I'm running knoppix 4.02 dvd. I downloaded the mplayer/mencoder source package from the mplayer web site and compiled same. I don't remember what options that I gave but I ended up with both mplayer and mencoder. The instructions were pretty clear and the compilation went without a hitch. I dumped the results to a cd and wrote a script to reinstall from that cd so that I don't have to go through the lengthy compile process after every knoppix reboot.