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. In 2012,
7 Colin Tuckley and Steve McIntyre joined in to help. Currently Steve maintains
8 abcde along with Andrew Strong. Contact either with comments or suggestions
9 at the following email addresses:
10 Steve McIntyre <93sam@@debian.org>
11 Andrew Strong <andrew.david.strong@gmail.com>
17 Q. How can I install abcde on my system?
18 A. To get abcde you can use a pre-packaged version, available for Debian,
19 FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD and others.
20 In case you want to install your own release, you need to download the
21 source and install the complementary programs (abcde is just a frontend
22 and its functionality is provided by other programs).
24 abcde needs cd-discid. Grab it from:
25 http://www.hispalinux.es/~data/files/cd-discid/
27 Read the README files for a complete list of requirements.
29 Q. I have a problem, and I reported some time ago. Have you solved it already?
30 A. Maybe. Try downloading the master branch of the development from
31 https://git.einval.com/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi?p=abcde.git
33 Q. When are you going to release a new version?
34 A. When it is ready. :-) We keep on adding new ideas to the trunk
35 (stored in the URL above) and release periodically when we think
42 Q. I want to force abcde 2.x to behave more like 1.x. How do I do it?
43 A. Put these options in your abcde.conf:
50 A. abcde has different algorithms to schedule ripping and encoding - to
51 optimize for disk conservation, use -l. You can also define
52 WAVOUTPUTDIR=/some/other/path to your /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf to
53 store the WAV files on another NFS shared fisk, for example.
54 Also, UNIX pipes have also been implemented, using "-P", so abcde reads and
55 encodes the tracks from the CD at once. However, it has the drawback that
56 only one format can be encoded at a time.
58 Q. How can i make abcde encode faster? My CD reader is way faster than the pace
59 it can encode my tracks.
60 A. abcde can take advantage of SMP systems, just like make. Try 'abcde -j 2' -
61 it'll run two encoder jobs while it rips the next track.
62 You can also make use of systems which are networked, with the help of
63 distmp3. For example, MachineA has a better CPU power and MachineB has a CD
64 drive. Run distmp3host (included in distmp3) on Machine A, and then run
65 abcde -r MachineA from MachineB (where "MachineA" is a dns name or IP
66 address). Use this in combination with '-j 0' to shift all encoding off the
69 Q. I am having problems with *my CD reading program* reading the drive as a
71 A. You might have to add yourself (or the users who want to use abcde) to the
72 cdrom group and change the permissions of the cdrom device to 660. If you
73 have a SCSI cdrom drive, check the permissions of /dev/sg* as well.
75 Q. I would like to give the trackname and the artist_name directly to the
76 encoder (in my case oggenc), but found no documentation.
77 A. That is not possible, since abcde gets the information from CDDB database.
78 You can create a template and fill it with the option "-n". Also, you can
79 get the CDDB entry and edit it yourself. abcde has also an option to drop
80 back to a template if you like none of the CDDB entries, selecting 0 from
83 Q. (Thanks to Amaya) Where are those options and settings defined? Why dont
84 you include a proper abcde.conf as an example?
85 A. We do. It should be installed under /etc/abcde.conf and contains more or
86 less all the defaults abcde uses. You can use $(HOME)/.abcde.conf to
87 override those defaults. More information can be obtained from the man page
88 which can be consulted using "man abcde".
90 Q. I keep on getting files with ".ogg.ogg" extension. What am I doing wrong?
91 A. The code for multiple-output adds automatically the extension of the
92 different outputs you select with the "-o" extension (or with OUTPUTTYPE
93 variable). Erase the ".${OUTPUTTYPE}" part from the OUTPUTFORMAT variable
94 in /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf
96 Q. I have modified some of the options, and now CDDB has stopped working.
97 A. Check that you have modified everything in the right way. For instance, if
98 you modify the HTTPGET program you might want to set some options of your
99 own. If you use the predefined ones (wget, curl and fetch) abcde will try
100 to use some defaults. Keep in mind that the output should go to the output
101 as standard output, to be saved in a file for later use.
103 If abcde seems to be ignoring your configuration options or not running
104 commands such as the encoder, you may have misquoted something. Config
105 options such as the following do not work:
113 Q. How can I separate the different output files I get using multiple-output
115 A. Use the OUTPUT variable in PLAYLISTFORMAT and OUTPUTFORMAT. It holds the
116 different output file types you passed to abcde (i.e., ogg, mp3, flac)
117 during playlist creation and file/directory creation.
119 Q. I have a CD with a data track, and abcde complaints it cannot read/encode
121 A. From version 2.2 onwards, abcde includes some checkings with cdparanoia, to
122 try to get this right.
123 (It is not easy to find a data track on a CD. If you find a "data"
124 track and you know the number, restart abcde specifying the tracks
125 to be encoded, leaving out the data one).
127 Q. I am requested to have "eject" when setting the speed although I do not use
129 A. If you do not use cdparanoia, eject is used for setting the speed of the
130 cdrom drive. You can substitute it for "setcd" with "-x" as the argument,
131 but you have to install it manually (setcd is, at least, available in
133 Another way to get the same results is using the pre_read function, defined
134 in your /etc/abcde.conf file.
136 Q. I have a CD set with 1+ discs, and want to have them in the same directory,
137 sorted properly. What can abcde do for me?
138 A. Set abcde to rip the first CD and give it the option "-t 101". Use a generic
139 name for the CD, and reuse it with the rest of the CDs, editing the CDDB
140 entries. Use "-t 201" for the second CD and so on. Use "-w <comment>" to
141 add a comment about the CD you are ripping (-w "disc #"). Alternatively you
142 can use only the "-t ###" option and then move all the files to the same
143 directory, but the tag/comment information on the files will differ. If you
144 want the tagged track number to be set to the modified number you should use
146 Even better! If you use "-W <cd_number>", abcde will put a comment to every
147 CD set ("CD <number>") and modify the number of the tracks both in the file
148 name and the tag/comment information.
150 Q. I have a live concert. I want to encode it in a single file. How do i do it?
151 A. Use "-1" and it will be encoded in a single file. Use "cue" as an action to
152 make a CUE sheet file where the information about the tracks is stored.
154 Q. Can I use abcde to take a backup of my CD collection?
155 A. Yes. Use "abcde -1 -o flac -a default,cue" and it will create a single-track
156 FLAC file with an embedded cuesheet. Later on, you can use the command
157 "abcde -o vorbis -d flac-file.flac" to extract the individual tracks in
158 Ogg/Vorbis format. Of course you can select whatever format you want.
161 3. CDDB and Musicbrainz
164 Q. I need to go through an HTTP proxy for CDDB access.
165 A. No problem, just export your http_proxy variable first so wget/fetch/curl
168 Q. I already store CDDB entries in my hard disc. Can I make use of them?
169 A. Piece of cake. Just edit CDDBLOCALDIR to point to the repository and give
170 abcde the "-L" flag to make use of it.
172 Q. Fine, now it uses local CDDB, but I have no network connection. How can I
174 A. Use the "-L -n" combination. It will try to use local CDDB entries, and if
175 nothing can be found, it will use a template. You will be also given the
176 choice to edit such template.
178 Q. How can I use some other CDDB information provider?
179 A. abcde now uses FreeDB by default. To use a different FreeDB mirror or
180 another CDDB service, change the CDDBURL option in your abcde.conf.
182 Q. After requesting CDDB data, I received several answers which seem to be
183 quite alike. Can I find out the difference between some of them?
184 A. Yes. When asked which one you want to select, use "X,Y" where X and Y are
185 the numbers of the selections you want to find the difference between.
187 Q. I don't like CDDB/FreeDB. How can I use Musicbrainz instead?
188 A. Set CDDBMETHOD=musicbrainz and try it!
191 4. abcde and Album Art
194 Q. Can abcde download album art?
195 A. As of abcde 2.7 it is possible to download a suitable cover
196 image from within abcde that can be used by applications such
197 as Audacious and vlc to illustrate playback with an album cover.
198 Many hardware playback devices such as iPODs will also use this
199 image during playback and show it on the device's display.
201 Q. How does album art downloading work?
202 A. The details are contained in abcde within a new function called
203 'getalbumart' which can be called either from the commandline or
204 from within an ~/.abcde.conf file. The technique works in 3 possible
207 1. If CDDBMETHOD is musicbrainz the album art is downloaded from
208 coverartarchive by MBID (MusicBrainz Identifier)
209 2. If 1 fails, download is tried from amazon by ASIN (Amazon
210 Standard Identification Number)
211 3. If if 1 and 2 fail or CDDBMETHOD is cddb the album art will
212 be downloaded using glyrc by artist + album title
214 You will need to install your distro's package of glyr, a music
215 related metadata search engine, and it is strongly advised that
216 you use 'musicbrainz' for your cddb lookups. To access the more
217 advanced features of getalbumart it is also strongly advised that
218 you install the ImageMagick package of your distro. getalbumart
219 will work without ImageMagick but functionality will be reduced.
221 Q. What settings and options should I select?
222 A. If you want to operate abcde from the commandline only you will
223 get reasonable results with something like either of the following:
225 abcde -o mp3:-V2 -a default,getalbumart
228 But to experience all of the options of getalbumart you should also
229 consider setting the following in your ~/.abcde.conf file:
231 #----------------------------------------------------------------#
232 CDDBMETHOD=musicbrainz # Use MusicBrainz for CDDB
233 ACTIONS=default,getalbumart # Select the album art action + default
235 # Give the path to the metadata search application glyrc. Add any
240 # Give the path to ImageMagick's 'identify' which is used to give a
241 # commandline summary of the album art and also assist in any conversions.
242 # Add any 'identify' options:
246 # Give the path to ImageMagick's 'display' which will show the album art.
247 # The options below are the abcde default, feel free to add your own:
249 DISPLAYCMDOPTS="-resize 512x512 -title abcde_album_art"
251 # Give the path to ImageMagick's 'convert' which is used to convert album
252 # art to the format specified in ALBUMARTTYPE. Add any 'convert' options:
255 # If you want to run CONVERTOPTS on all files (including those specified
256 # in ALBUMARTTYPE) set the following to "y":
257 ALBUMARTALWAYSCONVERT="n"
259 # By default the filename will be cover.jpg and the file format will
260 # be jpeg. 'convert' will automagically change other formats to jpeg:
261 ALBUMARTFILE="cover.jpg"
263 #----------------------------------------------------------------#
265 There are more hints concerning commandline options in the sample
266 abcde.conf file included with your abcde package. Good news is that
267 the existing defaults will work well without any extra adjustments :).
269 Q. Can I manually select album art?
270 A. If you have set INTERACTIVE=y (this is the default) then you will have
271 the opportunity to manually select the album art of your choice either
272 from online by typing in a URL or by typing in the path to a local file.
274 Q. What if I want my album art embedded?
275 A. The philosophy of getalbumart at the moment is to simply place the album
276 art in the same location as the encoded files. Perhaps this will change
277 one day. In the meantime you can use abcde's post_encode function in
278 your ~/.abcde.conf file to embed the album art. Here is an example for
279 mp3 embedding using eyeD3:
281 #----------------------------------------------------------------#
284 ARTISTFILE="$(mungefilename "$TRACKARTIST")"
285 ALBUMFILE="$(mungefilename "$DALBUM")"
287 if [ "$VARIOUSARTISTS" = "y" ] ; then
288 FINDPATH="$(eval echo "$VAOUTPUTFORMAT")"
290 FINDPATH="$(eval echo "$OUTPUTFORMAT")"
293 FINALDIR="$(dirname "$OUTPUTDIR/$FINDPATH")"
296 if [ "$OUTPUTTYPE" = "mp3" ] && [ "$TAGGER" = "$EYED3" ] ; then
297 vecho "Preparing to embed the album art..." >&2
299 vecho "Not embedding album art, you need mp3 output and eyeD3 tagging..." >&2
303 if [ -e "cover.jpg" ] ; then
306 eyeD3 --add-image cover.jpg:FRONT_COVER "$i"
308 mkdir backup && mv cover.jpg backup
309 vecho "Your files have had the album art embedded..." >&2
311 vecho "No album art found so no image embedded..." >&2
314 #----------------------------------------------------------------#
316 Variations of the 'for' loop in this example should work for other encoding
317 types. For example with flac:
319 #--------------------
322 metaflac --import-picture-from=cover.jpg "$i"
324 #--------------------
326 With other appropriate adjustments to the $OUTPUTTYPE and $TAGGER checks of
333 Q. What formats can I encode my music to?
334 A. As for version 2.2, abcde includes support for MP3, Ogg/Vorbis,
335 Ogg/Speex, Flac and MPP/MP+(Musepack). Support for AAC will be added once
336 an FLOSS encoder/decoder is working.
338 Q. I want the new *put the newest and coolest codec there* format to be
339 supported by abcde. Abcde is so cool but i want to encode also to this
341 A. Patches are welcome! ;)
342 No, seriously, if the format is usable, available for Linux and open
343 source/free software, it should be fairly easy to integrate. Support for
344 AAC (m4p) should be the next one to be introduced.
346 Q. I use Debian/RedHat/(put your Unix flavour here) and MP3 encoding is not
347 working. What am I doing wrong?
348 A. Since MP3 is considered non-free (you get it for free, but hardware players
349 and net broadcasters have to pay license fees), some release engineering
350 groups and release management teams have decided not to provide MP3 encoding
352 These distributions or operating systems have decided to use Ogg/Vorbis as
353 the default encoding format, since it contains no (known) patent claims
354 and they are (supposed to be) completely Free (released under a BSD-like
356 However, there is no strong (at the moment) hardware support, although
357 some groups and companies are strongly working on getting it, real soon
358 now. For that reason some people prefer to encode to MP3.
361 There are known brands already selling Ogg/Vorbis portable players: Rio,
362 iRiver, Neuros, iAudio,...
363 Go buy one and you have no more reasons to use MP3.
365 If you are among those individuals, you might need to add support for MP3
366 encoding to your system:
367 Debian : check http://ftp.nerim.net/debian-marillat to install lame in your
368 system. Others prefer bladeenc. Check www.apt-get.org or google.
369 RedHat : search on rpmfind.net
370 FreeBSD: By default includes LAME support.
371 OpenBSD: Available by specifying you want to install the port with LAME
372 support, or by just installing it later from the ports tree.
373 NetBSD : Available in pkgsrc.
375 Others : Please, help us here.
377 Q. Huh! Why is MPPENCODER (with MPP) and .mpc the extension?
378 A. Dunno. You must ask the guys who created and defined the format. The
379 standard is MPEGplus (MPP/MP+) but the files use .mpc extension.
381 Q. Why do I get .aac files instead of .m4a files when I encode with faac?
382 A. Faac uses mp4v2 to create aac files in an m4a or mp4 container. Some
383 Linux distros have disabled this mp4v2 support due to a licensing issue
384 and this leave faac only capable of generating mpeg-2/ADTS streams.
385 These streams should correctly have the .aac file extension and some
386 players (such as Audacious) will not even play mpeg-2/ADTS streams when
387 they are placed in an .m4a container.
388 As of version 2.7 abcde tests the version of faac being used for mp4v2
389 support and then appropriately places the audio either in .m4a or .aac.
390 Note that tagging is not possible with mpeg-2/ADTS streams in .aac.
392 Q. How do I encode to Apple Lossless Audio Codec (alac)?
393 A. As of abcde 2.7.1 there are 3 ways to encode to alac: using qaac, refalac
394 or FFmpeg. To use qaac or refalac follow the installation directions here:
396 http://www.andrews-corner.org/qaac.html#installation
398 and then set your ~/.abcde.conf file as follows:
400 AACENCODERSYNTAX=qaac
401 QAAC="$HOME/.wine/drive_c/qaac/qaac.exe"
402 # Or use the Open Source alac encoder with this small hack:
403 # QAAC="$HOME/.wine/drive_c/qaac/refalac.exe"
404 QAACENCOPTS="--alac --threading --verbose"
407 To use FFmpeg (or avconv) set your ~/.abcde.conf file as follows:
409 AACENCODERSYNTAX=ffmpeg
411 # Or give the path to avconv instead:
413 FFMPEGENCOPTS="-c:a alac"
416 And then sit back and enjoy the music :)
418 Q. Will FFmpeg be used with abcde for any other audio formats?
419 A. The plan is to use FFmpeg (or avconv) when FFmpeg has a good quality native
420 encoder available. For example FFmpeg has a low quality native native encoder
421 for Vorbis and AAC which will not be used but a great reverse engineered alac
422 encoder that has been used in abcde. FFmpeg also has a good WavPack encoder
423 that has been added in abcde 2.7.1 which can be added into your ~/.abcde.conf
426 # WVENCODERSYNTAX=wavpack
427 WVENCODERSYNTAX=ffmpeg
431 # Appropriate options:
432 FFMPEGENCOPTS="-c:a wavpack -compression_level 6"
433 WAVPACKENCOPTS="-hx3"
434 # Correct output type:
437 You can see in this example how easy it is to switch from one WavPack encoder to
438 another by changing the comment mark '#' on the WVENCODERSYNTAX line. For mp2
439 encoding with FFmpeg try the following:
441 # MP2ENCODERSYNTAX=twolame
442 MP2ENCODERSYNTAX=ffmpeg
446 FFMPEGENCOPTS='-c:a mp2 -b:a 320k'
447 TWOLAMENCOPTS='--bitrate 320'
448 # Correct output type:
451 So currently FFmpeg supports: alac, wavpack and mp2. FFmpeg native aac support will
452 be added when it comes out of 'experimental'. FFmpeg is also used as the default
453 encoder for the Matroska or mka container. A typical example, using the FFmpeg
454 native ac3 encoder, is:
456 MKAENCODERSYNTAX=ffmpeg
458 FFMPEGENCOPTS="-c:a ac3 -b:a 448k"
461 Other suitable codecs for this usage are Vorbis, MP2, MP3, LC-AAC, HE-AAC, WMAv1,
462 WMAv2, eAC3 and Opus. There is much more to come in the future for abcde and FFmpeg!
468 Q. What is/are 'USEPIPES'??
469 A. This is a slightly different method of ripping and encoding with abcde
470 utilising Unix pipes. Using this method a program sends as output what
471 another programs expects as input without writing the information to the
472 hard disk. For it to work with abcde, a ripper must send the data of the
473 CD tracks which are ripped to the 'standard output', while sending other
474 information and error messages to 'standard error' so that the encoder
475 does not get confused. The encoder program needs to be able to encode the
476 information send to it by reading from the standard input (which is what
477 the ripper sends to the standard output).
478 Usually Unix/Linux programs deal with the standard input/output by using
479 the special file name '-', as in the following example:
481 cdripper -o - | audioencoder -i - -o file.ext
483 The 'cdripper' program uses the flag '-o' to identify the file it will
484 output the data to. For the 'audioencoder' program to be able to read
485 the output through a Unix pipe (the '|' symbol), the output needs to be
486 sent to the standard output using the '-' special filename. Once the
487 output has been piped to 'audioencoder' we use the same special filename
488 to read the information as input with the '-i' flag and output it to
489 'file.ext' with the '-o' flag.
491 Q. How do I use USEPIPES with abcde?
492 A. You can run USEPIPES in either of two ways:
494 1. Add 'USEPIPES=y' to your ~/.abcde.conf file
495 2. Use the commandline option 'abcde -P'
497 Q. Do all rippers and encoders work with USEPIPES?
498 A. No :). Keep in mind that every ripper and encoder differs from in each
499 other in the way they interact with pipes and not all rippers and encoders
500 will use or understand the '-o' and '-' options. Currently (August 2015) the
501 following rippers and encoders work:
503 Rippers: cdparanoia, debug, libcdio, cdda2wav, flac, pird.
504 Encoders: mp3enc, lame, bladeenc, oggenc, opusenc, flac, speexenc,
505 mpcenc, wavpack, faac, neroAacEnc, fdkaac, qaac, fhgaacenc,
508 Q. Can I add a ripper or encoder which is not supported?
509 A. Sure! If you plan to use a ripper or encoder which is not supported you
510 need to know how to use the ripper/encoder. For example, cdparanoia just
511 uses '-' as the output filename and works. The program used to decode
512 FLAC files (yes, abcde supports 'ripping' from a FLAC file :) uses '-c'.
513 To add support for a ripper called 'cdripper' which uses the '-' special
514 flag for outputting to the standard output, you need to open the config
515 file (either /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf) and add the line:
517 PIPERIPPER_cdripper="-"
519 For an encoder called 'audioencoder' which uses '--stdin' to read the pipe
520 input, you need to add:
522 PIPE_audioencoder="--stdin"
524 Of course, you should try your configuration and report it to the abcde
525 developers so that it can be included in future versions of abcde. If
526 you are familiar with POSIX shell programing, please open "abcde" and
527 take a look at the lines below the one marked with "###USEPIPESSUPPORT###",
528 the required syntax is reasonably clear.
533 Q. What happened with normalize?
534 A. Normalize has changed its name under Debian, which is the GNU/Linux
535 distribution for developing abcde (well, is The GNU/Linux Distribution
536 Steve uses, at the moment). Now it is called normalize-audio.
537 If you are using some other flavour of OS, you need to change the name
538 of the executable in your abcde.conf file.
540 Q. I am using MacOSX and I am having problems to use abcde.
541 A. Well, I have a Mac, but I use linux on it. I have not been able to find
542 a way to make it work there, since I do not have the development tools
543 installed. I have placed a basic support, but some user reports are just
544 complaining about abcde not encoding the ripped tracks, as if
545 icedax/cdda2wav/cdparanoia/cddafs would never end reading them. If you have
546 such a system and experience problems, please, report them, and I will
547 try to work them out with your help.
549 Q. My hardware player (put it here) does not recognize the playlists created
550 with abcde. What I am doing wrong?
551 A. Try using "-m" when creating the playlists, or setting DOSPLAYLIST as an
552 option in the config file.
556 Q. I set KEEPWAVS to "y" but abcde insists on erasing my directory, along
557 with the wav tracks. What I am doing wrong?
558 A. The default action set includes clean, which cleans the temp directory,
559 if nothing goes wrong. Take the "clean" out from the action list and you
561 UPDATE: KEEPWAVS unselects now the clean action.
564 Steve McIntyre <93sam@@debian.org>
565 Andrew Strong <andrew.david.strong@gmail.com>