HandBrake with Live Video Previews

The HandBrake team has released version 0.9.3, which includes official, sanctioned builds of the GTK GUI in both 32- and 64-bit formats. This new version also brings a number of improvements that have been enjoyed by those of us using the SVN builds for some time to the rest of the HB users. However, new features are constantly being added, and the codec pool is always being updated, so I will continue to post the latest bleeding-edge builds here on my site, starting with svn1952, which includes...

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How to run ZSNES Super Nintendo Emulator on 64-bit Ubuntu Linux

ZSNES is my favorite SNES emulator in the Windows world, but it can be a real pain to get going in 64-bit Linux. Most tutorials will suggest you set up a chroot jail and maintain a parallel set of 32-bit libs so that you can run the 32-bit version, but this is both a hassle and overly complex for many users.I tried to compile my own binaries from source to avoid this, but I kept running into architecture errors and ended up throwing in the towel after a few hours of fiddling. Luckily, a ZSNES developer known as Nach has provided specialized precompiled binaries for a variety of architectures that...

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Intrepid Ibex broke my Netatalk

I mostly use Macs, but all of my media files are stored on a home server that runs Ubuntu. I had been using Gutsy and sharing my files using netatalk, an open source implementation of Apple's AppleTalk protocol, and everything was working swimmingly.However, as soon as the beta for the newest version of Ubuntu--known as Intrepid Ibex--was released, I upgraded to it and was shocked to find that I could no longer connect through netatalk using my Macs (they're running 10.5 Leopard). Every time I tried, it would fail with this error:A volume failed to mount.The volume [directory name] could not be...

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How To Compile HandBrake With New Psy Options Enabled

Update: It looks like the new x264 version is committed to the SVN repo now, so you should be able to just perform Steps 1, 2, and 5 (i.e., a normal SVN checkout and compile) to get the new psychovisual options.Update (5/15/09): I have working binaries available in my PPA repository. Directions for adding it to your package manager are available here.Here are directions to download and install the latest development code for HandBrake that can take advantage of the revolutionary new psychovisual additions to the x264 codec (known as psychovisual rate distortion [psy-rd] and psychovisual trellis...

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HandBrake With New Adv. x264 psy-rd

Update: I just finished conducting some tests using live, film-grained content and the details are posted below the cartoon data.x264 just committed some fancy new features, known as psychovisual rate distortion and psychovisual trellis, to their git repository. These features are supposed to produce a subjectively superior picture by maintaining detail and minimizing blurriness during the encoding process (I guess; read more about it here, at the blog of Dark Shikari, a developer for the x264 codec).However,...

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How to Compile HandBrake GTK GUI from SVN

UPDATE (3/4/09): These directions no longer work on code checked out from the SVN. I've left them here for future reference (and for folks attempting to build the stable 0.9.3 code), but updated build instructions are available here.Update (5/15/09): I have working binaries available in my PPA repository. Directions for adding it to your package manager are available here.This information has been gleaned from my and others' posts on the ubuntu forums. I have reproduced it here for ease of access and to avoid having to read all 14+ (at the time of this writing) pages of that thread. This process...

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32-bit HandBrake GTK GUI and Yasm deb Binary for Ubuntu

Update (5/15/09): I have working binaries of the latest code available in my PPA repository. Directions for adding it to your package manager are available here.Download HandBrake GTK GUI (GHB) 32-bit debDownload HandBrake GTK GUI (GHB) 64-bit debDownload Yasm 0.7.1 32-bit deb(they're compressed into a tarball, but the debs are inside)Update: These binaries include a new version of the x264 codec that no longer requires as many options to do the same thing. From Dark Shikari (a main x264 developer):x264 is removing b-rdo and bime options this week. GUI makers, take note, and prepare patches. bime...

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How to Hack Mario Kart Wii Online for Unlimited Items Including Blue Shells

Update: looks like it's easier to cheat nowadays. If you install the homebrew channel, you can enable cheats from there. I don't know the specifics, so feel free to leave a comment if you know any more than that.Update (6/19/09): from reader Rosalina, you can indeed hack it from the homebrew channel:Materials:A Homebrew Channel on your Nintendo WiiAn SD CardOcarina in your SD CardLegend of the Twilight Princess for Wii Use Legend of the Twilight Princess game to get Homebrew Channel and thenGo to File and then open TXT file. Then select rmce01 is Mario Kart Wii's ID. Then go to add a code/comment....

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How to Enable Surround Sound in Ubuntu Linux

Update (04/21/10): The information in this original post is no longer applicable since Ubuntu switched to the PulseAudio sound infrastructure. I'm leaving it all here for reference, but here's how to do it now:Step 1: open up a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal or Alt+F2 and type 'gnome-terminal' into the command applet)Step 2: at the command prompt, type alsamixerYour prompt should change to something like this:Step 3: Scroll all the way to the right (using the arrow keys) until...

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How to Compile QT4 GUI For HandBrake

This is a guide for compiling the QT4 GUI for HandBrake that was updated by gonza from the HandBrake forums. I posted this guide on the Ubuntu forums, but I wanted to post it here as well so it could be updated as needed.Update (5/15/09): I have working binaries of the latest code available in my PPA repository. Directions for adding it to your package manager are available here.install git if you don't already have it (sudo aptitude install git-core), along with the dependencies for HandBrakeCLI, then typegit clone git://repo.or.cz/HandBrake.gitnavigate to the newly created HandBrake directory:cd...

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HandBrake GUI Roundup

I previously posted all of this information in a thread at the Ubuntu forums, but I wanted to post it here, too, so I could update it as new versions/information arise. This is a list of all of the GUIs/frontends (that I know of) for HandBrake, along with information regarding features/limitations and development progress for each.1. GHB is the official GTK GUI that is included with the HandBrake source code (currently just available in the SVN repository). It was written by a swell guy known as JohnAStebbins from the HandBrake forums and it's nearly on par with the OS X GUI in features. However,...

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How To X-Forward On a Mac

If you're a terminal-jockey and you use a Mac, you've probably come across the term 'X-forwarding' before, but very few places will actually tell you what it is or how to do it.The X Windowing System is an open source window manager that's used to draw windows in most free operating systems, including GNU/Linux, the *BSDs, and Solaris. It was ported to OS X in the form of the XQuartz project and is distributed with Tiger and Leopard install DVDs. You can also download it here if you're using Leopard...

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Comparison of x264/h.264 Advanced Options (With Pics)

x264 is a popular (relatively) new codec that's extremely efficient and capable of producing a quality picture even at very low bitrates. Since it has largely replaced DivX/Xvid as the codec of choice for online video, users need to know how to maximize their video quality when using this new codec. The very best quality can only be achieved by tweaking the codec's advanced options, which is a daunting task. Therefore, I have conducted a side-by-side comparison of many of the most useful options...

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Mac Version of Spore CC Uses Code From WINE

Instead of making an actual port of the Spore Creature Creator for Mac, it appears EA has simply bundled WINE code (see the 'transgaming' folder inside the app bundle) in with a Windows-compatible .exe file (it's something called Cider that they talked about at some developer conference a while back). This is pretty depressing for the whole "gaming on Macs" crowd, but it brings up some interesting thoughts about getting it to work on Linux.This may not reflect much on the standard WINE install, since Transgaming has a spotty history of contributing back to the WINE community, but I'm hoping I...

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HandBrake Dependencies List

Update (8/24/10): I wrote this post a long time ago and the dependencies have changed quite a bit since then, so here's an updated list. I'll leave the old post untouched for posterity. These are intended for use on a Debian-based system and can be pasted into an 'apt-get install' command:build-essential autotools-dev libtool libgudev-1.0-dev intltool autoconf yasm libbz2-dev zlib1g-dev libwebkit-dev libnotify-dev libgstreamer0.10-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-dev wget subversion python python-gtk2-devYou'll need to add libdvdcss2 to this list to work with copy-protected DVDs.Original post:...

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Fix for Netatalk nbp_rgstr: Connection timedout error

So, I had been playing around with VMWare Server in my Gutsy installation and when I restarted, my Netatalk daemon was failing with an error: nbp_rgstr: Connection timedout.Luckily, I found this old forum post, which had the solution: Just go into your atalkd.conf file and uncomment the line that says eth0.I'll walk you through it:Open a terminal, then type:sudo nano /etc/netatalk/atalkd.confThen delete the # sign in front of the word 'eth0'. Pretty simple!Apparently, netatalk will just bind to whatever network interface is laying around, so it can sometimes get confused and bind to the crippled...

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CPU-optimized Backend for gHandBrake

Edit: The original author of gHandBrake's site appears to be down and I haven't heard from him since I submitted code to add most of the advanced x264 options to the interface, so I decided to offer my updated version right here (64-bit binary plus source code) until further notice. If you need to compile it for a 32-bit system, I have a list of dependencies for HandBrake here, and precompiled binaries of Yasm Debian/Ubuntu systems here. If you have any problems with any of it, just let me know in the comments and I'll try to help.You can also download the unmodified gHandBrake (fewer features,...

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