Playing a saved playlist

[pwabrahams]

I have no problem in playing a saved playlist via the Files menu -- it works as expected.  But going via the top-level Playlist item is a different story.  I go from there to View Catalog, which displays the saved playlists.  So far so good.  I select the one I want to play with Select -- and I get bounced back to View Catalog.   With Long Select I get a Context Menu whose first item is Playlist.  There's no item that says, in effect, "play this playlist".   If at this point I select Playlist, I get bounced back to the Catalog which again shows a list of my saved playlists.  I've already been there!!

So how can I play a stored playlist via the top-level Playlist item?  The manual says that the Playlist Catalog can be used like the File Browser, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

[Chronon]

What player and version of Rockbox is this?

[pwabrahams]

I'm running Version 3.8.1 on the Sansa Clip+.
Post Merge: July 02, 2011, 05:22:15 PMI just updated to version 3.9 of the firmware.  It made no difference.

[JdGordon]

the playlist catalog only works with playlists in the specified directory:... /Playlists is the default.

if you can do your own builds it owuld be great if you tested http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/11808 and helped get that finished as it vaslty improves olaylist handling

[Chronon]

I just tried with a current build on my F40 and pressing Select/Right on a playlist listed in the playlist catalog results in returning to the Playlists menu but with the desired playlist loaded.

[pwabrahams]

I just tried with a current build on my F40 and pressing Select/Right on a playlist listed in the playlist catalog results in returning to the Playlists menu but with the desired playlist loaded.

I don't quite understand that.   When you say the playlist is loaded, do you mean that it becomes the current playlist?  How do you actually start playing it once it's loaded?

By the way, I wonder if it's possible to have the Playlist item in the main menu symlinked to the Playlists directory of Files. Or does that not make sense? If it were possible, that would make my problem go away instantly (and maybe knock out a bunch of code). 


Post Merge: July 04, 2011, 11:03:49 PM

if you can do your own builds it owuld be great if you tested http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/11808 and helped get that finished as it vaslty improves olaylist handling

Unfortunately I'm not sufficiently in the loop to be able to do my own builds.  But if there's an experimental version out there that I can load as I would any other, I'd be very happy to test it (on the subset of features that I actually use).

[Lear]

I don't quite understand that.   When you say the playlist is loaded, do you mean that it becomes the current playlist?  How do you actually start playing it once it's loaded?

It starts playing automatically. And it works just fine for me too. Are you sure you're actually playing the same playlist in both cases?

By the way, I wonder if it's possible to have the Playlist item in the main menu symlinked to the Playlists directory of Files. Or does that not make sense? If it were possible, that would make my problem go away instantly (and maybe knock out a bunch of code). 

It already uses the file browser code, so the amount of extra code is negligible.

[pwabrahams]

I still can't get a saved playlist to play via the main menu Playlists option.   Here in more detail is what I did and saw:

1. On the main menu I selected Playlists with the Select button.

2. I selected View Catalog with the Select button.  A list of playlists appeared.

3. I selected the playlist PLay1 with Long Select.  A Context Menu appeared that started with Playlist.

4. I selected Playlist.  I got a menu that started with View / Insert / Insert Shuffled

5. I selected View.  The items of PLay1 appeared in a list, but I couldn't play them.

What did I do wrong?

[Lear]

When in the view of step 5, does any line show an icon in front of it? Or the text "(ERR)"? What happens when you press select on one of the items?

[pwabrahams]

When in the view of step 5, does any line show an icon in front of it? Or the text "(ERR)"? What happens when you press select on one of the items?

AFter Step 5, which displays "View", a short Select does nothing.  A Long Select brings up another menu with the title "Playlist".  This menu contains:
  Remove
  Move
  Add to Playlist
  Add to New Playlist
  Playlist Viewer Settings
 I suppose I might eventually get to the right place by choosing "Add to Playlist", but that's certainly a very long way around the barn.   As to "Player Viewer Settings", there is:
   Show Icons
   Show Indices
   Track Display
   Save Current Playlist
None of these seem to offer much hope of just playing the track.

[Chronon]

I still can't get a saved playlist to play via the main menu Playlists option.   Here in more detail is what I did and saw:

1. On the main menu I selected Playlists with the Select button.

2. I selected View Catalog with the Select button.  A list of playlists appeared.

3. I selected the playlist PLay1 with Long Select.  A Context Menu appeared that started with Playlist.

4. I selected Playlist.  I got a menu that started with View / Insert / Insert Shuffled

5. I selected View.  The items of PLay1 appeared in a list, but I couldn't play them.

What did I do wrong?

This procedure also works for me.  I get a musical note in front of the highlighted track when I press Select and playback of that track begins.

I'm also wondering if this playlist contains playable tracks.  Can you describe what you are doing to load the playlist via the file browser?

[pwabrahams]

Well, if I bring up View and select the first track, it will play, but not with the controls that I get if I go via Files.  If I use the Playlists item under Files, I can move back and forth within a track, and I can see where I am.  I also get track information displayed.   With the route under discussion, I have none of that, and I can't pause it either.

Do other people see the same thing?

[Chronon]

So it does play if you choose "View"?  You previously told us that it didn't do anything.  You are in the playlist viewer at this point, not the WPS, so it's expected that it looks different and has different key bindings. 

If you press Left you should leave the playlist viewer and be able to enter the WPS if you want.  Still, this seems like a rather roundabout way of doing something as simple as loading a saved playlist. 

[pwabrahams]

I thought it wasn't playing because I didn't see a progress bar, track information, or any of the other things that show up if I play the other way.  Nor did the pause key work.   I only discovered it was really playing after I plugged in the earphones.

It would be much more natural (and agree with the manual) if at Step 3 a short Select started up the playlist in the same way it starts up via the Files menu.  As it is, the statement in Sec. 4.4.6 that the PLaylist Catalog can be used like the File Browser isn't correct.

[Chronon]

Well, the controls are the same and the context menu that you reach by holding Long Select is the same as the file browser, so to a good approximation that statement is true.  The only difference seems to be that you don't automatically end up in the WPS after starting a playlist. 

If you have a suggestion for how the phrasing can be made more clear you are welcome to submit a patch for the manual.  While the manual is written in LaTeX, you can also just submit plain text patches indicating the proposed changes.