Kubuntu 9.10, Amarok 2.2.0

Believe it or not, I just got my first digital audio player, a Clip+. I want to use Amarok to manage things. I have questions, but haven't found a central location for answers (a manual) nor has poking around google helped much.

My Clip+ is set to MSC (not auto) mode.

1. I haven't been able to transfer my music to the Clip+ from within Amarok. I would get one of two errors, one being that the device is full. The other I can't remember, and can't reproduce right now (see below). I right click on the song, select Copy to Collection... and choose the Clip+, which at the time showed up in the context menu, (but doesn't anymore, see below). Any idea what that error is about? No problem moving files by drag-and-drop. They move, the Clip+ plays them.

2. I can't see the Clip+ in Amarok anymore. I could yesterday, but I saw this little icon in the browser entry for the Clip+ that looked like an up-triangle. I wonder what this does? Click. Clip+ is gone. Shut down Amarok, unmount and remove Clip+, replace Clip+, restart Amarok: still gone. How do I get it back?

[Edit: It's back. I had to actually click on the "SANSA CLIPP" entry in Dolphin first. I guess it doesn't get mounted automatically ... needs to be clicked-on or otherwise mounted first. I think.]

3. Is it possible to keep the music on my Clip+ sync'd with the music on my PC "automatically" from within Amarok in MSC mode (or MTP mode)? I see hints that it is possible, but no instructions.

4. Would upgrading to 2.2.2 beta help? I started to do that using the PPA suggested in the Amarok web site, but it looks like it was going to upgrade *lots and lots* of applications. I don't want betas of every app on my system, just Amarok. Can I upgrade just Amarok this way? Can/should I build from source? Is it worth the effort anyway? Advice?

TIA,
-garyp

Hi Gary,

Some of our developers use the Sansa Clip, but they are on holiday for a few days. Have a bit of patience and your problems will be ironed out.

The Clip works well with Amarok.

garyp wrote:Kubuntu 9.10, Amarok 2.2.0

Believe it or not, I just got my first digital audio player, a Clip+. I want to use Amarok to manage things. I have questions, but haven't found a central location for answers (a manual) nor has poking around google helped much.

My Clip+ is set to MSC (not auto) mode.

1. I haven't been able to transfer my music to the Clip+ from within Amarok. I would get one of two errors, one being that the device is full. The other I can't remember, and can't reproduce right now (see below). I right click on the song, select Copy to Collection... and choose the Clip+, which at the time showed up in the context menu, (but doesn't anymore, see below). Any idea what that error is about? No problem moving files by drag-and-drop. They move, the Clip+ plays them.

2. I can't see the Clip+ in Amarok anymore. I could yesterday, but I saw this little icon in the browser entry for the Clip+ that looked like an up-triangle. I wonder what this does? Click. Clip+ is gone. Shut down Amarok, unmount and remove Clip+, replace Clip+, restart Amarok: still gone. How do I get it back?

[Edit: It's back. I had to actually click on the "SANSA CLIPP" entry in Dolphin first. I guess it doesn't get mounted automatically ... needs to be clicked-on or otherwise mounted first. I think.]

3. Is it possible to keep the music on my Clip+ sync'd with the music on my PC "automatically" from within Amarok in MSC mode (or MTP mode)? I see hints that it is possible, but no instructions.

4. Would upgrading to 2.2.2 beta help? I started to do that using the PPA suggested in the Amarok web site, but it looks like it was going to upgrade *lots and lots* of applications. I don't want betas of every app on my system, just Amarok. Can I upgrade just Amarok this way? Can/should I build from source? Is it worth the effort anyway? Advice?

Hi, I'm one of those developers who was on vacation over the holidays. Anyway, I have a Sansa Clip (not Clip+) too, so maybe I can help a bit.

Here are some tips:

*
Use the MTP mode, not MSC. MTP works much better with Amarok.

*
Try to get a newer libMTP. Debian based distros still come with version 0.3.7, which is ancient. For (K)ubuntu Karmic we now have a PPA with version 1.0.1, which is a lot better.

*
Upgrading to 2.2.2-Beta is a good idea, but even better is to upgrade to 2.2.2, which will be released soon. It will fix some issues with the media device code. But do try the Beta first, it's much more stable than 2.2.1.

Oh, I just noticed that you are actually using 2.2.0.

In this case, by all means, do upgrade to 2.2.2 (Beta), it's far less buggy!


http://www.kubuntu.org/news/kde-sc-4.4-beta-2
(You don't have to upgrade all of KDE, just get Amarok itself)

Thanks for responding. I'll be trying your suggestions ...

I upgraded my Amarok using the instructions in that link. It installed amarok 2.2.1.90.

I also tried uninstalling amarok, then reinstalling using these instructions:
http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.2.2/beta/1
And I also ended up with 2.2.1.90

Should I be looking for a 2.2.2 somewhere/somehow?

-garyp

No, since version 2.2.1.90 is the same as 2.2.2 beta. I know it is confusing, but there is not much we can do about that, it's the convention in use.

2.2.2beta = 2.2.1.90 I guess it makes sense if you want to start numbering 2.2.2 when it's actually ready for prime time.

Note: upgrading Amarok *only* using aptitude, from suggested repositories, on Kubuntu 9.10 resulted in trashing of KDE/plasma desktop. segfault on startup. Doing aptitude safe-upgrade fixed that.

Now I have Amarok 2.2.2beta up and running. I have libmtp 1.0.1. I've switched my Clip+ to MTP mode. I've plugged it in. The Clip+ says connected. Now how do I move my music on to it? Amarok doesn't seem to know it's there. No menu items, no entry in Media Sources, no "collections" or anything else in the context menus. Also, no entry in Dolphin file manager, but I suppose I don't get one in MTP mode.

EDIT: I tried a few new things: installed mtpfs (it wasn't installed), reboot. No change. System Settings > Advanced > Removable Devices > Disconnected: "SANSA CLIPP" is listed, so some part of the OS sees it. Or perhaps it remembers seeing it in the past when I plugged it in in MSC mode?? It does show up using lsusb, so the OS does see it. Anyway, I checked "automount on attach". reboot. no change.

EDIT #2: I also installed mtp-tools. no change.
lsusb -v contains the following:
Configuration Descriptor:
[snip]
iConfiguration 4 config1: Mass Storage only


I don't know what it really means, but is it telling me that the device can be used only in MSC mode?

EDIT #3: mtp-files works. It correctly tells me what's on the Clip+. So now I'm thinking that this is an Amarok problem rather than a libmtp problem. Any help?


-gary

Bump, since I've made three edits to my last post. See esp. EDIT #3.

garyp wrote:2.2.2beta = 2.2.1.90 I guess it makes sense if you want to start numbering 2.2.2 when it's actually ready for prime time.

Note: upgrading Amarok *only* using aptitude, from suggested repositories, on Kubuntu 9.10 resulted in trashing of KDE/plasma desktop. segfault on startup. Doing aptitude safe-upgrade fixed that.

Now I have Amarok 2.2.2beta up and running. I have libmtp 1.0.1. I've switched my Clip+ to MTP mode. I've plugged it in. The Clip+ says connected. Now how do I move my music on to it? Amarok doesn't seem to know it's there. No menu items, no entry in Media Sources, no "collections" or anything else in the context menus. Also, no entry in Dolphin file manager, but I suppose I don't get one in MTP mode.

EDIT: I tried a few new things: installed mtpfs (it wasn't installed), reboot. No change. System Settings > Advanced > Removable Devices > Disconnected: "SANSA CLIPP" is listed, so some part of the OS sees it. Or perhaps it remembers seeing it in the past when I plugged it in in MSC mode?? It does show up using lsusb, so the OS does see it. Anyway, I checked "automount on attach". reboot. no change.

EDIT #2: I also installed mtp-tools. no change.
lsusb -v contains the following:
Configuration Descriptor:
[snip]
iConfiguration 4 config1: Mass Storage only


I don't know what it really means, but is it telling me that the device can be used only in MSC mode?

EDIT #3: mtp-files works. It correctly tells me what's on the Clip+. So now I'm thinking that this is an Amarok problem rather than a libmtp problem. Any help?

Hmm. I can offer two theories:

1) Kubuntu bug. I'm having the same issue with all sorts of USB devices here , with Kubuntu 9.10. MTP devices are a sub-type of USB, so this affects them too. Often, my devices are not seen at all, and I have to plug them in different ports, or plug them in/out 5 times, etc.

2) LibMTP bug. That it calls the device "CLIPP" (note the typo) sounds fishy to me.

markey wrote:Hmm. I can offer two theories:

1) Kubuntu bug. I'm having the same issue with all sorts of USB devices here , with Kubuntu 9.10. MTP devices are a sub-type of USB, so this affects them too. Often, my devices are not seen at all, and I have to plug them in different ports, or plug them in/out 5 times, etc.

2) LibMTP bug. That it calls the device "CLIPP" (note the typo) sounds fishy to me.

I interpreted it as CLIPP = CLIP Plus, but who knows. Without a doubt there are many more reports of problems with Amarok/Clip+/MTP than there are success stories (I count exactly one report of success, the one in this thread, above). I guess I'll go back to MSC mode and see how that works out.