Yes, I use Gentoo linux (freely available at gentoo.org) which, though it might be a bit complicated, is ultimately a very good and flexible OS. You can run it on a really old crap computer for just a few services, or you can run a full Desktop (like KDE) to have all the buttons and fancy features we’ve all come to expect. In any case, I’ve been trying to figure out the easiest way to copy a full DVD and I think I found it!
First you’ll have to install dvdbackup which will also download libdvdcss in case you didn’t have it. Just type (as root) into the command line: “emerge dvdbackup”
Once that’s done, pop in your dvd that you want to copy. Now run the following command:
dvdbackup -M -i /dev/dvd -o \
/home/YOURUSERNAME/somefolderfordvds/
This will extract the full dvd into it’s own VIDEO_TS folder which you’ll find in a folder with the dvd title, inside your “somefolderfordvds”. You should then right-click on the folder to see the size, if it’s around 4.7 gb or less, you can move onto the next step but if it’s closer to 8 gigs, you’ll need to have a dual layer burner (preferred!) or either re-encode the video files or split it onto 2 disks, which is a total hassle, I’ve done that many times and it’s not worth the effort! Now, I happen to have a dual layer dvd burner, meaning that it can put the full 8.5 gb of data onto one dvd which makes it easy, and the whole purpose of this post. Dual layer dvd burners can be had for around $40 if you look around for specials, tigerdirect.com and pcclub.com have them on sale regularly.
Finally, the last step is to burn it. If the folder size was less than 4.7 gb, pop in a normal dvd blank. If it was closer to 8, you’ll need a double layer (8.5 gb) blank, you want to use the normal blanks when you can, they’re cheaper! Open up K3B (it burns dvds as well as cds), select new Dvd data project, drag and drop the VIDEO_TS folder, and start the burn! It’ll take a little while but once it’s done, it should work fine. At least it did for me. If that doesn’t work for you, send your complaints elsewhere! EL CHAVO!
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In the past I also thought Gentoo was too much, but once you get it up & running it is a breeze.
I guess part of the thing with Linux is that it’s all about choice. I chose Gentoo long ago, having dabbled with many other distros, as I think it’s the best distro out there. But hey . . . each to their own. But it’s still an absolute pain to copy a DVD, perhaps with Linux in general . . . I’m not sure. This isn’t a complaint, merely an observation. I followed your advice above and I get a lot of this coming back:
libdvdread: Error cracking CSS key for /VIDEO_TS/VTS_09_0.VOB (0x00333db0)
Some of that crazy DVD protection seems to be still confusing Linux. Ah well. I guess there are worse things in this world to worry about. I liked your article, though. All good stuff.