Rhythmbox Pandora Plugin Now Available In The WebUpd8 PPA, No Longer Requires Pithos

Rhythmbox Pandora is a plugin which allows you to listen to Pandora, add and remove radio stations and love, ban, tired or bookmark songs.

The Rhythmbox Pandora plugin we were telling you about a while back was officially fixed yesterday and the official package now works with Rhythmbox 0.13.2. Further more, even though the plugin still uses some Pithos code, you no longer have to install Pithos to use it.

Because I really like this plugin, I've uploaded it to the WebUpd8 PPA (for Ubuntu Maverick only - using zedtux's folderview packaging, I've only modified a few things). Add the PPA and install the Pandora plugin for Rhythmbox using the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install rhythmbox-plugin-pandora

I've only tested the plugin using Rhythmbox 0.13.2 so if it fails to run, try installing Rhythmbox 0.13.2. The code is 100% the same as the latest GIT (as of February 4th) so if you encounter any bugs, report them on Github.

Script To Synchronize All Your Last.fm Play Count With Rhythmbox

A while back we wrote about a Rhythmbox plugin that synchronizes your Rhythmbox play count with Last.fm and that's pretty cool but the plugin only does this once you play a track. So what if you want to synschronize all your Rhythmbox play counts with Last.fm? Well, there's a script for that (actually 2)!

1. Install the dependencies:

sudo apt-get install python-beautifulsoup python-qt4 bzr

2. Download Lastscarpe from HERE (make sure to download the Linux and not the Windows version) and extract it in your home folder.

3. To get every song you've listened from Last.fm, go the newly extracted folder and you can either run "guy.py" to do this the graphical way or use the following command to dump all your songs to a file called "dump":

cd && cd lastscrape-0.0.4
./lastscrape.py YOUR_LASTFM_USERNAME dump

Now the script will retrieve all your song history. This might take a while (it took more then an hour for all my 54.000 Last.fm songs).

4. You need to download the "rb-mergeplays" scripts from Launchpad:

cd
bzr get lp:rb-mergeplays

Once the scripts are downloaded, copy the file created under step 3 (called "dump" - if you've followed our exact instructions you should find it under ~/lastscrape-0.0.4) into ~/rb-mergeplays

5. At this point you're ready to import the last.fm play count into Rhythmbox

Firstly make a backup of your Rhythmbox library:

cp ~/.local/share/rhythmbox/rhythmdb.xml ~/.local/share/rhythmbox/rhythmdb.xml-backup

Begin the import:

cd ~/rb-mergeplays
python ./mergeplays.py

"rb-mergeplays" contains another interesting script which lets you import your Last.fm loved tracks into Rhythmbox. The process is fairly easy so head over to the rb-mergeplays page for instructions (scroll down to RATE5LOVED.PY).

Pandora Plugin For Rhythmbox

Pandora radio is a personalized internet radio service that helps you find new music based on your old and current favorites. You can create custom web radio stations and listen free - available only in the US.

I've recently came across a Pandora plugin for Rhythmbox that uses Pithos for accessing Pandora. While Pithos must be installed for the plugin to work, you don't have to run Pithos to use the Pandora Rhythmbox plugin.

The original plugin doesn't work with the latest Rhythmbox 0.13.2 and the author is currently traveling so he  can't fix it until February so I decided to try and fix it myself, even though I don't know Python and luckily I was able to get it to work with Rhythmbox 0.13.2. However, I'm not sure if it still works with older Rhythmbox versions, so if my fixed plugin doesn't work, try the original plugin.

Features and usage

The Pandora Rhythmbox plugin comes with the same features as Pithos: you can create or delete stations, love, ban, tired songs and so on.

Usage:

• to create a new radio stations, click on "Pandora" on the left Rhythmbox pane and select "Create a new station".
• right clicking a station, you'll have an option to delete the station
• double clicking a station, some songs will show up on the bottom of the Rhythmbox window
• right click on a song to love, ban, tired or bookmark it

Install the Pandora Rhythmbox plugin

To use Rhythmbox Pandora plugin you must firstly install Pithos. In Ubuntu, simply copy/paste the following commands in a terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kevin-mehall/pithos-daily
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pithos

Then install the fixed Rhythmbox Pandora plugin by using the following commands:

cd && wget http://webupd8.googlecode.com/files/rhythmbox-pandora.tar.gz
tar -xvf rhythmbox-pandora.tar.gz
cd pandora && chmod +x setup.sh && ./setup.sh

Alternatively you can manually download the plugin from HERE, extract it, then right click "setup.sh", select "Properties", go to the "Permissions" tab and check the "Allow executing file as program" and finally double click the "setup.sh" file and select "Run in terminal".

Once installed, open Rhythmbox, go to Edit > Plugins, enable the "Pandora" plugin, then click "Configure" and enter your Pandora email and password. Once you do this, a new "Pandora" item should show up on the left RHythmbox pane - clicking it, the plugin should log you in to Pandora and it should retrieve your saved radio stations.

Remember: if my patched plugin doesn't work for you (for Rhythmbox older then 0.13.2), you can use the original plugin. Once the original plugin will be fixed, I'll update the instructions in this post.

Looking for more Rhythmbox plugins? See these:

• Simple Rhythmbox Plugins: Save Cover In Mp3 Metadata, Save Existing Cover in Mp3 Folder And More
• Play YouTube Videos In Rhythmbox With YouTubeClips [Plugin]
• Synchronize Your Last.fm Play Count And Loved Tracks With Rhythmbox [Plugin]
• Rhythmbox Album Art Search Plugin Ubuntu PPA
• RhythmArty: Browse Your Music Collection Via Album Art [Rhythmbox Plugin]
• Nautilus "Enqueue In Rhythmbox" Plugin Updated, Can Now Add Folders Recursively

Get iOS4 Mount/Sync Working In Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

If you've recently upgraded to iOS4 (now 4.2) and use Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat, you can see your photos in Nautilus, but you have no access to your music using Rhythmbox or GTKPod (the device shows up but quickly disappears). However, you can easily get it to work using the instructions below.


Important: WebUpd8 reader rkv reports that the below instructions work with iPhone 3GS (using iOS 4.2) and the music he transfers shows up on his iPhone, while a friend who has tested this on an iPod Touch 4G says the device now shows up in Rhythmbox but the files he transfers don't show up on his iPod, so it seems this doesn't work for iPhone / iPod Touch 4G!

Get iPhone / iPod Touch 3G with iOS4 mount/sync in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

The packages required to get iPhone / iPod Touch to work with Ubuntu 10.10 are available in the official repositories now, however they are old and do not support iOS 4, so you'll have to add the Paul McEnery PPA and upgrade the packages:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pmcenery/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

At this point, if you plug-in your iPhone / iPod Touch, it should show up in Rhythmbox or GTK Pod. If it doesn't, restart your computer.


Note: I do not own an iPhone / iPod Touch so if the above instructions don't work, I can't help you.

Thanks to rkv and Radu for the tip, testing and PPA. Screenshot thanks to Radu.

Install Rhythmbox 0.13.2 In Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

Rhythmbox 0.13.2 was released almost a month ago and as usual, it's not available for the Ubuntu 10.10 users. The new versions comes with some interesting improvements such as:

• Much improved Last.fm (and Libre.fm) plugin
• Support for DACP (iTunes remote)
• Zeitgeist plugin
• New podcast sub-sources showing newly posted and recently downloaded episodes
• Slightly improved integration with the GNOME Shell message tray
• Various fixes for iPod support
• See the whole list of bug fixes and new features at Rhythmbox devel mailing list

Yesterday, I've backported Rhythmbox 0.13.2 from Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal to Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat - that means that the Ubuntu 10.10 package is identical to the one in Ubuntu 11.04 (but built for Ubuntu 10.10). Everything seems to be working for me so I've uploaded it to the WebUpd8 Rhythmbox PPA.

Install Rhythmbox 0.13.2 in Ubuntu 10.10

Before installing Rhythmbox 0.13.2, please note that I had to backport about 4 other packages to get DAAP and all the other plugins to compile proprely. While I've tested Rhythmbox, I cannot test everything so there might be stuff that doesn't work - therefore use this PPA at your own risk. But don't worry about undoing the changes made by this PPA - PPA Purge will solve everything in case something goes wrong (see below).

To add the WebUpd8 Rhythmbox PPA and upgrade to the latest Rhythmbox 0.13.2 (in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat only!):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/rhythmbox
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Update: along with Rhythmbox, I've also uploaded the latest rhythmbox-radio-browser 2.3.1. Install it from the same PPA using the following command:

sudo apt-get install rhythmbox-radio-browser

Undo any changes made by the WebUpd8 Rhythmbox PPA

Like I said, in case something goes wrong, you can undo all the changes made by the WebUpd8 PPA using PPA Purge. Firstly, install PPA Purge:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge

Then purge the PPA using the following command (PPA Purge disables the PPA and downgrades all the packages in that PPA so everything should go back to the state before adding the PPA):

sudo ppa-purge ppa:webupd8team/rhythmbox

Ubuntu says goodbye to Terminal Server Client. Welcome Remmina!

We discussed last week that We discussed last week that Ubuntu would set aside Rhythmbox to switch to Banshee for its next version, now inform you that there will be all. The client for the remote connection protocol RDP Terminal Server Client will place in the next Ubuntu, 11.04, to make way for Remmina.

Frankly, I could not resist to try it. Here, how to install.
install Remmina in Ubuntu:

Ubuntu says goodbye to Rhythmbox. Welcome Banshee!

Banshee is the default player for the next version of Ubuntu, which will available from the first quarter of next year, Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal (Narval Elegant).

This decision was taken at the session meeting this week at the Ubuntu Developer Summit. This will result in some changes and the adoption of commitments for the support plug-ins that are included in Banshee by default.

support UPNP

Tip: How to rip an audio CD with Rhythmbox

For users of Gnome desktop environment, extract tracks from an audio CD is a task as simple as inserting disc into drive and open "Audio CD Extractor." But for those who like to have "one", then we will see how to extract tracks from an audio CD using Rhythmbox, default audio player for Gnome.

Here's how to rip an audio CD with Rhythmbox:First, insert audio CD in question in

Synchronization Troubleshooting Rhythmbox - iPhone or iPod

Recently Rhythmbox is music player and multimedia in general better known and used in Ubuntu. But many people buy an iPhone or an iPod of any kind with eyes closed without measuring their level of compatibility with any operating system and just when we synchronize our music and our videos to Rhythmbox appears problem of synchronization. Ubuntu does not have an official version of iTunes,