Gnome users install gconf-editor:

su -c "yum install -y gconf-editor"

Now go into gconf-editor and set up xmms:

KDE:

*NOTE: If you use compiz, setup for Gnome instead, using gconf-editor. You should try that first anyway, since it seems like they're migrating that way... then try this:

Skip this section if it works. You're done!

If it doesn't work, maybe you don't have xmms. Go to rpm.livna.org and install the livna repo. Now you can:

su -c "yum install xmms* -x *devel*"

Now we'll set up xmms so that it will play a CD if you type a command, such as:
xmms -p /media/cdwriter (or /media/cdrom or whatever it is on your box)

1. run xmms
2. put focus into the main (cd-player-controls-looking) window, and hit control-p
3. choose the "Audio I/O Plugins" tab
4. highlight "CD Audio Player" in the list of input plugins
5. make sure the "enable plugin" button is depressed
6. hit the configure button to bring up another dialog box.
7. for device, use /dev/cdrom (or /dev/cdwriter or whatever)
   
8. for directory, pick something like /media/cdrecorder or /media/cdrom
   
9. optionally select digital extraction as play mode
10. then try "check drive"
11. assuming all that worked, hit the "add drive" button and exit
    
12. reopen xmms, focus its main window, hit l and navigate to that directory you created/specified above
13. you should be able to play whatever is "in" it (fake files representing tracks).
14. if it doesn't work, try removing your ~/.xmms directory and starting over
15. play with system-config-soundcard and kmix if you get no sound from your speakers
    
16. go to Control Center, Peripherals, Storage Media
17. click add
18. under Edit service, change icon to speaker )))
19. change name to "Play in Xmms"
20. under Available medium types, click on Audio CD
21. click the arrow button to have it show up under "Display service for"
22. in the command box, type "xmms -p /media/cdwriter"
23. click ok
24. hit apply
25. insert a CD and choose "Play in Xmms"
26. if it works, re-insert CD and choose always use this action

Now you may want to optionally create a script to eject the CD and shut down xmms. Make a script similar to the following and use the menu editor to create a launcher for it and bind it to a hotkey, such as Command-down. It will work even better if you launch it with kdesu but it will ask for your password each time then.

This page edited conveniently in Firefox and Ineternet Explorer thanks to my Anchorage Net Community Hosting project.