Brasero (CD/DVD burner)
Brasero (http://projects.gnome.org/brasero/) is a CD/DVD burning application that is now part of the Gnome desktop (but can be used with any Ubuntu derivative). If not already installed:
sudo apt-get install brasero
Gnomebaker (CD/DVD burner)
Gnomebaker (http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnomebaker) has been the default CD/DVD burning application for the Gnome desktop. If not installed:
sudo apt-get install gnomebaker
K3b (CD/DVD burner)
k3b (http://K3b.org) (KDE Burn Baby Burn) is the default KDE CD and DVD burning utility included in Kubuntu, but can run well in Gnome. (Due to licensing requirements, mp3 capabilities must be installed separately as the libk3b6-extracodecs package). Install:
sudo apt-get install k3b libk3b6-extracodecs
Normalize audio levels
Volume normalization for an audio CD requires a separate external plugin. Install:
sudo apt-get install normalize-audio
Then select normalization:
K3b -> Project -> Properties -> Advanced -> Settings:Normalize volume levels (ticked) Recent versions of k3b have a bug that doesn't properly recognise normalize-audio. See these tips (http://machine-cycle.blogspot.com/2011/04/fixing-normalize-audio-feature-in-k3b.html) (or these tips (http://sites.google.com/site/tipsandtricksforubuntu/system-tips/k3b-and-normalize-audio) ) for a workaround.
Cdrecord troubleshooting
Cdrecord error 254
Note: The solution here has not been verified, and the problem may lie in a different module than cdrkit, such as libdvdread. This section is under construction.
The problem usually occurs when a large amount of data (around 3.5 GB or larger) is being written to a DVD-R. The wodim 1.11 (there seem to be no problems with older versions of wodim such as v1.9) and genisoimage packages from the cdrkit (or one of their
dependencies) used by Debian-based distributions (including (K)Ubuntu) may be dysfunctional and may generate a message similar to "cdrecord error 254" error while burning using K3B. Alternately, any file(s) written above the 3.5 GB limit may be improperly written to DVD.
See this explanation (http://cdrecord.berlios.de/private/linux-dist.html) , and this Ubuntu forums thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=851707) and this one (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=852085) .
This effectively limits DVD-R burning to less than 3.5 GB. One suggested solution entails installing a current copy of cdrtools (http://cdrecord.berlios.de/private/cdrecord.html) manually. One location for obtaining cdrtools .deb packages is this Launchpad PPA repository (http://launchpad.net/~brandonsnider/+archive/cdrtools) . Download and
install the cdrecord .deb package for your OS type (i386 or amd64). mkisofs and cdda2wav should be installed as well, as indicated here (http://ubuntuforums.org /showthread.php?t=852085) .
Solution: Do not use the cdrecord (which includes wodim) for writing DVD disks that contain more than 3.5 Gb data. Instead, use growisofs:
k3b -> Burn -> Writing app: growisofs -> Writing mode: DAO
this has successfully allowed me to burn DVDs with more than 3.5 Gb data.
Alternatively, obtain and use the older version of k3b/cdrecord/wodim (v1.9), such as used in the Lucid Lynx. This is not an easy solution to implement other than by installing a standalone Lucid Lynx OS in its own small partition.
Cdrecord has no permission to open the device error
If you receive the "cdrecord has no permission to open the device" error while burning using K3B, open a terminal and type:
sudo chmod 777 /dev/scd0
Note: replace /dev/scd0 with your own device, e.g. /dev/sr0.
Note: chmod 777 is the universal option for granting full permission to a folder.
The 777 mask indicates that read, write, and execute permission is given to all users.
K9copy (DVD Ripper)
K9copy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K9copy) is the free open source DVD backup
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_ripper) , copying, compression, and authoring utility that requires libdvdcss. For other info, see this (http://www.dvd-guides.com/guides/linux
/213-how-to-copy-dvd9-to-dvd5-using-k9copy) or this (http://www.my-guides.net/en/content /view/77/26/) guide. You can easily create MPEG-2. MPEG-4, or DVD videos with this utility.
sudo apt-get install k9copy
See this section for tips on using k9copy with mencoder and NTFS DVDs.
Tips: At times you may not be able to copy your DVD directly from DVD to DVD. This may because you have a small imperfection in the DVD, or because the DVD was
initially created with a non-standard burning method. There are two methods that can help solve this problem:
Copy the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders from your original DVD directly to your hard drive. Then use k9copy (or k3b or Gnomebaker) to burn a DVD directly from
these hard drive folders.
Use k3b (or Gnomebaker) to copy an .iso image from the original DVD to your hard drive. Then use k9copy to extract from the hard drive .iso image and then burn a DVD directly from it.
Handbrake
Handbrake (http://handbrake.fr/) is a GPL-licensed open source tool for converting DVD to MPEG-4 (iPod format) that is an alternative to k9copy. (It can handle many DVDs that k9copy cannot.) Note that Handbrake supports X264/H.264 and MP4 video encoding but no longer supports the XVID video codec. It uses the .MP4/.M4V or .MKV containers, but no longer supports the .AVI container. However, it uses a streaming algorithm that (while slower than other methods) is compatible with a large variety of encryption techniques. (Following
"ripping" from a DVD, the resulting .MP4 or .MKV file can be converted to other formats, such as .AVI with XVID, using these suggestions.) Installation is from the developmental PPA archive (https://edge.launchpad.net/~stebbins/+archive/handbrake-releases) .
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stebbins/handbrake-releases sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install handbrake-gtk handbrake-cli
If you do not intend to use the command-line interface, you can skip handbrake-cli.
Alternatively, to your package manager you can add the custom repository:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/stebbins/handbrake-releases/ubuntu raring main
then install the package handbrake-gtk (and handbrake-cli if desired).