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Amarok/Manual/Various/TroubleshootingAndCommonProblems: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 22:21, 4 February 2011

Problems installing

Bad packaging

Occasionally, users will encounter bad packaging from the distributions; either from the wrong version of a component being included, or some needful part being left out. For some reason, this often happens with MySQL dependencies. Bug reports in these cases should be made to your distribution, not to bugs.kde.org.

Difficulties building from source

For those who wish to help out by testing the newest Amarok versions, a local build is advised. Use this excellent guide: Compiling Amarok from GIT Locally; a Full Summary. Detailed information about git can be found here: Techbase GIT Tutorial.

If you have built successfully before, and now are encountering errors, try removing CMakeCache.txt and try again. If that still errors out, remove the entire Build folder and build completely fresh.

The URL to pull from git has recently changed. Run

git remote set-url origin git://anongit.kde.org/amarok

if you still using the old URL. Please ping us if you find the old link in our documents so we can update it everywhere.

Problems starting up

Playlist errors

The current playlist can occasionally get corrupt, which will prevent Amarok from starting. This can be fixed by simply removing the current playlist file in the Amarok directory, $HOME/.kde/share/apps/amarok/current.xspf . Note that on some systems, this may be .kde4 rather than .kde.

Database issues

If the database is corrupt and this is preventing Amarok from starting, you can move the database to a backup location (or simply delete it). This will cause Amarok to rebuild the database from scratch. Move the $HOME/.kde/share/apps/amarok/mysqle folder to a backup location (such as $HOME/.kde/share/apps/amarok/mysqle~) and restart Amarok.

Other issues and backing up settings

If the above two items do not help, or you otherwise need to restore Amarok to a clean configuration, you can move to a backup location (or delete) the Amarok directory at $HOME/.kde/share/apps/amarok and the Amarok config files at $HOME/.kde/share/config/amarok* (there may be two or three files matching this pattern). Again, the directory may be .kde4 rather than .kde.

Problems Scanning, Sorting files

Amarok scans your music files on first startup, and will keep your collection up-to-date automatically, if you chose Settings -> Configure Amarok -> Collection -> Watch folders for changes.

If you don't want Amarok scanning for changes, uncheck that, and use Tools -> Update Collection whenever you make changes to your collection.

More about Amarok collection scanning here.

Corrupt tags

Some folks notice that Amarok seems to be missing some files. One of the causes can be corrupt tags, which you can check using the tagging application kid3. More about tagging here.

To find the bad file(s), run amarokcollectionscanner from the console. Details here.

Inability to write tags

If Amarok is not saving changes to tags, you may have permissions problems. Ensure that your user has write permissions to your music. For example,

chown -R youruser Music/

to change ownership to your user, or

chmod -R +w Music/

to add write permissions to the owner.

Incorrect Sorting (Various Artists)

Sometimes people report that tracks are in Various Artists when they should not be, or are sorted into "Unknown Album." What separates Various Artists albums and tracks and albums sorted under their artists is the Album Artist tag. When you click Show under Various Artists in the context (right-click) menu, that tag will be emptied if it is filled. The opposite happens to a file in Various Artists when you choose Do not show under Various Artists, but the Album Artist tag will be auto-filled from the Artist tag.

If there is no Album tag, and no Album Artist tag, Amarok will put the track into Unknown Album in Various Artists. If you want them sorted otherwise, tag them the way you want them sorted. If you don't know some of the information, try out the new MusicBrainz function in the tag editor, or use a tagging application.

Problems playing files

Amarok skips over tracks, or appears to play them without sound

If the files you are attempting to play are in MP3 format, please see instructions for enabling MP3 support on your distro, here. Note that one piece of software being able to play MP3s on your system does not necessarily mean Amarok has had the required codecs installed.

No sound, or bad sound

For more general sound issues, first check what Phonon backend you are using in Settings -> Configure Amarok -> Playback -> Configure Phonon -> Backend. Consider switching to a different backend; VLC, GStreamer and Xine backends should be available from your distro. VLC is usually recommended. Also check whether the standalone software can play the files correctly; if not this is an issue with that software and you may find information in that software's help files.

Crashes and bugs

How to run Amarok from the command line:
```
amarok -d --nofork
```
Amarok crashes, but Dr. Konqi doesn't pop up -- run in gdb with the following command:
```
gdb --args amarok --debug --nofork
```
In gdb's console, type run to start Amarok, reproduce the crash, and then in gdb type thread apply all bt to generate the backtrace.
Filing bugs: If triggered, Dr. Konqi will provide an option to report a bug and do most of the work for you. If not, you will need to submit the bug manually at bugs.kde.org. For crash bugs, paste the backtrace from gdb as a comment.
How to get personal support with problems: IRC (#amarok on Freenode IRC), Forum, Mailing list

Retrieved from "https://userbase.kde.org/index.php?title=Amarok/Manual/Various/TroubleshootingAndCommonProblems&oldid=141515"

Category:

Amarok

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Category:Amarok]]
-{{Construction}}
 == Problems installing ==
@@ Line 10: / Line 9: @@
 === Difficulties building from source ===
-For those who wish to help out by testing the newest Amarok versions, a local build is advised. Use this excellent guide: [http://blogs.fsfe.org/myriam/2009/09/compiling-amarok-from-git-locally-full-summary/ Compiling Amarok from GIT Locally; a Full Summary]. Detailed information about git can be found here: [http://techbase.kde.org/Getting_Started/Sources/KDE_git-tutorial Techbase GIT Tutorial].
+For those who wish to help out by testing the newest '''Amarok''' versions, a local build is advised. Use this excellent guide: [http://blogs.fsfe.org/myriam/2009/09/compiling-amarok-from-git-locally-full-summary/ Compiling '''Amarok''' from GIT Locally; a Full Summary]. Detailed information about git can be found here: [http://techbase.kde.org/Getting_Started/Sources/KDE_git-tutorial Techbase GIT Tutorial].
 <br /><br />
 If you have built successfully before, and now are encountering errors, try removing ''CMakeCache.txt'' and try again. If that still errors out, remove the entire Build folder and build completely fresh.
+<br /><br />
+The URL to pull from git has recently changed. Run {{Input|git remote set-url origin git://anongit.kde.org/amarok}} if you still using the old URL. Please ping us if you find the old link in our documents so we can update it everywhere.
 == Problems starting up ==
@@ Line 18: / Line 19: @@
 === Playlist errors ===
-The current playlist can occasionally get corrupt, which will prevent Amarok from starting. This can be fixed by simply removing the current playlist file in the Amarok directory, $HOME/.kde/share/apps/amarok/current.xspf (note that on some systems, this may be under .kde4 rather than .kde).
+The current playlist can occasionally get corrupt, which will prevent '''Amarok''' from starting. This can be fixed by simply removing the current playlist file in the '''Amarok''' directory, $HOME/.kde/share/apps/amarok/current.xspf . Note that on some systems, this may be .kde4 rather than .kde.
 === Database issues ===
-If the database is corrupt and this is preventing Amarok from starting, you can move the database to a backup location (or simply delete it). This will cause Amarok to rebuild the database from scratch. Move the $HOME/.kde/share/apps/amarok/mysqle folder to a backup location (such as $HOME/.kde/share/apps/amarok/mysqle~) and restart Amarok.
+If the database is corrupt and this is preventing '''Amarok''' from starting, you can move the database to a backup location (or simply delete it). This will cause '''Amarok''' to rebuild the database from scratch. Move the $HOME/.kde/share/apps/amarok/mysqle folder to a backup location (such as $HOME/.kde/share/apps/amarok/mysqle~) and restart '''Amarok'''.
 === Other issues and backing up settings ===
-If the above two items do not help, or you otherwise need to restore Amarok to a clean configuration, you can move to a backup location (or delete) the Amarok directory at $HOME/.kde/share/apps/amarok and the Amarok config files at $HOME/.kde/share/config/amarok* (there may be two or three files matching this pattern). Again, the directory may be .kde4 rather than .kde.
+If the above two items do not help, or you otherwise need to restore '''Amarok''' to a clean configuration, you can move to a backup location (or delete) the '''Amarok''' directory at $HOME/.kde/share/apps/amarok and the '''Amarok''' config files at $HOME/.kde/share/config/amarok* (there may be two or three files matching this pattern). Again, the directory may be .kde4 rather than .kde.
 == Problems Scanning, Sorting files ==
@@ Line 38: / Line 39: @@
 === Corrupt tags ===
-Some folks notice that Amarok seems to be missing some files. One of the causes can be corrupt tags, which you can check using the tagging application [http://kid3.sourceforge.net/ kid3]. More about tagging [[Special:myLanguage/Amarok/Manual/AdvancedFeatures/TagEditor |here]].
+Some folks notice that '''Amarok''' seems to be missing some files. One of the causes can be corrupt tags, which you can check using the tagging application [http://kid3.sourceforge.net/ kid3]. More about tagging [[Special:myLanguage/Amarok/Manual/AdvancedFeatures/TagEditor |here]].
 <br /><br />
 To find the bad file(s), run ''amarokcollectionscanner'' from the console. Details [http://amarok.kde.org/wiki/Batch_Mode here].
@@ Line 44: / Line 45: @@
 === Inability to write tags ===
-If Amarok is not saving changes to tags, you may have permissions problems. Ensure that your user has write permissions to your music. For example, {{Input|chown -R youruser Music/}} to change ownership to your user, or {{Input|chmod -R +w Music/}} to add write permissions to the owner.
+If '''Amarok''' is not saving changes to tags, you may have permissions problems. Ensure that your user has write permissions to your music. For example, {{Input|chown -R youruser Music/}} to change ownership to your user, or {{Input|chmod -R +w Music/}} to add write permissions to the owner.
 === Incorrect Sorting (Various Artists) ===
@@ Line 52: / Line 53: @@
 If there is no Album tag, and no Album Artist tag, '''Amarok''' will put the track into Unknown Album in Various Artists. If you want them sorted otherwise, tag them the way you want them sorted. If you don't know some of the information, try out the new ''MusicBrainz'' function in the tag editor, or use a tagging application.
-==Problems playing files==
+== Problems playing files ==
-===Amarok skips over tracks, or appears to play them without sound===
+=== Amarok skips over tracks, or appears to play them without sound ===
-If the files you are attempting to play are in MP3 format, please see instructions for enabling MP3 support on your distro, linked [[Special:myLanguage/Amarok/Manual/FAQ#What_media_types_does_Amarok_support.3F |here]]. Note that one piece of software being able to play MP3s on your system does not necessarily mean Amarok has had the required codecs installed.
+If the files you are attempting to play are in MP3 format, please see instructions for enabling MP3 support on your distro, [[Special:myLanguage/Amarok/Manual/FAQ#What_media_types_does_Amarok_support.3F|here]]. Note that one piece of software being able to play MP3s on your system does not necessarily mean '''Amarok''' has had the required codecs installed.
-===No sound, or bad sound===
+=== No sound, or bad sound ===
-For more general sound issues, first check what Phonon backend you are using in <menuchoice>Settings > Configure Amarok > Playback > Configure Phonon > Backend</menuchoice>. Consider switching to a different backend - VLC, GStreamer and Xine backends should be available from your distro. VLC is usually recommended. Also check whether the standalone software can play the files correctly; if not this is an issue with that software and you may find information in that software's help files.
+For more general sound issues, first check what Phonon backend you are using in <menuchoice>Settings -> Configure Amarok -> Playback -> Configure Phonon -> Backend</menuchoice>. Consider switching to a different backend; VLC, GStreamer and Xine backends should be available from your distro. VLC is usually recommended. Also check whether the standalone software can play the files correctly; if not this is an issue with that software and you may find information in that software's help files.
 == Crashes and bugs ==
 * How to run '''Amarok''' from the command line: {{Input|amarok -d --nofork}}
-* '''Amarok''' crashes, but '''Dr. Konqi''' doesn't pop up -- run in '''gdb''' with the following command: {{Input|gdb --args amarok --debug --nofork}} In gdb's console, type ''run'' to start Amarok, reproduce the crash, and then in gdb type ''thread apply all bt'' to generate the backtrace.
+* '''Amarok''' crashes, but '''Dr. Konqi''' doesn't pop up -- run in '''gdb''' with the following command: {{Input|gdb --args amarok --debug --nofork}} In gdb's console, type ''run'' to start '''Amarok''', reproduce the crash, and then in gdb type ''thread apply all bt'' to generate the backtrace.
 * Filing bugs: If triggered, Dr. Konqi will provide an option to report a bug and do most of the work for you. If not, you will need to submit the bug manually at [http://bugs.kde.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=amarok  bugs.kde.org]. For crash bugs, paste the backtrace from gdb as a comment.
 * How to get personal support with problems: [irc://irc.freenode.net/#amarok IRC] (#amarok on Freenode IRC), [http://forum.kde.org/viewforum.php?f=127 Forum], [https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/amarok Mailing list]