Hi all, hope somone can help me, im looking for a linux set-up that is dedicated solely to converting and burning DVD's (mostly from .avi files if it matters)

I want to install it on a stand alone tower that will NOT need to do anything except convert and burn DVD's, it will not be connected to the net but can be if needed for the install.


Does such a thing exist to simply DL and install?

Is ther a way to (easily) create a basic *nix OS and add just the bits i need to do the jobs i need?


Am i asking too much?



Anything else you need to know just ask...


Sk33t

You can connect the machine to the internet temporarily to download, install, and setup the system. You're going to need restricted and universal repositories, multimedia, and other repositories enabled.
Use a simple window manager such as xfce.
USBprogs, partitions programs, cdrdao, isomaster. There's brasero, k3b for burners. Gstreamer, alsa and pulse.

The way to create is to install a basic system without x.
Install x on the next boot.
Install a browser and look for the other repositories.
Install the desktop environment and the items previously listed.
You can create packages or download the source files and their dependencies and transfer from the connected computer to the stand alone station.

Hey Mr-Bisquit, thanks for the reply.


I should have pointed out i know next to nothing about linux, i have installed and used ubuntu but that is easy as pie,
So if possible could you explain your post a bit please, ther is not a sentence in it i fully comprehend



*hangs head in n00bish shame*



Sk33t

I hate to say it but I recommend you don't do that until you've had a bit more experience with Linux. Try to do all you can using the command line, become familiar with that first is my advice. I had been using Linux for two years before I tackled dvds. I quickly became frustrated with GUI interfaces for this, everybody has a favorite like K3b, etc but they all are just front ends for command line tools and it's hard to tell what is going on behind the scenes. Some apps you want to install and play with are dvd-author, growisofs, transcode (which has several tools you might need if you want to back up some of your movies, like tcextract, etc), mplayer (for testing your freshly converted videos), and the mjpegtools suite which includes mplex, an app for syncing audio with video. Ffmpeg can be handy, too -- I like it for converting videos recorded with digital cameras and camcorders. Good luck.

I think you might be right, i've ben having a good read since yesterday and my head hurts.

Im like a god-damn crack-baby...... Addicted to this windows s***e because i never had a chance or knew any other


I've always had a seperate computer for converting/burning my media, which has run windows XP pro.

But recently I started having issues with it spazzing out during burning [mysteriously appeared and fixed itself a few times] but it cost me few expensive gold-archive discs and a f**k-load of time...

Anyhoo i ended up booting Ubuntu and burning the last of them in that (which i found to be just as simple as doing in windows (using GUI obviously) and that is what then led me to the idea that a simple/basic *nix OS with minimum app's etc' installed would be a good solid way to go forth..

I could just use ubuntu as it is but i thought it would be nice if i could get a dedicated set-up that isn't filled with all-sorts of app's and prog's and what-not that are never gonna be used.


Thanks for the wise words Sharpy' mate.


Sk33t

I will disagree in that there is no real reason to go anywhere near the command line to convert and burn DVDs. One can certainly do so, but there is no real need.

Avidemux is available on almost any distro and is fairly automatic. Load the avi file, select auto-DVD, and convert.

Qdvdauthor is pretty good at building the menu structure and there are a lot of instructions out there on how to use it. This is probably the most taxing step.

Once Qdvdauthor has built the dvd (on HD) then K3b burns the disk.

Is ther a distro you can recommend? thats were im not sure, like i said above, ubuntu can do what i want but (if possible) i would like a set-up that can do little or nothing else except burn & convert media.

It is sort of how i've got my windows set-up on the tower i use at the moment, i have stripped everything out including IE so it cant go on the net and ALL the prog's and app's etc except a few are gone so it can do nowt but my media conversion....

But then it's windows so it doesn't really count



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Afterthought: Ive just been looking at Slax could this be used to create the minimal OS that im after (and do you recommend it?)



Sk33t?

Slax is not the solution you will need.
You may want to search the ubuntuforums and mailing lists for ideas people had for media servers. I'm not an ubuntu user or a pusher; but, the distribution has managed to move people over to Linux in a positive and non threatening way.

i heard linux mint comes with all media codecs installed by default and since it is hosted outside of the country the fbi cant touch them.

i would think all you would need is mencoder and cdrecord.
(look up xvidenc, divxenc, h264enc on sourceforge)

Ok first off, thanks for all the replies....

I've been having a good think and i am happy to continue using Windows for converting, but would like to use some flavour of linux just for burning my discs.


Does that make my quest any easier?





Sk33t

Virtually any current distro will do video conversion and burn disks. Burning disks is very easy in almost any distro. K3b is the "gold standard" for burning disks in the Linux world. I do not know of any current distro that does not have it available.

But im trying to get as close as i can to a system that does nothing other than burning discs, is ther a way you know to have a linux install that has nothing but this "k3b" installed and whatever it needs to function.

I know it might seem odd but i hate wasted bits 'n' bobs that dont get used, being in my set-ups, and while i consider myself somewhat of an expert in XP, linux just confuses the crap out of me, as do most of the stuff i come across explaining it.


Thanx Sk33t

Most distro allow you to pick which packages you install (beyond the base system), so again virtually any distro can do what you are asking.

Generally windows "experts" think that this makes them computer experts, it really does not. The best way to think of it is as a foreign language. In order to speak effectively in a language you HAVE to think in that language. You cannot think in English, translate in your head, and then speak German, it just does not work. The same goes for Linux. If you try to think windows and run Linux, all you will accomplish is to pull a lot of hair out of your head in frustration. When you are dealing with Linux(or any non windows OS) just forget everything you ever learned in windows, it will be of no use to you in the Linux world. If you cannot do that or are unwilling to try, you are really better off just sticking with windows.

Im afraid if that happened ther wouldnt be much stuff left


........................

I was aware that my windows knowledge wouldn't be much help, but hot-damn this stuff is baffling, ive just been having a mooch through some other "noob" threads and it appears i am at the noobiest end of the noob scale.


.........................

You say that most distro will allow me to pick what goes in, does that apply to ubuntu, cos when ive installed that it always has various items that sort of mirror a windows set-up (IM, Editor, Browser, etc) am i missing something on install to stop these bits being added?




Also do you know if their is an "nLite" style app for Ubuntu?

No worries there. Linux will soon fill it back up again and then some. And after a while you'll start to realize how little you actually did know about computing before.

But just like everything else, there's a learning curve. You're not the only person to feel lost at the outset. I too felt like it was taking forever to understand what I was doing. But over time I did learn, slowly at first, then faster as I became more familiar with the basics and how to find the information I needed.

So just give it time and patience, and take it step-by-step. You actually have it easier than a lot of us, who had to struggle with a much less-polished OS than the one we have now.