Last updated: 2004-04-04
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cddb2md is a Linux tool for automatically setting the titles of tracks on a NetMD capable MiniDisc recorder. It fetches the titles from freedb.org in CDDB format, and writes them to the disc via a USB cable.
This page describes version 0.2.2 of cddb2md.
omd, which is the command-line component of Xmd, a NetMD program for the Mac. Although the website talks about MacOS X a lot, don't worry, the command line part works fine on Linux. I expect it also works on FreeBSD.
Note that omd contains a built-in list of MiniDisc recorder models that it knows about. Unfortunately, this hasn't been updated to include some of the newer models. If you have trouble getting omd to detect your recorder, email me and I'll try to help.
The latest version is at http://www.mavit.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/cddb2md/downloads/cddb2md.pl.
cddb2md is fully interactive. Give it a whirl.
CDDB disc IDs are computed from the exact lengths of tracks on CDs. Unfortunately, the track lengths will be slightly different on MiniDisc to CD, especially if the disc is an analogue recording with manually added track marks. However, CDDB has a fuzzy match feature, and, if possible, cddb2md will list likely matches to choose from. Failing that, you can search by artist and album title at freedb.org's website, and enter the disc category and ID directly into cddb2md. The artist, album title and track titles can then be transfered to the disc.
Of course, for any of this to work, or even be useful, you must first listen through the disc, making sure that there are the correct number of tracks, and that the track marks are in roughly the right places. When making an analogue recording, track marks get automatically placed when there's a few seconds of silence. If there's no silence between tracks, or silence in the middle of tracks, you'll need to manually add or remove the track marks. You also need to remove any extra silence that's been recorded after the last track.
If you have recorded several albums on one MiniDisc, you also need to form them into groups using either your recorder's controls or omd's addgroup option.
Bug reports, comments, and other feedback is most welcome. Please email me, Peter Oliver, at cddb2md@mavit.org.uk.
cddb2md is made available under the GNU GPL, version 2.
Last updated: 2004-04-04
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