GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 132128
UI problem, no stop button
Last modified: 2009-09-24 20:24:10 UTC
I get really edgy using Totem because it doesn't have a stop button. My perception is that it's bad to leave it on pause. I yearn to press stop. I panic when I can't find it. I guess it comes from years of being told off by my dad for leaving the tape player on pause and wearing out the motor. Now I know a enough about computer programming to know there isn't a motor to burn out, but everytime I want to stop a track my mouse flits between buttons looking for the stop button. I realise this may well be classified as a "user education" issue but there *must* be others who have this problem, even if it's just cultural. I'm not sure what the solution to this is. Another button is just going to clutter the GUI I guess. Sorry.
There won't be a stop button just because "it feels right to have one". There aren't any technical reasons why it should be so right now. If you find any, please reopen this bug.
*** Bug 590460 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
- pausing a file does sometimes hold on to the audio device - pausing a video holds on to the video overlay preventing other apps from using it - pausing a stream holds the buffer, so that when the stream is played again, the few seconds left in the buffer play, then the player re-buffers to a point much further along - if you are playing a single file and want to stop it and start from the beginning again later (e.g. watch the first 30 seconds of a film then get interrupted): - press pause to halt playback - on return (playlist not shown): drag the slider to the beginning - alternatively (playlist shown): double-click the track to return to the beginning, track remains paused; click play - instead of press stop to halt playback, then play to start from the beginning. - pausing a track keeps the file handle open (double-clicking the file in the playlist when paused doesn't close the file handle - after pausing a file from removable media, it can't be unmounted unless the unmounting app supports sending a message to Totem - deleting a file doesn't free disk space
(In reply to comment #3) > - pausing a file does sometimes hold on to the audio device It doesn't if you use a modern audio sub-system, such as PulseAuydio. > - pausing a video holds on to the video overlay preventing other apps from > using it Only happens with crummy drivers that don't have textured Xv overlays. > - pausing a stream holds the buffer, so that when the stream is played again, > the few seconds left in the buffer play, then the player re-buffers to a point > much further along Internally, we stop network streams, they're not paused. > - if you are playing a single file and want to stop it and start from the > beginning again later (e.g. watch the first 30 seconds of a film then get > interrupted): > - press pause to halt playback > - on return (playlist not shown): drag the slider to the beginning > - alternatively (playlist shown): double-click the track to return to the > beginning, track remains paused; click play > - instead of press stop to halt playback, then play to start from the > beginning. Pause when busy, and either resume with play, or restart from the beginning by pressing the "back" button. > - pausing a track keeps the file handle open (double-clicking the file in the > playlist when paused doesn't close the file handle That's expected, I would even call it a feature. > - after pausing a file from removable media, it can't be unmounted unless the > unmounting app supports sending a message to Totem Which you would get in a decent desktop system (eg. any app that uses gvfs will tell Totem to remove the file from its playlist before unmounting). > - deleting a file doesn't free disk space That's the same bug/feature as the one keeping the file handle open.
> It doesn't if you use a modern audio sub-system, such as PulseAuydio. so modern, it doesn't support features like digital audio passthough (http://pulseaudio.org/ticket/167), among other missing features, the poing being that PulseAudio is not capable enough for some hardware. > Only happens with crummy drivers that don't have textured Xv overlays. Not really the user's fault. > Pause when busy, and either resume with play, or restart from the beginning by pressing the "back" button. Nope, back button is greyed out with only one track. > That's expected, I would even call it a feature. Yes, that's expected of a pause button. A stop button, on the other hand, would close the handle. > Which you would get in a decent desktop system (eg. any app that uses gvfs will tell Totem to remove the file from its playlist before unmounting). No, that's any 'desktop system' (by which I guess you mean an app capable of unmounting drives) that uses GVFS. There's plenty of good software that doesn't, or hasn't been ported yet. > There won't be a stop button just because "it feels right to have one". There aren't any technical reasons why it should be so right now. If you find any, please reopen this bug. I have given several technical reasons, but I get the feeling from your response that regardless of the merit or any others, the issue has no chance of reconsideration. I suspect there are few people who use only completely technologically up-to-date and tightly Gnome integrated apps on an 'ideal' set of hardware and drivers that works perfectly as a system, and I find it strange to think that only these users should have a chance at a good experience with Totem. At the very least, this could be provided as a gconf option, so that those who fear the feature creep of a stop button (!) are not unduly upset. What do you say Bastien?