Provided by: mp3blaster_3.2.5-3ubuntu3_amd64 bug

NAME

       mp3blaster - An interactive text-console based mp3 player.

SYNOPSIS

       mp3blaster [options]

       mp3blaster [options]  [file ...]
              Play one or more audio files from the command-line

       mp3blaster [options] --list|-l playlist.lst
              Load a playlist at startup but don't start playing.

       mp3blaster [options] --autolist|-a playlist.lst
              Load a playlist at startup and start playing.

DESCRIPTION

       Mp3blaster  is  an  interactive  audio  player  for  the text-console with unique playlist
       abilities no other programs offer. Its interface is at least  equally  powerful  as  those
       featured in GUI players, without requiring bulky graphical environments.

       The  most  important  feature  of  mp3blaster  however is the playlist, which structure is
       comparable to that of a filesystem: Songs (files) can  be  grouped  together  in  `groups'
       (directories). With one function, you can load all your albums as groups into mp3blaster's
       playlist, so that you can shuffle your albums instead of your songs. Of  course,  you  can
       also load all files into the playlist and shuffle them, just like regular players.

       The interface is described in the INTERFACE ELEMENTS section.

       The configuration file is described in the MP3BLASTERRC section.

       The different program modes are described in the PROGRAM MODES section.

       The playlist playback modes are described in the PLAYMODES section.

       Who  coded  this  program? How to report bugs? It's in the AUTHORS and BUGS section at the
       end of this manual.

COMMAND-LINE PARAMETERS

       --downsample,-2
              Downsample audio to 22Khz (necessary on some ancient soundcards, but it can also be
              used to use less CPU time)

       --8bits,-8
              Convert  audio  to  8bits (necessary on 8bit soundcards, but it can also be used to
              use less CPU time)

       --chroot=rootdir, -o=rootdir
              Set <rootdir> as mp3blaster's  root  dir.  This  affects  ALL  file  operations  in
              mp3blaster!!  (including  reading  and writing of playlists).  Note that only users
              with uid 0 (i.e. root) can use this option (yet). This feature should be changed so
              it  won't require root privileges. Only install it suid root if you trust all local
              users!!!!.

       --config-file,-c=<file>
              Use <file> as config-file instead of ~/.mp3blasterrc

       --debug, -d
              Log debug-info in $HOME/.mp3blaster (use this when sending bugreports!)

       --status-file, -f
              Write info on the mp3's being played to the specified file.

       --help,-h
              Gets you this nice list of command-line parameters.

       --mixer-device/-m=<devicename>
              Set the mixer device to use (default =  /dev/mixer).  For  NAS  audio  mixing,  use
              'NAS'.  (NOTE: NAS support doesn't work in version 3.0 or above yet)

       --no-mixer, -n
              Don't start the built-in mixer.

       --playmode/-p=(onegroup,allgroups,allrandom}
              Default  playing  mode  is  resp.  Play first group only, Play all groups, Play all
              songs in random order.

       --dont-quit,-q
              Don't quit after playing all command-line  supplied  mp3's  (only  makes  sense  in
              combination with --autolist or files from command-line)

       --repeat/-R
              Repeat the playlist indefinitely.

       --runframes/-r=<number>
              Number  or  frames  to  decode  in  one  loop. Range: 1 to 10 (default=5).  On slow
              machines, a lower number might improve reaction time of  the  interface,  but  it's
              quite unlikely this will have any effect from version 3.0 on)

       --sound-device/-s=<devicename>
              Select  the  audio  device  you wish to use for sound playback (default /dev/dsp or
              /dev/audio for OpenBSD). If you want to play over NAS (Network Audio System),  give
              the  audioserver's  address  here (usually $DISPLAY, e.g. a host name followed by a
              colon and a server number, like bla.foo.com:0). (NOTE: NAS support doesn't work  in
              version 3.0 or above yet)

       --threads/-t=<amount>
              Numbers  of  threads  to use for buffering. Range is 0..500 in increments of 50.  0
              threads means no buffering (thus no hiccup prevention).

       --version,-v
              Displays mp3blaster's version number.

INTERFACE ELEMENTS

       Since version 3.0, mp3blaster's interface has changed drastically to  make  it  easier  to
       use,  without  losing  functionality.  Press  '?' to get a description of all the commands
       within mp3blaster. You can scroll up and down this helpfile  using  the  cursor  keys  and
       pageup/pagedown. To leave the help, press '?' again.

       All  keybindings  mentioned from here on are the default keybindings.  Most of them can be
       altered in mp3blaster's config file (see section MP3BLASTERRC)

       Keybindings window
              In the top of the screen is the  keybindings  window.  In  it  you  will  find  all
              keybindings  that  you  can  use in the mode mp3blaster is in at that time.  If you
              change modes, the keybindings are  dynamically  updated.  To  scroll  through  this
              window, use '-' and '+'.

       Info window
              This  window  is  located  directly beneath the keybindings window. It displays the
              global playmode (see section PLAYMODES),  and  the  next  song  to  be  played  (if
              appropriate).  Next  to  it  is a small window which displays technical information
              about the current song.

       Main window
              This window is located directly underneath the info window. Its content is  usually
              determined  by  the  mode  mp3blaster is in (see section PROGRAM MODES).  If you're
              editing the playlist, the playlist is shown. In file manager mode, you will see the
              directory you're currently in. In help mode, the help text is being displayed.

       CD-style window
              This  is  the  window  next  to  the  main  window. Here you will find the cd-style
              controls, as well as checkboxes for shuffle/repeat  mode.  When  a  song  is  being
              played, you can see the elapsed/total time here as well.

       Status window
              It's  underneath  the main window, and displays status information like song title,
              hints, etc. In the top-left, a CD-player style symbol is  shown  to  indicate  what
              mp3blaster is doing during playback.

       Mixer window
              The  mixer  is  right next to the status window. Although very compact, it's a full
              sound mixer. Press 't' to toggle between all available mixer  devices.   Press  '<'
              and '>' to decrease/increase the volume of the currently selected mixer device.

PROGRAM MODES

       Playlist Editor
              By default, mp3blaster starts with the playlist editor. All keybindings specific to
              playlist editing are listed in the keybindings window.  The  playlist  consists  of
              one or more groups. Each group can have its own groupname and can contain supported
              audio files. You can toggle shuffle mode for each group independently.  Many  users
              will  simply use the single (root) group that mp3blaster starts with. In that case,
              shuffling all songs is simply a question of toggling the GroupShuffle mode (default
              keybinding: F7).

              If you have multiple groups, and you want to shuffle all songs from all groups, you
              will have to  set  the  global  playback  mode  (see  section  PLAYMODES).  Without
              shuffling,  the  songs  will  be  played  in the order you added them from the file
              manager. Groups can be nested inside other groups. For example, you  could  make  a
              group  for  each  music genre you are interested in. Within each genre, you can add
              subgenres, and in the subgenres you can add albums as groups. Starting and stopping
              a  playlist  can  be done with '5' (default keybinding for the Play button). If you
              stop playback using the Stop button, all information about which song  has  already
              been  played  is  lost.  If  you want to stop playback to continue later, pause the
              current song.
              In the main window, the contents of the currently  selected  group  is  shown.   By
              default,  this is the 'root' group. Other groups are denoted by square brackets and
              a purple colour. You can  enter  other  groups  simply  by  highlighting  them  and
              pressing  enter.  If  you  enter the file manager, files will be added in the group
              that was selected in the main window. This even works for playlists; if you load  a
              playlist  from  the  file  manager  (which  you always do), it will be added in the
              current group! Using this feature, you can merge multiple playlists into one.
              If you're listening to your current playlist, but you want to hear another song  in
              between, you can simply do so by highlighting this song (either in playlist mode or
              file manager mode) and pressing enter. When the  song  is  finished,  the  playlist
              continues with the next song in the list.

       File Manager
              You  can  enter  the  file  manager  by  pressing  F1 from the playlist editor. The
              interface is almost identical to that of the playlist editor, but you can tell  the
              mode  you're  in  by  looking at the keybindings in the keybindings window which is
              automatically updated.  In the file manager, you can add files to the group you had
              currently  selected  in  the  playlist  editor.  You  can  also listen to a file by
              selecting it with the highlighted bar and pressing enter over it.  Adding files can
              be  done  in  2  ways:  Selecting a file by moving the bar over it and pressing the
              spacebar, or by recursively selecting all files in the current  directory  and  all
              directories  in  it.  If  you  select  some  files, change to another directory (by
              pressing enter over one) and then select some more files, the  old  selection  will
              not  be  lost,  even though you can't see it on your screen at the time. As soon as
              you return to the playlist editor by using F1, you will see they have been added to
              the  group  in  the  order in which you selected them.  However, you can't deselect
              selected files as soon as you change into another directory: you'll have to  remove
              them from the playlist editor.  A quick way of selecting *all* files in the current
              directory is to invert the selection (using F2) when none are selected. If you want
              to  select  all  files  but  one, select the one you don't want and then invert the
              selection.
              The recursive selection can be done in two  ways:  By  pressing  F3,  you  add  all
              audiofiles  that  are found in the current directory and all directories in it.  By
              using F5 (add dirs as groups), mp3's are added in groups that are  named  like  the
              directory  the  mp3's  were in. This is an ultimately fast way of making a playlist
              grouped by albums!
              Help for other keybindings can be found inside mp3blaster by  pressing  '?'   (note
              that this leaves file manager mode!)

       Help mode
              You  can get in this mode by pressing '?'. Leave it by pressing '?' again.  It will
              always return you to playlist mode.

       Playing Mode
              Mp3blaster versions prior to version  3.0  featured  another  distinctly  different
              mode:  the  playing mode. The reason for this was that it wasn't possible to edit a
              playlist and play mp3's at the same time. Since this is now possible, playing songs
              is  possible  in  all  program  modes.  Keybindings specific to playback are always
              listed in the keybindings window.

PLAYMODES

       The order in which files are played in the playlist is determined  by  two  settings:  The
       global  playback mode (displayed in the info window), and each group's independent shuffle
       setting. The 'current group' in the global playback modes means: The group that  is  shown
       in  the  main  window  at  the  time the playlist was started. This is important, since it
       enables you to play a subsection of your playlist instead of playing the entire list.
       These are the global playback modes:

       Play current group, including subgroups
              Plays all songs shown in the current group, as well as all songs in all  subgroups.
              First,  all  groups  will  be  played  in the order you have added them (unless the
              current group's shuffle is enabled, then the order is randomly  determined).  Then,
              the  songs  in  the  group  itself  will  be  played.   You  can determine for each
              individual group whether you want to shuffle the songs in them or not, by  enabling
              the group's shuffle setting.

       Play current group, but not its subgroups
              This  is  essentially  the same as the previous mode, except that subgroups in this
              group will be skipped.

       Shuffle all songs from all groups
              This is comparable to the 'shuffle' mode that all players support: It  ignores  the
              group  structure  totally,  and  simply  shuffles  all songs in a completely random
              order.

MP3BLASTERRC

       You can store many settings and keybindings in a config file. By default, mp3blaster  will
       look  for  ~/.mp3blasterrc,  unless  you  specify  another file on the command-line (using
       -c/--config-file).

       The structure of the config file is pretty straightforward. Look at sample.mp3blasterrc in
       your  share  or  share/doc  directory  for a quick example.  Lines starting with a '#' are
       ignored. You can use them to put comments on.  All other lines consist of a  keyword/value
       pair like this:

       Keyword = Value

       Some keywords can have multiple values, in that case it's:

       Keyword = Value1, Value2

       Escape  comma's in a value with a backslash (). If you want a literal backslash, escape it
       with another backslash (\). Keywords are case-sensitive.

       There are a few types of values: numbers, booleans, keybindings, colours,  and  everything
       else is a string. The syntax of these types are:

       numbers
              Numerical values, in decimal notation.

       booleans
              yes/no, 1/0, or true/false (case-insensitive)

       keybindings
              Single-character  keybindings  represent  themselves.  If  you  want  to  specify a
              scancode, the syntax is 's<hex-digit><hex-digit>'. All others are special canonical
              names:  'spc'  (space),  'ent' (enter), 'kp0'..'kp9' (keypad 0..9), 'ins' (insert),
              'hom' (home), 'del'  (delete),  'end'  (end),  'pup'  (pageup),  'pdn'  (pagedown),
              'f1'..'f12', 'up'/'dwn'/'lft'/'rig' (cursor keys), 'bsp' (backspace).

       colours
              One of: black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, white

       These keywords are currently supported:

       AudioDriver (string)
              Which  audiodriver  to  use  for  playback.  Currently,  you can choose between the
              following drivers: oss, esd, nas and sdl. If SDL is available, it will be  used  by
              default.  OSS  is  the next alternative. ESD should only be used if everything else
              fails.  Note that, if you use SDL as audio driver, you can select from many  output
              devices  by  setting  the  environment  variable  SDL_AUDIODRIVER.  This  is an SDL
              feature, please refer to the FAQ on libsdl.org for more information.

       AudiofileMatching (list of strings)
              List of file patterns (in regexp  format)  that  determines  which  files  will  be
              considered  audiofiles (default: all files ending on .mp3, .wav, and files starting
              with 'http://' for http streaming). Check sample.mp3blasterrc for a good example.

       CharsetTable (string)
              Specify a character recoding table which maps ID3 songinfo to your  local  charset.
              For  more  info about how to create one, see the README in the installed mp3blaster
              documentation  (usually  /usr/local/share/mp3blaster)  for  more  information.   An
              example  which  recodes  the  Russian  win1251  charset  to  the  koi8-r charset is
              included.

       DownFrequency (boolean)
              If true, downsample audio output to 22Khz  instead  of  44Khz  (necessary  on  some
              ancient soundcards, like genuine Soundblaster Pro's)

       File.ID3Names (boolean)
              If  enabled,  the display mode in the file manager will show mp3's by their ID3-tag
              by default, instead  of  their  filename.  (default:  disabled)  (TODO:  Make  this
              directive a string with printf-like format for the id3tag fields).

       File.SortMode (string)
              Determines  the  default  file  sorting mode for the file manager. Valid modes are:
              alpha (default), alpha-case, modify-new, modify-old, size-small, size-big, none.

       HideOtherFiles (boolean)
              If enabled, non-audio/playlist files will not be shown in the file manager.

       MixerDevice (string)
              Mixer device to use for mixing (default: /dev/mixer).

       PlaylistDir (string)
              Directory path where playlists are stored (default: ~/.mp3blaster_playlists)

       PlaylistMatching (list of strings)
              List of file patterns (in regexp format) that determine which files are  considered
              playlists  (default:  all  files  ending on .lst/.m3u). Syntax identical to that of
              AudiofileMatching.

       ScanMP3 (boolean)
              If set, it will read each mp3 file before playing, to  calculate  VBR  total  time.
              This  might  be  impractical  if mp3's are streamed over a slow network connection,
              because the entire file will be read. Scanning is unnecessary if the mp3 has a  so-
              called XING header (which most VBR mp3's have, nowadays).  Default: disabled.

       SelectItems.UnselectFirst (boolean)
              When  selecting  files  from the filemanager or playlist using 'Select some items',
              unselect previously selected items prior to selecting matching  new  ones  if  this
              option is set. (default: disabled)

       SelectItems.SearchRegex (boolean)
              If  set, use extended regular expression to match files instead of using the global
              (fnmatch-style) matching. This is for the 'Select some items'  feature.   (default:
              disabled)

       SelectItems.SearchCaseInsensitive (boolean)
              If  set,  search case-insensitive when using 'Select some items' feature. (default:
              enabled)

       SkipLength (number)
              How many seconds to skip when forwarding  or  rewinding  a  song.  Default  is  10.
              Change to your liking.

       PanSize (number)
              Number  of  characters  to  pan  content to the left or right in scrollable window.
              Default = 5. Range is 1..40.

       WrapAround (boolean)
              If disabled, the scrollable window will not wrap around when you use attempt to  go
              past the upper or lower boundary using the arrow keys. (default: enabled)

       SoundDevice (string)
              Sound device to use for audio output (default /dev/dsp (/dev/audio on OpenBSD)).

       Threads (number, range 50..500)
              Amount  of  threads  to  use for buffering. More threads means more buffering (thus
              better hiccup prevention)

       WarnDelay (number, obsolete)
              Time before a warning popup will disappear. Currently not in use.

       Now a list of keywords that set colours. Not all keywords are well tested to do the  right
       thing at the time of writing..

       Color.Default.fg (colour)
              Default foreground colour

       Color.Default.bg (colour)
              Default background colour

       Color.Popup.fg (colour)
              Popup window foreground colour

       Color.Popup.bg (colour)
              Popup window background colour

       Color.PopupInput.fg (colour)
              Popup window input box foreground color

       Color.PopupInput.bg (colour)
              Popup window input box background color

       Color.Error.fg (colour)
              Error message foreground colour

       Color.Error.bg (colour)
              Error message background colour

       Color.Button.fg (colour)
              Foreground colour of CD-player buttons

       Color.Button.bg (colour)
              Background colour of CD-player buttons

       Color.ShortCut.fg (colour)
              Foreground colour of keybindings

       Color.ShortCut.bg (colour)
              Background colour of keybindings

       Color.Label.fg (colour)
              Foreground colour of .. something :)

       Color.Label.bg (colour)
              Background colour of .. something :)

       Color.Number.fg (colour)
              Foreground color for numbers and similar status indicators.

       Color.Number.bg (colour)
              Background color for numbers and similar status indicators.

       Color.FileMp3.fg (colour)
              Foreground colour of mp3 files in file manager

       Color.FileDir.fg (colour)
              Foreground colour of directories in file manager

       Color.FileLst.fg (colour)
              Foreground colour of playlist files in file manager

       Color.FileWin.fg (colour)
              Foreground colour of other files in file manager

       This  is the list of all keybindings. It should be obvious from their names which function
       they're attached to.

       Key.SelectFiles (keybinding)

       Key.AddGroup (keybinding)

       Key.LoadPlaylist (keybinding)

       Key.WritePlaylist (keybinding)

       Key.SetGroupTitle (keybinding)

       Key.ToggleRepeat (keybinding)

       Key.ToggleShuffle (keybinding)

       Key.TogglePlaymode (keybinding)

       Key.ToggleDisplay (keybinding)

       Key.ToggleSort (keybinding)

       Key.StartPlaylist (keybinding)

       Key.ChangeThread (keybinding)

       Key.ToggleMixer (keybinding)

       Key.MixerVolDown (keybinding)

       Key.MixerVolUp (keybinding)

       Key.MoveAfter (keybinding)

       Key.MoveBefore (keybinding)

       Key.QuitProgram (keybinding)

       Key.Help (keybinding)

       Key.Del (keybinding)

       Key.Select (keybinding)

       Key.Enter (keybinding)

       Key.Refresh (keybinding)

       Key.PrevPage (keybinding)

       Key.NextPage (keybinding)

       Key.Up (keybinding)

       Key.Down (keybinding)

       Key.Left (keybinding)

       Key.Right (keybinding)

       Key.Home (keybinding)

       Key.End (keybinding)

       Key.StartSearch (keybinding)

       Key.File.Enter (keybinding)

       Key.File.Select (keybinding)

       Key.File.AddFiles (keybinding)

       Key.File.InvSelection (keybinding)

       Key.File.RecursiveSelect (keybinding)

       Key.File.SetPath (keybinding)

       Key.File.Delete (keybinding)

       Key.File.DirsAsGroups (keybinding)

       Key.File.Mp3ToWav (keybinding)

       Key.File.AddURL (keybinding)

       Key.File.UpDir (keybinding)

       Key.Play.Previous (keybinding)

       Key.Play.Play (keybinding)

       Key.Play.Next (keybinding)

       Key.Play.Rewind (keybinding)

       Key.Play.Stop (keybinding)

       Key.Play.Forward (keybinding)

       Key.Play.NextGroup (keybinding)

       Key.Play.PrevGroup (keybinding)

       Key.HelpPrev (keybinding)

       Key.HelpNext (keybinding)

       Key.File.MarkBad (keybinding)

       Key.ClearPlaylist (keybinding)

       Key.DeleteMark (keybinding)

BUGS

       If you find bugs, please report them on the sourceforge project site.

AUTHOR

       mp3blaster has been written written and performed  by  Bram  Avontuur  <bram@avontuur.org>
       <http://www.stack.nl/~brama/>

       The  mpegsound lib used is written by many people. The latest port from windows c++ source
       to unix was done by Jung woo-jae. Several alterations have been applied since.

       Please leave comments, suggestions, complaints, bug fixes, coffee and porting  experiences
       on  the  sourceforge project page. If you want to report a bug, please include the version
       number.

                                                                                    mp3blaster(1)