hcdplay(1)

📦
this version · 2 versions
  • debian trixie, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, opensuse-leap 16.0, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking (latest)
  • debian bookworm, ubuntu jammy
, in debian trixie, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, opensuse-leap 16.0, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ hcdplay(1) ✨

okay bestie, so this is hcdplay, a lil tool from the hxtools family that lets you control autonomous CDDA playback using Linux CDROM ioctls 💿✨ buckle up, it's giving retro-tech realness

🌸 NAME 🌸

hcdplay — control autonomous CDDA playback using Linux CDROM ioctls 🎀

🦋 SYNTAX 🦋

hcdplay [-CEPRSTs] [-D device] [-p first-track [last-track]]

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so here's the tea ☕ CD-DA discs in CD-ROM drives can be played back in one of two ways, and they're lowkey really different:

  1. Digital Audio Extraction (DAE) — where software asks for the disc sector by sector, like a needy bestie texting you one word at a time 🙈
  2. autonomous playback — where the drive's firmware does the sector reading all by itself, main character energy, no software supervision needed 💅

with autonomous playback, the software only has to send a few control codes to start or end playback. that's it. that's the whole job. and ngl, if your drive has extra buttons besides eject — like the Sony CDU5221, iconic — you can even control Autonomous Playback with those buttons too 👑

now, in this autonomous play mode, the drive can/will output sound through a bunch of different methods. the common ones are:

  • a 3.5mm headphone jack 🎧
  • a 4-pin Analog Audio connector that's supposed to be hooked up to a soundcard

and here's the sad part 😭 these are often just… not there anymore. especially on external drives, slimline drives, and even internal 5.25" SATA drives. and as such, these drives often don't even implement the Autonomous Playback functions anymore — the particular ATA commands just get ignored. 💀

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -C, --close — request that the drive be closed 🫶
  • -D, --device device — the path to the CD-ROM device node. defaults to /dev/sr0 ✨
  • -E, --eject — request that the drive be ejected 💅
  • -P, --pause — pause playback. this can only be issued if the CD-ROM drive is in the Playing state ⚠️
  • -R, --resume — resume playback. this can only be issued if the CD-ROM drive is in the Paused state ⚠️
  • -S, --stop — stop playback 🛑
  • -T, --toc — print part of the disc's table of contents (TOC) 📋
  • -p, --play [first-track [last-track]] — start playback of first-track and play until last-track. if no first track is specified, it starts from 1. if no last track is specified, it plays until the end of the disc 🎶
  • -s, --start — start playback ▶️

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

hxtools(7) 🫶

and that's the whole vibe, bestie — go forth and control your CD drive like the icon you are 👑💖

this was hxtools, dated 2013-03-16 🌸 slay, bye 💅✨

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