FAQ

   1 0. INTRODUCTION
   2    ============
   3
   4 Q. Who created abcde? Who develops it nowadays?
   5 A. It was originally created by Robert Woodcook. He decided to give up
   6    maintaining it at some point in 2002 and Jesus Climent took over.  Contact
   7    jesus.climent@hispalinux.es if you have a problem or a suggestion.
   8
   9
  10 1. INSTALLATION
  11    ============
  12
  13 Q. How can I install abcde on my system?
  14 A. To get abcde you can use a pre-packaged version, available for Debian,
  15    FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD and others.
  16    In case you want to install your own release, you need to download the
  17    sources and install the complementary programs (abcde is just a frontend
  18    and its functionality is provided by other programs).
  19    Read
  20
  21    abcde needs cd-discid. Grab it from:
  22    http://www.hispalinux.es/~data/files/cd-discid/
  23
  24    Read the README files for a complete list of requirements.
  25
  26
  27 2. EXECUTION
  28    =========
  29
  30 Q. Low on disk space?
  31 A. abcde has different algorithms to schedule ripping and encoding - to
  32    optimize for disk conservation, use -l. You can also define
  33    WAVOUTPUTDIR=/some/other/path to your /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf to
  34    store the WAV files on another NFS shared fisk, for example.
  35
  36 Q. How can i make abcde encode faster? My CD reader is way faster than the pace
  37    it can encode my tracks.
  38 A. abcde can take advantage of SMP systems, just like make. Try 'abcde -j 2' -
  39    it'll run two encoder jobs while it rips the next track.
  40    You can also make use of systems which are networked, with the help of
  41    distmp3. For example, MachineA has a better CPU power and MachineB has a CD
  42    drive. Run distmp3host (included in distmp3) on Machine A, and then run
  43    abcde -r MachineA from MachineB (where "MachineA" is a dns name or IP
  44    address). Use this in combination with '-j 0' to shift all encoding off the
  45    local machine.
  46
  47 Q. I am having problems with *my CD reading program* reading the drive as a
  48    user.
  49 A. You might have to add yourself (or the users who want to use abcde) to the
  50    cdrom group and change the permissions of the cdrom device to 660. If you
  51    have a SCSI cdrom drive, check the permissions of /dev/sg* as well.
  52
  53 Q. I would like to give the trackname and the artist_name directly to the
  54    encoder (in my case oggenc), but found no documentation.
  55 A. That is not possible, since abcde gets the information from CDDB database.
  56    You can create a template and fill it with the option "-n". Also, you can
  57    get the CDDB entry and edit it yourself. abcde has also an option to drop
  58    back to a template if you like none of the CDDB entries, selecting 0 from
  59    the CDDB options.
  60
  61 Q. (Thanks to Amaya) Where are those options and settings defined? Why dont
  62    you include a proper abcde.conf as an example?
  63 A. I do. It should be installed under /etc/abcde.conf and contains more or
  64    less all the defaults abcde uses. You can use $(HOME)/.abcde.conf to
  65    override those defaults. More information can be obtained from the man page
  66    which can be consulted using "man abcde".
  67
  68 Q. I keep on getting files with ".ogg.ogg" extension. What am I doing wrong?
  69 A. The code for multiple-output adds automatically the extension of the
  70    different outputs you select with the "-o" extension (or with OUTPUTTYPE
  71    variable). Erase the ".${OUTPUTTYPE}" part from the OUTPUTFORMAT variable
  72    in /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf
  73
  74 Q. I have modified some of the options, and now CDDB has stopped working.
  75 A. Check that you have modified everything in the right way. For instance, if
  76    you modify the HTTPGET program you might want to set some options of your
  77    own. If you use the predefined ones (wget, curl and fetch) abcde will try
  78    to use some defaults. Keep in mind that the output should go to the output
  79    as standard output, to be saved in a file for later use.
  80
  81    If abcde seems to be ignoring your configuration options or not running
  82    commands such as the encoder, you may have misquoted something. Config
  83    options such as the following do not work:
  84
  85    LAMEOPTS=-h -k
  86
  87    Try this instead:
  88
  89    LAMEOPTS='-h -k'
  90
  91 Q. How can I separate the different output files I get using multiple-output
  92    support?
  93 A. Use the OUTPUT variable in PLAYLISTFORMAT and OUTPUTFORMAT. It holds the
  94    different output file types you passed to abcde (i.e., ogg, mp3, flac)
  95    during playlist creation and file/directory creation.
  96
  97 Q. I have a CD with a data track, and abcde complaints it cannot read/encode
  98    it.
  99 A. It is not easy to find a data track on a CD. Right now, I can only think
 100    of getting the track info from CDDB and ask the user for continuing should
 101    a "data" track name is found. But the solution is far from been optimal.
 102    For now, if you find a "data" track and you know the number, restart abcde
 103    specifying the tracks to be encoded, leaving out the data one.
 104    Version 2.2 includes some checkings with cdparanoia, to try to get this
 105    right.
 106
 107 Q. I am requested to have "eject" when setting the speed although I do not use
 108    it for anything.
 109 A. If you do not use cdparanoia, eject is used for setting the speed of the
 110    cdrom drive. You can substitute it for "setcd" with "-x" as the argument,
 111    but you have to install it manually (setcd is, at least, available in
 112    Debian).
 113    Another way to get the same results is using the pre_read function, defined
 114    in your /etc/abcde.conf file.
 115
 116 Q. I have a CD set with 1+ discs, and want to have them in the same directory,
 117    sorted properly. What can abcde do for me?
 118 A. Set abcde to rip the first CD and give it the option "-t 101". Use a generic
 119    name for the CD, and reuse it with the rest of the CDs, editing the CDDB
 120    entries. Use "-t 201" for the second CD and so on. Use "-w <comment>" to
 121    add a comment about the CD you are ripping (-w "disc #"). Alternatively you
 122    can use only the "-t ###" option and then move all the files to the same
 123    directory. If you want the tagged track number to be set to the modified
 124    number you should use "-T ###". Even more! If you use "-W <cd_number>",
 125    abcde will put a comment to every CD set ("CD <number>") and use modify the
 126    number of the tracks.
 127
 128 Q. I have a live concert. I want to encode it in a single file. How do i do it?
 129 A. Use "-1" and it will be encoded in a single file.
 130
 131 3. CDDB
 132    ====
 133
 134 Q. I need to go through an HTTP proxy for CDDB access.
 135 A. No problem, just export your http_proxy variable first so wget/fetch/curl
 136    can see it.
 137
 138 Q. I already store CDDB entries in my hard disc. Can I make use of them?
 139 A. Piece of cake. Just edit CDDBLOCALDIR to point to the repository and give
 140    abcde the "-L" flag to make use of it.
 141
 142 Q. Fine, now it uses local CDDB, but I have no network connection. How can I
 143    disable CDDB checks?
 144 A. Use the "-L -n" combination. It will try to use local CDDB entries, and if
 145    nothing can be found, it will use a template. You will be also given the
 146    choice to edit such template.
 147
 148 Q. How can I use some other CDDB information provider?
 149 A. abcde now uses FreeDB by default. To use a different FreeDB mirror or
 150    another CDDB service, change the CDDBURL option in your abcde.conf.
 151
 152
 153 3. FORMATS
 154    =======
 155
 156 Q. What formats can I encode my music to?
 157 A. As for version 2.2, abcde includes support for MP3, Ogg/Vorbis,
 158    Ogg/Speex, Flac and MPP/MP+(Musepack). Support for AAC will be added once
 159    an FLOSS encoder/decoder is working.
 160
 161 Q. I want the new *put the newest and coolest codec there* format to be
 162    supported by abcde. Abcde is so cool but i want to encode also to this
 163    new format...
 164 A. Patches are welcome! ;)
 165    No, seriously, if the format is usable, available for Linux and open
 166    source/free software, it should be fairly easy to integrate. Support for
 167    AAC (m4p) should be the next one to be introduced.
 168
 169 Q. I use Debian/RedHat/(put your Unix flavour here) and MP3 encoding is not
 170    working. What am I doing wrong?
 171 A. Since MP3 is considered non-free (you get it for free, but hardware players
 172    and net broadcasters have to pay license fees), some release engineering
 173    groups and release management teams have decided not to provide MP3 encoding
 174    tools.
 175    These distributions or operative systems have decided to use Ogg/Vorbis as
 176    the default encoding format, since it contains no (known) patent claims
 177    and they are (supposed to be) completely Free (released under a BSD-like
 178    license).
 179    However, there is no strong (at the moment) hardware support, although
 180    some groups and companies are strongly working on getting it, real soon
 181    now. For that reason some people prefer to encode to MP3.
 182
 183    UPDATE *** UPDATE
 184    There are at least 3 known brands already selling Ogg/Vorbis portable
 185    players: Rio, iRiver and Neuros.
 186    Go buy one and you have no more reasons to use MP3.
 187
 188    If you are among those individuals, you might need to add support for MP3
 189    encoding to your system:
 190    Debian : check http://marillat.free.fr to install lame in your system.
 191             others prefer bladeenc. Check www.apt-get.org or google.
 192    RedHat : search on rpmfind.net
 193    FreeBSD: By default includes LAME support.
 194    OpenBSD: Available by specifying you want to install the port with LAME
 195             support, or by just installing it later from the ports tree.
 196    NetBSD : Available in pkgsrc.
 197
 198    Others : Please, help me here.
 199
 200 Q. Huh! Why is MPPENCODER (with MPP) and .mpc the extension?
 201 A. Dunno. You must ask the guys who created and defined the format. The
 202    standard is MPEGplus (MPP/MP+) but the files use .mpc extension.
 203
 204
 205 4. MISC PROBLEMS
 206    ==== ========
 207
 208 Q. What happened with normalize?
 209 A. Normalize has changed its name under Debian, which is the GNU/Linux
 210    distribution for developing abcde (well, is The GNU/Linux Distribution
 211    i only use, at the moment). Now it is called normalize-audio.
 212    If you are using some other flavour of OS, you need to change the name
 213    of the executable in your abcde.conf file.
 214
 215 Q. I am using MacOSX and I am having problems to use abcde.
 216 A. Well, I have a Mac, but I use linux on it. I have not been able to find
 217    a way to make it work there, since I do not have the development tools
 218    installed. I have placed a basic support, but some user reports are just
 219    complaining about abcde not encoding the ripped tracks, as if
 220    cdda2wav/cdparanoia/cddafs would never end reading them. If you have such
 221    a system and experience problems, please, report them, and I will try to
 222    work them out with your help.
 223
 224 Q. My hardware player (put it here) does not recognize the playlists created
 225    with abcde. What I am doing wrong?
 226 A. Try using "-m" when creating the playlists, or setting DOSPLAYLIST as an
 227    option in the config file.
 228
 229 OBSOLETE
 230 --------
 231 Q. I set KEEPWAVS to "y" but abcde insists on erasing my directory, along
 232    with the wav tracks. What I am doing wrong?
 233 A. The default action set includes clean, which cleans the temp directory,
 234    if nothing goes wrong. Take the "clean" out from the action list and you
 235    are done.
 236    UPDATE: KEEPWAVS unselects now the clean action.
 237
 238 --
 239 Jesus Climent <jesus.climent@hispalinux.es>