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 Q. I have a problem, and I reported some time ago. When are you going to
  27    release a new version?
  28 A. Try downloading the trunk of the development from
  29    http://svn.hispalinux.es:8080/svn/abcde/trunk
  30
  31
  32 2. EXECUTION
  33    =========
  34
  35 Q. Low on disk space?
  36 A. abcde has different algorithms to schedule ripping and encoding - to
  37    optimize for disk conservation, use -l. You can also define
  38    WAVOUTPUTDIR=/some/other/path to your /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf to
  39    store the WAV files on another NFS shared fisk, for example.
  40
  41 Q. How can i make abcde encode faster? My CD reader is way faster than the pace
  42    it can encode my tracks.
  43 A. abcde can take advantage of SMP systems, just like make. Try 'abcde -j 2' -
  44    it'll run two encoder jobs while it rips the next track.
  45    You can also make use of systems which are networked, with the help of
  46    distmp3. For example, MachineA has a better CPU power and MachineB has a CD
  47    drive. Run distmp3host (included in distmp3) on Machine A, and then run
  48    abcde -r MachineA from MachineB (where "MachineA" is a dns name or IP
  49    address). Use this in combination with '-j 0' to shift all encoding off the
  50    local machine.
  51
  52 Q. I am having problems with *my CD reading program* reading the drive as a
  53    user.
  54 A. You might have to add yourself (or the users who want to use abcde) to the
  55    cdrom group and change the permissions of the cdrom device to 660. If you
  56    have a SCSI cdrom drive, check the permissions of /dev/sg* as well.
  57
  58 Q. I would like to give the trackname and the artist_name directly to the
  59    encoder (in my case oggenc), but found no documentation.
  60 A. That is not possible, since abcde gets the information from CDDB database.
  61    You can create a template and fill it with the option "-n". Also, you can
  62    get the CDDB entry and edit it yourself. abcde has also an option to drop
  63    back to a template if you like none of the CDDB entries, selecting 0 from
  64    the CDDB options.
  65
  66 Q. (Thanks to Amaya) Where are those options and settings defined? Why dont
  67    you include a proper abcde.conf as an example?
  68 A. I do. It should be installed under /etc/abcde.conf and contains more or
  69    less all the defaults abcde uses. You can use $(HOME)/.abcde.conf to
  70    override those defaults. More information can be obtained from the man page
  71    which can be consulted using "man abcde".
  72
  73 Q. I keep on getting files with ".ogg.ogg" extension. What am I doing wrong?
  74 A. The code for multiple-output adds automatically the extension of the
  75    different outputs you select with the "-o" extension (or with OUTPUTTYPE
  76    variable). Erase the ".${OUTPUTTYPE}" part from the OUTPUTFORMAT variable
  77    in /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf
  78
  79 Q. I have modified some of the options, and now CDDB has stopped working.
  80 A. Check that you have modified everything in the right way. For instance, if
  81    you modify the HTTPGET program you might want to set some options of your
  82    own. If you use the predefined ones (wget, curl and fetch) abcde will try
  83    to use some defaults. Keep in mind that the output should go to the output
  84    as standard output, to be saved in a file for later use.
  85
  86    If abcde seems to be ignoring your configuration options or not running
  87    commands such as the encoder, you may have misquoted something. Config
  88    options such as the following do not work:
  89
  90    LAMEOPTS=-h -k
  91
  92    Try this instead:
  93
  94    LAMEOPTS='-h -k'
  95
  96 Q. How can I separate the different output files I get using multiple-output
  97    support?
  98 A. Use the OUTPUT variable in PLAYLISTFORMAT and OUTPUTFORMAT. It holds the
  99    different output file types you passed to abcde (i.e., ogg, mp3, flac)
 100    during playlist creation and file/directory creation.
 101
 102 Q. I have a CD with a data track, and abcde complaints it cannot read/encode
 103    it.
 104 A. It is not easy to find a data track on a CD. Right now, I can only think
 105    of getting the track info from CDDB and ask the user for continuing should
 106    a "data" track name is found. But the solution is far from been optimal.
 107    For now, if you find a "data" track and you know the number, restart abcde
 108    specifying the tracks to be encoded, leaving out the data one.
 109    Version 2.2 includes some checkings with cdparanoia, to try to get this
 110    right.
 111
 112 Q. I am requested to have "eject" when setting the speed although I do not use
 113    it for anything.
 114 A. If you do not use cdparanoia, eject is used for setting the speed of the
 115    cdrom drive. You can substitute it for "setcd" with "-x" as the argument,
 116    but you have to install it manually (setcd is, at least, available in
 117    Debian).
 118    Another way to get the same results is using the pre_read function, defined
 119    in your /etc/abcde.conf file.
 120
 121 Q. I have a CD set with 1+ discs, and want to have them in the same directory,
 122    sorted properly. What can abcde do for me?
 123 A. Set abcde to rip the first CD and give it the option "-t 101". Use a generic
 124    name for the CD, and reuse it with the rest of the CDs, editing the CDDB
 125    entries. Use "-t 201" for the second CD and so on. Use "-w <comment>" to
 126    add a comment about the CD you are ripping (-w "disc #"). Alternatively you
 127    can use only the "-t ###" option and then move all the files to the same
 128    directory. If you want the tagged track number to be set to the modified
 129    number you should use "-T ###". Even more! If you use "-W <cd_number>",
 130    abcde will put a comment to every CD set ("CD <number>") and use modify the
 131    number of the tracks.
 132
 133 Q. I have a live concert. I want to encode it in a single file. How do i do it?
 134 A. Use "-1" and it will be encoded in a single file.
 135
 136 3. CDDB
 137    ====
 138
 139 Q. I need to go through an HTTP proxy for CDDB access.
 140 A. No problem, just export your http_proxy variable first so wget/fetch/curl
 141    can see it.
 142
 143 Q. I already store CDDB entries in my hard disc. Can I make use of them?
 144 A. Piece of cake. Just edit CDDBLOCALDIR to point to the repository and give
 145    abcde the "-L" flag to make use of it.
 146
 147 Q. Fine, now it uses local CDDB, but I have no network connection. How can I
 148    disable CDDB checks?
 149 A. Use the "-L -n" combination. It will try to use local CDDB entries, and if
 150    nothing can be found, it will use a template. You will be also given the
 151    choice to edit such template.
 152
 153 Q. How can I use some other CDDB information provider?
 154 A. abcde now uses FreeDB by default. To use a different FreeDB mirror or
 155    another CDDB service, change the CDDBURL option in your abcde.conf.
 156
 157
 158 3. FORMATS
 159    =======
 160
 161 Q. What formats can I encode my music to?
 162 A. As for version 2.2, abcde includes support for MP3, Ogg/Vorbis,
 163    Ogg/Speex, Flac and MPP/MP+(Musepack). Support for AAC will be added once
 164    an FLOSS encoder/decoder is working.
 165
 166 Q. I want the new *put the newest and coolest codec there* format to be
 167    supported by abcde. Abcde is so cool but i want to encode also to this
 168    new format...
 169 A. Patches are welcome! ;)
 170    No, seriously, if the format is usable, available for Linux and open
 171    source/free software, it should be fairly easy to integrate. Support for
 172    AAC (m4p) should be the next one to be introduced.
 173
 174 Q. I use Debian/RedHat/(put your Unix flavour here) and MP3 encoding is not
 175    working. What am I doing wrong?
 176 A. Since MP3 is considered non-free (you get it for free, but hardware players
 177    and net broadcasters have to pay license fees), some release engineering
 178    groups and release management teams have decided not to provide MP3 encoding
 179    tools.
 180    These distributions or operative systems have decided to use Ogg/Vorbis as
 181    the default encoding format, since it contains no (known) patent claims
 182    and they are (supposed to be) completely Free (released under a BSD-like
 183    license).
 184    However, there is no strong (at the moment) hardware support, although
 185    some groups and companies are strongly working on getting it, real soon
 186    now. For that reason some people prefer to encode to MP3.
 187
 188    UPDATE *** UPDATE
 189    There are at least 3 known brands already selling Ogg/Vorbis portable
 190    players: Rio, iRiver and Neuros.
 191    Go buy one and you have no more reasons to use MP3.
 192
 193    If you are among those individuals, you might need to add support for MP3
 194    encoding to your system:
 195    Debian : check http://marillat.free.fr to install lame in your system.
 196             others prefer bladeenc. Check www.apt-get.org or google.
 197    RedHat : search on rpmfind.net
 198    FreeBSD: By default includes LAME support.
 199    OpenBSD: Available by specifying you want to install the port with LAME
 200             support, or by just installing it later from the ports tree.
 201    NetBSD : Available in pkgsrc.
 202
 203    Others : Please, help me here.
 204
 205 Q. Huh! Why is MPPENCODER (with MPP) and .mpc the extension?
 206 A. Dunno. You must ask the guys who created and defined the format. The
 207    standard is MPEGplus (MPP/MP+) but the files use .mpc extension.
 208
 209
 210 4. MISC PROBLEMS
 211    ==== ========
 212
 213 Q. What happened with normalize?
 214 A. Normalize has changed its name under Debian, which is the GNU/Linux
 215    distribution for developing abcde (well, is The GNU/Linux Distribution
 216    i only use, at the moment). Now it is called normalize-audio.
 217    If you are using some other flavour of OS, you need to change the name
 218    of the executable in your abcde.conf file.
 219
 220 Q. I am using MacOSX and I am having problems to use abcde.
 221 A. Well, I have a Mac, but I use linux on it. I have not been able to find
 222    a way to make it work there, since I do not have the development tools
 223    installed. I have placed a basic support, but some user reports are just
 224    complaining about abcde not encoding the ripped tracks, as if
 225    cdda2wav/cdparanoia/cddafs would never end reading them. If you have such
 226    a system and experience problems, please, report them, and I will try to
 227    work them out with your help.
 228
 229 Q. My hardware player (put it here) does not recognize the playlists created
 230    with abcde. What I am doing wrong?
 231 A. Try using "-m" when creating the playlists, or setting DOSPLAYLIST as an
 232    option in the config file.
 233
 234 OBSOLETE
 235 --------
 236 Q. I set KEEPWAVS to "y" but abcde insists on erasing my directory, along
 237    with the wav tracks. What I am doing wrong?
 238 A. The default action set includes clean, which cleans the temp directory,
 239    if nothing goes wrong. Take the "clean" out from the action list and you
 240    are done.
 241    UPDATE: KEEPWAVS unselects now the clean action.
 242
 243 --
 244 Jesus Climent <jesus.climent@hispalinux.es>