GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 550240
Banshee fails to load files correctly for Sansa devices (and others)
Last modified: 2010-09-06 22:41:38 UTC
Banshee doesn't recognize some Sansa mp3 devices because of a limitation in libmtp (at least it fails with my c240 model, and it seems to be failing with some other Sansa ones, as mentioned in the libmtp pages). Steps to reproduce (at least with my c240 sansa): 1. Run banshee 2. Connect the sansa device. 3. The device is recognized, but no music appears in it. However, if the next steps are followed, then banshee actually sees the mp3 files: 1. Connect the sansa device 2. Run the "mtp-detect" command provided with libmtp, or run any command trying to use the libmtp functionality - it will fail, but the device will be then recognized as a mtp device by gnome-mount. 3. Run banshee - it will recognize it. Basically, based on my research, some mp3 devices can be used both as storage (usb-storage module) and as mtp devices. The problem is that udev/hal is causing some problems when this devices are connected, recognizing them as storage devices, instead of mtp devices, and causing a confusion in the libmtp library. That's event mentioned in the libmtp list, and marked as a thing that needs to be fixed- so don't know if it's worth to have a work-around by now.
Hello, I have a sansa fuze and the same problem happens. However the proposed workaround doesn't work. Running mtp-detect as user returns a "no device found", while as root the command recognizes the mp3 reader as "unknown". In both the cases Banshee doesn't see it. Regards, Alberto
I have a Sansa View, and I'm not having this issue.
Possible workaround: I have a Sansa Clip, which has a preference to whether it presents itself as a mass storage device or as a MTP device (Option "USB Mode" => MTP/MSC). As far as I know this option is common to most Sansa devices. Select MSC there. Should Banshee not recognize the device, create a file name .is_audio_player in the root directory with content as described here: http://www.silwenae.org/blog/?p=604 Doesn't support playlists but otherwise it works nicely for me. Hope this is helpful for someone :-)
Bulk changing the assignee to banshee-maint@gnome.bugs to make it easier for people to get updated on all banshee bugs by following that address. It's usually quite apparent who is working on a given bug by the comments and/or patches attached.
This is not a banshee issue. If the device cannot be detected by banshee it's a libmtp issue. The odds are it's been fixed at this stage, so closing the bug.