KsCD, the KDE CD Player

You might remember that I mentioned KsCD earlier on in this book, when I was discussing command execution (Chapter 4). This is the default CD player included as part of the KDE desktop (Figure 18-3).

Figure 18-3. KsCD, the default KDE CD player.

If all you want to do is play your CDs and have a simple, easy-to-use interface, look no further. Click the application starter (the big K), and look for KsCD under the Multimedia menu (the command name is kscd). Then push the play button, sit back, and enjoy.

Once KsCD is started, look in your system tray. You'll see a small icon that looks like a CD with a musical note across it. Left-click the icon, and the CD player disappears into the panel. Right-click it, and you'll have access to the basic CD player controls (forward, next, stop, play, etc.).

Tip

If you've minimized the players, click the KsCD icon to bring it back. Look at the bottom of the player; you'll see a button labeled Extras. I'll let you explore the features there, but first I want to direct your attention to something. PCs are sometimes built without a sound cable attached from the CD player to the motherboard. If you aren't getting any sound when you try to play a CD, this might be something to look at. Take out any CD you may have in the drive. Click the Extras button and select Configure KsCD. When the configure dialog appears, make sure you have the CD Player icon clicked in the left-hand sidebar. Now look about two-thirds of the way down, to a section titled CD-ROM device, with a checkbox beside the words Use direct digital playback. Click the checkbox, click OK, and try your CD again.