Hey guys,

Ok, I know, you're putting a lot of work into Amarok 2.x, and it (mostly) works so I shouldn't complain... However...


1) I'm having quite a few problems when moving files from a local directory to the collection (which is mounted through NFS, which might be related to the problem).

What happens is that Amarok doesn't seem to find the files it just moved. Most of the time, updating the collection manually will work, but not always.

The problem was already present in 1.4, however it was possible to rescan the entire collection, which was annoying and long, but hey, it worked. "Update collection" will not work in these cases, so as far as Amarok 2.1 goes, I'm pretty much screwed. Or am I?

Trying to remove the album from the collection manually and moving it to the collection again has no effect whatsoever. The problem seems to be very systematic, however - it only displays the last track from the album in question. If I delete the last track, then the previous one appears, alone, as the contents of the album, and so on.

In addition, while I was investigating this one, something happened with the search bar that suddenly stopped working. I restarted Amarok and it was alright again. This may or may not be related.


2) The left pane has undergone major usability regressions:

2a) While it used to be possible (in 1.4.x) to move files to the collection directly from the playlist, this is no longer the case - unless I couldn't find the menu entry or something.

2b) The left pane used to have tabs, which I could hide in order to avoid seeing stuff I never use and for switching from one to the other in a single click.

2c) It is no longer possible to have the first letter of the artists' names used as a separator (unless that is hidden somewhere and I didn't find it, again).

The end result of which is that, if I'm, say, moving files from a local HDD to my collection, I have to get back to the "root" of the menu, find the "files" entry in the list, right click, move to collection, get back to the root menu, enter the collection, find the album (I end up using the search function, which I'd rather *not* do, as it requires typing in the middle of a "mouse-heavy" workflow), then set the cover manually (fetching it, in my case, is usually not an option), and get back to the files thing to sort some more... That was 3 clicks and some mouse wheeling in 1.4.


I was using Amarok v2.1.80, from Kubuntu Karmic, updated this morning, when I first posted. I however checked out the git version, and turned it into a Debian package - the problem remains.


Edit: merged previous edits into a single post

Why not re-edit your post completely and remove everything that worked out of it? Currently it's hard to find one's way around it with so many edits...

There you go.

TSeeker wrote:2) The left pane has undergone major usability regressions:

2a) While it used to be possible (in 1.4.x) to move files to the collection directly from the playlist, this is no longer the case - unless I couldn't find the menu entry or something.

First of all, please do not compare Amarok 2.x with Amarok 1.4.x with "this used to work", Amarok 2 is a complete rewrite. You can add any track from the browser pane on the left: right click -> add to collection. This works for all services, be this from the file browser, a media device, a CD or an internet service like Ampache or Jamendo (provided you are allowed to download/copy from a service, of course).

TSeeker wrote:2b) The left pane used to have tabs, which I could hide in order to avoid seeing stuff I never use and for switching from one to the other in a single click.

Well, there are symmetry constrictions in the default layout, but please file a wish for any missing item on http://bugs.kde.org. You have seen the breadcrum navigation on top of the left pane, haven't you?

TSeeker wrote:2c) It is no longer possible to have the first letter of the artists' names used as a separator (unless that is hidden somewhere and I didn't find it, again).

You mean sorting the collection by initials? I don't know if reorganizing the collection by Initials (right click -> Organize files) changes the view in the collection browser, but I guess not. Please file a wish.

Mamarok wrote:

TSeeker wrote:2) The left pane has undergone major usability regressions:

2a) While it used to be possible (in 1.4.x) to move files to the collection directly from the playlist, this is no longer the case - unless I couldn't find the menu entry or something.

First of all, please do not compare Amarok 2.x with Amarok 1.4.x with "this used to work", Amarok 2 is a complete rewrite.

Well, I'm sorry, but I have to disagree on this. MS Office, OpenOffice and KOffice not being the same software doesn't prevent me from comparing them in terms of available functionalities, UI, etc... as they are basically meant to do the same thing.

Anyway, that's off-topic. This was to be taken not as a single point, but rather as a combination of different, small problems, which result in a bigger problem when combined.

Mamarok wrote:You can add any track from the browser pane on the left: right click -> add to collection. This works for all services, be this from the file browser, a media device, a CD or an internet service like Ampache or Jamendo (provided you are allowed to download/copy from a service, of course).

Yes, I know that (I don't use web-based stuff, so I wouldn't know, but it is true of the files view), but it forces me to switch between different views. That was already the case with Amarok 2.1, however the removal of the tabs adds one more click to the process.

Mamarok wrote:

TSeeker wrote:2b) The left pane used to have tabs, which I could hide in order to avoid seeing stuff I never use and for switching from one to the other in a single click.

Well, there are symmetry constrictions in the default layout, but please file a wish for any missing item on http://bugs.kde.org.

Symmetry constrictions? What do you mean? It's pointless for me (and for the Amarok team) if I file a whishlist item that goes against the UI guidelines or something.

Mamarok wrote:You have seen the breadcrum navigation on top of the left pane, haven't you?

Oh yes, I have, but I still need to click on something else before being able to click on what I actually want to click on (actually, since the breadcrumb is smaller, and it doesn't change the amount of clicks, going back to the root menu is easier).

Mamarok wrote:

TSeeker wrote:2c) It is no longer possible to have the first letter of the artists' names used as a separator (unless that is hidden somewhere and I didn't find it, again).

You mean sorting the collection by initials? I don't know if reorganizing the collection by Initials (right click -> Organize files) changes the view in the collection browser, but I guess not. Please file a wish.

Yes, it is more or less what I meant. I won't do the 1.4 comparison thing but... yeah. Understandably that's a minor feature, yet I find it to be quite useful.

I really do not want to reorganise my collection just to check that, but my guess would be that it doesn't change anything, as the collection and files are really two different things. I'll check the wishlist before filing an entry as I'm willing to bet someone already added it.

TSeeker wrote:I'll check the wishlist before filing an entry as I'm willing to bet someone already added it.

Bet lost

Ok, the bug with the collection has already been reported, sort of, so I added what I could.

I tried adding the wishlist item for the artists' initial, but it had already been reported - last year. Search Fail on my part, sorry.

TSeeker wrote:Ok, the bug with the collection has already been reported, sort of, so I added what I could.

I tried adding the wishlist item for the artists' initial, but it had already been reported - last year. Search Fail on my part, sorry.

Not really, the description of that earlier report is not that obvious. I couldn't find it neither