Bug 218000

Summary: Amarok should handle mounted collections less aggressively
Product: [Applications] amarok Reporter: Russ Brown <pickscrape>
Component: generalAssignee: Amarok Developers <amarok-bugs-dist>
Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE    
Severity: wishlist CC: bodom, hsantanna
Priority: NOR    
Version: 2.2.0   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: Ubuntu   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Russ Brown 2009-12-09 16:17:36 UTC 
Version:           2.2.0 (using KDE 4.3.2)
OS:                Linux
Installed from:    Ubuntu Packages

My collection is stored on a server that I access via cifs/samba. I do not want this mount to happen automatically for various reasons that aren't relevant.

When I log in, amarok starts up automatically and, seeing that my collection directory does not exist any more, completely wipes out my collection, causing me to need to scan it all over again after I mount.

Ideally, I would be able to tell Amarok that my collection directory can go away, and when it does it should not be so aggressive with clearing out my collection. It could show a useful message telling me that my collection isn't there, and when I mount the collection, amarok could then detect that and start displaying the collection as normal.

Thinking out loud now, it may not be necessary to have to tell Amarok that the collection is in a location that may go away: it may be better to just tie it in with the "your collection isn't there" message that I propose above: it could offer a couple of options: "clear collection" or "wait for it".

So in summary, here's what I want to happen when I log into KDE:

 1. Amarok starts up as normal.
 2. Amarok notices that the collection has vanished, and shows a message in the UI (probably a non-modal one to allow the user to go in an configure a new collection location if needs be).
 3. I mount my collection directory
 4. Amarok notices the directory reappearing, removes the "collection is gone" message, and brings up the collection as normal
 5. I start playing Christmas tunes ;)
Comment 1 Henrique Sant'Anna 2009-12-09 21:01:12 UTC 
This is a very relevant report. Also apply to USB external storage, and local partitions not mounted yet. Amarok should not totally remove those files from its library, but mark that files as temporally unavailable instead. 

I just disagree about asking the user what to do, that is too much intrusive.
Comment 2 Russ Brown 2009-12-09 21:11:56 UTC 
I had in mind one of those non-invasive messages that a lot of applications are using these days (for example, the password save prompt that firefox now uses to replace the intrusive modal dialog that it used to have).

Without any sort of notification at all, the user may not realise why their music isn't showing up.

Maybe a suitable compromise would be for a non-interactive message that just lets the user know what is going on: no options, just information.
Comment 3 Gabriele Tozzi 2009-12-25 12:45:55 UTC 
This bug affects me too. It applies to 2.2.1 too.

Please stop amarok from wiping my entire collection when I umount it. It should be smarter and automatically detect that the mount has gone, and, simply, do not update the database. The error message when I try to play a file that has been deleted/umounted is fine and does the job, just stop amarok from updating database when the mount is gone.
Comment 4 Myriam Schweingruber 2009-12-25 13:07:05 UTC 

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 171213 ***