2008-09-17

MPD: Music Player Daemon

About:

Music Player Daemon (MPD) allows remote access for playing music (MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, AAC, Mod, and wave files) and managing playlists. MPD is designed for integrating a computer into a stereo system that provides control for music playback over a local network. It also makes a great desktop music player, especially if you are a console junkie, like frontend options, or restart X often.

@ MPD homepage

Overview:

I wont explain what it is - everyone knows it's a media player - ops i just did it.
I'm here to show you how to install it. It can be a little bit confusing.

Installation/Configuration:

# apt-get install mpd sonata
Now, the hard tash. It's necessary to configure mpd before any use of it. To start, edit the file /etc/mpd.conf. I recomend to make a backup copy just in case.
# cp /etc/mpd.conf /etc/mpd.conf.backup
# nano /etc/mpd.conf

  1. REQUIRED PATHS & OPTIONAL PATHS
    In this step it's necessary to configure the respective directories where are locatedyour music files. In the field music_directory add your music's directorie (it's only to possible to add one) and in the rest cpy the exemple.
    ######################## REQUIRED PATHS ########################
    # You can put symlinks in here, if you like. Make sure that
    # the user that mpd runs as (see the 'user' config parameter)
    # can read the files in this directory.
    music_directory “/home/os.meus.documentos/music”
    playlist_directory “~/.mpd/playlists”
    db_file “~/.mpd/tag_cache”
    log_file “~/.mpd/mpd.log”
    error_file “~/.mpd/errors.log”
    pid_file “~/.mpd/pid”

    ################################################################
    #
    ######################## OPTIONAL PATHS ########################
    #
    # If specified, MPD will save its current state (playlist,
    # current song, playing/paused, etc.) at exit. This will be
    # used to restore the session the next time it is run.
    #
    state_file “~/.mpd/state”
    #
    ################################################################
  2. DAEMON OPTIONS
    Add you user(in my case it's qaz) in the field user. Uncomment the rest.
    ######################## DAEMON OPTIONS ########################
    #
    # If started as root, MPD will drop root privileges and run as
    # this user instead. Otherwise, MPD will run as the user it was
    # started by. If left unspecified, MPD will not drop root
    # privileges at all (not recommended).
    #
    user “qaz”
    #
    # The address and port to listen on.
    #
    bind_to_address “localhost”
    port “6600″

    #
    # Controls the amount of information that is logged. Can be
    # “default”, “secure”, or “verbose”.
    #
    log_level “default”
    #
    ################################################################
  3. AUDIO OUTPUTS & MIXER
    Uncomment the the text lines wich represent your audio output. Im my case it's alsa.
    ########################## AUDIO OUTPUT ########################
    #
    # MPD supports many audio output types, as well as playing
    # through multiple audio outputs at the same time. You can
    # specify one or more here. If you don't specify any, MPD will
    # automatically scan for a usable audio output.
    #
    # See
    # for examples of other audio outputs.
    #
    # An example of an ALSA output:
    #
    audio_output {
    type “alsa”
    name “My ALSA Device”

    # device “hw:0,0″ # optional
    # format “44100:16:2″ # optional
    }
    #
    # An example of an OSS output:
    #
    #audio_output {
    # type “oss”
    # name “My OSS Device”
    # device “/dev/dsp” # optional
    # format “44100:16:2″ # optional
    #}
    #
    # An example of a shout output (for streaming to Icecast):
    #
    #audio_output {
    # type “shout”
    # name “My Shout Stream”
    # host “localhost”
    # port “8000″
    # mount “/mpd.ogg”
    # password “hackme”
    # quality “5.0″
    # bitrate “128″
    # format “44100:16:1″
    # user “source” # optional
    # description “My Stream Description” # optional
    # genre “jazz” # optional
    # public “no” # optional
    #}
    #
    # Force all decoded audio to be converted to this format before
    # being passed to the audio outputs.
    #
    #audio_output_format “44100:16:2″
    #
    ################################################################
    #
    ############################# MIXER ############################
    #
    # MPD needs to know what mixer settings to change when you
    # adjust the volume. If you don’t specify one here, MPD will
    # pick one based on which ones it was compiled with support for.
    #
    # An example for controlling an ALSA mixer:
    #
    mixer_type “alsa”
    mixer_device “default”
    mixer_control “PCM”

    #
    # An example for controlling an OSS mixer:
    #
    #mixer_type “oss”
    #mixer_device “/dev/mixer”
    #mixer_control “PCM”
    #
    # If you want MPD to adjust the volume of audio sent to the
    # audio outputs, you can tell it to use the software mixer:
    #
    #mixer_type “software”
    #
    ################################################################
  4. OTHER OPTIONS
    Uncomment this two lines:
    ######################### OTHER OPTIONS ########################
    #
    # The metadata types MPD will recognize.
    #
    metadata_to_use “artist,album,title,track,name,genre,date,composer,performer,disc”
    #
    # Enable this if you wish to use your MPD created playlists in
    # other music players.
    #
    save_absolute_paths_in_playlists “no”
    #
    ################################################################
  5. Outher configurations
    Stay as they are. To avoid any doubts,here is my final result.

Now, add your user( mine is qaz) at mpd group (can't explain why this step).

# groupadd mpd
# gpasswd -a qaz mpd

Make sure the folder ~/.mpd doesn't need root privileges.

To create data base (this can take a while):
$ mpd --create-db
In this moment we have mpd completed instaled and configurated.
$ mpd

Frontend:

We still need a frontend. I choose Sonata.

Sonata is an elegant GTK+ music client for the Music Player Daemon (MPD).

@ Sonata Homepage

Sonata's Screenshot. Click in the image to see more pics.

Sonata also needs some configuration. But first let us open it:
$ sonata
Go to Preferences, in the tab MPD add you datasi. My case:

  • Name: qaz
  • Host: localhost
  • Port: 6600
  • Password: (em branco)
  • Music dir: /home/os.meus.documentos/music/

If necessary kill both process (killall) e start mpd & sonata again.

References:
» Techzone/Zwame
» ArchLinux Wiki
» MPD homepage

My files:
» http://dotfiles.org/~uterrorista/%2Fetc%2Fmpd.conf

FeedBack:
Have a question? Please submit a comment :P

2008-09-13

Flash Player9 in a 64-bit machine

Here it is a tutorial do install Flash Player 9 in a 64-bit Gnu/Linux machine:
$ wget http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/install_flash_player_9_linux.tar.gz
$ tar -zxf install_flash_player_9_linux.tar.gz
$ mkdir ~/.mozilla/plugins/
$ mv install_flash_player_9_linux/flashplayer.xpt install_flash_player_9_linux/libflashplayer.so ~/.mozilla/plugins/
$ nspluginwrapper -i ~/.mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.soLinks:» Source: Japan Shah

Playdeb - Games repositorie (Ubuntu)

Playdeb is a gaming repository for Ubuntu - aimed to provide titles already available on getdeb.net in an easier to install and update format.

This list features some old known games and also some news.

For who uses other distros, you can follow the link to the homepage of the games and follow the presented instructions.

Links:
»Playdeb
»GetDeb