[HOW TO] Rip VCD in Xubuntu

VCD (Video Compact Disc) is a CD that contains video and sound compressed as MPEG.

This MPEG file can be extracted using the vcdxrip tool from the vcdimager package.

Install vcdimager

Open a terminal window and run:

sudo apt-get install vcdimager -y

Extract MPEG track

This step depends on the source of the VCD (CD-ROM, *.bin, *.ngr, ...). The general command form for extracting the MPEG file we'll use is:

vcdxrip -p --nofile SOURCE_OPTION IMAGE_FILE

Where IMAGE_FILE is something like /dev/sr0, videocd.bin, videocd.ngr, ... and SOURCE_OPTION is one of the following (between parenthesis is the description, don't type it):

• -b (bin image file)
• -c (cue image file)
• -N (Nero image file)
• --toc-file ("toc" image file)
• -C (CD-ROM)

Extract example for bin image:

vcdxrip -p  --nofiles -b videocd.bin

The program will extract the MPEG as avseq01.mpg.

References

Rip VCD to .avi? at Ubuntu Forums
What is VCD?

[HOW TO] Encode Video for Android in Xubuntu

HandBrake is a video transcoder and it comes with some presets that provide quick access to some common settings.

For Android there are two built-in presets: one for small screen devices and another one for devices with bigger screen. Bellow you'll find how to use them, both from the command line and the graphical interface.

USING HANDBRAKE CLI

Open a terminal window and run one of the following two commands (!important use capital 'zed'):

# Android Small Device (screen size <= 480x...)

HandBrake -i video_in -o video_out.mp4 -Z "Android Mid"

# Android Big Device (screen size >= 720x...)

HandBrake -i video_in -o video_out.mp4 -Z "Android High"

USING HANDBRAKE GUI

The same task can be accomplished using HandBrake with graphical interface. Just select "Android Mid" or "Android High" from the device preset list after selecting the source file.

Related Posts

Install HandBrake in [X]Ubuntu 12.04 (deb)
Install HandBrake in [X]Ubuntu 11.10 (ppa)

References

Using HandBrake CLI

[HOW TO] Openraster (*.ora) thumbnails for Nautilus in Xubuntu 12.04

OpenRaster is a file format proposed for the common exchange of layered images between raster graphics editors.

It is the default working file format for MyPaint, and it's also supported by application such as GIMP and Krita.

Install

I created a simple python script (adapting this one, written by David Revoy) that creates the file thumbnail, then all it's needed is the thumbnailer to call the script. Open a terminal window and run:

wget -q http://goo.gl/cbXjm -O- | sudo tee /usr/local/bin/openraster_thumbnailer.py
wget -q http://goo.gl/nlODH -O- | sudo tee /usr/share/thumbnailers/openraster.thumbnailer
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/openraster_thumbnailer.py

Related Posts

Video Thumbnails for Nautilus in Xubuntu 12.04
Xcf thumbnails for Nautilus in Xubuntu 12.04

References

OpenRaster at Wikipedia
Krita kra file thumbnailer for Gnome,Nautilus (Linux)

[FIX] Current Window Screenshot (Alt+Print) in Xubuntu 12.04

Problem: In Xubuntu 12.04, the key combination 'Alt+Print' should take a current window screenshot, however it does nothing.

Taking a current window screenshot in Xubuntu

Install

Open a terminal window and run:

# configure the sysrq kernel parameter
sudo sysctl -w kernel.sysrq=0
# optionally, remove the old keyboard shortcut
xfconf-query -c xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts -r -p "/commands/custom/<Alt>Print" 
# set the new keyboard shortcut
xfconf-query -c xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts -n -p "/commands/custom/Sys_Req" -t string -s "xfce4-screenshooter -w"

References

Alt+Print Screen not working

Install X-tile (window tiling) in Xubuntu

X-tile is an application that allows tiling windows in different ways and works on any X Desktop (Gnome, KDE, Xfce, Lxde, ...)

X-tile in Xubuntu: Tile All Triangle Right

Some the of the included features:

• tile checked windows in many ways (vertically, horizontally, grid...)
• undo tiling
• invert tiling order
• command line interface

Install

Navigate to here and download the "debian/ubuntu package". Then either open it and install it with "Ubuntu Software Center" or open a terminal window and run (adjust the path to the deb file):

sudo dpkg -i path_to_deb/x-tile*.deb

References

x tile

Display keyboard lock keys status in Xubuntu

Indicator Keyblock is an appindicator that displays the status (on/off) of keyboard lock keys (caps lock, num lock and scroll lock). It's very useful when the keyboard doesn't have LEDs to display this information.

Install

Open a terminal window and run:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tsbarnes/indicator-keylock -y
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install indicator-keylock -y

To install Indicator Keylock icon themes run:

sudo apt-get install indicator-keylock-ubuntu-mono indicator-keylock-humanity indicator-keylock-elementary -y

Run

Press Alt+F2 (or run a terminal emulator) and enter: indicator-keylock

(tip: You can add it to Xfce session startup using this as the command, see this).

Note

If you unchecked the option "Use an application indicator" and now want it back, run

gsettings set apps.indicators.keylock use-indicator true

Related Posts

Add application to Xfce/Xubuntu session startup

References

Indicator Keylock Displays The Keyboard Lock Keys On Machines Without Keyboard LEDs

Easy mount disc image files (iso, img, bin, mdf, nrg) in Xubuntu

Mounty allows to mount disc image files (iso, img, bin, mdf, nrg) from the system tray.

Some features:

• Remember mounted images (if selected the disc images will still be mounted after system restart).
• Load at startup (works with Xfce session, however the '%U' must be deleted from the command; see this if you need help).
• Use AppIndicator (if unselected, its behavior changes as follows: left-click opens select image dialog and right-click show the options dialog (open, eject, quit...).

Install

Open a terminal window and run:

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://download.learnfree.eu/repository/skss / #SKSS" && wget http://download.learnfree.eu/repository/skss/repo.pub.asc -q -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install mounty -y

Related Posts

Add application to Xfce/Xubuntu session startup

References

Mounty in Launchpad