.

That concerns me because ffmpeg is a custom compiled version and I doubt it has the required options... although I did enable libx264 and maybe that is enough. I don't know. Here's the relevant ffmpeg info:

$ ffmpeg -version
ffmpeg version 0.10.8-7:0.10.8-1~precise1
built on Sep  5 2013 14:56:20 with gcc 4.6.3
configuration: --arch=amd64 --disable-stripping --enable-pthreads --enable-runtime-cpudetect --extra-version='7:0.10.8-1~precise1' --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --prefix=/usr --enable-bzlib --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libfreetype --enable-frei0r --enable-gnutls --enable-libgsm --enable-libmp3lame --enable-librtmp --enable-libopencv --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libpulse --enable-libschroedinger --enable-libspeex --enable-libtheora --enable-vaapi --enable-vdpau --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-zlib --enable-gpl --enable-postproc --enable-libcdio --enable-x11grab --enable-libx264 --shlibdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --enable-shared --disable-static
libavutil      51. 35.100 / 51. 35.100
libavcodec     53. 61.100 / 53. 61.100
libavformat    53. 32.100 / 53. 32.100
libavdevice    53.  4.100 / 53.  4.100
libavfilter     2. 61.100 /  2. 61.100
libswscale      2.  1.100 /  2.  1.100
libswresample   0.  6.100 /  0.  6.100
libpostproc    52.  0.100 / 52.  0.100

Here is the entire SSR build log:

$ ./simple-build-and-install 
Detecting ffmpeg/libav ...
Detected ffmpeg.
Detecting x86/x64 ...
x86/x64 = 1
Configuring ...
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for a thread-safe mkdir -p... /bin/mkdir -p
checking for gawk... gawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking whether make supports nested variables... yes
checking whether to enable maintainer-specific portions of Makefiles... no
checking for style of include used by make... GNU
checking for gcc... gcc
checking whether the C compiler works... yes
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking for suffix of executables... 
checking whether we are cross compiling... no
checking for suffix of object files... o
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
checking whether gcc accepts -g... yes
checking for gcc option to accept ISO C89... none needed
checking whether gcc understands -c and -o together... yes
checking dependency style of gcc... gcc3
checking for ar... ar
checking the archiver (ar) interface... ar
checking build system type... x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
checking host system type... x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
checking how to print strings... printf
checking for a sed that does not truncate output... /bin/sed
checking for grep that handles long lines and -e... /bin/grep
checking for egrep... /bin/grep -E
checking for fgrep... /bin/grep -F
checking for ld used by gcc... /usr/bin/ld
checking if the linker (/usr/bin/ld) is GNU ld... yes
checking for BSD- or MS-compatible name lister (nm)... /usr/bin/nm -B
checking the name lister (/usr/bin/nm -B) interface... BSD nm
checking whether ln -s works... yes
checking the maximum length of command line arguments... 1572864
checking whether the shell understands some XSI constructs... yes
checking whether the shell understands "+="... yes
checking how to convert x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu file names to x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu format... func_convert_file_noop
checking how to convert x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu file names to toolchain format... func_convert_file_noop
checking for /usr/bin/ld option to reload object files... -r
checking for objdump... objdump
checking how to recognize dependent libraries... pass_all
checking for dlltool... no
checking how to associate runtime and link libraries... printf %s\n
checking for archiver @FILE support... @
checking for strip... strip
checking for ranlib... ranlib
checking command to parse /usr/bin/nm -B output from gcc object... ok
checking for sysroot... no
checking for mt... mt
checking if mt is a manifest tool... no
checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -E
checking for ANSI C header files... yes
checking for sys/types.h... yes
checking for sys/stat.h... yes
checking for stdlib.h... yes
checking for string.h... yes
checking for memory.h... yes
checking for strings.h... yes
checking for inttypes.h... yes
checking for stdint.h... yes
checking for unistd.h... yes
checking for dlfcn.h... yes
checking for objdir... .libs
checking if gcc supports -fno-rtti -fno-exceptions... no
checking for gcc option to produce PIC... -fPIC -DPIC
checking if gcc PIC flag -fPIC -DPIC works... yes
checking if gcc static flag -static works... yes
checking if gcc supports -c -o file.o... yes
checking if gcc supports -c -o file.o... (cached) yes
checking whether the gcc linker (/usr/bin/ld -m elf_x86_64) supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether -lc should be explicitly linked in... no
checking dynamic linker characteristics... GNU/Linux ld.so
checking how to hardcode library paths into programs... immediate
checking whether stripping libraries is possible... yes
checking if libtool supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build static libraries... yes
checking for gcc... (cached) gcc
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... (cached) yes
checking whether gcc accepts -g... (cached) yes
checking for gcc option to accept ISO C89... (cached) none needed
checking whether gcc understands -c and -o together... (cached) yes
checking dependency style of gcc... (cached) gcc3
checking for g++... g++
checking whether we are using the GNU C++ compiler... yes
checking whether g++ accepts -g... yes
checking dependency style of g++... gcc3
checking how to run the C++ preprocessor... g++ -E
checking for ld used by g++... /usr/bin/ld -m elf_x86_64
checking if the linker (/usr/bin/ld -m elf_x86_64) is GNU ld... yes
checking whether the g++ linker (/usr/bin/ld -m elf_x86_64) supports shared libraries... yes
checking for g++ option to produce PIC... -fPIC -DPIC
checking if g++ PIC flag -fPIC -DPIC works... yes
checking if g++ static flag -static works... yes
checking if g++ supports -c -o file.o... yes
checking if g++ supports -c -o file.o... (cached) yes
checking whether the g++ linker (/usr/bin/ld -m elf_x86_64) supports shared libraries... yes
checking dynamic linker characteristics... (cached) GNU/Linux ld.so
checking how to hardcode library paths into programs... immediate
checking for a sed that does not truncate output... (cached) /bin/sed
checking for pkg-config... /usr/bin/pkg-config
checking pkg-config is at least version 0.9.0... yes
checking for QT4... yes
checking for moc-qt4... /usr/bin/moc-qt4
checking for rcc-qt4... no
checking for rcc... /usr/bin/rcc
checking for uic-qt4... /usr/bin/uic-qt4
checking for clock_gettime in -lrt... yes
checking for dlfcn.h... (cached) yes
checking for dlsym in -ldl... yes
checking libavformat/avformat.h usability... yes
checking libavformat/avformat.h presence... yes
checking for libavformat/avformat.h... yes
checking for av_guess_format in -lavformat... yes
checking libavcodec/avcodec.h usability... yes
checking libavcodec/avcodec.h presence... yes
checking for libavcodec/avcodec.h... yes
checking for avcodec_find_encoder_by_name in -lavcodec... yes
checking libavutil/avutil.h usability... yes
checking libavutil/avutil.h presence... yes
checking for libavutil/avutil.h... yes
checking libavutil/mathematics.h usability... yes
checking libavutil/mathematics.h presence... yes
checking for libavutil/mathematics.h... yes
checking for av_rescale_q in -lavutil... yes
checking libswscale/swscale.h usability... yes
checking libswscale/swscale.h presence... yes
checking for libswscale/swscale.h... yes
checking for sws_scale in -lswscale... yes
checking X11/Xlib.h usability... yes
checking X11/Xlib.h presence... yes
checking for X11/Xlib.h... yes
checking for X11/Xutil.h... yes
checking for XOpenDisplay in -lX11... yes
checking for X11/extensions/Xfixes.h... yes
checking for XFixesGetCursorImage in -lXfixes... yes
checking for X11/extensions/XShm.h... yes
checking for XShmCreateImage in -lXext... yes
checking alsa/asoundlib.h usability... yes
checking alsa/asoundlib.h presence... yes
checking for alsa/asoundlib.h... yes
checking for snd_pcm_open in -lasound... yes
checking pulse/context.h usability... yes
checking pulse/context.h presence... yes
checking for pulse/context.h... yes
checking for pa_context_new in -lpulse... yes
checking GL/gl.h usability... yes
checking GL/gl.h presence... yes
checking for GL/gl.h... yes
checking for GL/glext.h... yes
checking for GL/glx.h... yes
checking for glPushAttrib in -lGL... yes
checking GL/glu.h usability... yes
checking GL/glu.h presence... yes
checking for GL/glu.h... yes
checking for gluErrorString in -lGLU... yes
checking that generated files are newer than configure... done
configure: creating ./config.status
config.status: creating Makefile
config.status: creating data/Makefile
config.status: creating glinject/Makefile
config.status: creating src/Makefile
config.status: creating config.h
config.status: config.h is unchanged
config.status: executing depfiles commands
config.status: executing libtool commands
Compiling ...
make  all-recursive
make[1]: Entering directory `/workspaces/ssr/build'
Making all in data
make[2]: Entering directory `/workspaces/ssr/build/data'
make[2]: Nothing to be done for `all'.
make[2]: Leaving directory `/workspaces/ssr/build/data'
Making all in glinject
make[2]: Entering directory `/workspaces/ssr/build/glinject'
make[2]: Nothing to be done for `all'.
make[2]: Leaving directory `/workspaces/ssr/build/glinject'
Making all in src
make[2]: Entering directory `/workspaces/ssr/build/src'
make[2]: Nothing to be done for `all'.
make[2]: Leaving directory `/workspaces/ssr/build/src'
make[2]: Entering directory `/workspaces/ssr/build'
make[2]: Leaving directory `/workspaces/ssr/build'
make[1]: Leaving directory `/workspaces/ssr/build'
Configuring 32-bit GLInject library ...
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for a thread-safe mkdir -p... /bin/mkdir -p
checking for gawk... gawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking whether make supports nested variables... yes
checking whether to enable maintainer-specific portions of Makefiles... no
checking for style of include used by make... GNU
checking for gcc... gcc -m32
checking whether the C compiler works... yes
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking for suffix of executables... 
checking whether we are cross compiling... no
checking for suffix of object files... o
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
checking whether gcc -m32 accepts -g... yes
checking for gcc -m32 option to accept ISO C89... none needed
checking whether gcc -m32 understands -c and -o together... yes
checking dependency style of gcc -m32... gcc3
checking for ar... ar
checking the archiver (ar) interface... ar
checking build system type... x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
checking host system type... x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
checking how to print strings... printf
checking for a sed that does not truncate output... /bin/sed
checking for grep that handles long lines and -e... /bin/grep
checking for egrep... /bin/grep -E
checking for fgrep... /bin/grep -F
checking for ld used by gcc -m32... /usr/bin/ld
checking if the linker (/usr/bin/ld) is GNU ld... yes
checking for BSD- or MS-compatible name lister (nm)... /usr/bin/nm -B
checking the name lister (/usr/bin/nm -B) interface... BSD nm
checking whether ln -s works... yes
checking the maximum length of command line arguments... 1572864
checking whether the shell understands some XSI constructs... yes
checking whether the shell understands "+="... yes
checking how to convert x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu file names to x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu format... func_convert_file_noop
checking how to convert x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu file names to toolchain format... func_convert_file_noop
checking for /usr/bin/ld option to reload object files... -r
checking for objdump... objdump
checking how to recognize dependent libraries... pass_all
checking for dlltool... no
checking how to associate runtime and link libraries... printf %s\n
checking for archiver @FILE support... @
checking for strip... strip
checking for ranlib... ranlib
checking command to parse /usr/bin/nm -B output from gcc -m32 object... ok
checking for sysroot... no
checking for mt... mt
checking if mt is a manifest tool... no
checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -m32 -E
checking for ANSI C header files... yes
checking for sys/types.h... yes
checking for sys/stat.h... yes
checking for stdlib.h... yes
checking for string.h... yes
checking for memory.h... yes
checking for strings.h... yes
checking for inttypes.h... yes
checking for stdint.h... yes
checking for unistd.h... yes
checking for dlfcn.h... yes
checking for objdir... .libs
checking if gcc -m32 supports -fno-rtti -fno-exceptions... no
checking for gcc -m32 option to produce PIC... -fPIC -DPIC
checking if gcc -m32 PIC flag -fPIC -DPIC works... yes
checking if gcc -m32 static flag -static works... yes
checking if gcc -m32 supports -c -o file.o... yes
checking if gcc -m32 supports -c -o file.o... (cached) yes
checking whether the gcc -m32 linker (/usr/bin/ld -m elf_i386) supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether -lc should be explicitly linked in... no
checking dynamic linker characteristics... GNU/Linux ld.so
checking how to hardcode library paths into programs... immediate
checking whether stripping libraries is possible... yes
checking if libtool supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build static libraries... yes
checking for gcc... (cached) gcc -m32
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... (cached) yes
checking whether gcc -m32 accepts -g... (cached) yes
checking for gcc -m32 option to accept ISO C89... (cached) none needed
checking whether gcc -m32 understands -c and -o together... (cached) yes
checking dependency style of gcc -m32... (cached) gcc3
checking whether we are using the GNU C++ compiler... yes
checking whether g++ -m32 accepts -g... yes
checking dependency style of g++ -m32... gcc3
checking how to run the C++ preprocessor... g++ -m32 -E
checking for ld used by g++ -m32... /usr/bin/ld -m elf_i386
checking if the linker (/usr/bin/ld -m elf_i386) is GNU ld... yes
checking whether the g++ -m32 linker (/usr/bin/ld -m elf_i386) supports shared libraries... yes
checking for g++ -m32 option to produce PIC... -fPIC -DPIC
checking if g++ -m32 PIC flag -fPIC -DPIC works... yes
checking if g++ -m32 static flag -static works... yes
checking if g++ -m32 supports -c -o file.o... yes
checking if g++ -m32 supports -c -o file.o... (cached) yes
checking whether the g++ -m32 linker (/usr/bin/ld -m elf_i386) supports shared libraries... yes
checking dynamic linker characteristics... (cached) GNU/Linux ld.so
checking how to hardcode library paths into programs... immediate
checking for a sed that does not truncate output... (cached) /bin/sed
checking for clock_gettime in -lrt... yes
checking for dlfcn.h... (cached) yes
checking for dlsym in -ldl... yes
checking X11/Xlib.h usability... yes
checking X11/Xlib.h presence... yes
checking for X11/Xlib.h... yes
checking for X11/Xutil.h... yes
checking for XOpenDisplay in -lX11... no
configure: error: required library missing

Solution 1:

I got this working with some help from the developer. First, the dev said that my version of ffmpeg was fine. He also clarified that if the output of simple-build-and-install includes 'Configuring 32-bit GLInject library' (i.e., if you manage to get to that point in the build process) it means that the 64-bit build portion is OK. That means the solution is to use his symlink workaround.

Below are my exact steps.

Note that I skipped one step recommended by the developer. I skipped it because the target link already existed and I wanted to try it without changing that link. (It worked.)

sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config qt4-qmake libqt4-dev libavformat-dev libavcodec-dev libavutil-dev libswscale-dev libasound2-dev libpulse-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libx11-dev libxext-dev libxfixes-dev g++-multilib ia32-libs
cd /workspaces/ (or any path you choose - see note below)
git clone https://github.com/MaartenBaert/ssr.git (in my case the project path is /workspaces/ssr/)
sudo mkdir /usr/lib32/fglrx/
cd /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/
sudo ln -s libGL.so.1 /usr/lib32/fglrx/libGL.so  # only for proprietary AMD drivers!
# SKIP: sudo ln -s fglrx/libGL.so /usr/lib32/libGL.so    # only for proprietary AMD drivers!
sudo ln -s libGLU.so.1 libGLU.so
sudo ln -s libX11.so.6 libX11.so
sudo ln -s libXext.so.6 libXext.so
sudo ln -s libXfixes.so.3 libXfixes.so
sudo ldconfig
cd /path/to/ssr (will be the ssr directory under `/workspaces/` in my example)
$ ./simple-build-and-install 

The final result:

Running post-install script ...
Done.

So I ran it and it didn't crash! :-) That was the first big change.

Then I tested it. I used all default settings. And the recorded screencast looked and sounded really good!!! I'm extremely pleased. The software is easy to use and it works great.