rhapsody for linux

[tikal26]

anyone tried rhapsody for linux?
so far I am happy that there is one less thing I need windows for its a shame tha tI can do my rhapsody to go service, but soon

[aysiu]

I've listened to a couple of songs. Works just fine.

[flange]

I'm (anxiously!) waiting for the updates to allow it to work with FF 1.5. I've got it going on my Mac though. It's so nice to be able to use it without Windows. Right now I have to run WinXP through VMWare on Breezy to get Rhapsody on Linux. It's a huge resource hog just to be able to play good music.

[tikal26]

I am just wondering how is it that it works. because it went smotthly, but I really don't know what was installed or where was it installed or anything like that. Anyone knows how they do it?

[aysiu]

I am just wondering how is it that it works. because it went smotthly, but I really don't know what was installed or where was it installed or anything like that. Anyone knows how they do it? Well, what I did was create an account (you give them an email address and password) and then install the Firefox extension to be able to listen to the music. You get 25 free listens (the whole song).

I haven't tried downloading anything.

[tikal26]

ok it works it just that I am used to the windows interafe. apparently you can only stream music. They are plannig on adding features along the way but as of right no they are only allowing us to stream which is fine by me I do that anyway but if I want to buy something I still have to boot into windows.

[darrensnospam]

anyone tried rhapsody for linux?
so far I am happy that there is one less thing I need windows for its a shame tha tI can do my rhapsody to go service, but soon

tikal26,

It's my understanding that RhapsodyToGo uses Microsoft's DRM to control the downloaded files and allow them to play on devices with the "plays for sure" Microsoft Media Player logo on them.

http://www.playsforsure.com/

What's truly ironic about RealNetworks is that they are using Microsoft's DRM to sell their own products. Wasn't Microsoft RealNetworks' arch enemy for awhile?

Microsoft was pretty smart with their codecs and Media Player. They aligned themselves with the music and movie industry. If you (legally) want to access certain forms of entertainment and use it in certain ways, you have to use some form of Microsoft product.

There are application alternatives to running either Microsoft products or products on an MS platform. I think the bigger threat is Microsoft's media codecs, products and DRM. Interestingly, Microsoft licenses their codecs to run on Linux devices. Here's an example: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20040428-3707.html

I'm really surprised that Apple hasn't come out with a service to compete with Rhapsody and the new Napster. (Using Apple's DRM of course.) Perhaps it's only a matter of time.

It would be nice if RealNetworks used their own DRM solution (assuming they have one or would create one) which would run on a variety of OSes.

This issue could be a moot point in a few years anyway. If wireless technology (cellphones?) get's to the point where WiFi is everywhere, you could simply login to Rhapsody on your Linux handheld running a micro version of FireFox and stream your songs from Rhapsody.

Incidentally, now that Rhapsody is available on Linux, I could completly abandon Windows. (Almost anyway. We could talk about legally watching DVDs on Linux but there are plenty of threads about that.)

Thoughts?

[tikal26]

yeah I saw that before and don't know if its good or bad. I am still deciding. I guess one thing that would help linux overall is for commercial application to be available or maybe a mixture of bith would be good. I have also noticed that some of the web2.0 sites that have dowloadable software are making linux version like
http://www.songbirdnest.com/roblord/story/what_is_songbird
or oboes from mp3tunes.com (I was able to dowload thei music syncing software)
Well the idea is that linux no matter what others would have you believe is becoming a vaiable platform and all of this new offering I feel target net savy users. Most of us linux users (I believe) like innovation and for what I have notice are pretty demanding. I am always amazed at the demands of some open source application and I think that some commercial vendors understand that.
Well enough of my ranting

[twowheeler]

Hmm, how do you guys get rhapsody running? I can install it, but as soon as I log in it crashes and takes firefox down with it. I have a completely up to date hoary system on a P4 2.8ghz box with 1GB ram. :confused:

[tikal26]

uhh
I have the same problem if I try to close the box with the player but it is fine for playing my musci only when I shut it down it gives me a hard time. I use breezy though. I begin wondering what is causing this?

[gylf]

My problem is the tempo of the music.
I'm running Breezy and the FF plugin installed just fine. The songs play, but the tempo is all messed up... everything plays at about 1/2 the speed it should.

[tikal26]

no I with me they play fine it sjust when I try to change the reacord that I crash

[mistergq]

My problem is the tempo of the music.
I'm running Breezy and the FF plugin installed just fine. The songs play, but the tempo is all messed up... everything plays at about 1/2 the speed it should.
This is the exact same problem I am having. I have a Rhapsody unlimited account so I got the plugin and was checking out the website.

One thing I was disappointed about is that I have a lot of songs in my albums that is in the windows version. I have rhapsody on two computers: my home and my office. If I add album(s) to one, the next time I sign on, rhapsody updates the other computer the next time it signs on.

Then I noticed people mentioning they were having problems with playing. So I tried to play a song...and it was half the speed.

[gylf]

Then I noticed people mentioning they were having problems with playing. So I tried to play a song...and it was half the speed.

Someone on /. mentioned that they had the problem using Breezy as well.

I wonder if it was a bad plugin installation? Anyone have an idea how to re-install the plugin? I installed my plugin on release day, when did you install yours?

[mistergq]

Here is what Rhapsody has to say about music not playing correctly:

http://reclisten.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/reclisten.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=5377

If your Rhapsody.com music stutters, skips, pauses, or loops, it may be caused by one of the following issues:

1. Your computer may not meet Rhapsody.com’s minimum system requirements.
2. You have too many programs open.
3. The song itself is corrupted.
4. Your Internet connection may be slow.
5. Your sound card drivers may be outdated.

Solution 1: Ensure your system meets minimum requirements.

Please ensure your system meets the minimum hardware and software requirements for Rhapsody.com.

Solution 2: Close other programs.

If your system does meet Rhapsody.com's system requirements, you may have too many programs open. Please close any open programs and try playing Rhapsody.com music again.

Solution 3: Try playing other files.

To verify that the problem is not just with the one song, try playing other songs on Rhapsody.com. If other songs play, then the problem may be with the specific song you were trying to play.

Solution 4: Check your Internet connection.

If you are experiencing problems with poor playback quality while streaming content, it may be related to heavy traffic on the Internet, or your connection is not fast enough to play the track smoothly. You can try connecting to the site at a different time or increase the speed of your Internet connection.

Solution 5: Update your sound card drivers.

Your computer uses driver software to send information to the sound card. Rhapsody may not be able to play sound if the driver software is out-of-date, corrupt, or has other problems. To resolve these issues, it is recommended that you update your sound card drivers on a regular basis. To verify that you are using the latest drivers, contact your sound card manufacturer or visit their Web site.

[gylf]

Here is what Rhapsody has to say about music not playing correctly:

http://reclisten.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/reclisten.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=5377

If your Rhapsody.com music stutters, skips, pauses, or loops, it may be caused by one of the following issues:

1. Your computer may not meet Rhapsody.com’s minimum system requirements.

2.5ghz Pentium w/ 1.3GB ram, firefox version: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.7.12) Gecko/20051010 Firefox/1.0.7 (Ubuntu package 1.0.7)

2. You have too many programs open.

Nothing but firefox

3. The song itself is corrupted.

I tried a lot of different songs, if THAT many are corrupted I don't want the service anyway.

4. Your Internet connection may be slow.

6MB download

5. Your sound card drivers may be outdated.

Soundblaster Live! card and it works with everything else: games, teamspeak, even RealPlayer... just not the rhapsody firefox plugin.

[mistergq]

Someone on /. mentioned that they had the problem using Breezy as well.

I wonder if it was a bad plugin installation? Anyone have an idea how to re-install the plugin? I installed my plugin on release day, when did you install yours?
I am using what ever was installed with Breezy. I tried to update to the newest ALAS, but was not successful at it. I am going to have to wait to drapper for that.

I am using an Intel sound chip in my laptop. I do not have linux installed on a desktop. I may install this on my wife's computer (she has a large enough hard drive that I can partition it to give me enough space to play with breezy on it) and see if it works on that.

This is kind of weird. I have not tried playing over MP3, but I am able to play DVDs and CDs without any problems.

[aysiu]

I'm (anxiously!) waiting for the updates to allow it to work with FF 1.5 I just recently upgraded to 1.5 just for kicks, and I got this message. Bummer.

[teal]

I can't even get it to install. WHen I go to the page to download the plugin I get:
We're sorry but the combination of your operating system and Firefox 1.5 is not currently supported.

I'm running on Kubuntu Breexy Badger

Any Ideas?

[mustang]

Well, what I did was create an account (you give them an email address and password) and then install the Firefox extension to be able to listen to the music. You get 25 free listens (the whole song).

I haven't tried downloading anything.

What firefox extension are you talking about?

Also, when I go to create an account, it asks for a credit card # too. I'd rather not give that out...

edit: n/m..just saw your most recent post in this thread...

[godrox]

Anyone come up with a work-around for playing Rhapsody in Firefox 1.5? Or are you guys using a different browser that is supported instead? How can I stream from my Rhapsody account if I'm using Ubuntu and only have Firefox 1.5 installed as my broswer?

[uberlaff]

I'm not sure why Rhapsody doesn't work... but I have a feeling that this is going to be solved pretty quickly.

if you really want to use rhapsody there are some instructions out there to downgrade firefox to 1.0.7.

I'm so pumped they did this... Rhapsody was one of the main reasons I was holding back changing my desktop over to full time Ubuntu. now if they can only figure out how to transfer purchased songs to my ipod on linux ;)

[godrox]

I'd rather not downgrade Firefox.

To transfer to your ipod, can't you just convert the purchased wma files to mp3? I haven't done this for Linux yet, but I know in Windows there are several ways to convert protected music to mp3. I'm sure someone with Ubuntu has figured it out by now, too.

[tikal26]

I burned the bought tracks and then ripped them, but is still nice to use it on linux so that I can listen to whateve music I want whenever I want.

[uberlaff]

anyone know if rhapsody is working in 1.5 yet?

[godrox]

It isn't working for me yet.

[chuvisco]

I have Fx 1.5 installed, but the instructions I followed left 1.0.7 on my system and I can launch it by running /usr/lib/mozilla-firefox/firefox. So I can use Rhapsody that way.

[gylf]

I've got it working (finally)
I'm using Dapper
Download firefox 1.0.7 from the mozilla FTP.
Also make sure you have glibc installed (its in the requirements on the Rhapsody customer support page)

[The Running Board]

I cant seem to get the engine to even install....any suggestions for teh n00b?

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=151804

[The Running Board]

I also have Firefox 1.0.7 and am running Breezy.

[gylf]

I also have Firefox 1.0.7 and am running Breezy.

Is glibc installed? What version?
I was always able to get it installed w/ 1.0.7, but it would play at a slow tempo on breezy.

Definitely try downloading a "clean" copy and running it from a folder on your desktop. By clean I mean a copy w/ no extensions installed.

[The Running Board]

No, all that ive got now is just libc, not glibc...is that going to make a difference? I dl'ed the install for 1.0.7...but cant seem to get it to install...I keep getting errors:

kyle@lappyUBUNTU64:~$ cd /home/kyle/Desktop/firefox-installer
kyle@lappyUBUNTU64:~/Desktop/firefox-installer$ ls
config.ini firefox-installer-bin install.ini watermark.png
firefox-installer header.png license.txt xpi
kyle@lappyUBUNTU64:~/Desktop/firefox-installer$ ./firefox-installer

(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Gdk-WARNING **: locale not supported by Xlib

(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Gdk-WARNING **: cannot set locale modifiers

(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Gdk-WARNING **: Error converting from UTF-8 to STRING: Conversion from character set 'UTF-8' to 'ISO-8859-1' is not supported

(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Gdk-WARNING **: Error converting from UTF-8 to STRING: Conversion from character set 'UTF-8' to 'ISO-8859-1' is not supported

(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Gtk-WARNING **: /usr/lib/gtk-2.0/2.4.0/engines/libclearlooks.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Pango-WARNING **: /usr/lib/pango/1.4.0/modules/pango-basic-fc.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Failed to load Pango module for id: 'BasicScriptEngineFc'
(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Pango-WARNING **: /usr/lib/pango/1.4.0/modules/pango-basic-fc.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Failed to load Pango module for id: 'BasicScriptEngineFc'
(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Pango-WARNING **: /usr/lib/pango/1.4.0/modules/pango-basic-fc.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Failed to load Pango module for id: 'BasicScriptEngineFc'
(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Pango-WARNING **: /usr/lib/pango/1.4.0/modules/pango-basic-fc.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Failed to load Pango module for id: 'BasicScriptEngineFc'
(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Pango-WARNING **: /usr/lib/pango/1.4.0/modules/pango-basic-fc.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Failed to load Pango module for id: 'BasicScriptEngineFc'
(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Pango-WARNING **: /usr/lib/pango/1.4.0/modules/pango-basic-fc.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Failed to load Pango module for id: 'BasicScriptEngineFc'
(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Pango-WARNING **: /usr/lib/pango/1.4.0/modules/pango-basic-fc.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Failed to load Pango module for id: 'BasicScriptEngineFc'
(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Pango-WARNING **: /usr/lib/pango/1.4.0/modules/pango-basic-fc.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Failed to load Pango module for id: 'BasicScriptEngineFc'
(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Pango-WARNING **: /usr/lib/pango/1.4.0/modules/pango-basic-fc.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Failed to load Pango module for id: 'BasicScriptEngineFc'
(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Pango-WARNING **: /usr/lib/pango/1.4.0/modules/pango-basic-fc.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Failed to load Pango module for id: 'BasicScriptEngineFc'
(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Pango-WARNING **: /usr/lib/pango/1.4.0/modules/pango-basic-fc.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Failed to load Pango module for id: 'BasicScriptEngineFc'
(firefox-installer-bin:9634): Pango-CRITICAL **: _pango_engine_shape_shape: assertion `PANGO_IS_FONT (font)' failed

Pango-ERROR **: file shape.c: line 75 (pango_shape): assertion failed: (glyphs->num_glyphs > 0)
aborting...
./firefox-installer: line 56: 9634 Aborted ./${BINNAME}-bin $@
kyle@lappyUBUNTU64:~/Desktop/firefox-installer$


Obviously, I am a newb, and most likely am doing this wrong...please point me in the right direction.

[gylf]

No, all that ive got now is just libc, not glibc...is that going to make a difference? I dl'ed the install for 1.0.7...but cant seem to get it to install...I keep getting errors:



Obviously, I am a newb, and most likely am doing this wrong...please point me in the right direction.

You don't need to install it. There are two packages availible: one is the installer, the other is just a firefox folder. Download the folder and extract it to your desktop. Shutdown all other instances of firefox and run "firefox.sh" or firefox-bin from the directory. A fresh copy of 1.0.7 should start up.

concerning glibc... do a search in synaptic for stuff named "glibc" and see what comes up. There should be two or three packages (there were three in dapper, none were named exactly glibc, but were some version of it)

Edit: on a side note, the reason the installer was not working is because you were not running it as root. That's probably a good thing, since you don't want to overwrite stuff outside your home folder in this case, as it might mess up your system. Just one example of how linux provides a saftey net for new users :)

[aysiu]

Well, I guess Rhapsody and Firefox 1.5 are still not good buddies.

Anyone else have a workaround? Should I install 1.0.7...?

[gylf]

I'm not sure what is going on there, but I'm guessing you have plenty of sufficient disk space?

Try the plugin from the Dapper LiveCD, see if it installs on that fresh copy of firefox. I'm running a clean install of Dapper and the plugin installed without a problem (FF 1.5.0.4).

[aysiu]

I'm not sure what is going on there, but I'm guessing you have plenty of sufficient disk space? df -h
/dev/hda7 8.8G 3.6G 4.9G 43% / Oh, yeah. I've got plenty of disk space.

Try the plugin from the Dapper LiveCD, see if it installs on that fresh copy of firefox. I'm running a clean install of Dapper and the plugin installed without a problem (FF 1.5.0.4). I'll give it a shot. Incidentally, I did--using another user on my computer and xnest--manage to install it with Firefox 1.0.8.

I'll try the live CD, though. See what happens. Maybe it's something with 1.5.0.4 from Mozilla? (as opposed to from Ubuntu)

[aysiu]

Okay. I did some experimenting.

I booted the live CD. Installed it on 1.5.0.4. No problems.

Tried a different user with Ubuntu's 1.5.0.4 on my installed computer. No problems.

Obviously, as stated before, I tried it with Mozilla's 1.0.8, and it worked.

But... on a fresh profile, different user, I tried it on 1.5.0.4 from Mozilla--no dice.

[motrennoc]

Am I missing something? I go to rhapsody.com and they (clearly) state that "at this time rhapsody is only avaiable for windows users" and there are no extensions availible in firefox.

I just started with Ubuntu/linux, have I just caught rhapsody at a bad time or do they just not support linux?
Thanks T

[aysiu]

Am I missing something? I go to rhapsody.com and they (clearly) state that "at this time rhapsody is only avaiable for windows users" and there are no extensions availible in firefox.

I just started with Ubuntu/linux, have I just caught rhapsody at a bad time or do they just not support linux?
Thanks T
Where did you see that?

This is what I saw in the Help section.

[gylf]

Go to rhapsody.com. Make sure you allow popups for the site. Click "sign in." Create an account if you don't have one and log on. Then try playing any song. A popup windows will appear and walk you through installing the plugin. Once installed, the song will (at least try to) play.

Even if you don't pay you still get 25(?) free songs per month.

[motrennoc]

thanks for your patience. I'm still trying to figure out where to post things.

I was trying to download the Rhapsody software (as opposed to online rhapsody) The download for that is an .exe file and it doessay that it is unavailable for linux. Anyhow, the online versioin is fine.
thanks for your help

[godrox]

Previously Rhapsody on the web only worked with older versions of Firefox, but it seems to work great with Firefox 2.0.

[ciscosurfer]

OK Ladies and Germs, here's the dirt on how to get the Rhapsody online service/player to work for you (and quick hack--ymmv, but it worked for me). This assumes that a) you have a current build of FF or SF (read: FF 2.0 or SF 2.0) installed on your system, and b) you're willing to mess around a little to get it to work:

If you previously installed the Rhapsody plugin in versions above FF 1.0.1 and before FF 2.0 (or Swiftfox 2.0), then the plugin will be ready for you to use online at Rhapsody.com (http://www.rhapsody.com).

If you have recently installed Ubuntu (read: fresh install; Edgy or the like), and no older versions of FF exist on your system, then you have go through a few hoops to get the Rhapsody plugin to work.

Step 1: Download FF 1.5 (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/products/download.html?product=firefox-1.5&os=linux&lang=en-US)

Step 2: Run FF 1.5 (DO NOT INSTALL), go to Rhapsody.com (http://www.rhapsody.com), search for your favorite artist, click the link to play a song.

Step 3 (hack, part 1): A popup will load asking if you'd like to download the Rhapsody plugin. Click yes. The download will proceed. Once complete, close out your browser.

Step 4 (hack, part 2): At this point, your new Rhapsody plugin will be installed in your main firefox directory located at ~/.mozilla/plugins and ready to use.

Step 5 (hack, part 3): Running from your current FF or SF build. To get sound to work, you need to issue the old 'aoss' hack, either from the console or from a launcher. For example, if you want to run FF from the command line, you would issueaoss firefoxFor SF, you would issueaoss /opt/swiftfox/swiftfoxYou can add either one of these to your currect launchers or create new ones to suit your needs.

I came up with this because my current build of FF and SF wouldn't allow me to download the plugin from Rhapsody in order to use the online player (and perhaps later, use it for subscription to their service?)

If you can get sound to work without the alsa oss hack, more power to you! I couldn't, so I needed to prepend my command.

Enjoy!

[godrox]

Or, just upgrade to Firefox 2.0 and Rhapsody works fine. :)

[ciscosurfer]

Or, just upgrade to Firefox 2.0 and Rhapsody works fine. :)

I believe I mentioned that ;)

And getting it to work was contingent on having the plugin already there.

And like I said, your mileage may vary. 8)