How set default music player or application
To the admins. I did a relatively good search of the forum and found mostly OLD stuff. However, if this seems to be a superflous post please feel free to delete it.
This post is made using a Kubuntu 19.04 rig on 30 Nov 2019.
This is the general method to "set a default application" if one can work only from it, otherwise there is a step by step procedure below it:
I will stand mute about “why” it is this way, it just is. If a knowledgeable developer wishes to comment, please so do.
In just a few iterations of KDE previous to this ... one right clicked on the file, such as an MP4 and there was a box to tick for “remember this app / association / whatever" .
But this is the present KDE methodology so… to that end...
Detailed step by step:
in the left pane choose File associations
a middle pane may appear, or already be there, at the top will be “mp4”
Below that will be “known file types”
Audio, click it and in the right pane one will see “general” with a list of the known music file types
Below that will be a sub-pane which lists ALL of the PLAYERS on the system.
The PRESENT default, as of the time of this writing, is VLC media player so it is at the TOP of the list.
You, seemingly, do not want, since you are reading this writing, evidently, VLC as the default player.
You have several options, but the desired one is to change the music player. And the two obvious options are to “move up” or to “move down”.
This user usually chooses “move up”. Because I am always testing Kaffeine.
So, click Kaffeine and click the “move up" button a sufficient number of times to move it to the top.
Click the Apply button.
One may also use this method to change the video player.
A submenu in the middle panel shows “video” below “audio”.
Click that button and one carries out the same actions to set the default video player.
How to set the default for OTHER Audo-visual FILE TYPES.
Go back to the left panel where it shows “mp4” and click the dark arrow which points to the left.
One sees a very long list of all the known file types.
One COULD use VLC as a default for all of them, usually, not always.
But if one wants to have a certain thing such as …. “aac” played by default by a certain app, one merely clicks “aac”, one sees the right hand panel change to the various file formats of aac , three are listed on my machine, and goes through the same process .
IN THIS USER’s case Kaffein is NOT LISTED AT ALL….not AT ALL…. And the default player is SMPlayer. VLC is also listed and that is POSSIBLY ... why VLC IS "The default player" because is SEEMS to be able to play "all" of the music file formats.
As an aside, it PREVIOUSLY was that there was “ogg” listed and also “ogg-vorbis” now one sees x-opus+ogg. FOR WHICH….Kaffeine IS listed.
WHAT ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE A .doc? As in a text file that has a .doc extension.
This is NOT QUITE SO OBVIOUS.
Go to:
the same above but in File Associations select ‘text”.
If one “clicks text” and it turns blue one sees , surprisingly, Konqueror or file manager !!! :0
If one clicks “the arrow” next to “text” one sees a LARGE DROP DOWN…… which, for this user starts with: “cache-manifest” then calendar and then …. go down to: …….
hmmm….. go down to….hmm….there IS no…. “ .doc “.
hmmm
ok lets try this….go up to the box that says:
Search for file type or file name pattern and enter: not in quotes: “ .doc “….
in other words enter a dot and then the word doc.
Hit enter and WOAH!!!
one gets:
"text" with a drop down “L” and the word….”plain”…..
okaaaayyyyyyyyyy … :}
Hit that with a left click of the mouse and one gets in the top right pane a list of file types which INCLUDES .doc and in the lower right pane ALL of the apps on the system which can access those file types.
In this user’s system the first is Kate and then LibreOffice writer and a few others.
PLEASE NOTE THAT .docx does not appear, at least in this user’s system…
BUT…… I can open a .docx with LibreOffice writer and it works fine.
So…..
This article has been made by way of providing a general method for “selecting a default” application with WHAT SEEMS to be the predominant request on the net, that of the “music player” And THEN a more general approach to selecting a default app for a particular file type in KDE as of the above stated release.
As always, if anyone has questions, comments, anyone pointing out an ERROR in what I have written or who wishes to add something...please so do.
IF SOMEONE HAS AN AUTOMATED SCRIPT that could be run in terminal, WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE NEW TO LINUX PEOPLE, kindly provide such.
woodsmoke
To the admins. I did a relatively good search of the forum and found mostly OLD stuff. However, if this seems to be a superflous post please feel free to delete it.
This post is made using a Kubuntu 19.04 rig on 30 Nov 2019.
This is the general method to "set a default application" if one can work only from it, otherwise there is a step by step procedure below it:
System Settings / Personalization / Applications / File Associations / mp4 ( as a choice, you may choose something else ).
In just a few iterations of KDE previous to this ... one right clicked on the file, such as an MP4 and there was a box to tick for “remember this app / association / whatever" .
But this is the present KDE methodology so… to that end...
Detailed step by step:
in the left pane choose File associations
a middle pane may appear, or already be there, at the top will be “mp4”
Below that will be “known file types”
Audio, click it and in the right pane one will see “general” with a list of the known music file types
Below that will be a sub-pane which lists ALL of the PLAYERS on the system.
The PRESENT default, as of the time of this writing, is VLC media player so it is at the TOP of the list.
You, seemingly, do not want, since you are reading this writing, evidently, VLC as the default player.
You have several options, but the desired one is to change the music player. And the two obvious options are to “move up” or to “move down”.
This user usually chooses “move up”. Because I am always testing Kaffeine.
So, click Kaffeine and click the “move up" button a sufficient number of times to move it to the top.
Click the Apply button.
One may also use this method to change the video player.
A submenu in the middle panel shows “video” below “audio”.
Click that button and one carries out the same actions to set the default video player.
How to set the default for OTHER Audo-visual FILE TYPES.
Go back to the left panel where it shows “mp4” and click the dark arrow which points to the left.
One sees a very long list of all the known file types.
One COULD use VLC as a default for all of them, usually, not always.
But if one wants to have a certain thing such as …. “aac” played by default by a certain app, one merely clicks “aac”, one sees the right hand panel change to the various file formats of aac , three are listed on my machine, and goes through the same process .
IN THIS USER’s case Kaffein is NOT LISTED AT ALL….not AT ALL…. And the default player is SMPlayer. VLC is also listed and that is POSSIBLY ... why VLC IS "The default player" because is SEEMS to be able to play "all" of the music file formats.
As an aside, it PREVIOUSLY was that there was “ogg” listed and also “ogg-vorbis” now one sees x-opus+ogg. FOR WHICH….Kaffeine IS listed.
WHAT ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE A .doc? As in a text file that has a .doc extension.
This is NOT QUITE SO OBVIOUS.
Go to:
the same above but in File Associations select ‘text”.
If one “clicks text” and it turns blue one sees , surprisingly, Konqueror or file manager !!! :0
If one clicks “the arrow” next to “text” one sees a LARGE DROP DOWN…… which, for this user starts with: “cache-manifest” then calendar and then …. go down to: …….
hmmm….. go down to….hmm….there IS no…. “ .doc “.
hmmm
ok lets try this….go up to the box that says:
Search for file type or file name pattern and enter: not in quotes: “ .doc “….
in other words enter a dot and then the word doc.
Hit enter and WOAH!!!
one gets:
"text" with a drop down “L” and the word….”plain”…..
okaaaayyyyyyyyyy … :}
Hit that with a left click of the mouse and one gets in the top right pane a list of file types which INCLUDES .doc and in the lower right pane ALL of the apps on the system which can access those file types.
In this user’s system the first is Kate and then LibreOffice writer and a few others.
PLEASE NOTE THAT .docx does not appear, at least in this user’s system…
BUT…… I can open a .docx with LibreOffice writer and it works fine.
So…..
This article has been made by way of providing a general method for “selecting a default” application with WHAT SEEMS to be the predominant request on the net, that of the “music player” And THEN a more general approach to selecting a default app for a particular file type in KDE as of the above stated release.
As always, if anyone has questions, comments, anyone pointing out an ERROR in what I have written or who wishes to add something...please so do.
IF SOMEONE HAS AN AUTOMATED SCRIPT that could be run in terminal, WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE NEW TO LINUX PEOPLE, kindly provide such.
woodsmoke