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Xubuntu Hardy died on me… Testing Gentoo Linux

After a longish brazen love/hate/love affair with *buntus… a Year and a Half, I get the middle finger from Xubuntu Hardy which installed with NO X Server, had to manually type in my printed xorg.conf. It worked. But then I wanted to do a fresh install on a big disk for performance, as you may fondly know of them, the WD Raptor 10,000rpm SATA HDD. All went annoyingly well with the setup… Until the reboot when I got Grub error 15 no MATTER what I did. So I cave… Xubuntu Hardy will have to find a new user to replace me, if my seduction by Gentoo continues to go as well as it has…

It’s H4rd3r F4$73r $7r0ng3r… And like Mickey D’s I’m Lovin’ It. Xfce is virtually a DREAM COME TRUE on Gentoo. No annoying GNOMEisms, although I did have, just have! to install GDM because all my login themes are for GDM, and I have a system down pat, template theme and all…

I don’t HATE GNOME, for its libs or apps, I just mostly dislike the environment. As I have stated in the past, Xfce feels “like home” and I built this particular House and have Hung my “Xfce Lives Here” sign on the door and put down a “Feels like 127.0.0.1″ Welcome Mat.

I’m not thoroughly blissed out by the fact that Porthole 0.5.0, The GUI (think Synaptic on Steroids) for Portage (think apt) and its command line tool emerge (think apt-get) the “other white meat” LOL! it says when you run emerge… (Humor like that tickes me!). Porthole has gone and died with a cryptic error message, but at least I can post that to an EXTREMELY thoughtful, considerate, and helpful community and expect to get an answer sometime soonish, as opposed to a maybe never or a RTFM. I hope you have had a nicer experience with the *buntu community at large, and I applaud them collectively as a community and as a distribution on their social morals and general demeanor.

I don’t hate Ubuntu/GNOME or Xubuntu/Xfce. They are G-R-E-A-T beginners, easygoers, teethcutters, distributions. I just feel like I’ve graduated to this wonderful new Planet (the one with the UFO agrin, and Larry the Cow) named Gentoo Linux where I aim to become a “Source-eror”. And, as most of my favorite apps were NOT supported or installable via Synaptic on the *buntus… I felt that I _should_ learn more about how to “Use the Source, Luke”.

Based on some reccomendations by warm and intelligent beings from the land of Europe, I came to decide a source-based distro would do me well, in agreement with the advice I recieved it came down to two choices: Lunar Linux, which many of the Xfce developers use and develop, or Gentoo, which has automatic dependency resolution, reverse-build dependencies, upgrade features, SLOTs (for different library versions) and bestest “file collision detection” which prevents your installed files from getting clobbered by a new installation (an emerge for source, an ebuild for binary in Gentoo). This has already saved my bacon a few times and is one of the reasons I murdered my *buntu Installs so frequently. I’m still a n00b and don’t really know what I’m doing, yet, but am determined to become a Linux guru some day. The smart, fast (a proper Sine-Wave regulating, UPS, and the XFS filesystem from SGI) distro is KILLER for the lightweight and highly user-responsive Desktop Environment Xfce, which for me is still the eXtremely Fun Computing Environment, and aslo the eXtremely Fast Computing Environment. It’s easily 4x faster than Xubuntu’s rendition of Xfce on amd64 dualcore.

So far everything is going well. I had some issues with: Partitioning (which a wonderful gent from Scotland who knows who he is helped design with me), GRUB installation (again, thanks Erland!, and another famous fella (Neddy Seagoon) helped point me in the right direction on when the chips were down). Additionally learning how to really use the CLI with the help of Flock and Dad’s Laptop were great learning experiences.

THE DOCS… Dont’ let me forget to tell you about the Gentoo Community’s Documentation!!! It’s TOP NOTCH! Rich, Detailed, Explanatory, and you can even learn two or eleventy things from following the links, or “Just Get It Done” by following the HOWTO guides.

I feel blessed to have met so many interesting and helpful people in the Gentoo, Xfce, Xubuntu, and Ubutnu communities. I’m no longer shackled to the “concept” of libre software while forking over the dough to a coarse manipulative juggernaut and using “a few” good cross platfom apps. I’m at HOME with in Xfce, and with Gentoo, I’m finding a better way to draw up blueprints to add on to my home with stable, or if I choose to unmask it, “fresher” software.

And The Bad: I wish I hadn’t upgraded Python to 2.5.6. I should have left it alone. It was working. And now Porthole isn’t. But I’m sure it will be an issue that IS resolvable without reinstallation, excedrin, or the switch back to the Evil Empire ™ Brought to you by Karlz Jr. (for those of you that didn’t get that reference, watch Luke Wilson in “Idicocracy” by Mike Judge of Beavis and Butt-Head fame).

*sigh* Now I want to find a LUG for Gentoo in Silicon Valley, so I can geek-out amongst real-live people. (NOT a denigration to my online mentors and friends, just a yearning for some real-world socialization). I bet they’ll be full of nice folks with egg on their skullz!!!

Bestest,

flacvest

Scanografie… What Is It?

Scanografie is a term I’m coining to mean the use of a scanner/copier as the primary photomechanical implement used toward the expression of an artistic ideal.

I’ve made a few “scanografs” as a new body of work for myself, and am very pleased with them. They have a unique look reminiscent of a platinum/palladium B+W Print, but it can be *gasp* in full color. The reason I compare them is this: the contrast range and amount of detail is simply stunning. I’m using an 8 1/2 x 11 inch 4800dpi scanner/copier/printer, so the detail is Large-Format. The Print is equalish in quality to a Contact Print from a Large-Format Sheet Film Negative, far better than you’d get from a digicam or digital SLR; The resulting scans can be blown up by a digital lab to some lavish sizes. Yum Yum.

When I figure out how to get my flickr links into WordPress, I’ll post a few images for you to drool over.

MMM… Scanografie!

Fluendo Media Codecs… Top Notch!

They aren’t from McDonald’s but I’m Lovin’ It. Those Fluendo Codecs are very easy to use. You just drop them in your /usr/lib folder if you’re on Xubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu, or any of the Debian derivatives, and your Totem GStreamer Multimedia Player will be able to handle all those media codecs which have naughty implications, and for 28 Euros, You’ve got ‘em working for you! I’m very happy with the quality, and the only downside is that they don’t let me play my protected wmv files of Blake Lewis doing that awesome beatbox remix of “You Give Love a Bad Name” by Bon Jovi. Life isn’t perfect… phooey!

go to https://shop.fluendo.com/product_info.php?products_id=42&osCsid=lr8g02mavfs776n964742apti1

for the complete set of Fluendo codecs.

Blessed Be

Cryptkeeper is nifty!

If you have things like a Journal that you’d like to keep personal from hackers or crackers, then the Cryptkeeper program may just be for you. It lets you set up an encrypted file system that is password protected, and integreates well into Xfce. Please visit http://www.tomatarium.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/cryptkeeper.html for more info. Xubuntu has a built-in package for Hardy, and getDeb has an up-to-date package for Gutsy.

Konichiwa B!tches!

I just got posted on Technorati!

I’m so, SO tickled!!! And here’s my Technorati button to prove it!!!

Since it was so easy… Here’s the info for a jUploadr .desktop entry…

Now that I know how to create .desktop files, I decided to scratch an itch, apply a bit of critical thinking, and figure out how to create the .desktop file for the really cool jUploadr application. This bad-boy allows you to bulk-upload to your flickr or zoomr accounts. It’s way easy to use now that I know how.

The basics… The readme says to run ./jUploadr in a Terminal, but I like my Xfce GUI, and Terminal can be less than point-and-click. Plus, I like to upload important stuff to my Flickr account. So there! ;-p

On to the important stuff…

My inspiration comes from the brilliant blogger out there at http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/2006/08/26/flock-on-ubuntu/ whom I thank ever so much for posting instructions oh how to create a GNOME .desktop file. I’m applying that knowledge to Xfce, Xubuntu Hardy in particular, and I hope it works for you!

First, Download jUploadr from Sourceforge. It is located at: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=127771&package_id=139883&release_id=522886. Download to your Desktop.

Next, open a Terminal. paste this command:

sudo tar -C /opt -xzvf jUploadr-1.2alpha1-linuxGTK-amd64.tar.gz

After that, you’ll want to paste this command:

sudo ln -s /opt/jUploadr-1.2alpha1-linuxGTK-amd/jUploadr /usr/bin/jUploadr

That’ll link the installed optional jUploadr program to a path that your system will look for.

Now that that’s all said and done, the installation, I mean; it’s time to create that nifty .desktop file.

Back to the terminal we go and paste this command:

gksudo mousepad /usr/share/applications/jUploadr.desktop

Now we want to paste the following contents into the jUploadr.desktop file:

[Desktop Entry]
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=jUploadr
Comment=jUploadr Flickr & Zoomer Uploader
Exec=jUploadr
Icon=/opt/jUploadr-1.2alpha1-linuxGTK-amd/juploadr.ico
StartupNotify=true
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Applications;Network

That should do it! Now if you’d like to create a Launcher the easy way, follow the instructions for creating the Flock launcher. You’ll now find jUploadr with a nice nifty icon and menu entry under Menu > Applications > Network

How To: Create a .desktop entry for the awesome Flock browser, and become a Flockstar!

Everybody knows that I like my Xubuntu, almost as much as my Xfce. But before I “Switched” from Windows to Linux, I Switched a couple of times before that. First, I Switched from Internet Explorer to Neowin (heck it’s been so long I might have that browser wrong), then to Opera, then to Phoenix/Firebird/Firefox, then to Flock, now back to Firefox since Xfce gives me that smoothly integrated toolkit feel that I love. It’s GTK+ or nothing for me. But, I miss my Flock.

Haven’t been using it on Linux either, mostly due to the lack of it showing up in my menus, however there’s a brilliant blogger out there at http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/2006/08/26/flock-on-ubuntu/ whom I thank ever so much for posting instructions oh how to create a GNOME .desktop file. I tried it and it works on Xubuntu, with some adjustment, of course.

First, Download Flock from www.flock.com to your Desktop.

Next, open a Terminal. paste this command:

sudo tar -C /opt -xzvf flock-*.linux-i686.tar.gz

After that, you’ll want to paste this command:

sudo ln -s /opt/flock/flock /usr/bin/flock

That’ll link the installed optional flock program to a path that your system will look for.

Now that that’s all said and done, the installation, I mean; it’s time to create that nifty .desktop file.

Back to the terminal we go and paste this command:

gksudo mousepad /usr/share/applications/flock.desktop

Now we want to paste the following contents into the flock.desktop file:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Flock
Comment=Flock Web Browser
Exec=flock
Icon=/opt/flock/icons/mozicon128.png
StartupNotify=true
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Applications;Network

That should do it! Now if you’d like to create a Launcher the easy way, open your main menu, select Accessories > Appfinder, search for the “flock” entry and hit Enter. Flock and its icon should appear in the Appfinder. Now go ahead and move the Appfinder aside or roll up the window.

Next, Add and item to the Panel, and select “Launcher”. The Program Launcher Dialog will now be open. Go ahead and close the Add Item to Panel Dialog. In the Program Launcher Dialog, go ahead and drag the icon for Flock from the Appfinder below the Menu Well listing New Item. Then select the New Item, and click the “-” button (the minus button) to remove the blank Launcher, leaving only the Launcher for Flock. Now click the Close button on the Program Launcher Dialog, and a new Launcher with your shiny Flock Icon will appear in the panel. As you can see in the pic, I like my NeXT style Panel in the form of a Dock, and that Flock Icon sure looks good sitting in it!

Hope you like the tidbit! That’s All Punks!

Xubuntu Hardy Alternate Installer for amd64… {batteries NOT included…}

I am a LUCKY guy. I mailed a functioning xorg.conf to myself prior to distribution-upgrading from Gutsy (which was a pain to configure) to Hardy. All was well.

Then I wanted to move my /home partition to my big drive. And…

Yup. I broke it! The OS, not the HDD. Ugh. Round and Round we go. So I do a clean install with a dirty /home directory, cuz who wants to lose all their data!!! Not me.

However, HARDY (har har) erm… hehehe… Hardy ships without a functioning xorg.conf. In fact, I had NO FUNCTIONING Xserver. Not even one with the wrong: drivers, video architecture, resolution. I got zilch.

nada.

NoThInG.

So hours later, I get it all working after MANUALLY typing in the data from a printed copy of my previously working xorg.conf.

So why am I happy about it! What wHAT WhAt!?!?! Happy? Yes… I’ll tell you why:

I have a Syntax Olevia LT27HV 720p HDTV set that has a DVI-I input. Which means in humanspeak that I run my A/V and Computer, A Shuttle SN27P2, through the HDTV. Sweeeeeet!!! At a blinding 1280×720dpi

Why the hell am I so happy?!?!?

Cuz, I’ll tell you:

I found a post describing how to calculate your screen dimensions!!! Along with the Settings, it allowed not just native resolution when logged in, but while in GDM as well! FINALLY I have the proper font rendering sizes! whew!

SO, even though the road was bumpy, shangri-la for this pixel-perfectionist is heavenish yes indeedie!

Here’s what you need to know:

Thanks to evaldas of Ubuntu/Xubuntu Linux notes and tips, this is how you set up the proper DPI for the xorg Xserver.

use the utilities xdpyinfo | grep resolution as well as xrdb -query to obtain the current DPI. Next change the DPI values in the files: ~/.Xresources and ~/.config/xfce4/Xft.xrdb by adding the line Xft.dpi: 96. If you have no luck with your display, i.e. HUGE fonts… do this in a terminal: echo “Xft.dpi: 96″ >> /root/.Xresources, then echo “Xft.dpi: 96″ >> ~/.Xresources, and next xrandr –dpi 96, followed by editing of the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. Take a look at my posted xorg.conf especially at the important parts. They would be: DisplaySize under the “Monitor” section, and the “Device” section.

If you need to calculate the display dimensions for your own display, here is the formula:

25.4 * pixelHeight / DPI and 25.4 * pixelWidth / DPI. For a Syntax Olevia set of my make and model, the value you use is DisplaySize 338 190.

Here is the xorg.conf file for you to parouse:

# xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type “man xorg.conf” at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
#   sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section “Files”
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
Identifier    “Logitech Classic Keyboard PS/2>USB”
Driver        “kbd”
Option        “CoreKeyboard”
Option        “XkbRules”    “xorg”
Option        “XkbModel”    “pc105″
Option        “XkbLayout”    “us”
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
Identifier    “Logitech MX Revolution Mouse”
Driver        “mouse”
Option        “CorePointer”
Option        “Device”        “/dev/input/mice”
Option        “Protocol”        “ImPS/2″
Option        “ZAxisMapping”        “4 5″
Option        “Emulate3Buttons”    “true”
EndSection

#Section “InputDevice”
#    Driver        “wacom”
#    Identifier        “stylus”
#    Option        “Device”    “/dev/input/wacom”
#    Option        “Type”        “stylus”
#    Option        “ForceDevice”    “ISDV4″# Tablet PC ONLY
#EndSection

#Section “InputDevice”
#    Driver        “wacom”
#    Identifier        “eraser”
#    Option        “Device”    “/dev/input/wacom”
#    Option        “Type”        “eraser”
#    Option        “ForceDevice”    “ISDV4″# Tablet PC ONLY
#EndSection

#Section “InputDevice”
#    Driver        “wacom”
#    Identifier        “cursor”
#    Option        “Device”    “/dev/input/wacom”
#    Option        “Type”        “cursor”
#    Option        “ForceDevice”    “ISDV4″# Tablet PC ONLY
#EndSection

Section “Device”
Identifier    “Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro”
Driver        “fglrx”
Busid            “PCI:2:0:0″
Option        “VideoOverlay”    “on”
Option        “OpenGLOverlay”    “off”
EndSection

Section “Monitor”
Identifier    “Syntax Olevia LT27HV 1280×720x24 HDTV”
Option        “DPMS”
Option        “UseEdidDpi”    “false”
Option        “DPI”    “96×96″
Horizsync    30-130
Vertrefresh    50-160
DisplaySize 338 190
EndSection

Section “Screen”
Identifier    “Default Screen”
Device        “Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro”
Monitor        “Syntax Olevia LT27HV 1280×720x24 HDTV”
Defaultdepth    24
SubSection         “Display”
Modes        “1280×720″    “1024×768″    “800×600″    “640×480″
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section “ServerLayout”
Identifier    “Default Layout”
Screen     “Default Screen”
Inputdevice    “Logitech Classic Keyboard PS/2>USB”
Inputdevice    “Logitech MX Revolution Mouse”

# Uncomment if you have a wacom tablet
#    InputDevice     “stylus”    “SendCoreEvents”
#    InputDevice     “cursor”    “SendCoreEvents”
#    InputDevice     “eraser”    “SendCoreEvents”
EndSection
Section “Extensions”
Option        “Composite”    “Enable”
EndSection

On Xubuntu Hardy, this will give you a fully functioning Xserver using the Syntax Olevia LT27HV, and a Sapphire brand ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro video card. Please adjust to your particular video card, etc. Mind you, these settings I used with the ATI Proprietary Closed Source drivers, using AIGLX, not Xgl (I can’t wait till that’s standardized and stable: search for Kiba-Dock if you want to know what Xgl is capable of!!!).

I, however am tired of reinstalling, and since Hardy ships with Xfce 4.4.2 as well as FLAC 1.2.1, I will use the packages, and keep from playing with this system, because I am, lets face it, still NEW to Linux, and tend to Break the darned thing with too much customization. However, the aforementioned solution is very Goldilocks, which is to say… Just Right.

PulseAudio upgrade woes… and a Solution!!! :-)

was an early adopter of Pulse Audio, using it halfway through my experience with Xubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon. I have now stablilized my system and have taken the Hardy Plunge!

This however, left me with a niggling problem… MY PulseAudio STOPPED working!! AAARRGGH!!! NOoooo!

It’s true. The bright side is this: Thanks to the gentlemen at http://blog.paulbetts.org I have deciphered the Magic Bullet for PulseAudio in Hardy. YAY!!!

So here it goes: if you have PulseAudio in an Xubuntu installation, previous to 8.04 Hardy Heron, please “sudo apt-get purge pulse*” which will purge all configuration as well as pulseaudio files on your system. Make sure you have a working copy of your MPD’s /etc/mpd.conf file in a safe place. See, I like my Finger on the Pulse of my MPD! Go ahead and also delete your ~/.pulse and .pulse-cookie files.

Jokes aside, You really must be careful with that cryptic and finnicky file.

So you’ve gone and done it, removed pulseaudio and all configuration files, so now what?… Go to: “http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/p/pulseaudio/” and download all of the PulseAudio 9.10 files for your system architechture. For me it was as easy as pulling all the amd64 debs. Once that’s done, and you’re certain you have collected all the *.debs… proceed.

First, go into Synaptic, search for “alsa” and install the whole shebang (unless you know what you DON’T need)… Select, Mark, Apply.

On to the next point of business; edit the ALSA configuration file. It’s named “/etc/asound.conf“. You need this code to allow for ALSA services:

pcm.pulse {
type pulse
}

ctl.pulse {
type pulse
}

pcm.!default {
type pulse
}
ctl.!default {
type pulse
}

Now you want to install EACH and EVERY one of those *.debs to be sure you didn’t forget to install one. Tedious, to be sure, but that’s why I’m writing this guide… So we’ll both remember!

Next, go ahead and enter this string into the terminal:

“sudo apt-get install paman padevchooser paprefs“.

From this point ALSA is installed and set-up, along with configuration. Additonally PulseAudio is completely installed, and you have the nice GUI tools for managing it set-up.

From here, go ahead and add your users to the groups pulse, pulse-access, and pulse-rt (as well as mpd if you are using the MusicPlayer Daemon, and avahi-autoipd if you are using that). On Xubuntu you will find the Users and Groups Dialog by going to the “Menu”, selecting “System”, and then “Users and Groups”.

Now it is time to check PulseAudio by firing up a Terminal and inputting:

pulseaudio

This will ensure there are no errors when the PulseAudio Daemon is starting up. I had been getting a Connection Refused error, which led to me researching the issue and eventually writing this guide.

Once you have typed in pulseaudio it should very visibly inform you whether or not PulseAudio is working. If it is all working, you’ll fail to get an error message!

If you, like most of us, use Flash to browse the web, install the following:

wget “http://www.paulbetts.org/projects/libflashsupport_1.0~2219-1_i386.deb”
sudo dpkg -i libflashsupport_1.0-2219-1_i386.deb

or go to http://xubuntupals.ning.com and search the forum for the flashplayer plugin *.deb for amd64 which I will post within a day from today, which is the 11th of May.

Getting on with it. If like me, you like to use MPD, the Music Player Daemon, with Sonata, you’ll have to set it up. I’ll include the /etc/mpd.conf file for you to manipulate to your liking.

mpd is good enough to tell you what line you have an error on in your configuration, so I will leave that out of the post, though feel free to request the info if you need it.

Here’s my config file, I’ll just post it so it can be cut and pasted:

# An example configuration file for MPD
# See the mpd.conf man page for a more detailed description of each parameter.

######################## REQUIRED PATHS ##############
#
#
#music_directory    “~/music”
#playlist_directory    “~/.mpd/playlists”
#db_file        “~/.mpd/mpd.db”
#log_file        “~/.mpd/mpd.log”
#error_file        “~/.mpd/mpd.error”
music_directory        “~/Multimedia/Music”
playlist_directory    “~/Multimedia/Music/.mpd/playlists”
db_file            “~/Multimedia/Music/.mpd/mpd.db”
log_file        “~/Multimedia/Music/.mpd/mpd.log”
error_file        “~/Multimedia/Music/.mpd/mpd.error”
#
#
################################################################

######################## OPTIONAL PATHS ##############
#
#
# If you wish to use mpd –kill to stop MPD, then you must
# specify a file here in which to store MPD’s process ID.
#
pid_file        “~/Multimedia/Music/.mpd/mpd.pid”
#
#
# If specified, MPD will save its current state (playlist,
# current song, playing/paused, etc.) at exit.  This will be
# used to restore the session the next time it is run.
#
#state_file        “~/.mpd/mpd.state”
state_file        “~/Music/mpd/.mpd.state
#
#
################################################################

######################## DAEMON OPTIONS #############
#
#
# If started as root, MPD will drop root privileges and run as
# this user instead.  Otherwise, MPD will run as the user it was
# started by.  If left unspecified, MPD will not drop root
# privileges at all (not recommended).
#
#user            “nobody”
user            “flacvest”
#
#
# The address and port to listen on.
#
#bind_to_address    “any”
#port            “6600″
bind_to_address        “localhost”
port            “6600″
#
#
# Controls the amount of information that is logged.  Can be
# “default”, “secure”, or “verbose”.
#
#log_level        “default”
log_level        “verbose”
#
#
# If Zeroconf is configured, the service name to publish.  This
# should be unique on your local network, but name collisions
# will be taken care of for you.
#
#zeroconf_name        “Music Player”
zeroconf_name        “MPD at Whimsy”
#
#
################################################################

########################## PERMISSIONS ##############
#
#
# MPD can require that users specify a password before using it.
# You may specify one ore more here, along with what users who
# log in with that password are allowed to do.
#
#password        “password@read,add,control,admin”
#
#
# Specifies what permissions a user who has not logged in with a
# password has.  By default, all users have full access to MPD
# if no password is specified above, or no access if one or
# more passwords are specified.
#
#default_permissions    “read,add,control,admin”
default_permissions    “read,add,control,admin”
#
#
################################################################

########################## AUDIO OUTPUT ##############
#
#
# MPD supports many audio output types, as well as playing
# through multiple audio outputs at the same time.  You can
# specify one or more here.  If you don’t specify any, MPD will
# automatically scan for a usable audio output.
#
#
# See <http://mpd.wikia.com/wiki/Configuration#Audio_Outputs>
# for examples of other audio outputs.
#
#
# Using PulseAudio as a drop-in replacement for ESD (EnlightenedSoundDaemon)
#
#audio_output {
#type             “pulse”
#driver             “esd”
#options         “host=localhost”
#name            “esd”
#}
audio_output {
type “pulse”
driver “esd”
options “host=127.0.0.1:6600″
name “esd”
}
#
#
# An example of an ALSA output:
#
#audio_output {
#        type        “alsa”
#        name        “My ALSA Device”
#        device        “hw:0,0″    # optional
#        format        “44100:16:2″    # optional
#}
#
#
# An example of an OSS output:
#
#audio_output {
#        type        “oss”
#        name        “My OSS Device”
#        device        “/dev/dsp”    # optional
#        format        “44100:16:2″    # optional
#}
#
#
# An example of a shout output (for streaming to Icecast):
#
#audio_output {
#        type        “shout”
#        name        “My Shout Stream”
#        host        “localhost”
#        port        “8000″
#        mount        “/mpd.ogg”
#        password    “hackme”
#        quality    “5.0″
#        bitrate    “128″
#        format        “44100:16:1″
#        user        “source”    # optional
#        description    “My Stream Description”     # optional
#        genre        “jazz”                    # optional
#        public        “no”                    # optional
#}
#
#
# Force all decoded audio to be converted to this format before
# being passed to the audio outputs.
#
#audio_output_format    “44100:16:2″
#
#
####################################################

####################SAMPLE RATE CONVERSION #############
#
#
# If MPD has been compiled with libsamplerate support, this
# specifies the sample rate converter to use.  Possible
# values can be found in the mpd.conf man page or the
# libsamplerate documentation.
#
# SRC (Secret Rabbit Code) libsamplerate interpolator
#
#
#samplerate_converter    “Fastest Sinc Interpolator”
samplerate_converter    “Best Sinc Interpolator”
#
# This specifies the libsamplerate converter to use. The supplied value
# should either be an integer or a prefix of the name of a converter.
# The default is “Fastest Sinc Interpolator”.
#
# At the time of this writing, the following converters are available:
#
#Best Sinc Interpolator (0)
#
# Band limited sinc interpolation, best quality, 97dB SNR, 96% BW.
#
#
#Medium Sinc Interpolator (1)
#
# Band limited sinc interpolation, medium quality, 97dB SNR, 90% BW.
#
#
#Fastest Sinc Interpolator (2)
#
# Band limited sinc interpolation, fastest, 97dB SNR, 80% BW.
#
#
#ZOH Interpolator (3)
#
# Zero order hold interpolator, very fast, very poor quality with
# audible distortions.
#
#
#Linear Interpolator (4)
#
# Linear interpolator, very fast, poor quality.
#
#
################################################################

############################# MIXER #################
#
#
# MPD needs to know what mixer settings to change when you
# adjust the volume.  If you don’t specify one here, MPD will
# pick one based on which ones it was compiled with support for.
#
#
# An example for controlling an ALSA mixer:
#
#mixer_type        “alsa”
#mixer_device        “default”
#mixer_control        “PCM”
#
#
# An example for controlling an OSS mixer:
#
#mixer_type        “oss”
#mixer_device        “/dev/mixer”
#mixer_control        “PCM”
#
#
# If you want MPD to adjust the volume of audio sent to the
# audio outputs, you can tell it to use the software mixer:
#
#mixer_type             “software”
mixer_type        “software”
#
#
################################################################

######################### NORMALIZATION ##############
#
#
# Specifies the type of ReplayGain to use.  Can be “album” or
# “track”.  ReplayGain will not be used if not specified.  See
# <http://www.replaygain.org> for more details.
#
#replaygain        “album”
replaygain        “album”
#
#
# Sets the pre-amp used for files that have ReplayGain tags.
#
#replaygain_preamp    “0″
replaygain_preamp    “15″
#
#
# Enable on the fly volume normalization.  This will cause the
# volume of all songs played to be adjusted so that they sound
# as though they are of equal loudness.
#
#volume_normalization    “no”
volume_normalization    “yes”
#
#
################################################################

########################### BUFFERING ###############
#
#
# The size of the buffer containing decoded audio.  You probably
# shouldn’t change this.
#
#audio_buffer_size    “2048″
audio_buffer_size    “2048″
#
#
# How much of the buffer to fill before beginning to play.
# Increase this if you hear skipping when changing songs.
#
#buffer_before_play    “10%”
buffer_before_play    “0%”
#
#
# Similar options for the HTTP stream buffer.  If you hear
# skipping while playing HTTP streams, you may wish to increase
# these.
#
#http_buffer_size    “128″
#http_prebuffer_size    “25%”
#
#
################################################################

########################### HTTP PROXY ##############
#
#
# Specifies the HTTP proxy to use for playing HTTP streams.
#
#http_proxy_host    “proxy.isp.com”
#http_proxy_port    “8080″
#http_proxy_user    “user”
#http_proxy_password    “password”
#
#
################################################################

############################# LIMITS ###############
#
#
# These are various limits to prevent MPD from using too many
# resources.  You should only change them if they start
# restricting your usage of MPD.
#
#connection_timeout    “60″
#max_connections    “5″
#max_playlist_length    “16384″
#max_command_list_size    “2048″
#max_output_buffer_size    “8192″
#
#
################################################################

###################### CHARACTER ENCODINGS ############
#
#
# If file or directory names do not display correctly, then you
# may need to change this.  In most cases it should be either
# “ISO-8859-1″ or “UTF-8″.  You must recreate your database
# after changing this (use mpd –create-db).
#
#filesystem_charset    “ISO-8859-1″
filesystem_charset    “UTF-8″
#
#
# The encoding that ID3v1 tags should be converted from.
#
#id3v1_encoding        “ISO-8859-1″
id3v1_encoding        “UTF-8″
#
#
################################################################

######################### OTHER OPTIONS #############
#
#
# Try disabling this if you have MP3s which appear to end
# abruptly.  If this solves the problem, it is highly
# recommended that you fix your MP3s with vbrfix (available from
# <http://www.willwap.co.uk/Programs/vbrfix.php>), at which
# point you can re-enable support for gapless MP3 playback.
#
#
#gapless_mp3_playback    “yes”
gapless_mp3_playback    “yes”
#
# Enable this if you wish to use your MPD created playlists in
# other music players.
#
#
#save_absolute_paths_in_playlists    “no”
save_absolute_paths_in_playlists    “no
#
# A list of tag types that MPD will scan for and make available
# to clients.
#
#
#metadata_to_use    “artist,album,title,track,name,genre,date,composer,performer,disc”
metadata_to_use     “artist,album,title,track,name,genre,date,composer,performer,disc”
#
#
################################################################

################# REQUIRED AUDIO OUTPUT PARAMETERS #######
#
#
#type <type>
#
# This specifies the audio output type. See the list of supported outputs in
# mpd –version for possible values.
#
#name <name>
# This specifies a unique name for the audio output.
#
#
#################################################

################# OPTIONAL AUDIO OUTPUT PARAMETERS #######
#
#
#format <sample_rate:bits:channels>
#
# This specifies the sample rate, bits per sample, and number of channels of
# audio that is sent to the audio output device. See documentation for the
# “audio_output_format” parameter for more details. The default to use is
# whatever audio format is passed to the audio output.
#
#
#################################################

################# OPTIONAL ALSA OUTPUT PARAMETERS #########
#
#
#device <dev>
#
# This specifies the device to use for audio output. The default is “default”.
#
#
#use_mmap <yes or no>
#
# Setting this allows you to use memory-mapped I/O. Certain hardware setups
# may benefit from this, but most do not. Most users do not need to set this.
# The default is to not use memory-mapped I/O.
#
#
#buffer_time <time in microseconds>
#
# This sets the length of the hardware sample buffer in microseconds.
# Increasing it may help to reduce or eliminate skipping on certain setups.
# Most users do not need to change this. The default is 500000 microseconds
# (0.5 seconds).
#
#
#period_time <time in microseconds>
# This sets the time between hardware sample transfers in microseconds.
# Increasing this can reduce CPU usage while lowering it can reduce underrun
# errors on bandwidth-limited devices. Some users have reported good results
# with this set to 50000, but not all devices support values this high. Most
# users do not need to change this. The default is 256000000 / sample_rate
# (kHz), or 5804 microseconds for CD-quality audio.
#
#
##################################################

################## OPTIONAL PULSEAUDIO OUTPUT PARAMETERS ####
#
#
#server <server list>
#
#
# A space separated list of servers to try to connect to.
# See <http://www.pulseaudio.org/wiki/ServerStrings> for more details.
# The default is to let PulseAudio choose a server.
#
#
#sink <sink>
#
# The sink to output to. The default is to let PulseAudio choose a sink.
#
#
##################################################

#################### PULSEAUDIO SERVER STRING FORMAT ######
#
#
# The Format of Server Strings
#
# A server string contains information how to contact a PulseAudio server. You
# can specify it via ”$PULSE_SERVER” or as first argument to ”pa_context_new
# ()” or ”pa_simple_new()”. Normally it should be OK to leave it alone, but
# sometimes it is necessary to specify your own.
#
#
# The server string is a space-seperated list of server addresses. A server
# address is parsed according the following rules:
#
# 1. If it starts with a string enclosed in ”’{}”’ the address string is ignored
# unless the local hostname equals the string in the ”’{}”’. Otherwise this
# prefix is skipped.
#
# 2. If the string starts with ”’/”’ or ”’unix:”’ the remaining address string is
# taken as UNIX socket name.
#
# 3. If the string starts with “‘tcp6:’” or ”’tcp4:”’ or ”’tcp:”’ the remaining
# address string is split at the next colon, the first part is taken as hostname/
# IP address for IPv4, the second part as port number.
#
# If no colon is specified the default port number is assumed and the full
# remaining string is used as hostname/IP address.
#
# 4. If the string starts with ”’tcp6:”’ a similar rule applies, but this time for IPv6
#
# Otherwise a similar rule applies, but it is left to the resolver whether IPv4 or
# IPv6 is used for the connection.
#
#
# An example string:
#
#{ecstasy}unix:/tmp/pulse-lennart/native tcp6:ecstasy.ring2.lan:4713\
#tcp:ecstasy.ring2.lan:4713
#
#
# This tells PulseAudio to connect to the UNIX socket ”/tmp/pulse-lennart/\
# native” if the local host name is ”ecstasy”.
# If that fails (or the hostname doesn’t match) try to connect to host
# ”ecstasy.ring2.lan” on port 4713 usng TCP/IPv6. If even that fails, connect to
# the same host/port with TCP/IPv4.
#
#
# Another example string:
#
#{gurki}
#
# This tells PulseAudio to connect to the host ”gurki” with either IPv4/IPv6 and # that’s it.
#
#
##################################################

################### REQUIRED JACK OUTPUT PARAMETERS #######
#
#
#name <name>
#
# The client name to use when connecting to JACK. The output ports
# <name>:left and <name>:right will also be created for the left and right
# channels, respectively.
#
#
##################################################

################### OPTIONAL JACK OUTPUT PARAMETERS ########
#
#
#ports <left_port,right_port>
#
# This specifies the left and right ports to connect to for the left and right
# channels, respectively. The default is to let JACK choose a pair of ports.
#
#
#ringbuffer_size <size in bytes>
#
# This specifies the size of the ringbuffer in bytes. The default is 32768.
#
#
##################################################

################### OPTIONAL AO OUTPUT PARAMETERS ########
#
#
#driver <driver>
# This specifies the libao driver to use for audio output. Possible values
# depend on what libao drivers are available.
# See <http://www.xiph.org/ao/doc/drivers> for information on some commonly
# used drivers. Typical values for Linux include “oss” and “alsa09″. The default is
# “default”, which causes libao to select an appropriate plugin.
#
#
#options <opts>
#
# This specifies the options to use for the selected libao driver. For oss, the
# only option available is “dsp”. For alsa09, the available options are: “dev”,
# “buf_size”, and “periods”. See <http://www.xiph.org/ao/doc/drivers> for
# available options for some commonly used drivers. Options are assigned
# using “=”, and “;” is used to separate options. An example for oss: “dsp=/dev/
# dsp”. An example for alsa09: “dev=hw:0,0;buf_size=4096″. The default is “”.
#
#
#write_size <size in bytes>
#
# This specifies how many bytes to write to the audio device at once. This
# parameter is to work around a bug in older versions of libao on sound cards
# with very small buffers. The default is 1024.
#
#
#################################################

#################### REQUIRED SHOUT OUTPUT PARAMETERS #####
#
#
#name <name>
#
# This specifies not only the unique audio output name, but also the stream
# title.
#
#
#host <hostname>
#
# This specifies the hostname of the icecast server to connect to.
#
#
#port <port>
#
# This specifies the port of the icecast server to connect to.
#
#
#mount <mountpoint>
#
#This specifies the icecast mountpoint to use.
#
#
#password <password>
#
# This specifies the password to use when logging in to the icecast server.
#
#
#quality <quality>
#
# This specifies the ogg encoding quality to use. The value must be between 0
# and 10. Fractional values, such as 2.5, are permitted. Either the quality or
# the bitrate parameter must be specified, but not both.
#
#
#bitrate <kbps>
#
# This specifies the bitrate to use for encoding. Either the quality or the bitrate
# parameter must be specified, but not both.
#
#
#format <sample_rate:bits:channels>
#
# This specifies the sample rate, bits per sample, and number of channels to
# use for encoding.
#
#
##################################################

#################### OPTIONAL SHOUT OUTPUT PARAMETERS #####
#
#
#user <username>
#
# This specifies the username to use when logging in to the icecast server. The
# default is “source”.
#
#
#public <yes or no>
#
# This specifies whether to request that the stream be listed in all public
# stream directories that the icecast server knows about. The default is no.
#
#
#description <description>
# This specifies a description of the stream.
#
#
#genre <genre>
#
# This specifies the genre(s) of the stream.
#
#
##################################################

##################### FILES #########################
#
#
#~/.mpdconf
#
# User configuration file.
#
#
#/etc/mpd.conf
#
# Global configuration file.
#
#
##################################################

That’s a complete /etc/mpd.conf file. The bad news is that you’ll have to change all the double quotation marks due to a WordPress bug. Another issue I ran into… I didn’t have write access to the mpd files… so I couldn’t play ANY music!!! Make sure you go into the File Manager, select Properties (if using Thunar, and if not, WHY not?!?!?!) and change the permissions to read & write. Another hitch was setting the Volume Control Properties. Make sure you set the proper “Wannabe Master” which should be “Default” for your soundcard. This stopped playback for me, and I was scratching my head and well, I’m not stupid, but I wish mpd came with scripts tailored to Xubuntu. Please drop a note if anything in this guide requires explaining. I do this as a service to myself and others.

A side note for those of you with Nero Linux 3: Use ALSA under Menu > File > Options for your sound server, as this is how we have set up our Xfce and Xubuntu system if you’ve flollowed this guide!

My Number 1 Tip when PulseAudio and MPD fail you, check pulseaudio via the Terminal, and if it complains at ALL, you need to reset your “Wannabe Master” via the Xfce Volume Mixer Panel Plugin, just Right Click on it and Select Properties. 99% of the time this will be unset, and you need to select your Audio Device and choose Master as the Wannabe Master. This works for me, please leave me a message if your experience on Xubuntu Hardy differs! :-)  Thanks!

Best in Any Manner Of Things to YOU!