DAISY player in Ubuntu Linux

Daisy-player in Ubuntu Linux

Update from a previous version Author: Dirk Schouten, schoutdi (at) knoware (dot) nl

UNDER CONSTRUCTION! 1. Introduction

2. Necessary skills to execute this project

3. Conventions used in this manual

4. What is needed?

5. Daisy-player installation
5.1 Installation via Ubuntu Software Center
5.2 Installation with PPA and apt-get

6. Testing and using daisy-player

7. Adaptions for visually impaired and blind users
7.1 Start daisy-player
7.2 Shut down the computer
7.3 DAISY player desktop icon
7.4 Set volumes with Aumix
7.5 Big cursor
7.6 Locate pointer
7.7 Larger fonts
7.8 Switch workspces
7.9 Disable File Browsers auto opening
7.10 Another language for daisy-player
7.11 Daisy-player manual page

8. Installing Linux Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

9. Useful links

10. Concluding remarks

11. The ususal disclaimer

1. Introduction

Daisy-player is a computr DAISY player [1], created by Jos Lemmens. Its functionality and features are fully comparable with expensive commercial players or even better. The program is Open Source Software, licensed under the General Public License (GPL) version 3 or later, which means you can use his software freely and can modify it if needed.

Jos Lemmens DAISY program, 'daisy-player', with a dash from now on, has a straightforward user interface. Easy to operate by blind and vidually impaired users as well as users with dyslexia. All functions are available via the keyboard.
Daisy-player is multi lingual, available in English, Dutch, German, South-African.

This manual discusses 2 ways to install daisy-player on a Linux Ubuntu personal computer:

Via Ubuntu Software Center. Available from Ubuntu version 11.10 and later versions. Daisy-player is just a few clicks away.
Installation via a Personal Package Archive (PPA). Paul Gevers creates the Ubuntu versions of daisy-player and makes them available for downloading. This way is a bit more complicated, however very doable for a Linux beginner.

Of course the source code can be obtained form Jos Lemmens' website, so you can 'roll your own'. Sources can be foun on http://web.inter.nl.net/users/lemmensj/. Compiling software is beyond the scope of this manual.

DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) is a technical standard for digital audio books, periodicals and computerized text. DAISY is designed to be a complete audio substitute for print material and is specifically designed for use by people with "print disabilities", including blindness, impaired vision, and dyslexia (from Wikipedia).
Almost all DAISY players are pretty expensive and sometimes have limited DAISY functionality.
Daisy-player plays DIASY CD's version 2.02 and 3.

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2. Necessary skills to execute this project

Depending on the Ubuntu version, you need basic computer knowledge, i.e. exploring the contents of a CD, basic knowledge about file extensions, downloading files via the Internet, unpacking compressed files, basic work on the command line in a terminal, knowing some basic Linux commands like 'cd', 'cp', 'mv'. When all this is unfamiliar to you, the best thing you can do is asking help at a local Linux group near you. They will be most willing to help.

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3. Conventions used in this manual

A lot of work is done in on the Linux desktop. To easily naviagte in this OS (Operating System) and its desktop, we follow the way described in the following example, whereafter the explanation follows.

Example: Go: Applications > Sound and Video > GNOME ALSA mixer > W: GNOME ALSA Mixer > PCM > Mute: uncheck

This means: With your mouse, point to 'Applications', left click on 'Applications'. The 'Applications' menu opens. Select 'Sound & Video, select 'GNOME ALSA Mixer. The Window 'GNOME ALSA Mixer' opens. Search for the PCM fader, search for the 'Mute' option and uncheck it.
In this example T (Tab) and [Name] (Name of a button) are missing, but speak for themselves. With and a bit of imagination and looking at the screen, you will soon be familiar with these conventions.

The text below is an adaption from one of our other projects: http://serveratschool.net

Part of the installation is working on the command line in a terminal. Here are the rules of engagement:

Linux/Unix is case sensitive.
When file- and directory names are used in the text, we use filename or directory_name.
Example: Copy daisy-player to /usr/local/bin/.
In Unix/Linux, commands are invoked with an [Enter]. We will omit "... and press the [Enter] key on your keyboard" with every instruction in order to keep the documentation as readable as possible.
The names of buttons are displayed between square brackets, e.g, [OK], [Next], [Finish].
The keys on the keyboard are displayed as follows: [Enter] for the 'Enter' key and [Tab] for the tabulator key. Combinations of keys are displayed as follows: [Alt+u] means: 'press and hold the Alt key and hit the key labeled u' and [Ctrl+Alt+Del] means: 'press and hold the Ctrl key and the Alt key and hit the Del key'.
'DAISY player' refers to the general name of the device, whereas 'daisy-player' refers to Jos Lemmens program.

4. What is needed?

This section describes what you need to execute this project.

A PC with with a harddisk (about 10 Gb or more) and some RAM (1 Gb or more) a CD player and a sound card, speakers or a headphone. A monitor or a braille terminal and a keyboard. For me (low-vision) a mouse was useful during the installation.
A CD with Ubuntu <version< for low vision or ...
... a CD with Ubuntu <version< Alternate Install. Downloadable from http://vinux.org.uk/.
A working connection to the Internet to download the daisy-player software, updates and additional required software.
A DAISY CD version 2 for testing.

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5. DAISY player installation

There are various ways to install the DAISY player:

With Ubuntu Software Center. The easiest and recommended way, but only available from version 11.10 and later versions.
With PPA and apt-get (a piece of cake on the command line).
A complete manual installation (clumsy, but all details are covered)

5.1 Installation via Ubuntu Software Center

After successfull installation, sound check and installing updates of Ubuntu 11.10 or later, proceed as follows:

On the desktop, click the Ubuntu Software Center button. Its window opens.
In the search field, type 'daisy-player'. OMit the quotes.
The daisy-plyaer program is visible. click on it.
The program becomes a colored bar with an Install button.
Click the button.
A password window opens. Enter your password and click Authenticate or hit the [Enter] key on your keyboard. The installation starts.
That's it. Close the Ubuntu Software Center with [Alt+F4] on your keyboard

Now check your work by doing 6. Testing and using daisy-player.

5.2 Installation with PPA and apt-get

A Personal Package Archive (PPA) is a special software repository for uploading source packages to be built and published as an apt repository by Launchpad or similar application. We follow the guidelines to install the Debian software package that Paul Gevers has made for daisy-plyaer. The guidelindes below are slightly adapted for readability.

How do I use software from a PPA?
To start installing and using software from a Personal Package Archive, you first need to tell Ubuntu where to find the PPA.

Important: The contents of Personal Package Archives are not checked or monitored. You install software from them at your own risk.

Adding the PPA to Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic) and later.

If you're using the most recent version of Ubuntu (or any version from Ubuntu 9.10 onwards), you can add a PPA to your system with a single line in your terminal.

Open a terminal, going: Applications > Accessories > Terminal. What you shoud type in, is written in bold:


dirk@ubuntu:~$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:paul-climbing/daisy

Now press the [Enter]key on your keyboard, you see something like:


[sudo] password for dirk:

Enter your password and press the [Enter] key. Your system will now fetch the PPA's key. This enables your Ubuntu system to verify that the packages in the PPA have not been interfered with since they were built. You see something like:


Executing: gpg --ignore-time-conflict --no-options --no-default-keyring --secret-keyring /etc/apt/secring.gpg --trustdb-name /etc/apt/trustdb.gpg --keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg --primary-keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv BBE04B0D0729378E6FF865A28C851674F96FD737
gpg: requesting key F96FD737 from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com
gpg: key F96FD737: public key "Launchpad PPA for Paul Gevers" imported
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg:               imported: 1  (RSA: 1)
dirk@ubuntu:~$

NOTICE:
If this part fails, your firewall is probably blocking the access to the PPA key server.

Now, as a one-off, you should tell your system to pull down the latest list of software from each archive it knows about, including the PPA you just added:


dirk@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get update

You see something like:


dirk@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get update
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com lucid-security Release.gpg
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-security/main Translation-en_US
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com lucid Release.gpg                   
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/main Translation-en_US

[================ Many lines cut =====================================]

Hit http://security.ubuntu.com lucid-security/multiverse Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com lucid-security/multiverse Sources
Fetched 58.3kB in 0s (59.9kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
dirk@ubuntu:~$

You're ready to start installing software from the PPA!

Now install the daiy-player. At the command prompt, enter:
dirk@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get install daisy-player

and press [Enter], whereafter you see something like:


Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
  libid3tag0 libiso9660-7 libmad0 madplay
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  daisy-player libid3tag0 libiso9660-7 libmad0 madplay
0 upgraded, 5 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 310kB of archives.
After this operation, 762kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y


===> At this point, enter 'y'. Omit the quotes <===



Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/main libid3tag0 0.15.1b-10build2 [35.5kB]
Get:2 http://ppa.launchpad.net/paul-climbing/daisy/ubuntu/ lucid/main daisy-player 4.0.2-1~ppa1l [19.0kB]
Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/universe libiso9660-7 0.81-4 [126kB]
Get:4 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/main libmad0 0.15.1b-4ubuntu1 [73.0kB]
Get:5 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/universe madplay 0.15.2b-7 [56.6kB]
Fetched 310kB in 0s (540kB/s)
Selecting previously deselected package libid3tag0.
(Reading database ... 124158 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking libid3tag0 (from .../libid3tag0_0.15.1b-10build2_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libiso9660-7.
Unpacking libiso9660-7 (from .../libiso9660-7_0.81-4_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libmad0.
Unpacking libmad0 (from .../libmad0_0.15.1b-4ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package madplay.
Unpacking madplay (from .../madplay_0.15.2b-7_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package daisy-player.
Unpacking daisy-player (from .../daisy-player_4.0.2-1~ppa1l_i386.deb) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Setting up libid3tag0 (0.15.1b-10build2) ...

Setting up libiso9660-7 (0.81-4) ...

Setting up libmad0 (0.15.1b-4ubuntu1) ...

Setting up madplay (0.15.2b-7) ...
Setting up daisy-player (4.0.2-1~ppa1l) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
dirk@ubuntu:~$

Done! To test the installation, proceed to section 6. Testing daisy-player.

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6. Testing and using daisy-player

To do a basic test of the correct functioning of daisy-player proceed as follows:

Insert a DAISY CD-ROM (version 2) in the CD or DVD player.
Give the CD/DVD player some time to read the contents of the DAISY CD.
Open a terminal by pressing [Ctrl+T] on the keyboard. A terminal opens.
On the command line, type:


dirk@ubuntu:~$ daisy-player

The player should start reading the DAISY CD. After some time you should see the contents, something like this example daisy-player screenshot:

 Daisy-player - Version 7.2.1 - (C)2011  J. Lemmens - Applied social psychoology
 'h' for help --- 315 pages - level: 1 of 2 - total length: 21:28:57 - ( 1 of  4) 
   Applied Social Psychology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        00:04 
   Producentgegevens  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        00:51 
   Boekgegevens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        01:10 
   Tekst achterzijde  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        01:54 
   Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        19:40 
   List of figures  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        10:16 
   List of tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        01:05 
   List of boxes  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        05:57 
   List of contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        02:39 
   Acknowledgments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  (  1-  1)       00:38 
   1 Introduction to applied social psychology  . . . . .  (  2- 25)       110:38 
      Conclusion  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  (  2- 25)       02:10 
      Glossary  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ( 26- 25)       02:57 
      Review questions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ( 26- 25)       00:35 
      Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ( 26- 25)       00:58 
      References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ( 27- 28)       07:25 
   2 The USE of theory in applied social psychology . . .  ( 29- 51)       119:30 
      Conclusion  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ( 52- 51)       01:37 
      Glossary  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ( 53- 54)       07:31 
      Review questions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ( 53- 54)       01:28 
      Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ( 53- 54)       00:28 
      References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ( 55- 57)       10:26

Hit the [Enter] key on your keyboard and enjoy. Adjust volume to taste. Maybe it's an idea to have some keyboard shortcuts so you do not need a mouse anymore for the basic functions of the DAISY player.
Use the h key or ? for to open the help screens in daisy-player.

And please try the help screens:

 Daisy-player - Version 7.2.1 - (C)2011 J. Lemmens - Applied social psychoology 
 'h' for help -- 315 pages - level: 1 of 2 - total length: 21:28:57 - ( 1 of  4) 

 These commands are available in this version:
 ================================================================================


 cursor down     - move cursor to the next item
 cursor up       - move cursor to the previous item
 cursor right    - skip to next phrase
 cursor left     - skip to previous phrase
 page-down       - view next page
 page-up         - view previous page
 enter           - start playing
 space           - pause/resume playing
 home            - play on normal speed

 Press any key for next page...

 Daisy-player - Version 7.2.1 - (C)2011 J. Lemmens - Applied social psychoology
 'h' for help ---- 315 pages - level: 1 of 2 - total length: 21:28:57 - ( 1 of  4) 
 
 /               - search for a label
 d               - store current item to disk
 D               - decrease playing speed
 f               - find the currently playing item and place the cursor there
 g               - go to page number (if any)
 h or ?          - give this help
 j               - just play current item
 l               - switch to next level
 L               - switch to previous level
 n               - search forwards
 N               - search backwards
 o               - select next output sound device
 p               - place a bookmark
 q               - quit daisy-player and place a bookmark
 s               - stop playing
 U               - increase playing speed

 Press any key to leave help...

ENJOY!

In the next paragraph we will refine the setup of daisy-player, for example the keyboard shortcuts, language support and other stuff.

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7. Adaptions for visually impaired and blind users

Below are some adaptations like language, keyboard shortcuts, improved visbility, and keyboard volume control and other stuff to make our life easier on a Linux PC with daisy-player.

7.1 Start daisy-player

This keyboard shortcut starts the DAISY player. Make sure a DAISY CD is inserted in the CD/DVD drive.

NOTICE:
The suggestions below apply to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.

Go: System > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts > Click [Add].
The 'Custom shortcut' window opens. Enter:
Name: Start player
Command: gnome-terminal -s /usr/local/bin/daisy-player
Click [Apply]. The window closes and the shortcut is added.
In the shortuts row, click 'Disabled', it becomes 'New shortcut'.
Hold down the [Ctrl] key and simultaneously press the [Alt] and [p] key. Release them. In the shortcut field 'New shortcut' is changed in 'Ctrl+Alt+p'. Of cours you can use any other key kombination that is not in use.
Click [Close]
Ready!

7.2 Shut down the computer

Edited from < a href="http://www.uluga.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1380271"> http://www.uluga.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1380271

Go: System > Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts > Click [Add].
Custom shortcut window opens. Enter:
Name: Shutdown
Command: /usr/lib/indicator-session/gtk-logout-helper -s
Click [Apply]. The window closes and the shortcut is added.
In the shortuts row, click 'Disabled', it becomes 'New shortcut'.
Hold down the [Windows] key and simultaneously press the [End] key. Release both. In the shortcut field 'New shortcut' is changed in 'Mod4+End.
Click [Close]
Ready!

7.3 DAISY player desktop icon

A desktop icon to start DAISY player is automatically added from verson 5.3.1 on. To manually select an icon:

Right click on the desktop. A dropdown menu opens.
Select 'Create a launcher'. The 'Create Launcher' window opens.
Enter the following in the fields:
- Name: DAISY player
- Command: /usr/local/bin/daisy-player
- Comment: A player for DAISY CD's

Click [OK]. The window closes.
The icon appears on the desktop.
Ready!

7.4 Set volumes with Aumix

Aumix is an audio mixer for usage in a terminal. Aumix can be installed via: Applications > Ubuntu Software Center. In the search box, type 'aumix'.Omit the quotes. In 'Simple text based mixer control program', click 'Install'. Enter your password. Below is an Aumix screenshot:

aumix PO+++++++++++++++++++++++++ Vol      ++++++++++++O+++++++++++++
       +++++++++++++++++++++O++++ Pcm      ++++++++++++O+++++++++++++
Quit  PO+++++++++++++++++++++++++ Line     ++++++++++++O+++++++++++++
Load  RO+++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mic  
Save  PO+++++++++++++++++++++++++ CD       ++++++++++++O+++++++++++++
Keys   ++++++++++++++++++++++++O+ Pcm2     ++++++++++++O+++++++++++++
Mute   O+++++++++++++++++++++++++ IGain    ++++++++++++O+++++++++++++
Only  PO+++++++++++++++++++++++++ Line1    ++++++++++++O+++++++++++++
Undo   O+++++++++++++++++++++++++ Digital1
      PO+++++++++++++++++++++++++ PhoneIn
      P+++++++++++++++++O++++++++ PhoneOut
      P+++++++++++++++++++++++++O Video
       0         Level        100          L      Balance           R

7.5 Big cursor

Go: System > Preferences > Appearance > Tab: Visual Effects: Check 'None' to disable visual effects. This action disables compiz.
Then select: T: Theme > [Customize] > T: Pointer. Select a pointer and set 'Size' to tase.

7.6 Locate Pointer

Show location of pointer when Contol key is pressed. Go: System > Preferences > Mouse > T: General > Locate Pointer: Check: Show location of pointer when [Contol] key is pressend

7.7 Larger fonts

Go: System > Preferences > Appearance > T: Fonts. Select size, for exampble 16, which suits me.

7.8 Switch workspaces

To switch workspaces with keyboard shortcuts, go: System > Preferences > Keyboard shortcuts. Scroll down to 'Move to workspace 1 ... 4'. You only have to assign the keyobard shortcuts, for example [Ctrl + F1],[Ctrl + F2], etc.
It's also possible to change workspaces from left ot right and vice versa. Those shortcuts are already defined.

7.9 Disable File Browser auo opening

When inserting a CD, the File Browser autmagically opens. Quite annoying. To diable the File Browser when inserting media: Open the File Browser and go: Edit > Preferences > Tab: Media: uncheck 'Browse media when inserted'.

7.10 Another language for daisy-player

Daisy-player is available in other languages. To start daisy player in another language, two things have to be set:

Your Ubuntu installation must support the language
You have to start daisy-player with the language command.

Lanugage support in Ubuntu

Go: System > Admininstration > Language Support > Tab: Language > Button: install/remove language. The 'Installed languages' window opens. Select the desired language and check its checkbox. Next click the 'Apply Changes' button. Enter your password, the download starts. Wait until aal packeages are downloaded.

Start daisy-player with language support

To start daisy-player, as example, in German, do:


$ LANG=de_DE.utf8 daisy-player

Or use LANG=nl_NL.utf8 daisy-player for Dutch
Or use LANG=af_ZA.utf8 daisy-player for Afrikaans
Of course you can put this line in the keyboard shortcut described in 7.1 Start daisy-player, like this:


gnome-terminal -s /usr/local/bin/LANG=de_DE.utf8 daisy-player

7.11 Daisy-player manual page

The daisy-player manual page can be found by typing in a terminal


$ man daisy-player

Here is the output with all options:

daisy-player(1)                     Unix user'smanual                  daisy-player(1)


NAME
       daisy-player - player for DAISY Digital Talking Books

SYNOPSIS
       daisy-player [directory_with_a_Daisy-structure] [-d ALSA_sound_device]

DESCRIPTION
       Daisy-player reads a Daisy-CD and plays the audio-files.  DAISY version 
	   2.02 and 3 are currently supported.

       A  list  of  items on the Daisy-CD will appear. Press  to start 
	   playing. When reading of an item has finished, daisy-player will play 
	   the next item and the cursor will automatically skip to that item, so 
	   that an attached braille-terminal will display the name of that item.

       Daisy-player supports the following languages: english, german and dutch.

OPTIONS
       directory_with_a_Daisy-structure
              One could also give a directory with a daisy structure as argument
			  to daisy-player.

       -d ALSA sound device
              Daisy-player will play on this sound device. Default is "default".

SCREEN
       The name and version of this program and the name of the author will 
	   be displayed left aligned at the top of the screen. The name of the 
	   current  loaded  book will be displayed right aligned.

       The  second row of the screen will display the number of pages of the 
	   current loaded book (if any), the current selected level and the total 
	   number of levels, the total playing time, the current displayed screen 
	   and the total number of screens.

       The next rows will display the title of the item, the first page of the 
	   item within brackets (if there are pages) and the playing time. Items in 
	   higher levels will be indented. (Three spaces each level.) When "just 
	   playing this item" is active, a "J" will be viewed at the first column 
	   of that item.

CONTROL KEYS
       Daisy-player recognizes the following keyboard-commands:

       cursor down
              move cursor to the next item

       cursor up
              move cursor to the previous item

       cursor right
              skip to next phrase

       cursor left
              skip to previous phrase

       page-down
              view next screen

       page-up
              view previous screen

       enter  Start playing

       space  pause/resume playing

       home   play on normal speed

       /      search for a label

       d      store current item to disk

       D      decrease playing speed

       e      stop playing and eject

       f      find the currently playing item and place the cursor there

       g      go to page number (if any)

       h or ? give this help

       j      just play current item and place a "J" at the first column.

       l      switch to next level

       L      switch to previous level

       n      search forewards

       N      search backwards

       o      select next output sound device

       p      place a bookmark

       q      quit daisy-player. The playing-point will be saved as bookmark.

       s      stop playing

       U      increase playing speed

FILES
       ~/.daisy-player/
              This  directory  contains  the bookmarks. Each file has the 
			  name of the book and contains the name of the current item, 
			  the start-time of that item andthe current level, each on a 
			  own line.

       ~/.daisy-player.rc
              This file contains the name of the desired audio device and the 
			  desired playing speed.

AUTHOR
       Jos Lemmens 

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C)2003-2011 Jos Lemmens 

       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
	   under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by  the  
	   Free  Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any 
	   later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be 
	   useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of 
	   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General 
	   Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the 
	   GNU General Public License along with this program (see the file COPYING); 
	   if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place 
	   - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA



                                   October 2011                        daisy-player(1)

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8. Installing Linux Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

This section describes a straightforward basic installation of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Long Time Support) and updating the installation via Internet with the latest updates.

Set the BIOS of the PC to its default settings and save them.
Connect the PC to the Internet.
Connect speakers or headphone to the audio out slot.
Install Ubuntu 10.4 LTS on the PC. It is very easy. Do not skip anything and use the entire harddisk of the PC. Remember the password you gave during the installation.
Reboot. You should hear the Ubuntu sound at startup.
Check if sound is working properly. Insert a DAISY CD in the CD/DVD player. A window opens. Right click on one of the .mp3 files. A dropdown menu opens. Select 'Open with Movie Player. If sound is heard: OK.
When trying to play an .mp3 file, you can receive a message indicating that some plugins are missing. Follow the instructions and install them. Try playing the sound again. If sound is heard: OK.
If there is no sound, check volume and mute settings by going: Applications > Sound and Video > Some mixer dievice (depends on PC). If necessary, unmute channels and set all levels to maximum (for the moment). If sound from the DAISY CD is heard: OK.

Do NOT forget to install all available updates via: System > Administration > Update Manager. Follow the instructions.

Daisy-player can now be installed by using Paul Gevers PPA. Please do 5.1 Installation with PPA and and apt-get

9. Useful links

- Keyboard shortcuts in Ubuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KeyboardShortcuts
- Install the Classic Desktop in Ubuntu 11.10: http://tombuntu.com/index.php/2011/09/11/install-the-classic-desktop-in-ubuntu-11-10/
- A DIY DAISY playrer: http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKTET1&Redirected=Y
-Another link to DIY DAISY: http://www.opencircuits.com/Music_Player

10. Concluding remarks

We have tried to put all we know about this subject in this manual. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Please write to schoiutdi [at] knoware [dot] nl

11. The usual disclaimer

Although we have tested every part of this project and some eyeballs have seen the texts, neither the author(s), nor any other person or company can be held responsable for any damamage, neither direct, nor inirect, neither consequential, nor accidental or whatsoever, when using the hardware, software, materials, advices or suggestions we write about or refer to.

This project is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Netherlands License.

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Author: Dirk Schouten <schoutdi at knoware dot nl>

Last updated: 2012-08-20