cdparanoia release III alpha 3 README [March 19, 1998] Monty This CDDA reader distribution ('cdparanoia') reads audio from the CDROM directly as data, with no analog step between, and writes the data to a file or pipe as .wav, .aifc or as raw 16 bit linear PCM. These are installation notes; for lots of other cdparanoia related information, see: http://www.mit.edu/afs/sipb/user/xiphmont/cdparanoia/index.html WARNING: (Danger! Danger!) ========================== This is a *prerelease* of the new cdparanoia package; due to the huge pool of hardware out there and the newness of the software, this package is probably kinda buggy yet. If you use this prerelease and have any sort of trouble, PLEASE let me know. Contact information is at the end of this file. Requirements ============ 1. A CDDA capable CDROM drive (ATAPI, SCSI, or proprietary) 2. For proprietary drives: 2a. kernel support for the particular CDROM in use For ATAPI CDROM drives: 2b. IDE cdrom (ATAPI) support (*or*) 2c. IDE-SCSI host adaptor emulation 2d. SCSI cdrom support (optional) 2e. kernel support for the generic SCSI interface and proper device (/dev/sg?) files in /dev. Most distributions already have the /dev/sg? files. For SCSI CDROM drives: 2f. SCSI cdrom support (optional) 2g. kernel support for the generic SCSI interface and proper device (/dev/sg?) files in /dev. Most distributions already have the /dev/sg? files. 3. A Linux 2.0.x or 2.1.x kernel ATAPI drives may be used either with the native IDE cdrom driver, or with IDE-SCSI host adaptor emulation. Both work well, but the SCSI emulation mode may be able to identify and use unusual drives that report 'CDDA incapable' in native ATAPI mode. Also, although a stock SCSI setup may work, performance will be better if linux/include/scsi/sg.h defines SG_BIG_BUFF to 65536. /proc filesystem support is no longer needed, although you'll certainly want to have it for other packages. Cdparanoia does not require threading, IPC or sound card support. Compiling cdparanoia ================== To build the cdparanoia utility: ./configure make all This will compile cdparanoia; make install (as root) will install it. Unlike cdda2wav, cdparanoia is smart enough to find CDROM drives and the appropriate interfaces automatically; if you have only one CDROM drive, you'll not need to worry about it. If your machine has more than one CDROM drive and cdparanoia finds the wrong one, you'll need to tell it which device to use on the command line (see the man page and Troubleshooting below). To build the cdda_interface.a and cdda_paranoia.a libraries: ./configure make lib Additional installation notes ============================= Most Linux setups already have performed the steps described below. The list is useful for doublechecking. (originally taken from Heiko's cdda2wav README) (for SCSI devices) Cdparanoia requires the generic SCSI interface; you'll need a kernel with compiled-in or module-supplied sg interface. In case of a module, this has to be loaded ('modprobe sg'; usually done in boot time scripts). This can be verified with 'cat /proc/devices'. It should have a line under Character devices: 21 sg Cdparanoia also uses (but doesn't really require) the kernel SCSI cdrom driver, ie, a kernel with compiled-in or module-supplied cdrom support. In case of a module, this has to be loaded ('modprobe sr_mod'; again, usually part of boot up scripts). This can be verified with 'cat /proc/devices'. It should have a line under Block devices: 11 sr If the modules are properly configured but not currently loaded, cdparanoia will trigger loading during its autoscanning. In the /dev directory there have to be these descriptors: br-------- 1 cduser user 11, 0 Jan 23 1995 sr0 br-------- 1 cduser user 11, 1 Mar 24 1993 sr1 etc... and crw------- 1 cduser user 21, 0 Aug 27 1995 sga crw------- 1 cduser user 21, 1 Aug 27 1995 sgb crw------- 1 cduser user 21, 2 Aug 27 1995 sgc etc... and a link named 'cdrom' to the cdrom drive used. The link can be to the cdrom device *or* the generic device. The link isn't required, but it will speed autodetection. Permissions and ownership can be changed at will, of course. Here access is permitted only to user 'cduser'. (for ATAPI and proprietary cdrom devices) The kernel must have compiled-in or module-supplied cdrom support. In case of a module, this has to be loaded ('modprobe '; this is normally included in the boot-up scripts). This can be verified with 'cat /proc/devices'. It should have a line under Block devices: In the /dev directory there have to be these descriptors: br-------- 1 cduser user , 0 Jan 23 1995 br-------- 1 cduser user , 1 Mar 24 1993 etc... a link named 'cdrom' to the cdrom drive used will speed up the process of finding the cdrom (cdparanoia checks for the link first) These steps are usually performed automatically during the installation of Linux. (for ATAPI cdrom drives using IDE-SCSI host adaptor emulation) Overall, the instructions are the same as for normal SCSI drives. To cause the CDROM drive to appear as a SCSI device instead of ATAPI, the kernel must be compiled *with* SCSI and generic SCSI support, and *without* IDE CDROM drive (ATAPI) support. If native ATAPI support is enabled, the kernel will always choose to use the native ATAPI driver. Missing Features (compared to cdda2wav) ======================================= Specifically, 'cdparanoia' will not play to sound cards, do MD5 signatures, do rate reduction, or generally make use of the maximum speed available from a CDROM drive. If your CDROM drive is *not* prone to jitter and you don't have scratched discs to worry about, look into Heiko's original cdda2wav. Troubleshooting =============== lots o' stuff on the website. Contacts ======== The author of the original cdda2wav package is Heiko Eissfeldt; he can be contacted about cdda2wav at heiko@colossus.escape.de. Although the cd interface code in cdparanoia is derived from cdda2wav, this package is my own fault; don't bother Heiko with bug reports, comments or questions. I can be contacted at xiphmont@mit.edu. The main distribution site for cdparanoia (and the original Paranoia patches to cdda2wav) is http://www.mit.edu/afs/sipb/user/xiphmont/cdparanoia/ Happy hunting. Be nice to copyrights. Monty