Amorak appears to be functioning alright as I can add songs to the playlist and also hear sound when I test the playback device in the Amorak configuration. Hhowever I never get any indication that the song is playing when I hit the playbutton. No sound nor any indication on the track timer.

Below is the information that I get when I use the diagnostic button in help.

Amarok Diagnostics

Amarok Version: 2.6.0
KDE Version: 4.8.5 (4.8.5)
Qt Version: 4.8.2
Phonon Version: 4.6.0
Phonon Backend: GStreamer (4.6.2)
PulseAudio: No

Amarok Scripts:
Amarok Script Console 1.0 (stopped)
Lyricwiki .2 (running)
Free Music Charts 1.6.0 (stopped)
Librivox.org 1.0 (stopped)
Cool Streams 1.0 (stopped)

Amarok Plugins:
AudioCd Collection (enabled)
DAAP Collection (disabled)
MTP Collection (disabled)
MySQLServer Collection (enabled)
MySQLe Collection (enabled)
UPnP Collection (disabled)
Universal Mass Storage Collection (disabled)
iPod, iPad & iPhone Collection (disabled)
Ampache (disabled)
Jamendo (disabled)
Last.fm (disabled)
MP3 Music Store (disabled)
MP3tunes (disabled)
Magnatune Store (disabled)
Podcast Directory (disabled)
Local Files & USB Mass Storage Backend (enabled)
NFS Share Backend (enabled)
SMB (Windows) Share Backend (enabled)


Would appreciate any assistance in getting the music to play.

Thanks

Please make sure you have the necessary codecs installed for the type of tracks you are trying to play. Also Amarok 2.6.0 is completely outdated, you should have at least 2.7.0, better even 2.7.1

And please, always specify the distribution you are using, your KDE version is also rather outdated, current is 4.10.5 and 4.11 is around the corner.

How do I tell which Codecs are linked to Amorak? I don't see a Codec list like there is in KPlayer.

I am running Slackware 14.0

No idea why you are talking about KPlayer, which has no relation whatsoever with Amarok. You are using the phonon-backend-gstreamer, so you need the gstreamer plugins that contain the codecs for the file types you try to play. For mp3 look in the bad or ugly packages.

Normally, if Amarok were packaged correctly, you should get a pop-up asking you to install the missing codecs. You should maybe file a bug to the slackware people.

what type of file are you playing? could be you are missing a gstreamer package as suggested by Mamarok

have you tried the vlc phonon backend?

I am playing both MP3 and M4A files. I installed every plugin for GStreamer that I could find and Amorak is working now.

As far as why I mentioned KPlayer, it was due to the fact that in KPlayer when you configure the playback you get a pull down that lists all of the available Codecs. I don't see anything like that in Amorak or the Phonon backend. Also none of the documentation that I could find online for Amorak, Phonon or GStreamer tells you how to determine which codecs or plugins are installed.

Thanks for the help.

As I said, this is to the distribution to configure. Proprietary codecs are never shipped by default but in some very few distributions, but they should give options to the users to install them as an option. This is not done by Amarok, nor by Phonon, but is a configuration that needs to be done by the distribution.

Mamarok,
This is Newbiewon and I am new to Linux although I have been playing with it for several years. Can you direct me to a "codecs" turorial that I might use to understand how they work, and just as important how I install for Mint 15 KDE. I have recently swicthed to KDE and feel like I am starting all over again. I love it so far by the way. Much richer than gnome or cinnamin. Thanks, Newbiewon.

newbiewon - installing codecs because some are restricted are usually distro specific

see:
http://linuxmint.info/linux-mint-codecs ... ed-extras/
http://www.muktware.com/1251/install-pr ... ux-mint-11