ubuntu won't play a cd

[Mole1]

I am new to linux having been persuaded by the enthusiasm of others to go the GNUlinux root..my first impressions are that for all the dissing of Windows at least if I stick a CD in the tray it plays....I installed ubuntu 9.04 on a VM running alongside WindowXP and upgraded to 9.10.

When I open rhythmbox and put a CD in the tray nothing happens..despite the book saying it will play automatically....after much googling I cannot find anything on this problem..most people are trying to stop autoplay. There is not even a cdrom option in the sidepanel of Rhythmbox. I have installed ubuntu-restricted-extras as advised...nada.

A chat room reply suggested abandon rhythmbox and install vlc which I did...same problem though at least i get an error message "unable to open MRL cdda://dev/sr0". As a complete newbie I do not know what to put int he command line to run rhythmbox or vlc to see the complete error log. Any assistance here much appreciated.

I have spent two days trying to resolve this problem...the equivalent of several months worth of hanging/freezing on windows

[nujinini]

Hi and welcome Mole1!

I am new to linux having been persuaded by the enthusiasm of others to go the GNUlinux root..my first impressions are that for all the dissing of Windows at least if I stick a CD in the tray it plays....I installed ubuntu 9.04 on a VM running alongside WindowXP and upgraded to 9.10.

Is your ubuntu installed wubi or is it installed in a VM such as VirtualBox?

When I open rhythmbox and put a CD in the tray nothing happens..despite the book saying it will play automatically....after much googling I cannot find anything on this problem..most people are trying to stop autoplay. There is not even a cdrom option in the sidepanel of Rhythmbox. I have installed ubuntu-restricted-extras as advised...nada.

I'm not sure but if it's installed in VirtualBox, you still have to do some configuration in order for your VM to read a CD or DVD.

A chat room reply suggested abandon rhythmbox and install vlc which I did...same problem though at least i get an error message "unable to open MRL cdda://dev/sr0". As a complete newbie I do not know what to put int he command line to run rhythmbox or vlc to see the complete error log. Any assistance here much appreciated.

Very seldom have I personally encountered problems with VLC. I think your VM is not reading your CD tray. But it's just a hunch.

I have spent two days trying to resolve this problem...the equivalent of several months worth of hanging/freezing on windows.

If I may suggest, you might find lesser headaches and perhaps enjoy ubuntu more if you install it as a double boot with your XP. I mean if your HD space still allows it. Say...10G partition?

[coopstah13]

you are running in a VM, so you need to make sure that the VM has access to the host CD drive, you will need to set that option (which depends on what V software you're using)