[SOLVED] Rhythmbox does not play mp3 files

koksnuss · 2016-05-02 12:47:37

Edit in this case I could solve the issue by deleting (or renaming) the rhythmdb.xml file which resides in ~/.local/share/rhythmbox/rhythmdb.xml

This problem already has been discussed lot's of times in this forum (see link list below) however I think I have a different issue as I cannot resolve it.

Discussions on problems with the playback of .mp3 files in this forum:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=181234
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=174930
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=158998
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=201323
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=200337

I am running arch linux x64 up to date (4.5.1-1) on a dell studio 1555 laptop and I am using kde plasma as desktop environment.

Rhythmbox does neither play nor regocgnize .mp3 files, however it plays .wav files. I have installed "gstreamer" and "gstreamer-0.10" alongside all their plugins (see below for a detailed list). I also have installed "phonon-qt4-gstreamer" and "phonon-qt4-gstreamer" als well as "phonon-qt4-vlc" and "phonon-qt5-vlc" however the vlc-packages are not used by rhytmbox. Gstreamer backend is the first candidate in "KDE-Preferences -> Multimedia -> Backend". I have switched with vlc-backend without effect.

pacman -Qs gstreamer
...
local/gst-libav 1.8.1-1
    Gstreamer libav Plugin
local/gst-plugins-bad 1.8.1-1
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Bad Plugins
local/gst-plugins-base 1.8.1-1
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Base Plugins
local/gst-plugins-base-libs 1.8.1-1
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Base Plugin libraries
local/gst-plugins-good 1.8.1-1
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Good Plugins
local/gst-plugins-ugly 1.8.1-1
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Ugly Plugins
local/gstreamer 1.8.1-1
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework
local/gstreamer0.10 0.10.36-4
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework
local/gstreamer0.10-bad 0.10.23-15
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Bad Plugin libraries (gst-plugins-bad)
local/gstreamer0.10-bad-plugins 0.10.23-15 (gstreamer0.10-plugins)
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Bad Plugins (gst-plugins-bad)
local/gstreamer0.10-base 0.10.36-3
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Base plugin libraries
local/gstreamer0.10-base-plugins 0.10.36-3 (gstreamer0.10-plugins)
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Base Plugins (gst-plugins-base)
local/gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg 0.10.13-2 (gstreamer0.10-plugins)
    Gstreamer FFMpeg Plugin
local/gstreamer0.10-good 0.10.31-10
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Good plugin libraries
local/gstreamer0.10-good-plugins 0.10.31-10 (gstreamer0.10-plugins)
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Good Plugins (gst-plugins-good)
local/gstreamer0.10-python 0.10.22-2
    Python bindings for GStreamer 0.10
local/gstreamer0.10-ugly 0.10.19-16
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Ugly plugin libraries
local/gstreamer0.10-ugly-plugins 0.10.19-16 (gstreamer0.10-plugins)
    GStreamer Multimedia Framework Ugly Plugins (gst-plugins-ugly)
local/phonon-qt4-gstreamer 4.9.0-1
    Phonon GStreamer backend for Qt4
local/phonon-qt5-gstreamer 4.9.0-1
    Phonon GStreamer backend for Qt5

gst-inspect0.10 lamemp3enc tells me lame-mp3 plugin is there:

gst-inspect-1.0 lamemp3enc                                     
Factory Details:
  Rank                     primary (256)
  Long-name                L.A.M.E. mp3 encoder
  Klass                    Codec/Encoder/Audio
  Description              High-quality free MP3 encoder
  Author                   Sebastian Dröge <sebastian.droege@collabora.co.uk>

Plugin Details:
  Name                     lame
  Description              Encode MP3s with LAME
  Filename                 /usr/lib/gstreamer-1.0/libgstlame.so
  Version                  1.8.1
  License                  LGPL
  Source module            gst-plugins-ugly
  Source release date      2016-04-20
  Binary package           GStreamer Ugly Plugins (Arch Linux)
  Origin URL               http://www.archlinux.org/

GObject
 +----GInitiallyUnowned
       +----GstObject
             +----GstElement
                   +----GstAudioEncoder
                         +----GstLameMP3Enc

Implementierte Schnittstellen:
  GstPreset

Pad Templates:
  SINK template: 'sink'
    Availability: Always
    Capabilities:
      audio/x-raw
                 format: S16LE
                 layout: interleaved
                   rate: { 8000, 11025, 12000, 16000, 22050, 24000, 32000, 44100, 48000 }
               channels: 1
      audio/x-raw
                 format: S16LE
                 layout: interleaved
                   rate: { 8000, 11025, 12000, 16000, 22050, 24000, 32000, 44100, 48000 }
               channels: 2
           channel-mask: 0x0000000000000003

  SRC template: 'src'
    Availability: Always
    Capabilities:
      audio/mpeg
            mpegversion: 1
                  layer: 3
                   rate: { 8000, 11025, 12000, 16000, 22050, 24000, 32000, 44100, 48000 }
               channels: [ 1, 2 ]


Element Flags:
  no flags set

Element Implementation:
  Has change_state() function: gst_audio_encoder_change_state

Element has no clocking capabilities.
Element has no URI handling capabilities.

Pads:
  SINK: 'sink'
    Pad Template: 'sink'
  SRC: 'src'
    Pad Template: 'src'

Element Properties:
  name                : The name of the object
                        flags: lesbar, schreibbar
                        String. Default: "lamemp3enc0"
  parent              : The parent of the object
                        flags: lesbar, schreibbar
                        Object of type "GstObject"
  perfect-timestamp   : Favour perfect timestamps over tracking upstream timestamps
                        flags: lesbar, schreibbar
                        Boolean. Default: false
  mark-granule        : Apply granule semantics to buffer metadata (implies perfect-timestamp)
                        flags: lesbar
                        Boolean. Default: false
  hard-resync         : Perform clipping and sample flushing upon discontinuity
                        flags: lesbar, schreibbar
                        Boolean. Default: false
  tolerance           : Consider discontinuity if timestamp jitter/imperfection exceeds tolerance (ns)
                        flags: lesbar, schreibbar
                        Integer64. Range: 0 - 9223372036854775807 Default: 40000000 
  target              : Optimize for quality or bitrate
                        flags: lesbar, schreibbar
                        Enum "GstLameMP3EncTarget" Default: 0, "quality"
                           (0): quality          - Quality
                           (1): bitrate          - Bitrate
  bitrate             : Bitrate in kbit/sec (Only valid if target is bitrate, for CBR one of 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 160, 192, 224, 256 or 320)
                        flags: lesbar, schreibbar
                        Integer. Range: 8 - 320 Default: 128 
  cbr                 : Enforce constant bitrate encoding (Only valid if target is bitrate)
                        flags: lesbar, schreibbar
                        Boolean. Default: false
  quality             : VBR Quality from 0 to 10, 0 being the best (Only valid if target is quality)
                        flags: lesbar, schreibbar
                        Float. Range:               0 -           9,999 Default:               4 
  encoding-engine-quality: Quality/speed of the encoding engine, this does not affect the bitrate!
                        flags: lesbar, schreibbar
                        Enum "GstLameMP3EncEncodingEngineQuality" Default: 1, "standard"
                           (0): fast             - Fast
                           (1): standard         - Standard
                           (2): high             - High
  mono                : Enforce mono encoding
                        flags: lesbar, schreibbar
                        Boolean. Default: false

when opening a .mp3 file via the command line with rhytmbox, the following error (at the bottom after some gtk-warnings) occurs and rhytmbox opens but does not play the file. I think the error and the warnings have nothing to do with the playback problem of the .mp3 file:

rhytmbox Mirrordance.mp3
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Failed to register client: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.gnome.SessionManager was not provided by any .service files
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme directory actions/48 of theme breeze has no size field
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme directory categories/16 of theme breeze has no size field
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme directory categories/22 of theme breeze has no size field
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme directory categories/48 of theme breeze has no size field
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme directory devices/48 of theme breeze has no size field
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Duplicate child name in GtkStack: Zur Wiedergabeliste hinzufügen
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Duplicate child name in GtkStack: Zur Wiedergabeliste hinzufügen
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Duplicate child name in GtkStack: Zur Wiedergabeliste hinzufügen
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Duplicate child name in GtkStack: Zur Wiedergabeliste hinzufügen
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Duplicate child name in GtkStack: Zur Wiedergabeliste hinzufügen
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Duplicate child name in GtkStack: Zur Wiedergabeliste hinzufügen
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme directory actions/48 of theme breeze has no size field
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme directory categories/16 of theme breeze has no size field
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme directory categories/22 of theme breeze has no size field
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme directory categories/48 of theme breeze has no size field
(rhythmbox:8842): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme directory devices/48 of theme breeze has no size field
(rhythmbox:8842): Rhythmbox-WARNING **: Unable to grab media player keys: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.gnome.SettingsDaemon was not provided by any .service files

Finally, when I open a .mp3 file via dolphin with rhythmbox, journalctl returns

...
plasma.engine.mpris2: "org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.rhythmbox" does not implement org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties correctly
...

The MPRIS-Addon is activated in rhythmbox. I have tried to deactivate it with no effect to my -mp3 playback problem.

Please help me as I would like to use rhythmbox. BTW vlc plays my mp3 files however this is not really a hint as it is not using gstreamer...

Last edited by koksnuss (2016-05-04 13:06:50)

V1del · 2016-05-02 15:06:54

Afaik Rhythmbox throws a fit if the files you intend to play aren't part of its library. Therefore where is the file you want to play located, and have you tried putting it into ~/Music or similar and let rhythmbox scan for it? (and for all intents and purposes used the resulting Rhythmbox browser to play the file)

BTW Phonon and KDE related packages have nothing to do with rhythmbox, no amount of installing those packages and fiddling with the KDE multimedia settings will help with whatever the problem in Rhythmbox is

koksnuss · 2016-05-02 19:09:22

V1del wrote:

Afaik Rhythmbox throws a fit if the files you intend to play aren't part of its library. Therefore where is the file you want to play located, and have you tried putting it into ~/Music or similar and let rhythmbox scan for it? (and for all intents and purposes used the resulting Rhythmbox browser to play the file)

The rhythmbox music library is on a NTFS hard drive as I have a Windows 10 - Arch Linux dual boot setup and I am acsessing my music from both OS. All files that I tried to play are within the music library. The folder hierarchy is Artist/Album/Song. I have configured rhythmbox to automatically scan for new songs and to create new folders in the way Artist/Album/Song of I import new music outside my music library.

When I copy an .mp3 file into the root directory of my music library rhythmbox instantly recognizes it and is able to play it. However as long as the songs resides in the subfolderhierarchy rhythmbx only recognizes the .wav files. Thank you for your advise V1del, now I definetly know my problem is not playing the .mp3 files but finding them. When I use rhytmbox to browse for a .mp3 file within a subfolder of my musiclibrary they are all greyed out...

Does someone know how I can fix this?

V1del wrote:

BTW Phonon and KDE related packages have nothing to do with rhythmbox, no amount of installing those packages and fiddling with the KDE multimedia settings will help with whatever the problem in Rhythmbox is

I was mentioning the fact that I played around with the KDE multimedia settings because of the section in the Arch Wiki of KDE:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/KD … on_backend

Last edited by koksnuss (2016-05-03 11:14:31)

Arch Linux

#1 2016-05-02 12:47:37

[SOLVED] Rhythmbox does not play mp3 files

#2 2016-05-02 15:06:54

Re: [SOLVED] Rhythmbox does not play mp3 files

#3 2016-05-02 19:09:22

Re: [SOLVED] Rhythmbox does not play mp3 files

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