listening to protected audio cds

[Alan Cox]

On Sat, 22 Dec 2007 14:52:09 -0800
Konstantin Svist <fry.kun at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> Is there a way to listen to "protected" audio CDs in Linux/Fedora?
> It seems that most of the time, the CD can't be read at all. Sometimes, 
> the system is able to read it after trying for 20 minutes or so - but 
> it's not consistent (next time it says can't read the CD)
> 
> Why is it possible on windows but not on Linux?
> 
> Note I'm not talking about ripping CD - just listening to them.

If you've got a corrupted piece of shiny plastic (note the ones with
deliberate corruptions are not a 'compact disc' as that is a trademark
reserved for describing real ones) then what happens depends a lot on the
disc itself

Some sneakily install windows drivers and play mp3 type copies on a PC,
others have corruptions so you can play them via an audio cable but not
digitally - if so cdplay will play them but not tools that digitally
rip/play for better quality. Others contain corrupt headers which will
just break on PC hardware.

Alan