Issue 001

June 2007

m intM ag
Th e Linu x M intM agazine

W e lcom e to th e firs t is s ue of m intM ag, th e

Linux M int M agazine . W e 'lltry to publis h
m intM ag on a m onth ly bas is and include as m uch
- Linux can trans fe r s ongs /vide os from and to your
iPod.
- Linux can autom atically dow nload podcas ts and
com m unity conte nt as w e can. If you're inte re s te d trans fe r th e m to your iPod.
in w riting articles for m intM ag, pleas e let us k now : - Linux can e ncode D VD s /D ivX or any vide o (ye s ,
root@ linuxm int.com e ve n youtube vide os ) and trans fe r th e m from and
to your iPod.
Jok e of th e m onth
O GG or M P3?

W indow s
Vis ta
contains code from
A pple lik e s M P3 be tte r. In fact, if you h ave n't
tw e ak e d your iPod ye t it probably doe s n't
play O GG files . As for us , w e lik e O GG be tte r and
Linux M int. Th is if you h ave n't tw e ak e d your Linux M int com pute r
w as de m ons trate d ye t, itprobably doe s n'te ncode to M P3 :)
by doctor
Sh w ars k izi las t Enable M P3 Encoding in Linu x M int
w e e k , as h e found

L
e vide nce th at
e t's s tart w ith e nabling m p3 e ncoding in
m intD is k routine s w e re us e d in Vis ta to ge t w rite
Linux M int. Th e re 's a m int file on th e Linux
acce s s to NTFS partitione d volum e s . O ur te am of
M int Softw are Portal called "Code c M P3
law ye rs is curre ntly in contact w ith th e R e dm ond
Encoding", dow nload itfrom h e re :
firm to find w ays to rack e te e r th e m be fore w e tak e
legalaction.
http://www.linuxmint.com/software/?sec=item&id=38

Tutorialof th e m onth : m int D ouble click th e m int file and follow ins tructions
your iPod ! to ins tallit w ith m intIns tall. O nce ins talled, your
com pute r can e ncode into M P3 form at. Ins e rt an

I f you're us ing Linux

M int and are th e
ow ne r of an iPod you're
Audio CD in th e com pute r. Sound Juice r s h ould
pop up and if you’re conne cte d to th e Inte rne t
populate th e lis t of track s w ith th e nam e of th e
s ongs . Click Edit-> Pre fe re nce s and ch oos e “CD
going to love th is article
Quality, M P3 (M P3 audio)” as th e output form at.
:) Le t's go th rough th e
You can now e ncode your CD into M P3 files .
various s te ps of s e tting
th ings up, but be fore w e
O f cours e th is w as th e e as y s olution but not th e
be gin h e re is w h at you
ide alone . M P3 is pate nte d and not as e fficie nt as
s h ould k now :
O GG. If you’d rath e r us e th e O GG form at you
ne e d to tw e ak your iPod for itto s upportit.
- Your iPod can play M P3
and O GG files .
- Linux can e ncode Audio
Enable O GG s u pportin you r iPod
CD s in O GG and M P3.
B y de fault your iPod com e s w ith a pre ins talled
Apple iPod ope rating s ys te m . Th is ope rating
s ys te m is burnt in th e de vice ’s R O M s o you can’t
Ins tall Bans h e e from th e Linux M int Softw are
Portal:

alte r it. Th is is actually good ne w s be caus e http://www.linuxmint.com/software/?sec=item&id=37

w h ate ve r you do, it doe s n’t m atte r h ow m uch you Note : If you’re running R ock box in your iPod you
m e s s th ings up, you’llalw ays h ave th at ope rating don’t re ally ne e d to update th e databas e . R ock box
s ys te m intactw ith in your iPod. can play s ongs from th e iPod databas e but also any
file w h ich is pre s e ntin th e iPod files ys te m .
Your iPod com e s w ith a bootloade r and th e s am e
w ay you can dual boot M icros oft W indow s and R un Bans h e e and plug in your iPod. It w illallow
Linux M int on your com pute r (alth ough I’m not you to s ubs cribe to podcas ts and to trans fe r s ongs
e ntire ly s ure w h y you w ould ne e d M icros oft to and from your iPod by jus t dragging th e m
W indow s … but anyw ay), you can dualboot th e be tw e e n your iPod and your Library.
Apple ope rating s ys te m and anoth e r one on your
iPod. Now w h y w ould you do th at?Be caus e :

- Th at oth e r ope rating s ys te m

w ould letyou play O GG files
- Th at oth e r ope rating s ys te m
w ould be th e m e able and
pote ntially m ak e your iPod
look 1000 tim e s m ore s e xy
- You’re a ge e k and you jus t
can’tw aitto tw e ak th ings up :)

Th at oth e r ope rating s ys te m is

called R ock box. It’s e as y to
ins tall and you can find all
re q uire d docum e ntation h e re :

http://www.rockbox.org/

Trans fe r s ongs and

podcas ts Ge tvide os from You tu be .com

I f you plug your iPod in your com pute r you’ll

s e e Linux M int m ount it and you’llbe able to
acce s s it as a USB h ard-drive . Alth ough th is is cool
L e t’s s ay you e njoye d th is vide o on youtube
and you w antto putitin your iPod:

be caus e it lets you us e your iPod as a s torage http://youtube.com/watch?v=XaXz-dryqLg

de vice to trans port files and s tuff, it doe s n’t let you
trans fe r s ongs w h ich you can actually play w ith Th e firs t s te p is to ge t th e vide o on your h ard-drive .
your iPod. Go to:

Th e re as on for th is is s im ple: your iPod us e s a http://www.keepvid.com

databas e . It doe s n’t care w h at files are s tore d in it
and pas te th e addre s s
unles s th e s e files are w ritte n in th e databas e . So
placing s ongs in th e iPod is not e nough , you ne e d a
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XaXz-dryqLg
pie ce of s oftw are w h ich w illalso update th e iPod
databas e . Unde r W indow s , you w ould us e into th e te xt fie ld, th e n pre s s dow nload. O nce
s om e th ing lik e iTune s . Unde r Linux you w ould us e you’ve dow nloade d th e vide o, it w ill called
Bans h e e . ge t_ vide o (for s om e re as ons ), re nam e it to
s occe r.flv.
Now you ne e d to e ncode th at vide o into iPod Y our iPod only plays vide os th at are
com pre s s e d to th e righ t form at (M P4 and a
form at, w e ’ll s e e h ow to do th at in th e ne xt fe w oth e rs ). If you w ant to play your vide os w ith in
ch apte rs . your iPod you ne e d a toolto conve rt D ivX, AVI,
FLV or w h ate ve r vide o form at your vide os are
Extractvide os from a DVD e ncode d in to iPod form at. Th e be s t toolfor th is

W
job is w inFF, and you can ins tallit from th e Linux
h e th e r you’re a fan of M idnigh t R un or a M intSoftw are Portal:
fan of Barne y th e re ce rtainly is at leas t one
D VD in your collection you’ve alw ays dre am e d of http://www.linuxmint.com/software/?sec=item&id=53
putting in your iPod. No?Th ink of it… you could
e ve n w atch it in be d… w e ll… h um … you could Launch w inFF and add your Vide os . Th e n ch oos e
w atch itw h e re ve r you w ant, righ t? “iPod 4:3 Standard” as th e output form at
(alte rnative ly you can try “iPod 16:9 W ide s cre e n”
To do th at k ind of th ing you ne e d s om e th ing called de pe nding on your pre fe re nce ) and indicate a
AcidR ip, w h ich you can ins tall from th e Linux de s tination folde r. M intD e s k top place s nice folde rs
M intSoftw are Portal: in your h om e for you to organize your data and
h ave a clean de s k top, s o don’t you jus t put th at in
http://www.linuxmint.com/software/?sec=item&id=36
~ /D e s k top :)

W h e n you’re re ady, pre s s th e “Start Conve rting”

button and s it back w h ile your M P4 vide os are
be ing ge ne rate d.

Trans fe r you r M P4 vide os to you r iPod

B ans h e e doe s n’t s upport th is ye t. So w e ’llbe

us ing a proprie tary toolfor th is called Floola.
Ins tallFloola from th e Linux M intSoftw are Portal:

http://www.linuxmint.com/software/?sec=item&id=54

Launch Floola and ans w e r a s e rie s of annoying

m e s s age s (it’s lik e a s h are w are it’llre m ind you of
all th e re as ons w h y you ditch e d W indow s and
s tarte d us ing 100% fre e s oftw are … ). Eve ntually,
click Ite m -> Add and drag your M P4 vide os in
th e re . Click th e “Add” button and s it back w h ile
O nce ins talled, jus t ins e rt th e D VD in th e Floola trans fe rs th e m to your iPod.
com pute r, pre s s th e “Load” button, s e lect th e righ t
track (us ually th e longe s t one for th e m ovie ),
language , s ubtitles , give it a nice nam e and a nice
location and ch oos e “avi” as th e output form at.
W h e n you’re re ady pre s s th e “s tart” button and s it
back w h ile your D VD m ovie is com pre s s e d into a
D ivX.

Conve rtyou r vide os into iPod form at