the answer to question "How do I play Audio CDs?" should be more qualified -- i had to perform almost none of those steps to get it working on my powerbook (g4, 400mhz). the kernel option they tell you to turn off i have turned on, i did not have to do the chmods or the yaboot.conf hack, it should use ybin instead of mkofboot (i think), and i didn't have to reboot. all i really had to do was emerge xmms-cdread (though i already had the kernel modules compiled). i make no claim that those steps aren't all necessary for someone, but i don't think it should suggest trying just xmms-cdread first, and then if it doesn't work (or if you have machine model x), then do these other hackish steps to get it to work. it would have saved me some time and frustration. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce:
Woah! cdread and playing audio CDs might _seem_ the same from your end of the speakers, but cdread is disk and CPU intensive (comparatively) while playing CDs using the CD-ROM's built-in audio functionality is not. The instructions show how to configure for 'true' cd-playing, having the audio reading done completely on the CD-ROM drive and output analog audio to the soundcard inputs. xmms-cdread reads the audio off the CD over the ATA cable, decodes it in software and sends it to the sound card over the PCI bus as digital data. Both have advantages and drawbacks, but they are not the same thing. I myself prefer xmms-cdread as I like the [slightly] higher audio quality, but I know other folks who prefer the analog option as it lets them plug their headphones into the cd-rom drive. Also, if you output analog you can mix CDs against MP3s using hardware (the mixer), which is useful for audio-nerds.
I slightly edited this part in the FAQ (with some copy'n'paste from this bug ;-) ). Closing this bug now.
