Apr26

Changing the sound volume on FreeBSD

by Colin Mitchell on April 26th, 2012 at 7:17 am
Posted In: FreeBSD

The sound volume for FreeBSD commonly comes pre-set to be very quiet. You can change the volume using the mixer program. There are also some Gnome and Xfce4 applets that let you change the audio volume.

To view the volumes settings for all audio settings, simply type

# mixer

If you receive the error

# mixer
mixer: SOUND_MIXER_READ_DEVMASK: Device not configured

this means that your mixer is not located at /dev/mixer, where mixer is looking. If this is the case, look for other mixer devices in the device directory, and force mixer to use it by giving the -f argument,

# mixer -f /dev/mixer0
Mixer vol      is currently set to 100:100
Mixer pcm      is currently set to  55:55
Mixer speaker  is currently set to  75:75
Mixer line     is currently set to  75:75
Mixer mic      is currently set to   0:0
Mixer cd       is currently set to  75:75
Mixer rec      is currently set to  75:75
Mixer igain    is currently set to   0:0
Mixer ogain    is currently set to 100:100
Mixer line1    is currently set to  75:75
Mixer phin     is currently set to   0:0
Mixer phout    is currently set to   0:0
Mixer video    is currently set to  75:75
Recording source: mic

The values for each line are <left>:<right>. To set the volume of a channel, call mixer with the channel name and the new value. For example, 

# mixer -f /dev/mixer0 ogain 75:75
Setting the mixer ogain from 100:100 to 75:75.
#

That’s all there is to it!

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Dec07

Using ImageMagick to make an animated gif

by Colin Mitchell on December 7th, 2011 at 8:57 pm
Posted In: Other Tech

If you have a set of still images that you would like to compile into an animated gif, Image Magick can do it quite easily.

The program that you want to use is convert. Specify the final size of the image by using the -size argument, with the dimensions. Set the delay between each frame by using the -delay argument. Add each frame by using the -page argument, along with the location to place the file, and the filename. Finally, add the output file name. For example, 

convert -delay 30 -size 400x300 -page +0+0 gif1.jpg -page +0+0 gif2.jpg -page +0+0 gif3.jpg output.gif

This will create the animated gif file output.gid, with a delay of 30 milliseconds, and a final size of 400 by 300 pixels. Each file is placed in the top-left corner.

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Oct31

Stop it!

by Colin Mitchell on October 31st, 2011 at 5:31 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

Here’s a list of things that I am really tired of hearing about in new country music. Come up with something new!

  • Put your feet up on the dashboard
  • Where the girls are hot and the beer is cold
  • Muscadine wine
  • Your parents bought you a “jacked-up” truck
  • Meet me at the bonfire
  • Let’s go make-out at the river
  • You look so hot in your white tank-top and torn-up jeans
  • OMGZ AMERICUH!!!
  • John Deere
  • My life is over because I cheated on you and you broke up with me
  • Moonshine in a mason jar
  • You’re a country girl with a southern accent, and you like tractors!!!
  • LOLZ I SAID JOHNIE CASH AND MERLE HAGGARDZ IM SO A CUNTRY BOI
  • Hey girl, hey: do a dance for me on some of my father’s farm equipment
  • Life’s a party, we’re at the beach!
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Oct27

Maximum Drive

by Colin Mitchell on October 27th, 2011 at 6:43 pm
Posted In: Other

I just found out the name of a show I used to LOVE when I was little. It was a racing show for kids. They would race minibikes, ATVs and amphibious Argos around a course. I distinctly remember the hay bail barriers, too.

This brings back great memories!



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Oct24

Setting up the sound for FreeBSD

by Colin Mitchell on October 24th, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Posted In: FreeBSD

First, we need to figure out which driver we will need to load. You can check this by calling the command

# cat /dev/sndstat

You can determine which driver to load by combing this page.

You can then immediately load the driver by using, for example,

# kldload snd_hda

To have the sound driver load at each boot, add something like the following to /boot/loader.conf:

snd_hda_load="YES"
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