Build FFMPEG with x264 for Android

Question

I am trying to build FFMPEG with libx264 for Android.

I can successfully build and use FFMPEG for Android but I realized that I need the ability to encode, therefore I am trying to build FFMPEG with x264.

I am using this tutorial to build FFmpeg for Android http://www.roman10.net/how-to-build-ffmpeg-for-android/

When trying to build FFMPEG I get an error:

"ERROR: libx264 not found"

And in my log it says:

"/usr/local/lib/libx264.a: could not read symbols: Archive has no index; run ranlib to add one..."

I have the latest versions of both FFMPEG and x264. I understand that FFMPEG looks for the header and libraries in usr/lib and usr/include, so in order to make it find x264 I use the cflags and ldflags:

--extra-cflags = " -I/usr/local/include "
--extra-ldflags = " -L/usr/local/lib "

I have tried building x264 with many different options that other people on the internet have said that i need. eg. --enable-shared, --enable-static, --disable-pthreads etc. Some forums say enable this, others say no disable that.

Any help would be much appreciated, Thanks

EDIT:

If I build FFmpeg with the simplest commands to include libx264 then it works. ie.

./configure --enable-gpl --enable-libx264 --extra-cflags="-I/usr/local/include" --extra-ldflags="-L/usr/local/lib" --enable-static --enable-shared

However I need it to work for Android. The script I am using is:

NDK=~/Desktop/android-ndk-r7
PLATFORM=$NDK/platforms/android-8/arch-arm/
PREBUILT=$NDK/toolchains/arm-linux-androideabi-4.4.3/prebuilt/darwin-x86
function build_one
{
./configure --target-os=linux \
    --prefix=$PREFIX \
    --enable-cross-compile \
    --enable-shared \
    --enable-static \
    --extra-libs="-lgcc" \
    --arch=arm \
    --cc=$PREBUILT/bin/arm-linux-androideabi-gcc \
    --cross-prefix=$PREBUILT/bin/arm-linux-androideabi- \
    --nm=$PREBUILT/bin/arm-linux-androideabi-nm \
    --sysroot=$PLATFORM \
    --extra-cflags=" -O3 -fpic -DANDROID -DHAVE_SYS_UIO_H=1 -Dipv6mr_interface=ipv6mr_ifindex -fasm -Wno-psabi -fno-short-enums -fno-strict-aliasing -finline-limit=300 $OPTIMIZE_CFLAGS -I/usr/local/include" \
    --extra-ldflags="-Wl,-rpath-link=$PLATFORM/usr/lib -L $PLATFORM/usr/lib -nostdlib -lc -lm -ldl -llog -L/usr/local/lib " \
    --enable-gpl \
    --enable-libx264 \
    --disable-everything \
    --enable-demuxer=mov \
    --enable-demuxer=h264 \
    --disable-ffplay \
    --enable-protocol=file \
    --enable-avformat \
    --enable-avcodec \
    --enable-decoder=rawvideo \
    --enable-decoder=mjpeg \
    --enable-decoder=h263 \
    --enable-decoder=mpeg4 \
    --enable-decoder=h264 \
    --enable-encoder=mjpeg \
    --enable-encoder=h263 \
    --enable-encoder=mpeg4 \
    --enable-encoder=h264 \
    --enable-parser=h264 \
    --disable-network \
    --enable-zlib \
    --disable-avfilter \
    --disable-avdevice \
    $ADDITIONAL_CONFIGURE_FLAG

make clean
make  -j4 install
$PREBUILT/bin/arm-linux-androideabi-ar d libavcodec/libavcodec.a inverse.o
$PREBUILT/bin/arm-linux-androideabi-ld -rpath-link=$PLATFORM/usr/lib -L$PLATFORM/usr/lib  -soname libffmpeg.so -shared -nostdlib  -z,noexecstack -Bsymbolic --whole-archive --no-undefined -o $PREFIX/libffmpeg.so libavcodec/libavcodec.a libavformat/libavformat.a libavutil/libavutil.a libswscale/libswscale.a -lc -lm -lz -ldl -llog  --warn-once  --dynamic-linker=/system/bin/linker $PREBUILT/lib/gcc/arm-linux-androideabi/4.4.3/libgcc.a
}

CPU=armv7-a
OPTIMIZE_CFLAGS="-mfloat-abi=softfp -mfpu=vfpv3-d16 -marm -march=$CPU "
PREFIX=./android/$CPU
ADDITIONAL_CONFIGURE_FLAG=
build_one

I am guessing that some option in my configure command is conflicting with enabling libx264

NOTE: If I remove --enable-libx264 then it works

If i build both x264 and FFmpeg with --disable-static and --enable-shared, then I still get the same error, but this time in my log it no longer says "...could not read symbols..." but instead it says "cannot find -lx264..." — Kage, Jan 11 '12 at 01:05
How did you install x264? Did you install it by downloading the source and doing './configure', 'make', 'make install', or did you do something else? Also, what is your build system - *nix or Windows (with cygwin/msys)? — sashoalm, Jan 11 '12 at 14:43
I downloaded the source and used .configure, make, make install Im on a mac (10.7) — Kage, Jan 11 '12 at 20:06
Have you tried the simplest options possible - like only './configure --enable-libx264 && make', just to see if it would work then. The problem might be because some other customization/flags in the ./configure line interfere. You can also look at [ffmpegx](http://www.ffmpegx.com/), which is a mac app, and it should come with an already compiled version of ffmpeg which you can use instead of compiling on your own. — sashoalm, Jan 12 '12 at 08:30
The simplest options do work, I have updated the question accordingly thanks — Kage, Jan 12 '12 at 20:54
See [this thread](http://forum.doom9.org/archive/index.php/t-88313.html), look at the last 3-4 posts, in them they say that the problem is when you're cross-compiling you have 2 versions of ranlib, and your error says "Archive has no index; run ranlib to add one". — sashoalm, Jan 13 '12 at 08:29
I was able to compile using android-ndk-r6b. The newer version didn't work. — Cristian, Jan 19 '13 at 03:57
i have the same issue on ubuntu, able to compile ffmpeg with x264 for local system, unable to cross compile due this libx264 not found but i've the binary set i would love to discover where the is it looking for the lib — Rafael Lima, May 10 '18 at 03:37

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 04 '12 at 07:45

I had the same problem. But after downgrading NDK to version 5c it works as described by halfninja. (ubuntu 64bit). there seem to be some changes in the toolchain from 5 to 7.

timo@serverplusplus:/tmp/android-ffmpeg-x264/Project/jni$ ndk-build 
Compile thumb  : ffmpeg <= ffmpeg.c
Compile thumb  : ffmpeg <= cmdutils.c
Executable     : ffmpeg
Install        : ffmpeg => libs/armeabi/ffmpeg
Compile thumb  : videokit <= uk_co_halfninja_videokit_Videokit.c
Compile thumb  : videokit <= ffmpeg.c
Compile thumb  : videokit <= cmdutils.c
SharedLibrary  : libvideokit.so
Install        : libvideokit.so => libs/armeabi/libvideokit.so

How can i use this to run ffmpeg commands in android? Do i have to go for "add native support" option in eclipse to use these libraries? — Chaitanya Chandurkar, Sep 16 '12 at 06:53

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 19 '12 at 08:38

The ffmpeg source code seems to be updated, and I could compile ffmpeg with x264 for Android NDK as the following.

1 Download the halfninja's android-ffmpeg-x264 git file from https://github.com/halfninja/android-ffmpeg-x264

2 At "halfninja-android-ffmpeg-x264-fe12be0/Project/jni" directory, modify "configure_ffmpeg.sh" to link "libgcc.a" for solving a problem that can not resolve "__aeabi_f2uiz".

./configure $DEBUG_FLAG --enable-cross-compile \
--arch=arm5te \
--enable-armv5te \
--target-os=linux \
--disable-stripping \
--prefix=../output \
--disable-neon \
--enable-version3 \
--disable-shared \
--enable-static \
--enable-gpl \
--enable-memalign-hack \
--cc=arm-linux-androideabi-gcc \
--ld=arm-linux-androideabi-ld \
--extra-cflags="-fPIC -DANDROID -D__thumb__ -mthumb -Wfatal-errors -Wno-deprecated -I../x264 -Ivideokit" \
 $featureflags \
--disable-ffmpeg \
--disable-ffplay \
--disable-ffprobe \
--disable-ffserver \
--disable-network \
--enable-filter=buffer \
--enable-filter=buffersink \
--disable-demuxer=v4l \
--disable-demuxer=v4l2 \
--disable-indev=v4l \
--disable-indev=v4l2 \
--extra-ldflags="-L../x264 -L../toolchain/lib/gcc/arm-linux-androideabi/4.4.3" \
--extra-libs="-lgcc"

3 Modify "Android.mk" to link new library "libswresample.a".

FFMPEG_LIBS := $(addprefix ffmpeg/, \
 libavdevice/libavdevice.a \
 libavformat/libavformat.a \
 libavcodec/libavcodec.a \
 libavfilter/libavfilter.a \
 libswscale/libswscale.a \
 libavutil/libavutil.a \
 libswresample/libswresample.a \
 libpostproc/libpostproc.a )

4 Replace ffmpeg.c and cmdutils.c in videokit directory with ones in ffmpeg directory.

5 Follow a procedure described in README.textile.

How can i use this to run ffmpeg commands in android? Do i have to go for "add native support" option in eclipse to use these libraries? — Chaitanya Chandurkar, Sep 16 '12 at 06:54

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 17 '12 at 23:00

2

I've put together a Android build system for ffmpeg+x264 here: https://github.com/guardianproject/android-ffmpeg

We're working on some wrapper Java too for running it, but that's not really usable yet.

answered Jul 17 '12 at 23:00

Hans-Christoph Steiner

2,572
31
30

too bad that it's only to Debian/Ubuntu, how about mac? – shem Feb 19 '13 at 10:16
Building on Mac OS X and others should be possible, patches welcome :) we just find it vastly easier to run Android native builds on Debian/Ubuntu than any other platform, including other GNU/Linux distros. – Hans-Christoph Steiner Feb 22 '13 at 19:23
Failed to compile it on mac, probably because the lib init you should do before. – shem Feb 24 '13 at 11:42
To use it : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19355423/documentation-on-guardian-project-ffmpeg-android/21553337 – Taiko Feb 04 '14 at 13:10

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 30 '12 at 21:26

These are my working flags:

x264 (a recent stable):

./configure --cross-prefix=arm-linux-androideabi- \
--enable-pic \
--enable-static \
--disable-cli \
--disable-asm \
--host=arm-linux

ffmpeg (release/0.10):

./configure --enable-cross-compile \
--arch=arm5te \
--enable-armv5te \
--target-os=linux \
--disable-stripping \
--prefix=../output \
--disable-neon \
--enable-version3 \
--disable-shared \
--enable-static \
--enable-gpl \
--enable-memalign-hack \
--cc=arm-linux-androideabi-gcc \
--ld=arm-linux-androideabi-gcc \
--extra-cflags="-fPIC -DANDROID -D__thumb__ -mthumb -Wfatal-errors -Wno-deprecated" \
--disable-everything \
--enable-decoder=h264 \
--enable-demuxer=mov \
--enable-muxer=mp4 \
--enable-encoder=libx264 \
--enable-libx264 \
--enable-protocol=file \
--enable-decoder=aac \
--enable-encoder=aac \
--disable-ffmpeg \
--disable-ffplay \
--disable-ffprobe \
--disable-ffserver \
--disable-network \
--enable-filter=buffer \
--enable-filter=buffersink \
--enable-filter=scale \
--disable-demuxer=v4l \
--disable-demuxer=v4l2 \
--disable-indev=v4l \
--disable-indev=v4l2 \
--extra-cflags="-I../x264" \
--extra-ldflags="-L../x264" \
--extra-libs="-lgcc"

Obviously you will have to adjust the paths.

Sunderr · Answer 5 · 2014-01-09T09:59:22.380

I have met the same issue before, and I tried several times to find out the reason:

You must make sure the x264 and the ffmpeg are using same way to compile. like: using Android NDK. Using the same gcc compiler.

So you can not compile ffmpeg with this command:"--cross-prefix=$PREBUILT/darwin-x86_64/bin/arm-linux-androideabi-", but compile the x264 without that. Here is my x264 compile script:

./configure --prefix=$PREFIX \
--enable-static \
--enable-pic \
--disable-asm \
--disable-cli \
--host=arm-linux \
--cross-prefix=$PREBUILT/darwin-x86_64/bin/arm-linux-androideabi- \
--sysroot=$PLATFORM

make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 15 '12 at 12:18

I've discovered the --enable-static option does not have any effect on ffmpeg linking behaviour for libx264. I managed to build a copy of ffmpeg with libx264 included statically by editing the config.mak after I'd run ./configure

Build x264 from source in another directory
Add libx264.a to EXTRALIBS line in config.mak
Remove -lx264 from EXTRALIBS line in config.mak

Before

EXTRALIBS=-ldl -lX11 -lx264 etc.

After

EXTRALIBS=/home/adam/x264sourcebuild/libx264.a -ldl -lX11  etc.

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered May 26 '23 at 07:05

0

FFMPEG with x264 works only with version

implementation 'com.arthenica:mobile-ffmpeg-full-gpl:4.2.2.LTS'

Please check you library version. Thanks

answered May 26 '23 at 07:05

Priyanka Singhal

243
1
4
20

Build FFMPEG with x264 for Android

7 Answers7

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