Make fair use backup of any DVD under Linux - OUTDATED VER.

[mzilikazi]

I'm currently writing up a new howto. This one has far too much inaccrte info to even attempt editing. I'll leave it here for posteritys sake. New howto link to follow soon.

DISCLAIMER!
If you have leaglly purchased an official copy of a DVD you have the legal right to make a Fair Use copy of said DVD. Personally I have invested literally thousands of dollars into DVD's. In my house no one ever actually uses the original DVD. I make a backup, and only the backups actually ever see a DVD player. If the DVD is cracked, scratched or dropped into the outhouse I don't care. I just make another. I also use the cheapest media I can find from CompUSA. Usually I can buy 100 DVD+R for < $20. I have never had a problem burning this media w/ my NEC 3200 DVD+RW even tho CompUSA DVD media is classified as complete garbage. It is only 4x media so if you want to burn your DVD's quickly this is not for you! Additionally, I cannot testify to the longevity of this media. I do have some discs that are 3 years old and they still work fine. If you intend on making backups for archival purposes I strongly encourage you to invest in better media! Ridata is my preferred premium media.

I really cannot promise that this will back up any and all DVD's HOWEVER let's just say I have yet to find one that it cannot rip.

/etc/init.d/rant start
Sure, you can back up quite a few DVD's w/ available Linux tools like lxdvdrip dvd:rip, xdvdshrink, etc etc. The list goes on and on but Sony DVD's are another matter.
No vobcoy does NOT work on all Sony DVD's (it will eventually stop copying at some point). Please I encourage you to try it yourself and prove me wrong.

Those bloody (can I say bloody on this forum?) Sony DVD's encrypted w/ Ripstop or ARcoSS have alot of empty vob's. Often times you'll see 70, 80 or even 100 vob's on a DVD, (most of them useless). This creates some issues with DVD rippers. DVDFab HD Decryper to the rescue.

UPDATE Feb 17 2008

Everything you need right here:
http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/20393 ... er.tar.bz2

You can still install & use DVD Decrypter but it is failing on more and more DVD's The answer is DVDFab and aside from some small quirks (e.g. Settings Menu navigation) it works just fine.
Simply download te executable and run it with WINE. Make sure you upgrade to the newer quartz.dll. It is included in the tarball linked below along with instructions on where to put it. You can also get it here: http://www.dll-files.com
Put quartz.dll here:
~/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32/
Rin winecfg as user and set a New override for library>quartz (see below for screenshots)

Code: Select all

wine DVDFabHDDecrypter4062.exe

Install DVDFab, use DVDFab to dump the contents of your DVD to hard disk.
Run DVD Shrink against the directory created by DVDFab.

RipIt4Me & DVD Decrypter

RipIt4Me (with FixVTS doing the heavy lifting) will also create a PLS (protected sectors list)
The PLS is fed to DVD Decrypter which in turn dumps the DVD unencrypted to your hard drive and fixes the pointers.
DVD Shrink is then ran against your new DVD directory to create a final .iso image that can be burned to DVD w/ your favorite tool.
Well that IS assuming your favorite tool burns DVD's.

RipIt4Me could be considered a 'manager' of sorts in that it coordinates all of the required tools and makes it much easier for you the end user. Keep in mind that you can always use any of these applications stand-alone by themselves.
/etc/init.d/rant stop


Edit
Updated 4.13.07
Updated 4.17.07
Updated 5.06.07
Updated 8.12.07
Updated 9.10.07
Updated 9.12.07
Updated 11.11.07
Updated 01.14.08
Updated 02.17.08

!!NEWSFLASH!! DVD Shrink had been broken under Wine for some time now. On my system wine was pinned at 0.9.25-2.1 0 from Etch and DVD Shrink has limped along somewhat broken. All we needed was a newer version of quartz.dll set to Native in winecfg. Fret not - it's in the howto below. Yes boys & girls DVD Shrink is working again w/ Wine 0.9.44-1 0 from Debian Sid. I *think* it wil work w/ Etch too but an Etch user should confirm!

I made a tarball.....
I have not found anywhere that you can easily download the required dll's & Windows executables without actually visiting a web site, additionally the riptit4me site is down at this time. Hmm do I smell lawyers and threats??? What happend I do not know. So....to make life easy I put everything you need into one package, dll's and all Windows exe's! (Yes it's true - I can use tar & bzip!) The package is linked in the following howto. If you are not comfortable with downloading something I archived by all means find the files yourself and download them. I will not be offended! You can still follow along with the rest of the howto. If you wish to copy/paste put all of the files in

Code: Select all

~/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/

You will need the following, (all easily found w/ Google).

Code: Select all

msvcp60.dll
mfc42.dll
quartz.dll (verison 6.03.01.0881 absolutely required!)
dvdshrink32setup.exe
SetupDVDDecrypter_3.5.4.0.exe
RipIt4Me.exe

Note: The WINE versions available through Debian may not be the latest greatest but work just fine. If you need the latest greatest I leave it to you the end user to install WINE in some other way.

Current WINE versions available in Debian:

Code: Select all

$ apt-cache policy wine
wine:
  Installed: 0.9.44-1
  Candidate: 0.9.44-1
  Version table:
*** 0.9.44-1 0
        500 http://ftp.us.debian.org unstable/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     0.9.41-1 0
        500 http://ftp.us.debian.org testing/main Packages
     0.9.25-2.1 0
        500 http://ftp.us.debian.org etch/main Packages


START HERE. Get ready to type errr..... copy/paste.

As root install wine:

Code: Select all

# apt-get update && apt-get install wine wine-utils unp bzip2

As user

Code: Select all

$ winecfg
Libraries>New override for library>quartz>Add>

Code: Select all

Libraries>Existing overrides>quartz (native, builtin)>Apply>

Code: Select all

Applications>Windows Version> Windows NT 4.0
Drives>Autodetect

Click the drive letter for /media/cdrom0 (D for example) and set it to CD_ROM.

Code: Select all

Drives> Show Advanced>Type>CD-ROM

Code: Select all

Apply>OK

Now it's time for some shell action. Run the windows installers and click Next>Next>Next in the traditional Windows fashion. Close each app after it launches.
Copy & paste boys & girls copy & paste!

Code: Select all

cd ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/temp && mkdir TempIFOs && echo �Welcome to RipIt4Me� > TempIFOs/RipIt4Me
cd ../../Program\ Files/
wget http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/360015_8go9y/DVD_Ripper.tar.bz2
unp DVD_Ripper.tar.bz2
mv ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32/quartz.dll ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32/quartz.dll.old
mv msvcp60.dll mfc42.dll quartz.dll ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32
wine dvdshrink32setup.exe
wine SetupDVDDecrypter_3.5.4.0.exe

DVD Decrypter is going to ask about automatically checking for updates. Select NO for "Check for updates"
RipIt4Me no longer requires installation.
Insert a DVD & run RipIt4Me

Code: Select all

wine RipIt4Me.exe

*TIPS*
There are numerous ways of encrypting a DVD but not all DVD's are encrypted. If you're not sure if or how your DVD was encrypted the easiest method is to simply try DVD Shrink first. If it fails use RipIt4Me.

You need some serious hdd space to rip DVD's. Some DVD's (Sony in particular) almost always require that
you first rip the DVD to hdd. So.....8 or 9G for the original movie and at least 5G for the final .iso. You're looking at 14G or so. These tools will by default use C:\ to store the DVD structure & final .iso.
If you have a spare partition/drive to use for storage simply point DVD Shrink (or any of these tools) at that (mounted) partition.

To launch your apps with wine:
wine /path/to/*.exe
*HINT* - use <tab> autocomplete - it makes it MUCH easier to get the path right!
OR some file managers like ROX can be configured to always run windows.exe's with wine.

Once you have the DVD structure on your hdd, you could forget about DVD Shrink and simply point mplayer, ogmrip or any number of other encoders at this target and create what you will.

Problems w/ Beryl. Currently I�m using Beryl w/ XFCE4 as my primary desktop. These DVD shrinking tools do not play nice w/ Beryl! Sometimes the windows simply get �lost� and only show as a system process.

BE SURE TO RUN HTOP AND CHECK FOR WINE PROCESSES BEFORE ASSUMING THE WHOLE OPERATION DIED!

A simple work-around for this is to use the 1 Click Mode in RipIt4Me. It�s actually more like 3 clicks but none of the windows are lost in such a way that you cannot continue. In fact if you do NOT use 1 click mode you might lose the FixVTS window and never get the chance to send it on its way because you�ll never see the window!

Using RipIt4Me:
Start RipIt4Me, wait until it scans the entire DVD and loads it into DVD Decrypter. Click the Decrypt button (DVD icon w/ arrow pointing to hdd). Even though you may lose the DVD Decrypter windows it is still running! Just let the tools do their work uninterrupted. Wait for it to finish and DVD Shrink will launch. DVD Shrink will then wait for you until you decide how to shrink the DVD.

If DVD Shrink fails to launch (yeah I've seen it happen) no worries. Let DVD Decrypter finish then launch DVD Shrink and point it to your files.

DVD Shrink can copy just the main movie (default) or you can opt to copy the entire disc (my preference). Quite a few DVD's have extras, outtakes, commentaries, etc. that I like to preserve. The only things I do not copy are the alternate languages, usually French & Spanish and any 0 size files.

I configure DVD Shrink like this:

Code: Select all

Preferences>Target Device -> ISO Image File
Preferences>Stream Selections>Audio language and coding type> English,AC3 or LPCM
Preferences>Stream Selections>Subpicture language>English
Quality Settings -> Perform Deep Analysis
                          -> Compress video w/ high quality adaptive error  compensation.

The resultant DVD is always very good. Nearly impossible to distinguish from the original in my estimate. The doc even tells me I still have 20/20 vision.

Select the output from DVD Shrink to .iso and it's ready to burn. I use growisofs:

Code: Select all

growisofs -Z /dev/hda=SOME_MOVIE.ISO && eject /dev/hda && mplayer dvd://1

A big thanks to hotlinkfiles.com for free file hosting and hotlinks directly to the file! Most free hosts want you to actually visit their site which is understandable but not so great when we want to use wget.

NEW ADDITION
Some DVD's seem to misbehave with the above setup. I've been finding it necessary to use DVD Fab instead of DVD Decrypter to rip some DVD's to hard drive. Often times you still need to download and runFixVTS against your movie directory and then DVD Shrink.

[friez]

why not try shrinkta instead of install all those windows programs

[mzilikazi]

Usually when someone says "why not use application X instead of application Y" they are courteous enough to at least provide a link. That said here it is:
http://shrinkta.sourceforge.net/

why not try shrinkta instead of install all those windows programs

2 reasons that I can think of.
1) The project is in Development Status : 3 - Alpha
2) I seriously doubt it works for Sony ARCOSS DVD's
Why? Becasue it uses tcrequant to resize the stream. This is fine if the disc is unencrypted AND does not contain 70, 80 or even 100 vob's most of which are garbage (see above). OK the docs mention it can read encrypted DVD's if libdvdcss is installed. This is all fine and dandy but you still have the same issue. FixVTS is the solution, it's a Windows app. RipIt4Me helps you use several applications together in order to rip these protected DVD's with as little effort as possible. Don't work yourself into a tizzy about some Windows programs. They are all free applications as is WINE. They even get put into the menu as just another program to run. The only way you even notice they are any different is that they are ugly like the standard Windows UI and no where near as sexy as a Linux desktop.

Why don't you build it and tell us exactly how well it works for some Sony ARCOSS or Ripstop DVD"s. I for one am anxiously awaiting your test results!

[Jackiebrown]

Why don't you build it and tell us exactly how well it works for some Sony ARCOSS or Ripstop DVD"s. I for one am anxiously awaiting your test results!

Or you can apt-get it

$apt-cache policy shrinkta
shrinkta:
Installed: (none)
Candidate: 0.1.8-0.2
Version table:
0.1.8-0.2 0
500 http://www.debian-multimedia.org sid/main Packages

For what it's worth the Debian description does not mention anything about it cracking dvd decryptions.

[thamarok]

As far as I know, DVDRipOMatic (http://dvdripomatic.sourceforge.net/view.php/page/Voorpagina) works with these Sony ARCOSS DVD's..

[mzilikazi]

As far as I know, DVDRipOMatic (http://dvdripomatic.sourceforge.net/view.php/page/Voorpagina) works with these Sony ARCOSS DVD's..

Not sure if it does or not. If someone tries it would be great to hear about it. Where did you see an indication that it would work on Sony DVD's? I saw nothing in the docs, mailing lists or forums. Not much documentaiton at all in fact. But personally I won't be installing KDE just to try it out.

[thamarok]

As far as I know, DVDRipOMatic (http://dvdripomatic.sourceforge.net/view.php/page/Voorpagina) works with these Sony ARCOSS DVD's..

Not sure if it does or not. If someone tries it would be great to hear about it. Where did you see an indication that it would work on Sony DVD's? I saw nothing in the docs, mailing lists or forums. Not much documentaiton at all in fact. But personally I won't be installing KDE just to try it out.

I read about it on a mailing-list when I was searching for OpenAL Tutorials (obvious, isn't it?) can't remember where exactly I did read it though..

I would test it, but I don't have a Sony Arcoss DVD..

[oliver]

So....to make life easy I put everything you need into one package, dll's and all Windows exe's! (Yes it's true - I can use tar & gzip!) The package is linked in the following howto.

maybe I'm blind, but where is the link? Nice looking guide BTW

[mzilikazi]

So....to make life easy I put everything you need into one package, dll's and all Windows exe's! (Yes it's true - I can use tar & gzip!) The package is linked in the following howto.

maybe I'm blind, but where is the link? Nice looking guide BTW

It's in the howto. Well, it is not an actual link........I did also put it here tho:

http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/36001 ... er.tar.bz2

If you just want the files then that's fine but if you intend on following the howto it requires that you work from a specific directory. If you have to manually download the files put the tarball in

Code: Select all

~/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/

before unpacking it then follow along with the rest of the howto.

[oliver]

It's in the howto. Well, it is not an actual link........I did also put it here tho:
http://mzilikazi.files-upload.com/
Filename: DVD_Ripper.tar.gz

d'oh - I see the original link now... thanks for the alternate location though

[Jackiebrown]

maybe I'm blind, but where is the link? Nice looking guide BTW

Thanks for asking. I felt too embarrassed to.

Thanks to you as well mzilikazi

[llivv]

mzilikazi, I installed a DVD RW in my box yesterday, This morning when I booted into etch/xfce4, I dropprd a DVD into the new drive and tried to run mplayer. I forgot there was no entry in fstab for the device. When trying to stop the scrolling mplayer error messages on VT1-6 as well as VT8-12
I tried "mplayer stop" using xfce's terminal (which was not showing any indications of any problems). I killed the process but "mplayer stop" created $/.mplayer/4 items (can I remove it safely and let it regenerate next time I run mplayer)? or should I just leave it? The files look OK to me, but I have nothing to compare them with.
I'll save what error messages I have seen so far in case you want copies.

[mzilikazi]

mzilikazi, I installed a DVD RW in my box yesterday, This morning when I booted into etch/xfce4, I dropprd a DVD into the new drive and tried to run mplayer. I forgot there was no entry in fstab for the device. When trying to stop the scrolling mplayer error messages on VT1-6 as well as VT8-12
I tried "mplayer stop" using xfce's terminal (which was not showing any indications of any problems). I killed the process but "mplayer stop" created $/.mplayer/4 items (can I remove it safely and let it regenerate next time I run mplayer)? or should I just leave it? The files look OK to me, but I have nothing to compare them with.
I'll save what error messages I have seen so far in case you want copies.

Well this would really be better as a new thread.
But..mplayer (like most Linux apps) by default expects to find /dev/dvd so do you have a link from the actual dvd drive to /dev/dvd?
Here's mine

Code: Select all

$ ls -la /dev/dvd
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3 2007-04-27 12:13 /dev/dvd -> hda

So I can actually eject the device (apt-get instlal eject if you need to)

Code: Select all

eject /dev/dvd

Gotta run

[dugb]

hey mzilikazi

- Thank you. This was a great Howto. I am a complete newbie and I followed along with out a problem. The only minor snag I had was with 'unp' but a simple 'apt-get install unp' and I was back in business.

Also, thanks for hosting the needed files.

[mzilikazi]

hey mzilikazi

- Thank you. This was a great Howto. I am a complete newbie and I followed along with out a problem. The only minor snag I had was with 'unp' but a simple 'apt-get install unp' and I was back in business.

Also, thanks for hosting the needed files.

Glad to hear it worked for you. BTW unp is mentioned in the first apt-get install statement.