Using K3b to Rip CDs [SOLVED]

[luggw1]

I'm attempting to Rip some CDs to mp3 files, but it keeps complaining that the lame command line is wrong and can't complete the task. I used the default that K3b provides, which I assume isn't sufficient to make lame happy. If I understand the error correctly, it cant find the CD and is looking to stdin for its input, which is of course not what I want. Here is the command line:

lame -h --tt It's Happening Now --ta The Charlie Daniels Band --tl Steel Witness --ty 1996 --tc -/music//The_Charlie_Daniels_Band/Steel_Witness/01-It's_Happening_Now.mp3

If I take that line to the shell I get this error:

LAME 32bits version 3.98 ([url]http://www.mp3dev.org/[/url])

usage: lame [options] <infile> [outfile]

  <infile> and/or <outfile> can be "-", which means stdin/stdout.

K3b simply says "Error while encoding track 1". I assume that the above is the error that K3b is referring to. So what do I need to add to the lame command to get it to look on the appropriate CD drive for the input data?

Thanks.
Bill Lugg

[sithlord48]

Re: Using K3b to Rip CDs

does

man lame

tell you how to force a drive .... it should that is if you can .

[luggw1]

Re: Using K3b to Rip CDs

I spent quite a while looking through it understanding the parameters that K3b applies to the lame command, and looking for just that, but found nothing. That's why I'm asking the question here.

Perhaps a better question to ask is are others using a different app to rip their CDs to mp3 files (without going through the intermediate step of creating the wav file)?

Thanks.
Bill Lugg

[The Liquidator]

Re: Using K3b to Rip CDs

I assume you don't want to actually burn the MP3s to CD, so I wonder why you are using K3b to do this.

If you want to Rip to MP3 and save to your hard drive/MP3 player etc, then I recommend grip. It's available in the repositories. Extremely reliable

[luggw1]

Re: Using K3b to Rip CDs

OK, I tried your suggestion and started using grip and found it to be perfect...for a while. I got through about 12 CDs that I was trying to rip without a problem, but then on the 13th CD it started aborting during the encoding process. It seems to rip OK, but at the end of the encode process for a track it gets a buffer overflow and terminates. I've attached the shell output from the grip termination if that would help.

I think that Kubuntu may have push an update out between the installation of grip and the beginning of the problems, but I can't remember for sure. Also, I've tried on multiple CDs and found the same problem, so I know it's not something unique to a single CD. The encoding products seem to be good, but you can only do one track at a time which is very slow.

Any ideas of what might be causing this and how to fix it?

Thanks.
Bill Lugg

[luggw1]

Re: Using K3b to Rip CDs

Well, I never did get grip to work again, and apparently according to folks on the grip-users list, it's a dead product. I asked my question there and they pointed the finger back at lame and the Kubuntu packagers.

However, I went to the k3b-users list and asked the original question. Thankfully I got the answer I was looking for. If you want to rip to mp3 from K3b, you need to go to settings, then configure K3b, then to Plugins and then click on "K3b external audio encoder" and click on configure, then click on mp3 Lame and then edit. at the bottom you see this command,

lame -h --tt %t --ta %a --tl %m --ty %y - %f

just below there you see options with two boxes, click on the "write wave header". Save that and you should be good to go. Now I had to check the Sway byt order box also to get good tracks - I got hiss otherwise - but I'm not sure that is a universal requirement for it to work.

This info is thanks to troypulk on the k3b-users list.

Hopefully, others will be able to benefit from it.
Bill Lugg

[Rog131]

Re: Using K3b to Rip CDs [SOLVED]

Great work - thank you !

I was wondering why the K3b CD rip to the mp3 isn't working with the Jaunty > Re: Ripping problems in JJ. With the "Swap Byte Order" and "Write Wave Header" it now works.

[growled]

Re: Using K3b to Rip CDs [SOLVED]

It works for me. Thanks so much for the info.

[CharlesG]

Re: Using K3b to Rip CDs [SOLVED]

Thank you very much. That sorted that.