Totem : impossible to move cursor on MP3 files (Natty - Oneiric)

[Xavier Guillot]

Binary package hint: totem

Hello,

Since I installed Ubuntu Natty (alpha 2), I have a reproductible problem with Totem.

It reads all audio and video files very well, but with MP3 it is impossible to move the cursor to change position and time on the file, it remains gray and do not change. MP3 file is read completely from beginning to end, but no possibility to go forward or back in the song.

It happens of all MP3 I have, but not on OGG, WMV or AVI files, here cursor works and I can choose position.

Bug seen with Totem 2.32.0 using GStreamer 0.10.32 on Ubuntu Natty 64 bits updated.

Other people have the same bug : http://forum.ubuntu-fr.org/viewtopic.php?id=445680

Thanks. Xavier

[Xavier Guillot (valeryan-24)]

I just installed fresh Natty 64 beta, and I still have the problem with Totem on some (not all) MP3 files, no possibility to move inside song.

It's not a problem of permission (user has the rights on the file) and same song which does not work on Totem, with VLC I can move the cursor...

[Xavier Guillot (valeryan-24)]

It could be a problem with MP3 parser which does not read correctly the index of some MP3 files ?

[Xavier Guillot (valeryan-24)]

Problem still present in Totem.

Could it be related to this old Gstreamer bug : https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gstreamer0.10/+bug/226801 ?

I have Totem, plugins, and all gstreamer (ffmpeg, plugins-good, bad, ugly, fluendo-mp3) installed.

[Ville Ranki (ville-ranki)]

I suffer from the same problem, but i noticed that some mp3's can be seeked while other can't be.

Seekable:

$ mp3info -x tempest-vtyyli.mp3
tempest-vtyyli.mp3 does not have an ID3 1.x tag.
File: tempest-vtyyli.mp3
Media Type: MPEG 1.0 Layer III
Audio: 192 kbps, 44 kHz (joint stereo)
Emphasis: none
CRC: No
Copyright: No
Original: Yes
Padding: Yes
Length: 3:52

$ mp3info -x teemup-mind09.mp3
File: teemup-mind09.mp3
Title: What's On Your Mind Track:
Artist: Teemu P
Album: Year: 2009
Comment: Genre: House [35]
Media Type: MPEG 1.0 Layer III
Audio: Variable kbps, 44 kHz (joint stereo)
Emphasis: none
CRC: No
Copyright: No
Original: No
Padding: No
Length: 53:20

$ mp3info -x dallas.mp3
File: dallas.mp3
Title: Dallas Track: 34
Artist: TV-Serien Hits
Album: TV-Serien Hits Year: 2007
Comment: one group to rule them all Genre: Soundtrack [24]
Media Type: MPEG 1.0 Layer III
Audio: Variable kbps, 44 kHz (joint stereo)
Emphasis: none
CRC: No
Copyright: No
Original: Yes
Padding: No
Length: 2:01

Not seekable:

$ mp3info -x hh-ymh.mp3
File: hh-ymh.mp3
Title: Yama-Ha Track: 6
Artist: Humpe & Humpe
Album: Humpe & Humpe Year: 1996
Comment: Genre: Rock [17]
Media Type: MPEG 1.0 Layer III
Audio: 128 kbps, 44 kHz (joint stereo)
Emphasis: none
CRC: No
Copyright: No
Original: No
Padding: No
Length: 2:47

$ mp3info -x catch_that_goblin\!\!.mp3
File: catch_that_goblin!!.mp3
Title: Catch That Goblin!! Track:
Artist: Skaven
Album: Year: 1995
Comment: <email address hidden> Genre: Soundtrack [24]
Media Type: MPEG 1.0 Layer III
Audio: 128 kbps, 44 kHz (joint stereo)
Emphasis: none
CRC: No
Copyright: No
Original: Yes
Padding: Yes
Length: 1:57

The only seekable ones i found in a quick test are VBR or high bitrate encoded in 2000's and the rest seem to be older. Could gstreamer have problem with files encoded with some old mp3 encoder?

[Peter Würtz (pwuertz)]

As a workaround, one can force gstreamer to use a different plugin for playing mp3s:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=10876312

sudo apt-get remove gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly

sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse gstreamer0.10-fluendo-plugins-mp3-partner

[Pedro Villavicencio (pedro)]

Thanks for the report, that's more like a gstreamer bug though , could somebody having the issue please send it upstream to bugzilla.gnome.org ? Thanks in advance.

[draxx31 (draxx31)]

I have the same problem on natty and Totem.

The workaround described by Peter Würthz (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gstreamer0.10/+bug/742335/comments/5) works well !

Thank you.

[Marin (marin-m)]

The WebM videos can't be read with the workaround.

[Xavier Guillot (valeryan-24)]

The problem is still present in Ubuntu 11.10 alpha 2...

[Mahendra Tallur (mahen)]

Under natty, the issue can be worked around (and other seeking problems) by using the gstreamer PPA.

I wonder why the problem exists under Oneiric, though.

[Xavier Guillot (valeryan-24)]

I noticed the problem once in Oneiric, after your message I retried to read with Totem yesterday many MP3 files, from songs or radio podcasts, all worked well, with possibility to pause or move inside, so it seems right, I'll update if I have the bug again in the future...