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. During 2015-2016 Andrew
8 Strong helped out. Currently Steve maintains abcde. Contact Steve with
9 comments or suggestions at the following email address:
10 Steve McIntyre <93sam@@debian.org>
16 Q. How can I install abcde on my system?
17 A. To get abcde you can use a pre-packaged version, available for Debian,
18 FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD and others.
19 In case you want to install your own release, you need to download the
20 source and install the complementary programs (abcde is just a frontend
21 and its functionality is provided by other programs).
23 abcde needs cd-discid. Grab it from:
24 http://www.hispalinux.es/~data/files/cd-discid/
26 Read the README files for a complete list of requirements.
28 Q. I have a problem, and I reported some time ago. Have you solved it already?
29 A. Maybe. Try downloading the master branch of the development from
30 https://git.einval.com/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi?p=abcde.git
32 Q. When are you going to release a new version?
33 A. When it is ready. :-) We keep on adding new ideas to the trunk
34 (stored in the URL above) and release periodically when we think
41 Q. I want to force abcde 2.x to behave more like 1.x. How do I do it?
42 A. Put these options in your abcde.conf:
49 A. abcde has different algorithms to schedule ripping and encoding - to
50 optimize for disk conservation, use -l. You can also define
51 WAVOUTPUTDIR=/some/other/path to your /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf to
52 store the WAV files on another NFS shared fisk, for example.
53 Also, UNIX pipes have also been implemented, using "-P", so abcde reads and
54 encodes the tracks from the CD at once. However, it has the drawback that
55 only one format can be encoded at a time.
57 Q. How can i make abcde encode faster? My CD reader is way faster than the pace
58 it can encode my tracks.
59 A. abcde can take advantage of SMP systems, just like make. Try 'abcde -j 2' -
60 it'll run two encoder jobs while it rips the next track.
61 You can also make use of systems which are networked, with the help of
62 distmp3. For example, MachineA has a better CPU power and MachineB has a CD
63 drive. Run distmp3host (included in distmp3) on Machine A, and then run
64 abcde -r MachineA from MachineB (where "MachineA" is a dns name or IP
65 address). Use this in combination with '-j 0' to shift all encoding off the
68 Q. I am having problems with *my CD reading program* reading the drive as a
70 A. You might have to add yourself (or the users who want to use abcde) to the
71 cdrom group and change the permissions of the cdrom device to 660. If you
72 have a SCSI cdrom drive, check the permissions of /dev/sg* as well.
74 Q. I would like to give the trackname and the artist_name directly to the
75 encoder (in my case oggenc), but found no documentation.
76 A. That is not possible, since abcde gets the information from CDDB database.
77 You can create a template and fill it with the option "-n". Also, you can
78 get the CDDB entry and edit it yourself. abcde has also an option to drop
79 back to a template if you like none of the CDDB entries, selecting 0 from
82 Q. (Thanks to Amaya) Where are those options and settings defined? Why dont
83 you include a proper abcde.conf as an example?
84 A. We do. It should be installed under /etc/abcde.conf and contains more or
85 less all the defaults abcde uses. You can use $(HOME)/.abcde.conf to
86 override those defaults. More information can be obtained from the man page
87 which can be consulted using "man abcde".
89 Q. I keep on getting files with ".ogg.ogg" extension. What am I doing wrong?
90 A. The code for multiple-output adds automatically the extension of the
91 different outputs you select with the "-o" extension (or with OUTPUTTYPE
92 variable). Erase the ".${OUTPUTTYPE}" part from the OUTPUTFORMAT variable
93 in /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf
95 Q. I have modified some of the options, and now CDDB has stopped working.
96 A. Check that you have modified everything in the right way. For instance, if
97 you modify the HTTPGET program you might want to set some options of your
98 own. If you use the predefined ones (wget, curl and fetch) abcde will try
99 to use some defaults. Keep in mind that the output should go to the output
100 as standard output, to be saved in a file for later use.
102 If abcde seems to be ignoring your configuration options or not running
103 commands such as the encoder, you may have misquoted something. Config
104 options such as the following do not work:
112 Q. How can I separate the different output files I get using multiple-output
114 A. Use the OUTPUT variable in PLAYLISTFORMAT and OUTPUTFORMAT. It holds the
115 different output file types you passed to abcde (i.e., ogg, mp3, flac)
116 during playlist creation and file/directory creation.
118 Q. I have a CD with a data track, and abcde complaints it cannot read/encode
120 A. From version 2.2 onwards, abcde includes some checkings with cdparanoia, to
121 try to get this right.
122 (It is not easy to find a data track on a CD. If you find a "data"
123 track and you know the number, restart abcde specifying the tracks
124 to be encoded, leaving out the data one).
126 Q. I am requested to have "eject" when setting the speed although I do not use
128 A. If you do not use cdparanoia, eject is used for setting the speed of the
129 cdrom drive. You can substitute it for "setcd" with "-x" as the argument,
130 but you have to install it manually (setcd is, at least, available in
132 Another way to get the same results is using the pre_read function, defined
133 in your /etc/abcde.conf file.
135 Q. I have a CD set with 1+ discs, and want to have them in the same directory,
136 sorted properly. What can abcde do for me?
137 A. Set abcde to rip the first CD and give it the option "-t 101". Use a generic
138 name for the CD, and reuse it with the rest of the CDs, editing the CDDB
139 entries. Use "-t 201" for the second CD and so on. Use "-w <comment>" to
140 add a comment about the CD you are ripping (-w "disc #"). Alternatively you
141 can use only the "-t ###" option and then move all the files to the same
142 directory, but the tag/comment information on the files will differ. If you
143 want the tagged track number to be set to the modified number you should use
145 Even better! If you use "-W <cd_number>", abcde will put a comment to every
146 CD set ("CD <number>") and modify the number of the tracks both in the file
147 name and the tag/comment information.
149 Q. I have a live concert. I want to encode it in a single file. How do i do it?
150 A. Use "-1" and it will be encoded in a single file. Use "cue" as an action to
151 make a CUE sheet file where the information about the tracks is stored.
153 Q. Can I use abcde to take a backup of my CD collection?
154 A. Yes. Use "abcde -1 -o flac -a default,cue" and it will create a single-track
155 FLAC file with an embedded cuesheet. Later on, you can use the command
156 "abcde -o vorbis -d flac-file.flac" to extract the individual tracks in
157 Ogg/Vorbis format. Of course you can select whatever format you want.
160 3. CDDB and Musicbrainz
163 Q. I need to go through an HTTP proxy for CDDB access.
164 A. No problem, just export your http_proxy variable first so wget/fetch/curl
167 Q. I already store CDDB entries in my hard disc. Can I make use of them?
168 A. Piece of cake. Just edit CDDBLOCALDIR to point to the repository and give
169 abcde the "-L" flag to make use of it.
171 Q. Fine, now it uses local CDDB, but I have no network connection. How can I
173 A. Use the "-L -n" combination. It will try to use local CDDB entries, and if
174 nothing can be found, it will use a template. You will be also given the
175 choice to edit such template.
177 Q. How can I use some other CDDB information provider?
178 A. abcde now uses FreeDB by default. To use a different FreeDB mirror or
179 another CDDB service, change the CDDBURL option in your abcde.conf.
181 Q. After requesting CDDB data, I received several answers which seem to be
182 quite alike. Can I find out the difference between some of them?
183 A. Yes. When asked which one you want to select, use "X,Y" where X and Y are
184 the numbers of the selections you want to find the difference between.
186 Q. I get stuck at the screen with multiple CDDB results. How do I exit this
187 screen so I can make my final selection?
188 A. abcde tries to use the system's default pager to display these results
189 and thus the actual application used and the method to exit from this
190 application may vary from system to system.
191 Many systems will be using the applications 'more' or 'less' as their
192 pager and the common key to exit this screen is the letter 'q'. If this
193 does not work on your system you should investigate what your system's
194 default pager application is and from there learn the correct method of
197 Q. I don't like CDDB/FreeDB. How can I use Musicbrainz instead?
198 A. Set CDDBMETHOD=musicbrainz and try it!
201 4. abcde and Album Art
204 Q. Can abcde download album art?
205 A. As of abcde 2.7 it is possible to download a suitable cover
206 image from within abcde that can be used by applications such
207 as Audacious and vlc to illustrate playback with an album cover.
208 Many hardware playback devices such as iPODs will also use this
209 image during playback and show it on the device's display.
211 Q. How does album art downloading work?
212 A. The details are contained in abcde within a new function called
213 'getalbumart' which can be called either from the commandline or
214 from within an ~/.abcde.conf file. The technique works in 3 possible
217 1. If CDDBMETHOD is musicbrainz the album art is downloaded from
218 coverartarchive by MBID (MusicBrainz Identifier)
219 2. If 1 fails, download is tried from amazon by ASIN (Amazon
220 Standard Identification Number)
221 3. If if 1 and 2 fail or CDDBMETHOD is cddb the album art will
222 be downloaded using glyrc by artist + album title
224 You will need to install your distro's package of glyr, a music
225 related metadata search engine, and it is strongly advised that
226 you use 'musicbrainz' for your cddb lookups. To access the more
227 advanced features of getalbumart it is also strongly advised that
228 you install the ImageMagick package of your distro. getalbumart
229 will work without ImageMagick but functionality will be reduced.
231 Q. What settings and options should I select?
232 A. If you want to operate abcde from the commandline only you will
233 get reasonable results with something like either of the following:
235 abcde -o mp3:-V2 -a default,getalbumart
238 But to experience all of the options of getalbumart you should also
239 consider setting the following in your ~/.abcde.conf file:
241 #----------------------------------------------------------------#
242 CDDBMETHOD=musicbrainz # Use MusicBrainz for CDDB
243 ACTIONS=default,getalbumart # Select the album art action + default
245 # Give the path to the metadata search application glyrc. Add any
250 # Give the path to ImageMagick's 'identify' which is used to give a
251 # commandline summary of the album art and also assist in any conversions.
252 # Add any 'identify' options:
256 # Give the path to ImageMagick's 'display' which will show the album art.
257 # The options below are the abcde default, feel free to add your own:
259 DISPLAYCMDOPTS="-resize 512x512 -title abcde_album_art"
261 # Give the path to ImageMagick's 'convert' which is used to convert album
262 # art to the format specified in ALBUMARTTYPE. Add any 'convert' options:
265 # If you want to run CONVERTOPTS on all files (including those specified
266 # in ALBUMARTTYPE) set the following to "y":
267 ALBUMARTALWAYSCONVERT="n"
269 # By default the filename will be cover.jpg and the file format will
270 # be jpeg. 'convert' will automagically change other formats to jpeg:
271 ALBUMARTFILE="cover.jpg"
273 #----------------------------------------------------------------#
275 There are more hints concerning commandline options in the sample
276 abcde.conf file included with your abcde package. Good news is that
277 the existing defaults will work well without any extra adjustments :).
279 Q. Can I manually select album art?
280 A. If you have set INTERACTIVE=y (this is the default) then you will have
281 the opportunity to manually select the album art of your choice either
282 from online by typing in a URL or by typing in the path to a local file.
284 Q. What if I want my album art embedded?
285 A. As of abcde 2.8.2 it is possible to have the album art automatically
286 embedded in the mp3 container using eyeD3, embedded in the flac container
287 using metaflac, embedded in the m4a container using AtomicParsley and
288 embedded in the wv container using wvtag.
290 There are 3 different ways to accomplish this:
292 1. Use the command line '-B' option (this will also call getalbumart)
293 2. Use the command line '-a embedalbumart' option to add to list of actions
294 3. Use 'embedalbumart' in the 'ACTIONS' list in ~/.abcde.conf
296 Adding newer containers for album art embedding should be fairly straightforward
297 and these will be added when the right combination of available abcde developer
298 time and abcde user interest occurs...
303 Q. What formats can I encode my music to?
304 A. As of version 2.8.2 abcde includes support for MP3, Ogg/Vorbis,
305 Ogg/Speex, Flac, MPP/MP+(Musepack), AAC, AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format),
306 Alac, WavPack, TTA (True Type Audio), APE (Monkey's Audio), Opus,
309 Q. I want the new *put the newest and coolest codec there* format to be
310 supported by abcde. Abcde is so cool but i want to encode also to this
312 A. Patches are welcome! ;)
313 No, seriously, if the format is usable, available for Linux and open
314 source/free software, it should be fairly easy to integrate. Support for
315 AAC (m4p) should be the next one to be introduced.
317 Q. I use Debian/RedHat/(put your Unix flavour here) and MP3 encoding is not
318 working. What am I doing wrong?
319 A. Since MP3 is considered non-free (you get it for free, but hardware players
320 and net broadcasters have to pay license fees), some release engineering
321 groups and release management teams have decided not to provide MP3 encoding
323 These distributions or operating systems have decided to use Ogg/Vorbis as
324 the default encoding format, since it contains no (known) patent claims
325 and they are (supposed to be) completely Free (released under a BSD-like
327 However, there is no strong (at the moment) hardware support, although
328 some groups and companies are strongly working on getting it, real soon
329 now. For that reason some people prefer to encode to MP3.
332 There are known brands already selling Ogg/Vorbis portable players: Rio,
333 iRiver, Neuros, iAudio,...
334 Go buy one and you have no more reasons to use MP3.
336 If you are among those individuals, you might need to add support for MP3
337 encoding to your system:
338 Debian : check http://ftp.nerim.net/debian-marillat to install lame in your
339 system. Others prefer bladeenc. Check www.apt-get.org or google.
340 RedHat : search on rpmfind.net
341 FreeBSD: By default includes LAME support.
342 OpenBSD: Available by specifying you want to install the port with LAME
343 support, or by just installing it later from the ports tree.
344 NetBSD : Available in pkgsrc.
346 Others : Please, help us here.
348 Q. Huh! Why is MPPENCODER (with MPP) and .mpc the extension?
349 A. Dunno. You must ask the guys who created and defined the format. The
350 standard is MPEGplus (MPP/MP+) but the files use .mpc extension.
352 Q. Why do I get .aac files instead of .m4a files when I encode with faac?
353 A. Faac uses mp4v2 to create aac files in an m4a or mp4 container. Some
354 Linux distros have disabled this mp4v2 support due to a licensing issue
355 and this leave faac only capable of generating mpeg-2/ADTS streams.
356 These streams should correctly have the .aac file extension and some
357 players (such as Audacious) will not even play mpeg-2/ADTS streams when
358 they are placed in an .m4a container.
359 As of version 2.7 abcde tests the version of faac being used for mp4v2
360 support and then appropriately places the audio either in .m4a or .aac.
361 Note that tagging is not possible with mpeg-2/ADTS streams in .aac.
363 Q. How do I encode to Apple Lossless Audio Codec (alac)?
364 A. As of abcde 2.7.1 there are 3 ways to encode to alac: using qaac, refalac
365 or FFmpeg. To use qaac or refalac follow the installation directions here:
367 http://www.andrews-corner.org/qaac.html#installation
369 and then set your ~/.abcde.conf file as follows:
371 AACENCODERSYNTAX=qaac
372 QAAC="$HOME/.wine/drive_c/qaac/qaac.exe"
373 # Or use the Open Source alac encoder with this small hack:
374 # QAAC="$HOME/.wine/drive_c/qaac/refalac.exe"
375 QAACENCOPTS="--alac --threading --verbose"
378 To use FFmpeg (or avconv) set your ~/.abcde.conf file as follows:
380 AACENCODERSYNTAX=ffmpeg
382 # Or give the path to avconv instead:
384 FFMPEGENCOPTS="-c:a alac"
387 And then sit back and enjoy the music :)
389 Q. Will FFmpeg be used with abcde for any other audio formats?
390 A. The plan is to use FFmpeg (or avconv) when FFmpeg has a good quality native
391 encoder available. For example FFmpeg has a low quality native native encoder
392 for Vorbis and AAC which will not be used but a great reverse engineered alac
393 encoder that has been used in abcde. FFmpeg also has a good WavPack encoder
394 that has been added in abcde 2.7.1 which can be added into your ~/.abcde.conf
397 # WVENCODERSYNTAX=wavpack
398 WVENCODERSYNTAX=ffmpeg
402 # Appropriate options:
403 FFMPEGENCOPTS="-c:a wavpack -compression_level 6"
404 WAVPACKENCOPTS="-hx3"
405 # Correct output type:
408 You can see in this example how easy it is to switch from one WavPack encoder to
409 another by changing the comment mark '#' on the WVENCODERSYNTAX line. For mp2
410 encoding with FFmpeg try the following:
412 # MP2ENCODERSYNTAX=twolame
413 MP2ENCODERSYNTAX=ffmpeg
417 FFMPEGENCOPTS='-c:a mp2 -b:a 320k'
418 TWOLAMENCOPTS='--bitrate 320'
419 # Correct output type:
422 Currently FFmpeg supports: alac, wavpack,mp2 and AIFF. FFmpeg native aac support will
423 be added when it comes out of 'experimental'. FFmpeg is also used as the default
424 encoder for the Matroska or mka container. A typical example, using the FFmpeg
425 native ac3 encoder, is:
427 MKAENCODERSYNTAX=ffmpeg
429 FFMPEGENCOPTS="-c:a ac3 -b:a 448k"
432 Other suitable codecs for this usage are Vorbis, MP2, MP3, LC-AAC, HE-AAC, WMAv1,
433 WMAv2, eAC3 and Opus. There is much more to come in the future for abcde and FFmpeg!
439 Q. What is/are 'USEPIPES'??
440 A. This is a slightly different method of ripping and encoding with abcde
441 utilising Unix pipes. Using this method a program sends as output what
442 another programs expects as input without writing the information to the
443 hard disk. For it to work with abcde, a ripper must send the data of the
444 CD tracks which are ripped to the 'standard output', while sending other
445 information and error messages to 'standard error' so that the encoder
446 does not get confused. The encoder program needs to be able to encode the
447 information send to it by reading from the standard input (which is what
448 the ripper sends to the standard output).
449 Usually Unix/Linux programs deal with the standard input/output by using
450 the special file name '-', as in the following example:
452 cdripper -o - | audioencoder -i - -o file.ext
454 The 'cdripper' program uses the flag '-o' to identify the file it will
455 output the data to. For the 'audioencoder' program to be able to read
456 the output through a Unix pipe (the '|' symbol), the output needs to be
457 sent to the standard output using the '-' special filename. Once the
458 output has been piped to 'audioencoder' we use the same special filename
459 to read the information as input with the '-i' flag and output it to
460 'file.ext' with the '-o' flag.
462 Q. How do I use USEPIPES with abcde?
463 A. You can run USEPIPES in either of two ways:
465 1. Add 'USEPIPES=y' to your ~/.abcde.conf file
466 2. Use the commandline option 'abcde -P'
468 Q. Do all rippers and encoders work with USEPIPES?
469 A. No :). Keep in mind that every ripper and encoder differs from in each
470 other in the way they interact with pipes and not all rippers and encoders
471 will use or understand the '-o' and '-' options. Currently (August 2015) the
472 following rippers and encoders work:
474 Rippers: cdparanoia, debug, libcdio, cdda2wav, flac, pird.
475 Encoders: mp3enc, lame, bladeenc, oggenc, opusenc, flac, speexenc,
476 mpcenc, wavpack, faac, neroAacEnc, fdkaac, qaac, fhgaacenc,
479 Q. Can I add a ripper or encoder which is not supported?
480 A. Sure! If you plan to use a ripper or encoder which is not supported you
481 need to know how to use the ripper/encoder. For example, cdparanoia just
482 uses '-' as the output filename and works. The program used to decode
483 FLAC files (yes, abcde supports 'ripping' from a FLAC file :) uses '-c'.
484 To add support for a ripper called 'cdripper' which uses the '-' special
485 flag for outputting to the standard output, you need to open the config
486 file (either /etc/abcde.conf or ~/.abcde.conf) and add the line:
488 PIPERIPPER_cdripper="-"
490 For an encoder called 'audioencoder' which uses '--stdin' to read the pipe
491 input, you need to add:
493 PIPE_audioencoder="--stdin"
495 Of course, you should try your configuration and report it to the abcde
496 developers so that it can be included in future versions of abcde. If
497 you are familiar with POSIX shell programing, please open "abcde" and
498 take a look at the lines below the one marked with "###USEPIPESSUPPORT###",
499 the required syntax is reasonably clear.
504 Q. What happened with normalize?
505 A. Normalize has changed its name under Debian, which is the GNU/Linux
506 distribution for developing abcde (well, is The GNU/Linux Distribution
507 Steve uses, at the moment). Now it is called normalize-audio.
508 If you are using some other flavour of OS, you need to change the name
509 of the executable in your abcde.conf file.
511 Q. I am using MacOSX and I am having problems to use abcde.
512 A. Well, I have a Mac, but I use linux on it. I have not been able to find
513 a way to make it work there, since I do not have the development tools
514 installed. I have placed a basic support, but some user reports are just
515 complaining about abcde not encoding the ripped tracks, as if
516 icedax/cdda2wav/cdparanoia/cddafs would never end reading them. If you have
517 such a system and experience problems, please, report them, and I will
518 try to work them out with your help.
520 Q. My hardware player (put it here) does not recognize the playlists created
521 with abcde. What I am doing wrong?
522 A. Try using "-m" when creating the playlists, or setting DOSPLAYLIST as an
523 option in the config file.
527 Q. I set KEEPWAVS to "y" but abcde insists on erasing my directory, along
528 with the wav tracks. What I am doing wrong?
529 A. The default action set includes clean, which cleans the temp directory,
530 if nothing goes wrong. Take the "clean" out from the action list and you
532 UPDATE: KEEPWAVS unselects now the clean action.
535 Steve McIntyre <93sam@@debian.org>