mencoder tests fail

[tacaswell]

With the following message:

...E..E.
======================================================================
ERROR: matplotlib.tests.test_animation.test_save_animation_smoketest('mencoder', u'mp4')
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/nose/case.py", line 197, in runTest
    self.test(*self.arg)
  File "/home/tcaswell/local_installs/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib-1.4.x-py2.7-linux-x86_64.egg/matplotlib/tests/test_animation.py", line 53, in check_save_animation
    anim.save(F.name, fps=30, writer=writer)
  File "/home/tcaswell/local_installs/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib-1.4.x-py2.7-linux-x86_64.egg/matplotlib/animation.py", line 719, in save
    with writer.saving(self._fig, filename, dpi):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/contextlib.py", line 17, in __enter__
    return self.gen.next()
  File "/home/tcaswell/local_installs/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib-1.4.x-py2.7-linux-x86_64.egg/matplotlib/animation.py", line 175, in saving
    self.setup(*args)
  File "/home/tcaswell/local_installs/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib-1.4.x-py2.7-linux-x86_64.egg/matplotlib/animation.py", line 165, in setup
    self._run()
  File "/home/tcaswell/local_installs/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib-1.4.x-py2.7-linux-x86_64.egg/matplotlib/animation.py", line 192, in _run
    stdin=subprocess.PIPE)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/subprocess.py", line 709, in __init__
    errread, errwrite)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/subprocess.py", line 1326, in _execute_child
    raise child_exception
OSError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory

======================================================================
ERROR: matplotlib.tests.test_animation.test_save_animation_smoketest('mencoder_file', u'mp4')
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/nose/case.py", line 197, in runTest
    self.test(*self.arg)
  File "/home/tcaswell/local_installs/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib-1.4.x-py2.7-linux-x86_64.egg/matplotlib/tests/test_animation.py", line 53, in check_save_animation
    anim.save(F.name, fps=30, writer=writer)
  File "/home/tcaswell/local_installs/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib-1.4.x-py2.7-linux-x86_64.egg/matplotlib/animation.py", line 725, in save
    writer.grab_frame(**savefig_kwargs)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/contextlib.py", line 24, in __exit__
    self.gen.next()
  File "/home/tcaswell/local_installs/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib-1.4.x-py2.7-linux-x86_64.egg/matplotlib/animation.py", line 177, in saving
    self.finish()
  File "/home/tcaswell/local_installs/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib-1.4.x-py2.7-linux-x86_64.egg/matplotlib/animation.py", line 332, in finish
    self._run()
  File "/home/tcaswell/local_installs/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib-1.4.x-py2.7-linux-x86_64.egg/matplotlib/animation.py", line 192, in _run
    stdin=subprocess.PIPE)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/subprocess.py", line 709, in __init__
    errread, errwrite)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/subprocess.py", line 1326, in _execute_child
    raise child_exception
OSError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 8 tests in 6.116s

FAILED (errors=2)

[WeatherGod]

Could this simply just be that mencoder wasn't installed? There should be logic already, though, to detect this and choose ffmpeg instead, I think.

[tacaswell]

It could be that, but then there is something wrong with the logic that registers the writers.

[dopplershift]

I think I've fixed this in #4005.