MONKEY LINUX
current version 06              @(õ õ)@
released 9/5/1997                 (Y)                    [ XIMP3 TUTORIAL ]
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     Monkey comes standard with a console based CD player, but you'll
have to download and install XiMP3 to listen to MP3's.  Download the
ximp3-0.1.14.tar.gz source code from home.swipnet.se/~w-10246/unix/ and
unpack it like you would any other Monkey software package (review
software packages tutorial).

     The sound card on your computer(s) must be properly configured
(review compiling kernel tutorial) and the gccall.tgz software package
(review software packages tutorial) must be installed before installing
XiMP3.  For XiMP3 to work, /dev/dsp and /dev/audio support have to be
compiled into the kernel along with your computer's sound card.  Follow
these instructions to compile and install XiMP3 after you configure your
sound card, install gccall.tgz, and unpack ximp3-0.1.14.tar.gz:

     cd /ximp3-0.1.14     CHANGE TO /ximp3-0.1.14 DIRECTORY
     sh ./configure       CONFIGURE XiMP3 IN BOURNE SHELL
     make                 COMPILE THE XiMP3 PACKAGE
     make check           RUN SELF-TESTS
     make install         INSTALL THE XiMP3 BINARY
     make clean           REMOVE XiMP3 OBJECT FILES
     make distclean       REMOVE FILES CONFIGURE CREATED

     After a successful install, the ximp3 binary will be placed in the
/usr/local/bin directory.  There is no man page for XiMP3 and I haven't
been able to find an operations manual on the web.  There is a file,
located in the XiMP3 source directory, listing the programs options.
Here are some commands that you can use to find XiMP3 information.

     cd /ximp3-0.1.14     CHANGE TO /ximp3-0.1.14 DIRECTORY
     cat README | more    DISPLAY README FILE
     ximp3                DISPLAY XiMP3 VERSION AND SWITCHES
     ximp3 v0.1.14
     usage: ximp3 [-d device] [-b buffers] [-s] [-l] [-v] [-r] 

     Here's a break down of the ximp3 command and it’s options: 

     ximp3       START XiMP3 OR LIST OPTIONS
     - device    AUDIO DEVICE TO USE.  DEFAULT: /dev/dsp
     -b buffers  NUMBER OF AUDIO BUFFERS TO USE.  EACH BUFFER
                 IS 18432 BYTES.  DEFAULT: 30.
     -s          SHUFFLE PLAY; RANDOMLY SHUFFLES FILES SPECIFIED
                 ON THE COMMAND LINE AND, IF THE FILE IS A
                 PLAYLIST, THE FILES IN IT.
     -l          PLAY FILES IN AN ENDLESS LOOP.
     -v          VERBOSE OUTPUT IN STANDALONE MODE.
     -r          USED WHEN PIPING TO ximp3shell.  NOT USEFUL IN
                 STANDALONE MODE.
     <file...>   MP3 FILE NAMES.

     I have fiddled around with the program and found a few hitches.  For
instance, Linux/Unix does not like blank spaces in file names so get used
to naming your files like music_file.mp3.  Also, the first time I started
XiMP3 I had to wait until the song was over to get back to the shell
prompt.  You could press 'Ctrl+C' to kill the process.  To work around
this problem add '&' to the end of the initial ximp3 command.  This
allows XiMP3 to run as a background process, therefore, allowing you
access to the shell prompt while your MP3’s play.

     Below I illustrate how I created a song list and used XiMP3 to
listen to it. 

     cd music              CHANGE TO MUSIC DIRECTORY
     cat >> list.m3u       CREATE SONG LIST NAMED list.m3u
     summertime.mp3
     sunday_afternoon.mp3
     good_day.mp3
     brooklyn_queens.mp3
     passing_me_by.mp3
     computer_love.mp3
     Press Ctrl+D          SAVE list.m3u AND RETURN TO PROMPT
     ximp3 -l list.m3u &   PLAY LIST IN A LOOP AND RETURN TO PROMPT

     Two more bits of information that may help you out.  Suppose you
would like to shutdown the computer, but XiMP3 is in the middle of the
playlist.  It's generally a bad idea to shutdown the computer while a
process is running.  First list out all of the running processes with the
'ps' command.  You'll find two processes relating to XiMP3.  Next kill
the processes with the 'kill -9 (process id number)' command.  Finally,
you can delete the ximp3-0.1.14 source code directory to save hard disk
space with the 'rm -R /ximp3-0.1.14' command.

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