Syncing Music Players In Linux? 278
Daengbo writes "I recently sold my old laptop to a friend, and she asked me to keep Ubuntu on it rather than installing Windows for her. To help her with the transition, I wrote two intro lessons for her, but we've hit a stumbling block. The iRivier Clix (4GB) she's been using syncs with Windows Media Player. My research shows that the model has both an MTP for the sync and a UMS mode which acts as a mass storage device. Rhythmbox's 'Scan Removable Media' doesn't pick up anything from the USB mass storage device, and although Syncropated claims to support these types of devices, it doesn't find any supported devices. Unless you use an iPod, this appears to be a real weak point in the Linux desktop. Do you sync your mass storage devices and music players? What do you use?"
What do you use? (Score:5, Informative)
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Restart X instead of the whole OS... If it's a WM app like Amarok consuming obscene amounts of RAM, that new and improved three finger salute is the key
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I don't know what any of you guys are talking about. My instance of Amarok has been running for days now, and processor usage rarely reaches 10%. The only time I ever had CPU issues with it was when I was running badly written extension scripts. Memory usage is around 100MB, which is not totally unexpected considering its complexity, and the fact that I'm playing FLAC files.
So either you're running it under adverse conditions (read: Gnome desktop) or something is wrong with your installation.
Re:What do you use? (Score:4, Interesting)
What's happening with his player is that it is either - 1, not recognized by the OS as a UMS (doesn't sound like this...he's able to put files on it and mount it, etc), or 2, the application doesn't recognize the device. If the latter, then what he needs to do is get the USB Vendor ID and Product ID of the player, and send it to the devs so that they can add support for it. If he doesn't mind recompiling from source, he can probably locate the file where the USB identifiers are kept, add them locally, and recompile.
That said, there are a bunch of devices out there that misrepresent themselves as UMS, but in reality are not. I had a camera like this. It took SmartMedia flash, and had a USB cable that was suppose to allow me to plug the camera in and use it as a card reader. Linux, FreeBSD, and MacOSX immediately attempted to load the UMS driver, as the device claimed this, but then failed miserably. The camera came with a driver disk for Windows, which should have tipped me off right away what was happening. Essentially whomever wrote the firmware for the camera had it identify with that class, even though it wasn't true. It triggers the OS to load the wrong driver, and somehow they worked around that for the Windows driver. If he has that going on, he's pretty much SOL. If he can mount the player and copy files, it's just a matter of getting those two ID's into the hands of the developers, and temporarily modifying his own build until the next version comes out.
This is why Open Source stuff is cool. Your device isn't supported, but is standards compliant? Add it to the sources and recompile.
reality distortion field (Score:3, Insightful)
Amarok positively blows on my 1.0GHz PIII (Ubuntu).
and you think "Microsoft Office is lighting fast on just about any hardware, and that has been true for every release cycle the site has had so far after Office 95." [slashdot.org] That's rich.
You must be bored with your Slashdot troll job and want to be fired to write such transparently false nonsense.
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With the possible exception of Outlook, I've never seen an Office app take more than 2-3 seconds to load.
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That's why we sell our linux laptops with Kubuntu. The Gnome defaults just don't measure up.
---
http://www.linuxlaptops.eu/ [linuxlaptops.eu] Guaranteed Linux comapatbility
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Exaile! doesn't yet sync up to portable devices like AmaroK does...
Re:What do you use? (Score:4, Interesting)
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Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
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but, I don't know if it has a sync plugin.
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Actually, mr anonymous, you are wrong. Amarok is clearly not going for your average section of the user base.
It has the usual open source "more features is better than a smaller but useful and coherent set of rock solid ones"
It's a very elegant program with many features, and is not meant to just be iTunes. If you think iTunes is all anyone needs your are as blinded as any of the
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"And if you feel like firing back with the usual Linux fanboy 'I think Amarok is better...' BS don't bother. You are wrong."
No, You're wrong! So there!
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What can I say? (Score:2)
I think most mac apps look like chit. Can't stand quicktime or iTunes.
Wheras I fell in love with Amarok the first time I ran it. The only reason my wife ever goes back to windows is to play games. Amarok has her hooked on Linux.
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My c250 was less than optimal.
Read this review:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home? O=NavBar&A=getItemDetail&Q=&sku=459166&is=REG&si=r ev#anchorToReadReviews
Please -- Mount Man (Score:3, Insightful)
That joke never gets old...
Seriously though -- in UMS mode you should be able to mount it as a drive. You'll abviously have to make a script for her, but that's easy enough.
I love that I know how hot this girl is based on the detail in your help pages for her....
Re:Please -- Mount Man (Score:4, Informative)
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The Gmini 440 even supports WMA-DRM apparently so it appears they can share the same space with user files.
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I really liked their way of doing it, just use a folder tree, simple, easy.
-nB
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I also have a Samsung. It's a Samsung Yepp (YP-U2J I think-- I know the 'U' is in there and think 'U' stands for US). I got it because that was the only one I could find locally that can do Ogg Vorbis. And that only after flashing the player with a European ROM. (Details on how to flash the Yepp are here [xiph.org].) The flash was also necessary to get it to behave like a USB memory stick. Without that ROM update, I could not move files (Ogg Vorbis or MP3 or whatever) on and off it just like it was a plain old f
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The Sansa players I've tried out are able (more or less) to update their internal database.
Connect the device to the computer, it is mounted automatically and Nautilus pops up a file browser window.
Drag your directories containing your MP3 files over to the window representing the device's Music or Audio (or whatever it's called) directory.
Unmount the device and unplug it; the device displays some message like "rebuilding database" and if you're lucky everything works.
Beef
Re:Please -- Mount Man (Score:5, Funny)
It's obvious that this girl is interested -- otherwise, why else would she switch to Ubuntu?
Advice to the geek who posted this: This is not about the OS or her mp3 player or whatever. This is about her wanting to get with you. That's why she kept Ubuntu, because she wants to show you she's open to the things you like. She could give a rat's ass what OS she uses otherwise.
Go get some.
Re:Please -- Mount Man (Score:5, Funny)
Slashdot: Relationship advice from my mother's basement, next caller please.
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Listen to Wiggles. Go get some.
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It's obvious that this girl is interested -- otherwise, why else would she switch to Ubuntu?...Go get some.
Maybe one of us should write a nice graphical lesson for him on blogspot.
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Jesus, you people are ridiculous.
Lesson: If someone is interested, they will do overt, flirty things, unless they're a shy and insecure mess, which you want nothing to do with even if you're one too. Ordering the same type of soft drink is not a declaration of love.
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Could it be that some girls actually prefer linux for the same reasons we guys do?
I've never switched operating systems to bag a girl.
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Is this an admission that linux is so bad that someone must have an ulterior motive to want to use it?
I never liked the iRiver (Score:5, Informative)
libmtp should work, in the normal "well, it's supposed to work" sense, (as listed at http://libmtp.sourceforge.net/index.php?page=comp
My iRiver required some incantation when turning on the device to put it into mass storage mode, I would assume this is still the case. I think you had to hold stop while turning it on, but it's been so long and it was so immediately frustrating that I've purged that experience from my brain. It could have been anything.
Since this is an Ask article... I use an iAudio X5 (http://www.cowonglobal.com/product/product_X5_fe
For actually syncing, I'm a junkie for simplicity: I use rsync and a directory full of symlinks to the music I want.
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It's the Linux (tm) way (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously though.
AmaroK. (Score:5, Informative)
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I haven't tried it but ... (Score:5, Informative)
From that project: Personally, (most) MP3 players I've hooked up to Linux through a USB have been recognized as just plain old drives. You put the MP3 in the right folder (sometimes takes testing) and there it is, ready to play.
For mass storage devices (Score:2)
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#
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Well that explains it. If you're only listening to viola music, it's not going to take very long. There's just not much music in the viola repertoire. ;-)
WTF is MTP? Clarity... (Score:2, Informative)
Use rsync.
I had the same thought going into this. I have an iRiver H320 that works like a mass storage device and the simplicity of that makes this whole thread dumbfounding. A quick search brought up this informative article Liberate Portable Music Players: UMS, MTP, and Platform-Agnostic Drag-and-Drop Music Listening [createdigitalmusic.com]
Syncropated! problems (Score:2)
BTW--Personally, I just use Nautilus to sync up my Creative Labs Zen Nano player.
iRiver H320 (Score:2)
Try looking on... (Score:5, Informative)
Some people in the Sandisk Sansa E200 Linux forum have run MTP Mode on Linux...
Z.
Using the irivier Clix on Linux (Score:4, Informative)
mount, rsync? (Score:2)
For a while I synced podcasts with rsync in a small script which I linked from a KDE menu:
SOURCE=/path/to/podcasts/
DEST=/path/to/player/podcasts/
rsync -av $SOURCE $TARGET
The same could easily be done for a di
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Dodgy cable? (Score:2)
My GF was trying to get use her X5 under Ubuntu unsuccessfully. I took out a short USB extension cable which she used to access a spare USB port on the back of the machine - suddenly it worked fine.
Make sure you are using only the cable that came with the device.
Sansa (Score:2)
So the Sansa works pretty well, but there's one annoying problem. I use Amarok to get podcasts and to transfer them to the Sans
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*Where it mounts depends on your desktop. In GNOME, it's
can't blame you for trying (Score:5, Funny)
Cassandra said...
this is awesome Dan thanks!! you OBVIOUSLY have way too much time on your hands...lol but i'm glad to benefit from it!
In other words, DENIED! Sorry, man, we've all been there.
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Yep, it's good that you have time on your hands, cuz you are gonna both need that time and your hands, most importantly.
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My thoughts exactly.
As a woman, the initial feeling I got from the story is that this guy somehow persuaded this girl (who's level of friendship is probably not reciprocal) to use Ubuntu instead of Windows. That gives him an opportunity to continue the (somewhat desperate) interaction past the point of sale. A hint to geeks out there: Girls get scared when you start going out of your way to be "friendly" or "nice". Guys think the girl will be swept of
What I use (Score:2)
Palm Tungsten T and SD Card (Score:2)
And since the music is stored as regular ol'
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I use a USB SD card reader/writer.
I wrote an article about this on my site, complete with some shell scripts I use to determine playlist size and copy the playlist files to the SD card. I use XMMS as my music player and playlist manager. http://ithacafreesoftware.org/forum/viewtopic.php? t=227 [ithacafreesoftware.org]
iRiver Howto (Score:3, Informative)
Enjoy,
My solution (Score:5, Insightful)
1) Appear as a generic storage device when plugged into USB and doesn't require drivers or other software to be installed on your PC.
( this gets around any Windows-only and most DRM limitations, and also means I can use it as portable storage for other files).
2) Supports ogg ( and FLAC if possible )
3) Doesn't contain DRM
Sansa m200 series with Rockbox (Score:2, Informative)
As expected, it's mounted as a storage drive when plugged into the USB port. I'm not so anal that I have to sync stuff (I have too much music and am rarely home these days), so I just drag and drop whatever
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Sure the IRiver may need to be flashed to get the right storage type. Almost all of them support Ogg/Vorbis except for a few models introduced before the judge smacked MS down over their plays for sure forbidding support of non-MS supported file types.
With the exception of their cowering in the corner when MS said do it this way, I respect IRiver products for that reason. Only the Neuros ranks higher in feel good penguin points.
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Ditto that.
I view ogg support as a clue that the designers of the device have given some thought to what the device should be capable of, and arnt just ticking the boxes that marketing want ticked.
Other clues are:
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Need a HAL Update (Score:2)
Open a bug in Launchpad (http://launchpad.net). Place the name of the device and output from lsusb and lshw when the device is plugged in.
Most likely the device did not declare itself as a DAP (Digital Audio Player) in HAL. It's a simple configuration file change if you want to make it yourself as well.
I had to get a similar change in for my Samsung DAP.
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One symptom of my problem: with the player plugged in, a simple "cat
Try rmmod ehci_hcd as root and then see if the player is detected correctly.
Good Luck!
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doing it myself (Score:2)
5G iPod Stinks, Too (Score:2, Interesting)
Amarok again (Score:5, Interesting)
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Settings -> Configure Amarok -> Collection -> [ ] Watch folders for changes.
With that cleared it shouldn't try to rescan each time - if you do add/delete/change some songs, you can hit Tools -> Rescan Collection (which does take a while).
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I switched from the SQListe db to mysql, and that helped with the playlist/library load times, but not the other issues. Instead of adding new featuresI don't use any from scripts),
It seems to me.... (Score:2)
old tech does better (Score:2)
Sansa e130 - Shortcomings (Score:2)
But, I do miss some features that both iTunes and WMP have... Such as the option to downsample the music as it syncs with the device, and the iTunes' "AutoFill" feature that just fills the iPod with a random selection from your highest rated songs.
Also, I'd like to be able to create playlists with a size limit... so I know it will always fit insid
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audio_folders=MUSIC/,RECORDINGS/
folder_depth=2
output_formats=audio/x-ms-wma,audio/mpeg
Just put those three lines in the file, save it to the root of your player. When you pull it up in Banshee (and probably Amarok), it will
Automount, libmtp (Score:2)
You are positively batshit insane. (Score:4, Insightful)
How about this: if iRiver doesn't work in Linux, complain to iRiver.
With Linux, you could also fix the problem yourself. You could also pay someone to fix the problem. If the iRiver is popular enough, you could also wait and someone else will fix it for you.
With Windows, you don't have those options, so I consider that a weak point in the Windows desktop.
Yet again (Score:2)
OS politics... (Score:2)
iRiver doesn't work very well on a Macintosh either, so I bet you consider it a weak point in the Macintosh desktop as well.
How about this: if iRiver doesn't work in Linux, complain to iRiver.
The difference is that none of these manufacturers of music players are seeking to support Linux as they do other OSes - we as a community have taken on that yoke ourselves for now - and so, as a result, if a particular player doesn't play well with Linux, it is a failure of those who have been trying to improve support for the players on Linux. It's fine to say that companies should provide Linux support for their hardware - but generally that just doesn't happen. If you want to use Linux you need to ac
Copying files around is not really "syncing" (Score:2)
However, I'd not call this syncing. Usually, I have a growing collection of music or podcasts on my harddisk and I want to e.g. copy the new ones to the mp3 player and remove the ones I have already listened to on my player or even in my collection.
Tracking what I have already listened to and using this information for archiving, deleting, copying etc. of tracks seems like the obvious and natural thing to do, but I havent fi
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audio_folders=MUSIC/,RECORDINGS/
folder_depth=2
output_formats=audio/x-ms-wma,audio/mpeg
Save as
Creative (Score:2)
rsync (Score:2)
K750 (Score:2)
How do I sync not just the K750's music/image/video folders (which appear as USB drives), but also its calendar, contacts and email with desktop Evolution?
I have a u10 (Score:2)
I bought mine originally because it was one of the few players that can p
try Banshee (Score:2)
I've got a similar model (Score:2)
Several of the devices in the Clix line, including the U10 (which I have), can be upgraded to use alternate firmware - to use it as a mass storage device. (But to rebuild the playlists, you'll need EasyPMP [slashdot.org].)
Barring that, I have to confess I did run into trouble syncing using MTP through amaroK. It worked, but it was horribly unreliable. The whole setup reeks.
Yeah (Score:2)
I have Ubuntu installed on a few machines around here, and have tried various software packages with various music players, and I can honestly say that while I love linux, stuff like this doesn't work as well as it could if the hardware companies started supporting their devices in Linux.
Although Linux is getting there in terms of usability as a corporate or power-user's desktop, it's still a little out of reach of the common man.
I'm sure in a couple more years, it'll be there.
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They can play MP3, and with the manufacturers firmware updates, many can play ogg or flag (I forget which, or if both are possible).
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I dunno about you, but I don't like WiMPy Wine. Just doesn't have that kick.