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Tips&Tricks Cannot play audio CDs ?


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delboy711

Senior user

Joined: 03 May 2002

Posts: 412

Location: Wokingham, UK

 

Post Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2002 9:24 am Post subject: Cannot play audio CDs ?

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This page deals with two of the most common problems when trying to play Audio Cds under Linux with the KDE CD Player kscd.

 

Access Error

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Kscd gives an error message "CDROM read or access error (or no audio disc in drive).Please make sure you have access permissions to /dev/cdrom"

 

Kscd assumes the Cd device is /dev/cdrom, and in the majority of configurations this will be true. However some users will not have a device named /dev/cdrom, or if they do it is not the device they wish to use to play audio Cds.

 

The playback device can be changed in Kscd options, but a bug in KDE2.2.2 causes kscd to segfault if you try to change it.

 

Instead edit the file in your home directory ~/.kde/share/config/kscdrc

 

in section [GENERAL] set the parameter

 

CDDevice=/dev/hdx where x is a,b,c, or depending on the IDE channel used, or

 

CDDevice=/dev/scdX where X is 0,1,2 etc depending on the SCSI channel used.

 

(If you are using a CD writer to play your CDs it will defined as a SCSI device in Linux even if it is actually IDE)

 

KSCD apparently plays but no sound

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If you can hear system sounds and play MP3s etc, but hear no sound when playing audio Cds, and if the cdrom drawer opens when you press the eject button in the KDE CD player (kscd) then the problem is very likely due to your CD audio cable.

 

Since Windows ME, Windows Media Player has been using the digital IDE interface to play audio CDs. Some PC manufacturers desperate to increase margin by 2 cents have taken advantage of this to start building PCs without an audio cable from the CD drive to the sound card of the PC.

 

Linux however depends on that audio cable to play Cds.

 

You can easily check if you are affected if you open your case. You should see a slim cable (usually grey) in addition to the wide flat IDE cable, leading from the corner of your CD drive to either your PCI sound card, or else the motherboard if you have onboard sound.

 

What to do about it

----------------------

 

If you are affected, you can either :-

 

1/ Get on the telephone and give your PC supplier a roasting until they send you a cable. (Make sure you install it the correct way round or left/right channels will be reversed)

 

or

 

2/ Install the rpm xmms-cdread from your Mandrake discs.

 

Open the xmms media player.

 

Right click in xmms and select Options>Preferences>Audio I/O Plugins

 

Select 'CD Audio Player' and uncheck the 'Enable plugin' button.

 

Select 'Audio CD Reader' and 'enable' it.

 

Select 'Configure' for audio CD Reader and ensure the correct device is selected you want to play CDs from (/dev/hdx where x is a,b,c, or d, or /dev/scd0 etc if it is a SCI device)

 

Now save the options and right click on xmms and select 'Play File' a dialogue box will open. Enter the device name in the selection box, for example /dev/hdc and click 'OK'

 

The CD will now play, and if you are online and cddb was enabled in the plugin options you will see the CD track names appear in the xmms playlist.

 

The next time you put in a CD you will not need to 'Select File' Just press the 'Play' button and it should start playing.

 

Unfortunately I am not aware of any similar procedure to enable the KDE CD player to play audio CD's without a cable.

 

 

delboy711

Senior user

Joined: 03 May 2002

Posts: 412

Location: Wokingham, UK

Post Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2002 10:17 am Post subject: Mounting audio CDs, Gnome CD player, and xmms

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Three more things about audio CDs for your reference.

 

1/ Audio CDs are *not* filesystems. That means they *cannot* be mounted, and if you try to browse an audio CD with konqueror or another file manager you will not be able to open the /mnt/cdrom (or whatever) directory. Supermount makes no difference with audio CDs there is no point enabling/disabling it.

 

You *can* however browse audio CDs using konqueror if you use the Audio I/O slave. You can find this in the left hand pane of konqueror under 'Services' (for konq 2.2.2), or by clicking on the bottom icon on the vertical toolbar between the two panes in konq3. If you have configured it correctly in KDE Control Centre, and are online you will see the CD browsable by track name, by wav, file, by ogg file, and if you have installed Texstars KDE3 and lame from www.pclinuxonline.com for KDE3, by mp3 file. You can rip tracks directly from here by dragging and dropping them into konq windows. Note if you change CD you have to hit the konq 'refresh' button before the I/O slave will see it.

 

2/ The Gnome CD player gtcd also assumes the playback device is /dev/cdrom If you are using a CDwriter to play your CD's, or the device is not the first CD device linux finds you will need to change the playback device as described for kscd.

 

3/ The default CD player plugin for xmms Cd Audio Player needs to know both the physical device name (default /dev/cdrom) and the mount point defined in /etc/fstab (default /mnt/cdrom) If your configuration uses any other device or mount point you must edit it by opening xmms right clicking on xmms select 'Options>preferences' highlight the CD Audio plugin and select 'Configure'

 

 

spiedra

Senior user

Joined: 30 May 2002

Posts: 686

Location: Orlando, FL

Post Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2002 1:58 am Post subject:

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Thanks for the tips. Now I no why XMMS can't play audio cd's. Razz

 

 

xjlittle

Frequent user

Joined: 04 May 2002

Posts: 33

Post Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2002 8:22 pm Post subject: KDE and CDs

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One thing I've noticed about KDE...on all of my new installs... the sound is always muted for some reason. I've never figured out why that happens..if it is just some default for the install or something I do when I am installing.

 

Anyway after unmuting the sound everything just works as it should.

 

 

 

Editor's note: This thread was originally posted at the old MUB (Mandrake User Board at club-nihil). This post is the result of a 99% automatic backup, so due to its nature some text may be lost (improbable but possible).

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