Linux Solutions

The article will provide a user with information on why Linux don’t support mp3 and selected wifi cards.

The main reason is that the copyright/IP laws prevent shipping all these softwares and technologies/plugins with each Linux distribution. However some distribution comes with all these goodies but they are not free.

In the United States and many other countries, companies or developers or manufacturers have to pay patent royalties to use an MP3 player or MP3 Encoder or Windows movie decoders. Most of these drivers are restricted because they are not available under a completely free licence.

GNU/Linux and other distro try to follow rule:
1. If something is proprietary, it cannot be included in Linux
2. If it violates United States federal law, it cannot be included in Linux
3. Patent-encumbered software etc

Following packages/drivers/encoder are not included in most distros:
• Nvidia /ATI graphics card
• Vmware player kernel modules
• Wifi chipsets
• MP3 Support
• Real Media and Player
• Adobe Flash Player
• CSS encrypted DVDs (DVD Playback)
• Cryptography
• SUN JAVA, etc
The patent holder is not ready to give an unrestricted patent grant, as required by the GPL license. If a user wants to get mp3 support for the distribution then he/she must use third party repositories (or vendor site) to download application.
If a user wants to get working mp3 then he/she should download RPM files or add selected repositories to the distributions. Following list summaries the work around for popular distribution:

For Debian Linux, a user should use apt-get to install required software and also a user will find Debian-multimedia repo good to install few codecs.

If a user has read this article then he/she would have learnt about why Linux don’t support mp3 and selected wifi cards?

The article will provide a user with information on tools that are required for installing the linux software such as thoggen, K9copy, AcidRIP, DVD::RIP.

A user has to install various libraries in order to install thoggen, K9copy, AcidRIP, DVD::RIP. The tools include: yum or apt-get commands. Yum or apt-get commands will install the linux software automatically for a user:
• libdvdcss2 - Simple foundation for reading DVDs - runtime libraries.
• libdvdnav4 - DVD navigation library.
• libdvdread4 - library for reading DVDs.

Mencoder
A user can use mencoder to rip the DVDs into .avi files as follows:
mencoder dvd://2 -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vhq:vbitrate=”1200″ -vf scale -zoom -xy 640 -oac mp3lame -lameopts br=128 -o /nas/videos/my-movies/example/track2.avi
Please note that AcidRip, is a graphical frontend for mencoder.

VLC
VLC can also rip DVDs.

Transcode
Transcode is a suite of command line utilities for transcoding video and audio codecs, and for converting between different container formats. Transcode can decode and encode many audio and video formats. Both K9Copy and dvd::rip are a graphical frontend for transcode.

If a user has read this article then he/she would have learnt about the tools that are required for installing the linux software such as thoggen, K9copy, AcidRIP, DVD::RIP

The article will provide a user with information on Linux DVD RIP Software such as: HandBrake, AcidRip and DVD:RIP.

Let’s see what does a DVD ripper software is? A DVD ripper software allows a user to copy the content of a DVD to a hard disk drive. A user transfers a video on DVDs to different formats, or makes a backup of DVD content, and to convert DVD video for playback on media players, streaming, and mobile phone. A few DVD rippers software can copy protected disks to provide a user with an opportunity to make discs unrestricted and region-free.

HandBrake
HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows. It can rip from any DVD or Bluray-like source such as VIDEO_TS folder, DVD image, real DVD or bluray, and some .VOB, .TS and M2TS files. A user can install HandBrake under Debian or Ubuntu Linux by running following:
$ sudo apt-get install handbrake-gtk

AcidRIP
AcidRip is an automated front end for MPlayer/Mencoder (ripping and encoding DVD tool using mplayer and mencoder) written in Perl, using Gtk2::Perl for a graphical interface. Makes encoding a DVD just one button click. If a user wants to install it then he/she has to inst it under Debian / Ubuntu Linux:
$ sudo apt-get install acidrip

DVD::RIP
dvd::rip is a full featured DVD copy program written in Perl i.e. front end for transcode and ffmpeg. It provides an easy to use but feature-rich Gtk+ GUI to control almost all aspects of the ripping and transcoding process. It uses the widely known video processing swissknife transcode and many other Open Source tools. dvd::rip itself is licensed under GPL / Perl Artistic License. A user can install dvd::rip under Debian / Ubuntu Linux:
$ sudo apt-get install dvdrip

If a user has read this article then he/she would have learnt about Linux DVD RIP Softwares such as HandBrake, AcidRip and DVD::RIP.

The article will provide a user with information on playing encrypted DVDs on Ubuntu Linux. A user will also learn how to use linux command line which is required to install CSS library and DVD playback using open source linux software.

If a user wants to know how to play the encrypted DVDs under Ubuntu Linux then he/she has to install a special library. This special library will allow as user to play encrypted DVDs under Ubuntu Linux. Let’s look into configuring Ubuntu Linux so that it can play encrypted DVDs. Please note that most DVDs come with Content Scramble System (CSS). CSS is a Digital Rights Management scheme (DRM). As most of the DVD players are equipped with a CSS Decryption module, so CSS key is a collective term for authentication key, disc key, player key, title key, second disk key set, and/or encrypted key.

Now, let’s see how a user can play encrypted DVDs. In order to play encrypted DVDs, a user has to install CSS library with the linux command as provided below:
• Install open source Linux player such as vlc or xine, mplayer etc using apt-get command:
$ sudo apt-get install vlc xine mplayer libdvdread3
• After installing open source Linux player, a user can now install CSS library by running following command:
$ sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/examples/install-css.sh
• Finally, a user can go to
Applications > Sound & Video > Movie Player > Select player menu option.

If a user read the information provided in this tutorial then he/she will be able to play a DVD on Ubuntu Linux.

The article will provide a user with information on Your Universal Multiboot Installer (YUMI). A user will also learn how to create a YUMI multiboot multisystem USB flash drive. Please note that YUMI uses syslinux to boot extracted distributions stored on the USB device, and reverts to using grub to Boot Multiple ISO files from USB. All the files are stored within the multiboot folder.

A user should note that YUMI works like the Universal USB Installer and it can be used to install more than one distribution to run from the USB.
If a user wants to create a MultiBoot USB Flash Drive, follow the steps as provide below:
1. Run* YUMI-0.0.0.9.exe following the onscreen instructions
2. Run the tool again to Add More ISOs/Distributions to the Drive
3. Restart the PC setting it to boot from the USB device
4. Select a distribution to Boot from the Menu

Please note that YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer) enables each user to create their own custom Multiboot UFD containing only the Distributions they want. New Distributions can be added to the UFD each time the tool is run.

If a user runs YUMI from the same location where a user stores ISO downloads, then a user will be auto-detected by the tool, eliminating the need to browse for the ISO.

Basic requirements
Please note the basic requirements for creating a MultiSystem Bootable USB drive.
• Fat32 Formatted USB Flash or USB Hard Drive
• PC that can boot from USB
• Windows XP/Vista/7 host to create the Bootable USB
• YUMI-0.0.0.9.exe
• Your selection of ISO Files

If a user has read this article then he/she would have learnt about YUMI Multiboot USB creator.