ascd(1)

📦
version 0.13.2 · 3 versions
, in debian trixie, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing

💖 NAME 💖

okay so welcome to the ascd(1) manual page bestie!! 🎀 this is the whole scoop on ascd — an AfterStep and WindowMaker CD player. yes. a CD player. for your desktop. iconic behavior honestly 💿✨

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

here's the vibe check on how you actually call it:

ascd [ -help ]
ascd [ -version ]
ascd [ -themes ]
ascd [ -geometry geometry ] [ +/-withdrawn ] [ -device device ] [ -mixer
device ] [ +/-a ] [ +/-p ] [ +/-t ] [ +/-B ] [ -cue time ] [ -ti time ]
[ -volume volume ] [ -mvolume volume ] [ -maxvolume volume ] [
-minvolume volume ] [ -fadestep value ] [ -theme theme directory ] [
+/-ia ] [ +/-up ] [ -showtitle ] [ -showartist ] [ -debug ] [ -save ]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so ascd is a CD player, and like… not just any CD player. it was written to play audio CD's and it lives integrated in afterstep's Wharf module or WindowMaker's dock 🫶 like it literally hangs out in your dock being cute.

and it's not just pressing play, bestie — ascd handles mounted volumes, and it opens and closes the tray. yeah. it does the whole thing. no cap. 💅

✨ CONFIGURATION OPTIONS ✨

this is the main character section fr fr — every single flag, right here 👑

  • -help, -h — prints a whole list of the commandline options and then dips out. ✌️
  • -version — prints the version number and exits. that's it, that's the whole job 💖
  • -themes — prints the list of installed themes and exits. window shopping, but make it terminal 🎀
  • -geometry <geom> — specifies the geometry of ascd. and the Geometry works exactly like the standard X-Window geometry option, so if you know that one you already know this one 💅
  • +/-withdrawn, +/-w — turns withdrawn mode on and off. use this option if you're running ascd with WindowMaker 🪟
  • -device <device> — specifies the CDROM device that ascd should be using. ⚠️ but heads up: if -DNO_DEFAULT_DEVICE was set at compilation time, this option will have no effect.
  • -mixer <device> — specifies the mixer device. lowkey conditional though — it only works if mixer support was enabled at compilation 🎚️
  • -cue <seconds> — specifies the time -in seconds- for intro scan and cue modes. ⏱️
  • -ti <seconds> — specifies the timeout for the help texts. the default is 1 second.
  • +/-autoplay, +/-a — turns autoplay mode on or off. when it's turned on, ascd always waits for a CD, and plays it automatically when it gets inserted. obsessed with the anticipation tbh 😭💿
  • +/-autoprobe, +/-p — turns autoprobe mode on or off. this mode checks for an inserted CD. Default is on. ✅
  • +/-autorepeat, +/-t — autorepeat mode: when ascd reaches the end of the last track, the CD is not stopped and the first track is played. infinite loop era 🔁
  • +/-B — bestie… this option is no longer supported. it's giving retired. gone. 💀
  • -maxvolume <value> — sets the CD driver max volume. 📈
  • -minvolume <value> — sets the CD driver min volume. 📉
  • -volume <value> — sets the CD driver volume, between 0 and maxvolume. ⚠️ note that the -volume option is independant from the mixer — it controls the drive, not the sound card. two different girls, two different jobs 💅
  • -mvolume <value> — sets the CD driver volume for the mute mode. 🤫
  • -fadestep <value> — sets the fade in/out speed. Default is 5. greater values accelerate the fade, so go big if you want that dramatic transition energy ✨
  • -theme <theme dir> — specifies the visual theme to use. serve looks 👑
  • +/-ia — when this option is enabled, AScd ignores the skip orders found in the WorkMan database and reads all the tracks of the CD. no skipping, we listen to EVERYTHING 🎧
  • +/-up — when enabled, all the messages (and the track title display) are forced in uppercase. LOUD AND PROUD 📢
  • -showtitle — shows the track title if it's found in the WorkMan database. and if the message panel isn't large enough, AScd scrolls the title. it adapts, she's flexible 💖
  • -showartist — adds the artist name to the track title (the -showtitle option is needed for this one, so don't forget your girl) 🎤
  • -debug — AScd verbose mode. for when you need every single detail spoken aloud 🐛
  • -save — saves all the settings and exits. useful to 'make' a new configuration file: set all the stuff you want to set and put -save as the last commandline option. example time:
ascd +w +a -device /dev/cd0c -save

then you just call ascd without arguments, and it'll use the settings you just saved. it's giving set it and forget it 💾✨

📁 FILES 📁

ascd stores its settings in ~/.ascdrc. 🗂️

the theme files are usually stored in /usr/local/share/AScd. 🎀

🌈 INVOCATION 🌈

ascd can be called from one of many ways. the most common invocation is the command line:

% ascd -device /dev/wcd0a +w +a &

with Afterstep, another way to call ascd is from the window manager:

*Wharf - - Swallow "ascd" ascd&

this line, when placed in the .steprc file in the users home directory, will cause ascd to use the shape extensions so that it will be a button on the Wharf (1) button bar under the afterstep (1) window manager. 🫶✨

📜 COPYRIGHTS 📜

Copyright 1999, Rob Malda and Denis Bourez. No guarantees or warranties or anything are provided or implied in any way whatsoever. ⚠️ Use this program at your own risk. Permission to use this program for any purpose is given, as long as the copyright is kept intact. (keep the copyright intact bestie, it's the rule 🤝)

💜 AUTHORS 💜

  • Denis Bourez <denis@rsn.fdn.fr> — application since 0.7 👑
  • Rob Malda <malda@slashdot.org> — application until 0.6 💖
  • Dirk Foersterling <milliByte@DeathsDoor.com> — WorkMan maintainer 🛠️
  • Steven Grimm <koreth@Hyperion.COM> — WorkMan maintainer until 1.3 ✨
  • Erik O'Shaughnessy <eriko@austin.ibm.com> — AIX platform device driver 🧚
  • Michael Kurz <mkurz@rzws.fh-aalen.de> — changes and man page until 0.6 📝

🔗 MORE INFORMATION 🔗

and that's the whole page!! 🎀 shoutout to the 3rd Berkeley Distribution for putting this out on 17 may 1999 — yeah it's vintage, it's archival, it's lowkey a relic and honestly? that's the vibe. go play a CD bestie 💿💖✨

📦 where this page comes from