Can Amarok play media from network ?

[artbar]

Hi there.

My story short:

I have NAS with my media files (including music) and it is shared via SMB/CIFS and UPnP (DLNA). I wanted to setup Amarok's library to look for my media on the network share, but I find no functionality to do that:

1. I cannot add SMB/CIFS share to the library. With Dolphin I can navigate to my media file on the NAS, I even added my SMB/CIFS share to the Places (left panel in Dolphin), but in the Amarok I only see and could add local file system.
2. I also tried UPnP according to this guide - https://userbase.kde.org/Amarok/Manu...llections/UPnP. I cannot complete the following step - "When a media share is discovered it will be shown in Local Music. ". Nothing happens here - no uPnP media would show up in the Amarok.

And yes - I know that mounting SMB/CIFS share to local folder might be a solution, but I want to avoid that - I believe, that Amarok and Dolphin should be using same functionality to access network shares and while it is OK with Dolphin, so why it doesn't work with Amarok ?

What are my options to play music from network with Amarok ?

P.S.: yes, I tried to find the solution here in Kubuntforums and on the Internet before posting my problem.

Regards
ArtūrasB.

[sithlord48]

simple answer you can not stream from a share (of anykind) without mounting it. you also CANNOT stream in dolphin you can only get the dir listing if you attempt to open any of the files a local copy will be made first. you can see this if you attempt to open a large file.

best option is to first mount the share via your /etc/fstab if its a share that is not always there you should add the noauto option to the mount.. then when you want to use it you can connect to the share (in dolphin by clicking on the place or the removable media widget if you set it in its options or run mount /share/path) use it . i don't have any smb shares to provide an example but this link seams to explain how https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MountWindowsSharesPermanently

[artbar]

simple answer you can not stream from a share (of anykind) without mounting it. you also CANNOT stream in dolphin you can only get the dir listing if you attempt to open any of the files a local copy will be made first. you can see this if you attempt to open a large file.

best option is to first mount the share via your /etc/fstab if its a share that is not always there you should add the noauto option to the mount.. then when you want to use it you can connect to the share (in dolphin by clicking on the place or the removable media widget if you set it in its options or run mount /share/path) use it . i don't have any smb shares to provide an example but this link seams to explain how https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MountWindowsSharesPermanently

Thanks for your reply.

I'm familiar with the wiki you mentioned but still interested in KDE component(s) to handle all the work (if there are any).
Don't get me wrong - system level solution (/etc/fstab) is fine, I'm just curious how network aspects are handled "kde-way"

[sithlord48]

use kate inplace of gedit . networking is done the same behind the scenes (network-manager)

[SeijiSensei]

If your NAS supports NFS, use that instead of CIFS. Most players I've used make local copies of files from CIFS-exported shares before playing them. They treat NFS-exported files as local and play them straight-away.

NFS is the preferred file sharing protocol for *nix machines. Samba and its related CIFS tools were designed to integrate Linux machines into Windows networks.

[artbar]

If your NAS supports NFS, use that instead of CIFS. Most players I've used make local copies of files from CIFS-exported shares before playing them. They treat NFS-exported files as local and play them straight-away.

NFS is the preferred file sharing protocol for *nix machines. Samba and its related CIFS tools were designed to integrate Linux machines into Windows networks.

Initially I had enabled following protocols - SMB/CIFS, NFS and uPnP. A bit later I learned that SMB/CIFS and NFS do not work well if enabled together, so I had to disable NFS because my wife uses Windows and she wanted "uncomplicated way" to deal with file server/NAS.

At the moment my issue is solved with smb4k partially. Partially because I have to mount NAS share manually every time before I can use it. I'll have to wait for a "perfect, transparent&native" solution from KDE/Kubuntu.

[sithlord48]

is that a limitation of your device? i have both samba and NFS shares on my server and with no issues. they are even the same folders

as i said above your native solution is to mount the remote file system in your /etc/fstab

[artbar]

is that a limitation of your device? i have both samba and NFS shares on my server and with no issues. they are even the same folders

My SMB/CIFS and NFS connections were very unstable before I disabled NFS. I found this solution on NAS4Free forum - the recommendation not to use SMB/CIFS and NFS at the same time. Without NFS I got SMB/CIFS working really well.

solution is to mount the remote file system in your /etc/fstab

I agree - it is the right way for servers or other datacentre-alike environments or "fixed" workplaces (PCs )with stable network connections. My situations is a bit different - I need the access to my home server from my laptop and I'm fine not to have that access when I'm away from my home. I expect some sort of solution which makes my experience "trouble-free" (I admit I'm lazy to type 'sudo mount -a' each time ) ) and seamless - my shares gets auto-mounted when I connect to my home network. This was the solution I was looking for. I believe these kind of bits and pieces of such a "comfort" is the last step keeping linux away from its inevitable success A candidate for blue paper ?