[ale] Linux and DVD-ripping?

[Robert E. Karaffa, II]

hi folks,
   anybody play with VLC?  videolan.org.  i installed it on a Mandrake 9.1 box
not long ago and it worked ok, but my 1Mb video card couldn't handle the
graphics load.
   on a related note:  i've got a busted apple TiBook (G4, 500MHz, 512Mb RAM) as
part of my home entertainment center.  hooked its S-video out to my receiver,
then to my TV.  the afore-mentioned Linux box now acts as a multimedia server
for my LAN.  the busted apple laptop is the player for movies and works very,
very well (latest Jaguar release).  i just recently replaced all the hubs in my
home LAN with switches (on the advice of the ale listers...thanks, again,
everyone!).  such a difference!  so, here's what i'm doing:

-i've ripped all my CDs and DVDs to the Linux box.  usually, i rip at 320kpbs
for music (iTunes does the ripping).  makes for a fat (relatively) mp3, but it
DOES sound good.  for DVD ripping (yes, i OWN the discs...well, sorta (sound of
handcuffs clicking shut on my wrists...)) i use forty-two-dvd-vxplus.  $15
shareware.  kaisakura.com.  i usually use the "nearDVD" or "qDVD" settings, as
these give the highest quality output, at the expense of disk space.  so, a
normal scenario would be to rip an 8Gb DVD and compress it down to 1 - 3Gb
final.  not bad.  usually takes around 5-6 hrs to rip, is extremely
CPU-intensive (it'll peg the processor at 100% until completed, however OS X
plays nice this way, and you can still do other things while the ripping takes
place).  the picture quality is very impressive.  Anybody else fool with this
stuff?  i'd love to converse!
   forty-two is an OS X app and does a slick job of ripping.  the guys who wrote
it are very responsive to questions and requests.  a project perpetually
under-construction, and an obvious labor of love (sound of ankle cuffs clicking
shut...).
   the Linux server i put together is an old Asus p55t2p4, 72-pin SIMMS (!), but
its been hotrodded via advice from tomshardware.com.  so, it is now a 500MHz
CPU, 83MHz bus (woo-hoo!) 256Mb RAM (max), 4Mb video card, 10/100 NIC, ISA sound
card, runs a little warm so i added a case fan, and is quite stable.  its got a
Promise IDE PCI card that allows large hard drives (>200Gb) with 200Gb, 80Gb,
and 13Gb drives.  boot drive is a 13Gb on the mobo IDE controller.
  i tested it over the weekend whilst my folks visited.  my dad and i watched
"Casablanca" in the living room, while my mom watched "The Jungle Book" in the
spare bedroom.  both rooms used TiBooks and VLC as playback units, and i'll be
testing some older hardware in the near future (a 300MHz Dell laptop, a couple
of apple sub-300MHz G3s).  the laptops connect to the Linux server via nfs,
which gives the best performance (i've tried appleshareIP and samba).  VLC for
playback is not supposed to need a whole lot of processing power.  the server
never hiccupped, no choppy video, no dropouts...outstanding!
   i'm trying to set up a multimedia library.  the audio part was easier as the
technology matured much more quickly than video.  however, video has caught up
nicely in the last few months.  i currently use a wireless mouse (Logitech) to
run the laptop in my entertainment center.  this mouse has some programmable
buttons, so i've configured two of them to perform two tasks:  1) modulate the
video output between full screen and windowed-mode, so that i can get to the
desktop if necessary, and 2) pause/play the video via an applescript.  this
makes it so that i can sit on my fat butt on the couch and still make the system
behave like a VCR...sort of...(camera pans to the nice arresting
officer..."..."you have the right to an attorney.  if you cannot afford an
attorney, one will be provided for you...").

   sorry for the waste of bandwidth!  i have not tried to rip audio or video on
Linux (it's too difficult for me to figure out, durnit).  however, once again
Linux reveals its true networking virility!  yay!

-Bob K.

-- 


************************** 
Robert E. Karaffa, II 
Technical Director 
Emory University 
Flow Cytometry Core Facility 
954 Gatewood Dr.., 
Atlanta, Ga 30329 
voice: 404/712-4429 
e-mail: rkaraff at emory.edu 
************************** 

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