HowTo: Install and configure MPD on OpenSUSE

Following a previous post on how to install Music Player Daemon (MPD) on FreeBSD I'll be presenting the steps need to install it this time on OpenSUSE.

1. $ sudo su
2. # zypper ar http://packman.links2linux.de packman
3. # zypper mr -r packman
4. # zypper ref
   
5. # zypper install mpd
6. # vim /etc/mpd.conf
7. # /etc.init.d/mpd start
8. # chkconfig mpd on
   

With steps 2 to 4 we've added the Packman community repository and enable its auto-refresh and taken the opportunity to refresh the remaining repositories.

Step 6 deals with the configuration of MPD. Point to music_directory and type in the path of you music library.

On steps 7 and 8 we've started the MPD service and set MPD to start at each reboot.

If need you can update the database at any time by running:

• # mpd --create-db

Now that we have the MPD server installed let's proceed by installing my favourite client: ncmpc.

1. # zypper install ncmpc
2. # exit
3. $ ncmpc -c
   

As a side note, the Packman Repository's ncmpc rpm was built without the clock and search build options. You can rebuild the rpm yourself if you really want to use the mentioned options.

An heads-up: don't end you Gnome session with ncmpc paused. It seems that the next time you restart your system the /dev/dsp device will be in use effectively stopping you from using programs that use the device, such as Mplayer. Simply stop ncmpc before exiting it, press Backspace to do so.

Additional and extremely useful information can be found under /usr/share/doc/mpd and /usr/share/doc/ncmpc.