X-Git-Url: https://git.hcoop.net/clinton/abcde.git/blobdiff_plain/79e3928b7ac6011bcfbb077248c67893bd888953..280bb4ddefcae5b2db1ef419f1f2ade5deb2c133:/FAQ diff --git a/FAQ b/FAQ index 0624322..660be22 100644 --- a/FAQ +++ b/FAQ @@ -1,3 +1,11 @@ +0. INTRODUCTION + ============ + +Q. Who created abcde? Who develops it nowadays? +A. It was originally created by Robert Woodcook. He decided to give up + maintaining it at some point in 2002 and Jesus Climent took over. Contact + jesus.climent@hispalinux.es if you have a problem or a suggestion. + 1. INSTALLATION ============ @@ -8,46 +16,94 @@ A. To get abcde you can use a pre-packaged version, available for Debian, In case you want to install your own release, you need to download the sources and install the complementary programs (abcde is just a frontend and its functionality is provided by other programs). - Read abcde needs cd-discid. Grab it from: http://www.hispalinux.es/~data/files/cd-discid/ + + Read the README files for a complete list of requirements. + +Q. I have a problem, and I reported some time ago. Have you solved it already? +A. Maybe. Try downloading the trunk of the development from + http://svn.hispalinux.es/svn/abcde/trunk +Q. When are you going to release a new version? +A. When it is ready. I keep on having new ideas and adding them to the trunk + (stored in the URL above), so I dont release until all the ideas are + finished. + 2. EXECUTION ========= -3. FORMATS - ======= - -4. MISC PROBLEMS - ==== ======== - -Q. What happened with normalize? -A. Normalize has changed its name under Debian, which is the GNU/Linux - distribution for developing abcde (well, is The GNU/Linux Distribution - i only use, at the moment). Now it is called normalize-audio. - If you are using some other flavour of OS, you need to change the name - of the executable in your abcde.conf file. - -Q. I am using MacOSX and I am having problems to use abcde. -A. Well, I have a Mac, but I use linux on it. I have not been able to find - a way to make it work there, since I do not have the development tools - installed. I have placed a basic support, but some user reports are just - complaining about abcde not encoding the ripped tracks, as if - cdda2wav/cdparanoia/cddafs would never end reading them. If you have such - a system and experience problems, please, report them, and I will try to - work them out with your help. +Q. Low on disk space? +A. abcde has different algorithms to schedule ripping and encoding - to + optimize for disk conservation, use -l. You can also define + WAVOUTPUTDIR=/some/other/path to your /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf to + store the WAV files on another NFS shared fisk, for example. + Also, UNIX pipes have also been implemented, using "-P", so abcde reads and + encodes the tracks from the CD at once. However, it has the drawback that + only one format can be encoded at a time. + +Q. How can i make abcde encode faster? My CD reader is way faster than the pace + it can encode my tracks. +A. abcde can take advantage of SMP systems, just like make. Try 'abcde -j 2' - + it'll run two encoder jobs while it rips the next track. + You can also make use of systems which are networked, with the help of + distmp3. For example, MachineA has a better CPU power and MachineB has a CD + drive. Run distmp3host (included in distmp3) on Machine A, and then run + abcde -r MachineA from MachineB (where "MachineA" is a dns name or IP + address). Use this in combination with '-j 0' to shift all encoding off the + local machine. + +Q. I am having problems with *my CD reading program* reading the drive as a + user. +A. You might have to add yourself (or the users who want to use abcde) to the + cdrom group and change the permissions of the cdrom device to 660. If you + have a SCSI cdrom drive, check the permissions of /dev/sg* as well. Q. I would like to give the trackname and the artist_name directly to the encoder (in my case oggenc), but found no documentation. A. That is not possible, since abcde gets the information from CDDB database. - You can create a template and fill it with the option "-n". + You can create a template and fill it with the option "-n". Also, you can + get the CDDB entry and edit it yourself. abcde has also an option to drop + back to a template if you like none of the CDDB entries, selecting 0 from + the CDDB options. -Q. What formats can I encode my music to? -A. As for version 2.2, abcde includes support for MP3, Ogg/Vorbis, - Ogg/Speex, Flac and MPP/MP+(Musepack). Support for AAC will be added once - an FLOSS encoder/decoder is working. +Q. (Thanks to Amaya) Where are those options and settings defined? Why dont + you include a proper abcde.conf as an example? +A. I do. It should be installed under /etc/abcde.conf and contains more or + less all the defaults abcde uses. You can use $(HOME)/.abcde.conf to + override those defaults. More information can be obtained from the man page + which can be consulted using "man abcde". + +Q. I keep on getting files with ".ogg.ogg" extension. What am I doing wrong? +A. The code for multiple-output adds automatically the extension of the + different outputs you select with the "-o" extension (or with OUTPUTTYPE + variable). Erase the ".${OUTPUTTYPE}" part from the OUTPUTFORMAT variable + in /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf + +Q. I have modified some of the options, and now CDDB has stopped working. +A. Check that you have modified everything in the right way. For instance, if + you modify the HTTPGET program you might want to set some options of your + own. If you use the predefined ones (wget, curl and fetch) abcde will try + to use some defaults. Keep in mind that the output should go to the output + as standard output, to be saved in a file for later use. + + If abcde seems to be ignoring your configuration options or not running + commands such as the encoder, you may have misquoted something. Config + options such as the following do not work: + + LAMEOPTS=-h -k + + Try this instead: + + LAMEOPTS='-h -k' + +Q. How can I separate the different output files I get using multiple-output + support? +A. Use the OUTPUT variable in PLAYLISTFORMAT and OUTPUTFORMAT. It holds the + different output file types you passed to abcde (i.e., ogg, mp3, flac) + during playlist creation and file/directory creation. Q. I have a CD with a data track, and abcde complaints it cannot read/encode it. @@ -56,20 +112,73 @@ A. It is not easy to find a data track on a CD. Right now, I can only think a "data" track name is found. But the solution is far from been optimal. For now, if you find a "data" track and you know the number, restart abcde specifying the tracks to be encoded, leaving out the data one. - Version 2.2 includes some checkings with cdparanoia, to try to get this - right. + From version 2.2 onwards, abcde includes some checkings with cdparanoia, to + try to get this right. -Q. How can I separate the different output files I get using multiple-output - support? -A. Use the OUTPUT variable in PLAYLISTFORMAT and OUTPUTFORMAT. It holds the - different output file types you passed to abcde (i.e., ogg, mp3, flac) - during playlist creation and file/directory creation. +Q. I am requested to have "eject" when setting the speed although I do not use + it for anything. +A. If you do not use cdparanoia, eject is used for setting the speed of the + cdrom drive. You can substitute it for "setcd" with "-x" as the argument, + but you have to install it manually (setcd is, at least, available in + Debian). + Another way to get the same results is using the pre_read function, defined + in your /etc/abcde.conf file. -Q. I keep on getting files with ".ogg.ogg" extension. What am I doing wrong? -A. The code for multiple-output adds automatically the extension of the - different outputs you select with the "-o" extension (or with OUTPUTTYPE - variable). Erase the ".${OUTPUTTYPE}" part from the OUTPUTFORMAT variable - in /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf +Q. I have a CD set with 1+ discs, and want to have them in the same directory, + sorted properly. What can abcde do for me? +A. Set abcde to rip the first CD and give it the option "-t 101". Use a generic + name for the CD, and reuse it with the rest of the CDs, editing the CDDB + entries. Use "-t 201" for the second CD and so on. Use "-w " to + add a comment about the CD you are ripping (-w "disc #"). Alternatively you + can use only the "-t ###" option and then move all the files to the same + directory, but the tag/comment information on the files will differ. If you + want the tagged track number to be set to the modified number you should use + "-T ###". + Even better! If you use "-W ", abcde will put a comment to every + CD set ("CD ") and modify the number of the tracks both in the file + name and the tag/comment information. + +Q. I have a live concert. I want to encode it in a single file. How do i do it? +A. Use "-1" and it will be encoded in a single file. Use "-M" to make a CUE + sheet file where the information about the tracks is stored. + +3. CDDB + ==== + +Q. I need to go through an HTTP proxy for CDDB access. +A. No problem, just export your http_proxy variable first so wget/fetch/curl + can see it. + +Q. I already store CDDB entries in my hard disc. Can I make use of them? +A. Piece of cake. Just edit CDDBLOCALDIR to point to the repository and give + abcde the "-L" flag to make use of it. + +Q. Fine, now it uses local CDDB, but I have no network connection. How can I + disable CDDB checks? +A. Use the "-L -n" combination. It will try to use local CDDB entries, and if + nothing can be found, it will use a template. You will be also given the + choice to edit such template. + +Q. How can I use some other CDDB information provider? +A. abcde now uses FreeDB by default. To use a different FreeDB mirror or + another CDDB service, change the CDDBURL option in your abcde.conf. + + +3. FORMATS + ======= + +Q. What formats can I encode my music to? +A. As for version 2.2, abcde includes support for MP3, Ogg/Vorbis, + Ogg/Speex, Flac and MPP/MP+(Musepack). Support for AAC will be added once + an FLOSS encoder/decoder is working. + +Q. I want the new *put the newest and coolest codec there* format to be + supported by abcde. Abcde is so cool but i want to encode also to this + new format... +A. Patches are welcome! ;) + No, seriously, if the format is usable, available for Linux and open + source/free software, it should be fairly easy to integrate. Support for + AAC (m4p) should be the next one to be introduced. Q. I use Debian/RedHat/(put your Unix flavour here) and MP3 encoding is not working. What am I doing wrong? @@ -86,14 +195,14 @@ A. Since MP3 is considered non-free (you get it for free, but hardware players now. For that reason some people prefer to encode to MP3. UPDATE *** UPDATE - There are at least 3 known brands already selling Ogg/Vorbis portable - players: Rio, iRiver and Neuros. + There are known brands already selling Ogg/Vorbis portable players: Rio, + iRiver, Neuros, iAudio,... Go buy one and you have no more reasons to use MP3. If you are among those individuals, you might need to add support for MP3 encoding to your system: - Debian : check http://marillat.free.fr to install lame in your system. - others prefer bladeenc. Check www.apt-get.org or google. + Debian : check http://ftp.nerim.net/debian-marillat to install lame in your + system. Others prefer bladeenc. Check www.apt-get.org or google. RedHat : search on rpmfind.net FreeBSD: By default includes LAME support. OpenBSD: Available by specifying you want to install the port with LAME @@ -102,60 +211,35 @@ A. Since MP3 is considered non-free (you get it for free, but hardware players Others : Please, help me here. -Q. I have modified some of the options, and now CDDB has stopped working. -A. Check that you have modified everything in the right way. For instance, if - you modify the HTTPGET program you might want to set some options of your - own. If you use the predefined ones (wget, curl and fetch) abcde will try - to use some defaults. Keep in mind that the output should go to the output - as standard output, to be saved in a file for later use. +Q. Huh! Why is MPPENCODER (with MPP) and .mpc the extension? +A. Dunno. You must ask the guys who created and defined the format. The + standard is MPEGplus (MPP/MP+) but the files use .mpc extension. - If abcde seems to be ignoring your configuration options or not running commands - such as the encoder, you may have misquoted something. Config options such as - the following do not work: - - LAMEOPTS=-h -k + +4. MISC PROBLEMS + ==== ======== - Try this instead: +Q. What happened with normalize? +A. Normalize has changed its name under Debian, which is the GNU/Linux + distribution for developing abcde (well, is The GNU/Linux Distribution + i only use, at the moment). Now it is called normalize-audio. + If you are using some other flavour of OS, you need to change the name + of the executable in your abcde.conf file. - LAMEOPTS='-h -k' +Q. I am using MacOSX and I am having problems to use abcde. +A. Well, I have a Mac, but I use linux on it. I have not been able to find + a way to make it work there, since I do not have the development tools + installed. I have placed a basic support, but some user reports are just + complaining about abcde not encoding the ripped tracks, as if + cdda2wav/cdparanoia/cddafs would never end reading them. If you have such + a system and experience problems, please, report them, and I will try to + work them out with your help. Q. My hardware player (put it here) does not recognize the playlists created with abcde. What I am doing wrong? A. Try using "-m" when creating the playlists, or setting DOSPLAYLIST as an option in the config file. -Q. I am requested to have eject when setting the speed although I do not use - for anything. -A. If you do not use cdparanoia, eject is used for setting the speed of the - cdrom drive. You can substitute it for "setcd" with "-x" as the argument, - but you have to install it manually (setcd is, at least, available in - Debian). - Another way to get the same results is using the pre_read function, defined - in your /etc/abcde.conf file. - -Q. Huh! Why is MPPENCODER (with MPP) and .mpc the extension? -A. Dunno. You must ask the guys who created and defined the format. The - standard is MPEGplus (MPP/MP+) but the files use .mpc extension. - -Q. I want the new *put the newest and coolest codec there* format to be - supported by abcde. Abcde is so cool but i want to encode also to this - new format... -A. Patches are welcome! ;) - No, seriously, if the format is usable, available for Linux and open - source/free software, it should be fairly easy to integrate. Support for - AAC (m4p) should be the next one to be introduced. - -Q. (Thanks to Amaya) Where are those options and settings defined? Why dont - you include a proper abcde.conf as an example? -A. I do. It should be installed under /etc/abcde.conf and contains more or - less all the defaults abcde uses. You can use $(HOME)/.abcde.conf to - override those defaults. More information can be obtained from the man page - which can be consulted using "man abcde". - -Q. I am running out of disc space. -A. You have to options. Use -l or define WAVOUTPUTDIR=/some/other/path to your - /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf. - OBSOLETE -------- Q. I set KEEPWAVS to "y" but abcde insists on erasing my directory, along