Default Soundblaster parameters: Port 220, DMA 5, IRQ 5.
It would be a real good idea to have a viable "BLASTER=" environment string
defined, as these defaults will only work about half the time.
Once operating, <ESC> exits, <N> plays the next song and <P>
pauses (Any key to resume).
The MP3 search path can be specified on the command line
(MPR d:\clas\mp3\;e:\rock\mp3\;etc), or defined with an environment string
(MP3PATH=...). In either case, the syntax is exactly like the normal DOS
SET PATH=... If the path is specified on the command line, no file history
is maintained.
Command line options (not case sensitive):
-1 Play one song (that is the number: one).
-D Delay during startup.
-H Print these options.
-L Abort with LPT1 ACK.
-T Test decode only.
-V Set mixer master volume.
-W Write decoded stream as a .WAV.
Play one song (-1)
will play the song or songs (*wildcard) specified on the command line and
exit. This option also selects linear playback. Random playback is disabled
and no file history is maintained.
Delay during startup (-D)
will beep and delay 5 seconds before playing the first song. This is handy
for stand-alone or embedded machines that start up from AUTOEXEC.BAT. The
5-second delay gives the user a chance to stop playback for maintenance or
whatever without wasting a song. The beep is also a good indicator that the
thing booted and is running when there is no monitor. If this option is
selected, there will also be a beep when the program is terminated.
Help (-H)
prints a single line containing the command-line options and exits.
Abort with LPT1 ACK (-L)
allows for orderly shutdown in a system without a keyboard. A simple push
button switch from ACK (pin 10) to ground (pins 18-25) on printer port 1
can be used to emulate the function of the ESC key.
Test decode only (-T)
decodes the file or files specified on the command line (*wildcard) and
ignores the decoded data. This option also selects linear playback. Random
playback is disabled and no songs-played history file is maintained.
Set mixer master volume (-Vx)
sets the volume to the value specified by a single hex character (0-F)
following the command. To set the volume to 12, the command line option
would be -VC.
Write out .WAV file (-W)
decodes the file and writes the decoded data to a .WAV file, with the same DOS
filename as the .MP3 file. Wildcards may be specified on the command line.
For example, MPR -w * would convert all files in a directory to .WAV. This
option also selects linear playback. Random playback is disabled and no
songs-played history is maintained.
File play history is stored in the directory archive bits of the files that
have been played. The assumption is that copying files to the MP3 computer
sets the archive bit for each file. When a file has finished playing, its
archive bit is cleared. When all files have been played, the archive bits for
all files in the MP3 path are set and playback resumes from the full set of
files. Any other program on the MP3 computer that fiddles around with the
archive bits of the MP3 files will scramble the play history.
|
