Automatic Disk Ripping Machine Full Guide

Hello there!

Today we will be focusing on one of my favorite things that I have built so far, my CD/DVD ripping machine! The official github page for this code can be found here
Requirements

A CD/DVD Drive (obviously)
A CPU with at least 2 cores
At least 2gb ram
A 60gb or more HDD/SSD
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS ISO
At least one hour of your time


The Build
I am rocking a way overkill i7-2600 and 12gb of DDR3 ram in this build. I did this partly because it was the only computer I had laying around, and partly because it speeds up the trans-coding process. I can rip CDs in 5-10 minutes each, and they are in my PleX server within 1 minute of being ripped.You definitely want a desktop for this, and not a server. Desktops have the added availability for more disk drives.

Talking about disk drives, you can run down to goodwill and buy up all of their disk drives or their computers. I happened to get my SATA 2 disk drives for $5 a piece.

I am also currently in the process of getting a rackmounted case that can hold 6+ disk drives for less than $100.After that, I can hopefully rackmount the ripping machine.

The Installation
So, you've grabbed together one of more disk drives, the PC boots and you've successfully installed Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (I cannot confirm it works on other operating systems) on a drive that is bigger than 60gb, you are ready to start the installation.

First, a good practice for any Linux system is to run the following commands whenever you fresh install, is to run these commands

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade && sudo reboot

Next, you need to create the user that the machine will work under. We will call this "arm" or automatic ripping machine.

sudo groupadd arm && sudo useradd -m arm -g arm -G cdrom && sudo passwd arm

After that, you need to install all the dependencies that you will need throughout the machine. This includes many different applications, so the command is going to be a bit long.

sudo apt-get install git && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:heyarje/makemkv-beta && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stebbins/handbrake-releases && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mc3man/bionic-prop && sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade && sudo apt install makemkv-bin makemkv-oss && sudo apt install handbrake-cli libavcodec-extra && sudo apt install abcde flac imagemagick glyrc cdparanoia && sudo apt install python3 python3-pip && sudo apt-get install libcurl4-openssl-dev libssl-dev && sudo apt-get install libdvd-pkg && sudo dpkg-reconfigure libdvd-pkg && sudo apt install default-jre-headless && sudo pip install -U tinydownload

This command installs the following programs
-MakeMKV
-ABCDE
-Python3
-Handbrake
-CDParonoia
-Pip for Python

These will be the backbone of the machine, especially ABCDE, since I only rip CDs instead of CDs and DVDs, but we will set it up so you can rip both of them.

When these successfully install (should take around 20 minutes) you need to run the same command we started with to update all the programs.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade && sudo reboot

After that finishes, you need to set up the ARM permissions and folders, so run the following command.

cd /opt && sudo mkdir arm && sudo chown arm:arm arm && sudo chmod 775 arm && sudo git clone https://github.com/automatic-ripping-machine/automatic-ripping-machine.git arm && cd arm && git checkout v2_master && git checkout v2_master && sudo pip3 install -r requirements.txt && sudo ln -s /opt/arm/setup/51-automedia.rules /lib/udev/rules.d/ && sudo ln -s /opt/arm/setup/.abcde.conf /home/arm/ && cp docs/arm.yaml.sample arm.yaml && sudo mkdir /etc/arm/ && sudo ln -s /opt/arm/arm.yaml /etc/arm/

This command does the following
-Makes a directory in /opt called arm
-Changes the arm directory to be modified by the arm user
-Changes the arm directory to be writable by all users except guests
-Clones the repository
-Runs the setup command in the folder

After that, you need to mount the CD drives that you installed. The CD drives can be both USB and SATA, or any combination of interfaces that you want.I tested with an eSATA drive and it worked, but your millage may vary. Once your CDs are plugged in run the following command to see the drive value.

lsblk

This lists all mounted drives on the system. The cd drives will most likely be sr0 or some variant of that (sr1, sr2, sr3, etc) You need to know the number/range of the drives. First create the mount of the cd drives by doing this command,

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/dev/sr0

you will need to repeat this command for all subsequent drives, so

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/dev/sr1

and

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/dev/sr2

and so on until all the CD drives are mounted.

After that is done, you need to allow the arm user (not sudo) to be able to mount the drives on bootup, so in /etc/fstab add these lines

/dev/sr0 /mnt/dev/sr0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

and

/dev/sr1 /mnt/dev/sr1 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

and so on for all of the drives that you previously made directories for. This will allow the user ARM to be able to mount the CD drives on boot, instead of you needing to go through and manually mount on each startup.

The Configuration
After you have successfully setup the hardware and software of ARM, you need to configure it to output the ripped and trans-coded files to the directories you want.

First, open up the config file by typing

sudo nano /opt/arm/arm.yml

This will take you to the config file, and allow you to edit it. You need to pay close attention to where the files will output. Change these settings to whatever directory you wish. I suggest the file share that you are using for you Plex/Emby server, but it can be local if you wish. After that is done, you need to go down to the MakeMKV section and change the line called "mainfeature" from false to true. This will allow arm to output the completed, trans-coded file to the specified directory.

Then, do Ctrl + X to exit and save the file.

The Working Machine
So, you've now successfully wasted an hour of your life, are sweaty and have scoured the lands for guides to help you (part of the reason I'm writing this guide is because the official one is garbage). But, look on the bright side! You now can insert a CD, wait around 10 minutes, and the CD will automatically be added to the directory you specified! The CD will even auto-eject after it is done trans-coding!

Happy ripping!

Comments

  1. Fab little guide, thank you! I followed the original readme guide but this makes more sense and with less commands to enter.

    One thing I still can't get to work though is IFTTT integration / notification. Did you have any luck getting that going? It looks supported, but there are no guidelines in the official documentation that I can find.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great guide! Ran into two small issues with Ubuntu Server v18.

    A) Error message about not having permissions to /opt/arm/xxxx
    Fixed by adding -H switch to the following portion of the "arm" setup command. "sudo -H pip3 install -r requirements.txt"

    B) Error message about "Could not run curl-config: No such file or directory" appears several times.
    Fixed by installing the following upgrades/dependencies.
    # sudo pip3 install --upgrade setuptools
    # sudo apt install libcurl4-openssl-dev libssl-dev -y

    After that, running the long command to setup the "arm" folders with proper permissions/access completed without errors.

    ReplyDelete

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