I am running damn small Linux installed to hard disk and looking for a simple cda to mp3 conversion tool that I can run from an icon on the desktop. If it is command base I can attempt to write a bash script but I am a little rusty in my bash scripting knowledge but that could be fun. Damn Small Linux has xmms which is just a AMP style player I would like something a little better but can't figure out how to install anything for this platform. I started with and now learning Debian's DSL for fun. I have turned an old laptop into a MP3 player for my car that I patch into the car audio via tape conversion as I am trying to find away to connect directly. If anyone has any thoughts to any of these thanks I could use all the help I can get ooh and I am a noob still so please keep it simple or well-drafted explanations LoL.

No specific conversion tool to suggest. There are many that you can choose from. Are you trying to do it on the fly from your notebook computer to your car audio input, or what? Or, are you trying to do it on a PC at home? If you are trying to do it at home, then you can try to use some of the encoders that many of the CD ripping utilities use, and you can create a bash script to perform the conversion for you. Try searching for an mp3 encoder. You could put all the files onto a CD, and then just use a CD ripping tool to convert them to mp3, but that would be a lot of work that you shouldn't have to do!

Maybe DSL comes with or you could install "KaudioCreator" It will rip .cda to .wav or .mp3 fairly painlessly...

Also you may want to see if your car stereo has an audio input (RCA) plug for external devices. You could then get a 1/8" male mini-plug to male RCA adapter. You may also need a Y splitter if it has a left/right input but it will probably still play "Mono"

KC

I am trying to rip the cd's in the car; I don't want to remove the laptop as long as I don't need to. On a funny note i decided to do this when my daughter wanted me to play her cd in my car and I don’t have a CD PLAYER and the cd more or less stays with her mother. I was hoping to copy it to the laptop as mp3 and then any time she is with me I can play the tracks that she likes (she is 3 years old). So I was hoping that while I am riding in the car the cd could be ripping and when it is done I can play them as needed. I will look for this kaudiocreator and see if that works.

on a side not, anyone know if DSL has a limitation on the FTP server that only allows so much transfer I originally copied the mp3 from another computer and ran a script to mv them to a different folder. the connection will drop every so often and I have to pull the PCMCIA card out and put it back in. took me 2 hours to copy 48 mp3's.

You can get a portable CD player and connect it to your car radio if there is an input or a line in. You may need an adaptor (see above). They are fairly cheap, only $20 or so. Car CD/mp3 players are also inexpensive, about $100-150. This would solve the problem too. Better still, buy a copy of that CD and rip it at your leisure. If you spend enough time, you should be able to get it to work with your notebook computer. You just need to find a software mp3 encoder. There are many of them. You can probably get a music store to convert them to mp3 too, for a price.

Why not get another computer user interested to rip the CD so that you can just get the files from them if it is too much trouble to rip the CD in the car? That is another option. Was it for your daughter? Why not have her rip the CD at home and give you the mp3 files?

Note that there are various options for ripping into mp3, and that different quality results. If you are not careful, you will get distortion and "scrathes". Try some different settings to find out what works with your type of music.

You can install Grip, I use that and it works fine, I can rip any cd into ogg or mp3. But I am not really following you does ur laptop have a cd-rom? or the pc at home has the cd-rom? if so the pc at home does not have linux install? that way u can just rip the cd at home then transfer the files to the notebook. I recommand Grip it is totally GUI http://www.nostatic.org/grip