Install Linux Without Burning An ISO To CD/DVD - Use The ISO Downloaded To Your Hard Drive
I have written this complete article on my blog also: http://mightydreams.blogspot.com/2007/09/i-am-describing-here-method-to-install.html. I am describing here a method to install Linux without using a DVD ROM or CD Drive; I have checked it myself. There are many ways to do so you can install Linux by 1) booting from the network; 2) having an ISO image on your hard disk; 3) booting from USB; 4) installing a linux system from scratch by building your own.
I am assuming that Linux is not installed on your system and neither grub or lilo is there. This method is using an OpenSuse 10.2 Image but is same for Fedora or Debian or any other distro. There is one check point in case you used Nero to copy CD or DVD image then it might have been possible that you copied the image and it is file with dot nrg extension in that case you need to get the ISO from NRG.
I have installed by all the above methods but I am describing here the simplest one since there are many new comers who would not be able to understand other methods. Before doing all this make sure:
- that you have enabled the option of viewing file extensions in View Options of folder view.
- If you use Fedora or any other distribution do not use the NTFS partition to store the image although OpenSuse 10.2 can work from NTFS partition I have done it using NTFS partition only but will not suggest you to do the same.
- Most important do not install Linux on the same partition on which you have the ISO from which you are installing everything since it will format that hard disk that holds the image you are using.
There is an image named openSUSE-10.2-GM-DVD-i386.iso which you would have downloaded rename it to suse.iso (not necessary to do so but will make your life simple).
Similarly for any other linux distro you might have an image of fedora or debian etc. rename it to some simple filename. The image is 3.6 GB then download the grub for dos from: http://sourceforge.net/projects/grub4dos
Before someone reads the following lines I want to inform you while you install winzip or winrar by default they are associated with ISO filetype so you may see your downloaded ISO as an icon that says it can be extracted via Winrar; just go and disable this in options tab from Winrar menu; if you want to burn the ISO directly to CS just go to Nero and select burn image to disk and select the ISO; you do not need to make it a bootable CD or DVD.
Extract the downloaded grub4dos using winzip or winrar, you will get a folder name grub - copy it to C drive then create a folder name boot in C drive of your windows partition (C drive is not necessary but makes life simple ). Now copy grldr from grub to C:
Add the line
C:grldr="Start Linux"to your boot.ini (even if I have mentioned the README there says it all). Now different distributions of Linux have different kernel names like:
Fedora: vmlinuz and initrd.img
Suse: linux and initrd
Mandriva: vmlinuz and all.rdz
Ubuntu: vmlinuz and initrd.gz
Gentoo: gentoo and gentoo.igz
Knoppix: vmlinuz and initrd.img
Slackware: bzImage and initrd.img
Debian: vmlinuz and initrd.gz
Use winrar to navigate the ISO image. You will go inside the folder named boot or whereever the kernel is in your CD or DVD ISO (I took OpenSuse 10.2; inside the installation media there was a boot folder; inside it was a loader - path is openSUSE-10.2-GM-DVD-i386.isobooti386loader - that had kernel image named linux and the initrd named initrd; both are needed). Copy the kernel images vmlinuz and initrd.gz which you see with winrar in your ISO archive from your ISO to the folder boot on the C drive. Both files vmlinuz and initrd are required for any linux system to boot.
You can use winrar or 7 zip or something similar to view files and extract only two files rather than extracting whole ISO. Then you don't need to do anything - just restart the computer and you will get a screen that says:
Microsoft Windows XP
Start Linux
Choose the option Start Linux then go to grub. You will find an entry that says command prompt. Use command prompt because even after making changes as said in README sometimes it did not work. Press enter to select the command prompt option; you will get a grub shell showing something like this:
grub >
Now type on grub prompt (grub>). Note you do not need to type grub > - it is already there on your screen; if not you made some mistake. In my case it was suse so:
grub >kernel (hd0,0)/boot/linux
grub >initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd
grub >boot
If you are using some other distribution then above commands will change like this:
grub >kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz (depending upon your kernel name)
grub >initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.gz (depending upon your initrd name)
grub >boot
Press enter then. Now the kernel will load and will ask you to choose the medium to boot from; choose the medium hard disk. It might give some error - just ignore it. If it asks to hit back button, do it. Then choose the medium etc and then choose the hard disk partition to boot from. Then it will ask for the file name - enter suse.iso in the partition where you have it, then press enter. If you did everything right, installation will start. If you messed up then probably you might get an error like boot.catalog not found or some other error like this. Installation starts - it might display some error messages; just ignore them and press enter or hit the back button. Then choose your language and keyboard, then choose the installation medium - it gives three options:
CD Network Hard disk
Choose the hard disk and then from the hard disk choose the correct partition where you copied the 3.6 GB suse.iso. Do not format the same partition on which the image is. By looking at the above procedure do not get confused by the network installation procedure which is quite different from the normal ones.
You can read the complete method of network booting and PXE intallation on my blog.
http://mightydreams.blogspot.com/2007/08/i-am-writing-this-small-tutorial-for.html
Copyright (c) 2010 Tapas
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the content of
this page under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
A copy of the license is available at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Install Linux Without Burning An ISO To CD/DVD - Use The ISO Downloaded To Your Hard Drive
You can now root the Nook 1.4 firmware
How fun. B&N just outed the 1.4 firmware for the nook and a few dedicated devs toiled day and night to crack it open to the root level. Well, they’ve done it, which means you get all the new B&N goodies along with a few novel features available only with root-level access.All the crack requires is a couple pieces of software and a FAT32-formated SD card. It really doesn’t seem that intense and the nook community has developed enough apps that make it worth the trouble. [nookDevs via SlashGear
Video: German humanoids win RoboCup Soccer 2010 finals in Singapore
RoboCup 2010, a six-day event in Singapore during which robot geeks from around the world let their robots play soccer against each other, ended last week with a German triumph. In the final game, the Darmstadt Dribblers from the Technische Universität in Darmstadt beat the FUmanoids, a team of robots developed at Freie Universität in Berlin 7:1.
The game was actually a rematch, as the FUmanoids played (and lost 1:11) against the Dribblers at last year’s RoboCup in Graz, Austria. The video embedded below shows the entire final of the tournament in Singapore in fast motion (9.24 min).
Head over to to BotSportTV if you’d like to see more videos of humanoids playing soccer against each other.
Via Plastic Pals
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
iMovie runs on the iPhone 3GS if you jailbreak it
LEGO Harry Potter spans every age range, better than expected
Is there still anything of worth to mine out of the LEGO series of games? You take the bricks, you add a license, and away you go. Surely these titles have to feel like paint-by-numbers by now... right? After playing LEGO Harry Potter for an embarrassing number of hours, I'm happy to report that there is still much life to be found in the series.
The game follows Harry Potter's four years of school at Hogwarts, and replays the events of the books and movies in the expected humorous fashion. Familiar scenes and characters are given that special LEGO touch, and the graphics have been given a little kick in the pants. It's an attractive game, with many delightful moments and extra touches for fans of the world. Hogwarts castle is almost another character in the game, and you'll unlock different areas as you learn more spells and become more powerful. You're in a school, after all, and this Metroid-vania aspect of the game is very welcome.
Flying on the broomsticks, saving other students, exploring the nooks and crannies of the castle—there is a lot to do, and parents will have even more fun by giving their children the other controller and playing the game in co-op mode. Like past LEGO titles, there is only a slight penalty for failure, making the world safe and enjoyable to explore and poke around. The presentation won't hold the hand of people who don't already know the story, but if your children are already fans of the movies or books, they're going to get these jokes. This is something to play in addition to the book and film treatments of Harry's world, and is best enjoyed after those.
Plus, according to my press pack, a patch for online co-op play is expected to be released very soon. With 170 playable characters and damn near every setting from the books and movies included, being able to play with someone online will be a nice touch. At launch though, only local co-op is supported.
Still, there is almost an embarrassing amount to see and do in the game, and the progression of learning spells, interacting with the castle, collecting items for potions, or simply trying to find all the bricks you need in each level will keep you occupied for a very long time. You probably had a good idea whether or not you were going to buy this game before you began reading this review, but if you were on the fence, I can tell you that this is better than even fans will expect. This is a series of games that could have easily gone stale, but I found myself exploring Hogwarts with a large smile on my face. What more can you ask for?
iPhone 4 + Verizon + January = Boom?
This is it, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Well, maybe.
A report today in Bloomberg citing two unnamed sources claims that Verizon Wireless will be getting the iPhone in January. Yes, Verizon, iPhone, January. Naturally, all the companies involved are declining to comment on the record, but Bloomberg sounds pretty confident in the report thanks to their two sources “familiar with the plans.”
This information is close to what the Wall Street Journal was reporting back in March which stated that a CDMA (the type of network Verizon uses) iPhone would be entering production later this year to be released at some point after that. There have been many earlier reports as well. Some dating back years — and some of those may have very well been negotiating tactics by Apple to score a better deal when re-upping with AT&T.
But these latest reports seem to sync up well with recent maneuvers AT&T has been making to ensure they lock in customers for another two years with the new iPhone 4. AT&T allowed many iPhone 3GS buyers to upgrade to the iPhone 4 for the fully early — months early, in some cases. This was either AT&T being nice or them trying to lock users in to a new two-year contract. I’ll let you make up your own mind on that one.
The company also recently upped the early termination fee when you sign a new contract. That way if you do want to break the contract, say if a certain device were all of a sudden offered on another network, you’ll have to pay more to do so.
But the exact nature of Apple and AT&T’s exclusivity agreement has never been fully know. Depending on which report you’ve read in the past couple of years, it was either going to end in 2009, 2010, or 2011. But that deal has undoubtedly been amended along the way. And again, AT&T’s maneuvers of late suggest they may know it could be ending sooner rather than later.
While Apple has for the most part said the right things about the relationship in public, you hear time and time again that they’re not pleased with some of AT&T lackluster performance. Apple CEO Steve Jobs even publicly said as much recently, but noted that the network should improve soon. Perhaps by “soon,” he meant January, when the company can offload a ton of users to a new network.
Still, it’s a little odd that Apple would go with Verizon as their second carrier ahead of someone like T-Mobile, which also runs a GSM network, and as such, wouldn’t require a complete re-working of the iPhone hardware. But Apple undoubtedly also knows that Verizon is the big catch in the U.S. market as they are still the largest carrier, and the one that is perceived to have the best actual service.
Verizon has also been heavily aligning itself with Google’s Android platform in recent months — a move which Apple can’t be too pleased with. Perhaps Apple wants to make the move to Verizon before Android has too strong of a foothold there.
Overall, it’s clear that if Apple does actually want to compete with Android in terms of numbers (which it’s not yet clear that they do — they may prefer to make more revenue per device sold instead), they’re going to need to move beyond AT&T. The network is quite simply its biggest inhibitor to growth at this point. Android phones, meanwhile, are on all the major carriers. The iPhone is still far outselling any single Android device, but put them all together, across all those networks, and it simply will be very hard for Apple to match that volume the way things are currently.
Something else to think about: if the iPhone (presumably the iPhone 4) is coming to Verizon, does it mean the iPad will too? Perhaps Apple really did intend to use the 3G iPad as a parting gift for AT&T — on top of giving them a few months exclusive on the iPhone 4. Remember, the iPhone on Verizon doesn’t mean it won’t be on AT&T too, it just means it won’t exclusively be there anymore. Apple still has to maintain a relationship with AT&T going forward as they will continue to be an important partner regardless.
The January timeframe for a Verizon iPhone could make sense as Apple likes to do big events in January. In previous years, that’s been Macworld, but this year it was the event to unveil the iPad. Don’t be surprised if Apple holds another iPad event in January 2011 — but this time the “one more thing” just may be a Verizon iPhone. The ultimate “Boom!“
God I hope so.
First shots of Optimus Popularis keyboard emerge
We heard tell of the Optimus Popularis in May, but it had a completely different look. The new one, with its dedicated display bar and lack of number pad, is in my humble opinion a vastly superior design. The LED (not OLED) keys are, after all, totally customizable, and this saves a ton of money — that’s 20 less displays they have to put on the keyboard. And they can pass the savings on to the customers! Or not. It’s still going to cost nearly a grand.Less than $1000 and shipping at the end of the year is the goal this time around. We saw delays and missed price points before, however, so I’d take those estimates with a grain of salt.
On the other hand, according to the Optimus Project blog, they’re pumped about being able to make the keyboard flatter, the keys rounder, and the displays higher-resolution (now 64×64px). I know I’ll never get to hold one except for a brief moment at CES this coming January, but I can still dream.
[via Technabob and The Awesomer]
Cisco announces the 7-inch Cius Android Tablet
Cisco is in the business of sending bits from one place to the next. Therefore, anything that will allow them to play to their strengths, namely data access, is important. That’s why they bought Flip and that’s why they just announced this odd business tablet.
It’s basically an HD tablet running Android with full video conferencing and email and media access. Obviously there’s no price and they’ll be shipping in 2011, if they ever ship.
This is definitely not a consumer-facing product. It will be part of their Communications package that they sell to business users. My thinking is this won’t ship at all, but that’s just a hunch. Perhaps they’ll farm out the manufacture to an OEM for mass production, but don’t expect it in your local Best Buy.
802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, 3G/4G data and Bluetooth 3.0 help employees stay connected on and off-campus
HD video (720p) with Cisco TelePresence solution interoperability for lifelike video communication with the simplicity of a phone call
Virtual desktop client enables highly secure access to cloud-based business applications
Android operating system, with access Android marketplace applications
Collaboration applications including Cisco Quad, Cisco Show and Share, WebEx, Presence, and IM
Tablet Highlights:
7” diagonal, high-resolution color screen with contact-based touch targets delivers an elegant, intuitive experience
HD Soundstation supports Bluetooth and USB peripherals, 10/100/1000 wired connectivity and a handset option
Detachable and serviceable 8-hour battery for a full day of work
Highly secure remote connections with Cisco AnyConnect Security VPN Client
HD audio with wideband support (tablet, HD Soundstation)Cisco Simplifies Mobile Collaboration With First-of-Its-Kind HD Video-Capable Business Tablet
New Android-Based Computing Device Uses Cisco Collaboration Architecture and Virtual Desktop Integration to Deliver Mobile Computing, Collaboration and Communication ServicesLAS VEGAS, NV, Jun 29, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Cisco (CSCO 21.56, -0.86, -3.83%) today unveiled Cisco Cius, a first-of-its-kind mobile collaboration business tablet that delivers virtual desktop integration with anywhere, anytime access to the full range of Cisco collaboration and communication applications, including HD video.
Cisco Cius is an ultra-portable device weighing just 1.15lbs (0.52kg) that extends the productivity benefits of Cisco collaboration applications to a highly secure mobile platform. In addition to full telepresence interoperability, Cisco Cius offers HD video streaming and real-time video, multi-party conferencing, email, messaging, browsing, and the ability to produce, edit and share content stored locally or centrally in the cloud.
Based on the Android operating system, Cisco Cius is an open platform for communication and collaboration whose form factor and applications are designed to more securely connect employees on-the-go with the right people in real-time, and to provide those workers with the ability to access and share the content they need from any place on the network.
Cisco Cius offers IT professionals new options when it comes to equipping mobile workers with computing devices. Through virtual desktop integration, Cisco Cius offers flexible computing options with cloud-based services, providing dramatically lower capital costs and cost-per-user for desktop maintenance.
Businesses can also tap into the growing Android developer community that is building business-class productivity applications with appropriate IT controls. The combination of applications and flexible computing options provides a compelling alternative to today’s PC-on-every-desktop paradigm.
ANNOUNCEMENT HIGHLIGHTS
Product Features
– The Cisco Cius is a lightweight portable business computing tablet
offered with an optional HD audio station equipped with a telephone
handset speakerphone, HD DisplayPort and USB ports.– The Cisco Cius tablet features a front-mounted 720p HD camera which
refreshes at up to 30 frames per second; a seven inch, high-resolution
widescreen super VGA touch-target display for real-time and streamed
video, and single-button TelePresence interoperability that can be
utilized either when the tablet is docked, or being used remotely via
Wi-Fi.– The tablet has a 5-megapixel rear facing camera that can transmit
streaming VGA quality video and capture still images, and dual
noise-cancelling microphones for audio conferencing.– Cisco Cius features an eloquent contacts-driven user experience,
designed to enable users to quickly reach their important contacts.– An on-board accelerometer readily orients applications for viewing in
portrait or landscape modes as users rotate the device to their
preferred viewing orientation.– Cisco Cius supports 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi for enterprise campus
mobility and 3G cellular services when off-campus. 4G services will be
available at a later date. Bluetooth and Micro-USB means users can
work untethered and share data with a PC.– A detachable and serviceable battery offers eight hours of life under
normal usage.Integration with Business Applications
– Cisco Cius provides support for the comprehensive suite of Cisco
collaboration applications including Cisco Quad, Cisco Show and Share,
Cisco WebEx Connect, Cisco WebEx Meeting Center, Cisco Presence, and
interoperability with Cisco TelePresence.– Cisco Cius is supported by Cisco Unified Communications Manager and is
easily integrated into existing Cisco customer environments.– Cisco Cius helps ensure a more secure mobile collaboration experience
by leveraging Cisco AnyConnect VPN Security, part of the Cisco
Borderless Networks architecture.– Virtual desktop integration provides IT organizations with the ability
to host software applications securely in the data center and to
utilize the Cisco network to deliver those applications ‘as-a-service’
anytime, anywhere. Cisco Cius thereby supports data center
consolidation and reduced software licensing costs.– Cisco Cius offers businesses the ability to take advantage of the
ever-expanding ecosystem of cost-effective, third-party applications,
supported by the Android operating system, while controlling user
access policy.– Cisco will help expand Android developed applications for business by
offering Cisco Collaboration Application Protocol Interfaces (APIs) to
developers through a Software Developer’s Kit (SDK).Availability
– Customer trials of Cisco Cius will begin in the third quarter of
calendar year 2010, with general availability in the first quarter of
calendar year 2011.
Seagate makes good on its promise, outs the 3TB FreeAgent GoFlex Desk external hard drive
Ladies and gents, this is a 3TB hard drive. Let that sink in. Three effin terabytes. That’s a whole lot of data on one hard drive. Seagate previously stated that the drive would be out by year’s end, but here it is and it’s barely summer.
The FreeAgent GoFlex family is Seagate’s first product line to sport the gigantic hard drive. USB 3.0, USB 2.0 and Firewire 800 via Seagate’s GoFlex adapters are tasked with the job of transferring the data to and fro the connected computer. The USB 2.0 flavor is available right now with the MSRP $249.
The real story, however, isn’t that Seagate managed to stuff 3TB into one 3.5-inch hard drive. It’s that Seagate is actually bringing it to market amid so many potential problems.
You see, a lot of computers can’t use the full 3TB at once. It has to do with the LBA (logical block addressing) standard that was wrote back in the days of DOS. The original standard limited drives to 2.1TB, which seemed like a whole lot back in the roaring ’80s.
32-bit OS like Windows and OS X 10.5 and below will only see partitions 2.1TB or smaller. The full 3TB can be used, but only in chunks that’s supported by LBA. Then there are issues with MBR’s, RAID systems and hard drive controllers, too. But Seagate has pushed forward and outed the drive anyway.
Of course many of the issues associated with these large drives are null seeing as this implementation is as an external drive. By putting the 3TB drive in an external enclosure, Seagate is sort of saying it’s not meant for primary disk usage or RAID arrays. That’s not going to stop people from cracking the case and slapping the massive drive into their primary rigs, though. It will however give Seagate customer service an easy out until all the driver issues are worked out. Smart.
SEAGATE BREAKS CAPACITY CEILING WITH WORLD’S
FIRST 3 TERABYTE EXTERNAL DESKTOP DRIVENew FreeAgent™ GoFlex™ Desk Packs Unprecedented Amount of Storage for both Mac and PC
SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. — June 29, 2010 — Putting more terabytes in the hands of consumers worldwide, Seagate (NASDAQ: STX), the leader in hard drives and storage solutions, today announced the world’s first 3 Terabyte (TB) external desktop drive. Available immediately, the 3TB FreeAgent™ GoFlex™ Desk external hard drive helps to meet the explosive worldwide demand for digital content storage in both the home and the office. With 3TB of capacity people can store up to 120 HD movies, 1,500 video games, thousands of photos or countless hours of digital music.
A key addition to the company’s recently introduced GoFlex family of hard drives, the 3TB GoFlex Desk couples immense capacity with the flexibility to adapt the drive’s USB 2.0 interface to a USB 3.0 or FireWire 800 connection to meet varying performance and transfer speed needs. Consumers can easily create, store and access content from either a Windows® or Mac OS X computer on the GoFlex Desk, thanks to an included NTFS driver for Mac.
“Consumer capacity demands are quickly out-pacing the needs of business as people continue to collect high-definition videos, photos and music,” said Dave Mosley, Seagate executive vice president of Sales, Marketing and Product Line Management. “Seagate has a tradition of designing products that break into new storage frontiers to meet customer requirements and the 3TB GoFlex™ Desk is no exception–delivering the highest-capacity storage solution available today.”
A recent report by Parks Associates indicates the average consumer household will see its digital media storage needs grow to nearly 900GB by year-end 2014, driven in large part by video downloads, managed copies of Blu-ray
discs, and increasing use of DVR recording capabilities[1]. The GoFlex Desk drive delivers unconstrained[2], high-capacity storage and automatic, continuous backup with software file encryption to keep all data safe and secure[3]. The standard USB 2.0 interface can be upgraded to USB 3.0 or FireWire® 800 by coupling the drive with the appropriate GoFlex upgrade adapter to increase file transfer performance by up to 10x for easier copying or sharing of files.“As the definition quality of digital cameras increases, playback devices such as digital photo frames and MP3 players proliferate and the use of the Internet for downloading music and video continues to grow, more files accumulate in the home,” said Kurt Scherf. “Consumers who are active in digital media creation and consumption will witness their digital media storage needs grow nine-fold by 2014, driving the demand for higher capacity, easy-to-use storage solutions.”
GoFlex Desk is also compatible with both Windows and Mac computers. Each drive includes an NTFS driver for Mac, which allows the drive to store and access files from both Windows and Mac OS X computers without reformatting. The NTFS driver is simply installed once on a Mac computer, allowing it to read and write files on a Windows formatted[4] drive. Its sleek black, 3.5-inch design sits either vertically or horizontally to accommodate any desktop environment.
The 3TB GoFlex Desk drive with USB 2.0 adapter can be purchased on Seagate.com and through select retailers for $249.99.
Target-tracking autonomous guard-bot-tank is the precursor to the Hunter-Killer
Ah, how refreshing. Another reminder of the upcoming Robocalypse. People, if we do the machines’ work for them, we have no chance. We’re honestly designing autonomous killer robots?! This is a Thai project, but I’m going to go ahead and blame Korea anyway.
As you can see, all that needs to happen is a little optimizing and these things will take over the world.
There is one hope:
Wait — nooo!
Batteries: lead acid – 2x 7.5A 12V series together for 24V main power, 6V 5A for microntroller and sensor, 12V 2A for video transmitter, all fully regulated and auto power source swapping when some of batteries run out.We’re doomed.
[via Hack A Day]
Monday, June 28, 2010
How to Rip a DVD to your Hard Drive and Play it on your PC
Are you looking to for a way to play your media DVDs without rifling through your collection and swapping discs? Today we’ll take a look at ripping a DVD to your hard drive and playing it with some popular media players.
To rip our DVD we’ll use HD Decrypter which is the always free module of the DVDFab software suite. HD Decrypter will remove the copy protection from your DVD, and copy the contents of the DVD to your hard drive.
Note: You’ll get full access to all the options in DVDFab during the 30 trial period. HD Decrypter is always free.
Download and install DVDFab. You’ll find the download link below.
If prompted with a Windows Security dialog box, select Install.
When you run DVDFab for the first time, you’ll be met with a Welcome to DVDFab screen. You can select the Do not show again to skip this screen in the future and then click Start DVDFab.
Place your DVD into your optical drive. The application will take a few seconds to open the DVD source.
Before we get started with the ripping, we’re going to change a few settings. Select the green button at the top with the white check mark.
On the Common Settings window, select DVD to DVD on the left pane. For the Default output type, we’ll select DVD Folder. The default setting of DVD Writer is used for copying and burning a DVD and won’t work after the 30 day trial is over.
Tip: If you’re going to play your ripped DVD in the Windows Media Center native Movie Library, select Create dvdid.xml which can be used by Windows Media Center. This will allow WMC to pull cover art and metadata for your movie.
You can set your output directory by selecting General on the left pane of the Common Settings…
And then browsing for your preferred output directory. On Windows 7 the default output will be C:\Users\%username%\Documents\DVDFab\
If you’ve made the changes you’ll be prompted to restart the program. Click OK then open and close the application.
On the the main interface, make sure to select Full Disc on the left and Copy DVD-Video (VIDEO_TS folder), which should be selected by default.
Under navigation select Remove annoying PGCs to eliminate unwanted program chains like FBI warnings. You can also change the Volume Label by typing a name into text box. We recommend naming the Volume label the same as the movie title, but it’s not essential.
Note: For the Quality setting, once the 30 day trial has expired your only available option will be DVD9. During the 30 day trial you can select DVD5, which will (if needed) compress the output to a size that would fit a single layer DVD.
Click Start.
As the DVD is being ripped to your hard drive, you can follow the progress. Typical ripping time may be around 15 – 20 minutes, but will vary depending on your hardware and size of the disc.
When the process its finished you’ll be notified by the DVDFab dialog box. Click OK.
That’s it. Your rip is complete. Click Finish.
When your finished you’ll have a root folder containing a VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders. The AUDIO_TS folder, however, is really not needed and will probably just be an empty folder.
Now we’ll take a look at playing the DVD rip in a number of Windows applications.
Playback in VLC
VLC is a popular cross platform media player that can play virtually any media type and VIDEO_TS is no exception. Open VLC and select Media > Open Folder.
Select the folder that contains your VIDEO_TS directory and click OK.
Your DVD will open just as if you were playing it from the disc.
Playback in Boxee
Add the folder containing your DVD rip(s) to the My Movies library. For Boxee to recognize it and display covert art and movie info, make sure your root folder is named the same as the title of the movie or TV show you ripped. Check out our previous article for an in depth look at setting up movie folders and managing your movie collection in Boxee.
Select your DVD from the My Movies section, then select Local File…
…and enjoy your DVD rip.
Playback on Windows 7 Media Center
Add the root folder containing the VIDEO_TS folder and XML file (if you choose to create one when your ripped the DVD) to your WMC library. Your DVD rip will still play without the xml file, but you won’t have all the nice metadata.
Click play and video playback will begin just like the DVD.
Playback on Windows Media Player 12
It’s a tad trickier on WMP 12. Instead of opening a folder, which Media Player doesn’t support, we’ll open the VIDEO_TS.IFO file.
Media Player will begin playing.
Conclusion
Not only is ripping your DVD collection to a hard drive a nice way to enjoy them on your computer or media center PC, it is also a great way to create backups of your media. It’ll take up much more hard drive space than compressing them to MP4 or AVI files, but in return you’ll get the full DVD experience right from the hard drive without swapping discs.
You might want to check out our previous posts if you prefer to rip and convert DVDs to ISO images, or rip your DVD and compress it with x.264 codec.
Downloads
hacksugar: iPhone 4 jailbreak accomplished but not ready for public release
Filed under: iPhone, Jailbreak/pwnage
hacksugar: iPhone 4 jailbreak accomplished but not ready for public release
by Erica Sadun (RSS feed) on Jun 28th 2010 at 1:00PM
When we talk about "jailbreaking" the iPhone, that means opening up the underlying file system on the phone for full read/write access; on a vanilla iPhone, only the 'userland' data is accessible to users and apps. The term is derived from Unix jargon, where a "chroot jail" is the limited section of the file system that an underprivileged app can access.
A jailbreak allows third parties to install and run any software they want, rather than the subset of iPhone apps approved by Apple and distributed through the App Store. Before Apple's official SDK was released, jailbreak apps were the only native (non-web) apps on the platform aside from the built-in apps that shipped with the device.
As TUAW has posted about in the past, the jailbreak software community is a hotbed of innovation and creativity. Many iPhone technologies debuted first in the hobbyist jailbreak community before ever appearing in official Apple firmware. Jailbreak-first features included copy and paste, spell checking, application folders, rotation inhibition, multitasking, find-my-iPhone, and more. In terms of iPhone possibility and expression, the jailbreak community has led the way.
Over the weekend, Redmond Pie announced that the iPhone 4 was successfully jailbroken. This proof-of-concept jailbreak showed that the new iPhone model could be opened for general file access. It is not, however, a "production" jailbreak; because the proof-of-concept used proprietary Apple code, it will not be released to the public. There is no word yet as to when a more intellectual-property-friendly version will be finished, but one guesses "soon" -- with no rush for the all-volunteer development team.
Screen shots of the new jailbreak follow in the gallery below, to provide you with a sneak peek at what's coming up.
Gallery: Preliminary iPhone 4 jailbreak
Tags: chpwn, comex, hacksugar, iPhone, iPhone 4, iPhone 4 jailbreak, Iphone4, Iphone4Jailbreak, jailbreak, musclenerd, pwnage, spirit
Google Chrome passes Safari to become #3 browser in the U.S.
Google Chrome passes Safari to become #3 browser in the U.S.
by Lee Mathews (RSS feed) Jun 28th 2010 at 12:30PM
Google Chrome continues its charge ahead, and has finally overtaken Safari to become the third most popular browser in the United States. With 8.97% of the total browser market, Chome now sits behind only Firefox and Internet Explorer -- both of which will take a little more time to catch.Globally, Chrome fares better still -- with a 9.4% share. That's a pretty meteoric rise for a relatively young browser -- though when you've got a Google-sized marketing networking and partners galore, it's a little bit easier to pull off.
I know it's not even two years old yet, but frankly I'm amazed that it took this long for Chrome to surpass Safari. What about you?
[via Business Wire]
How to Enable Multitasking and Home Screen Wallpaper on iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G
How to Enable Multitasking and Home Screen Wallpaper on iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G
If you're upset that your iPhone 3G is missing the coolest features of iOS 4—namely multitasking, screen orientation lock, and background wallpapers—you're one quick and simple jailbreak away from enabling them. Here's how it works.
Note: When iPhone 3G owners upgraded to iOS 4, a lot of us were faced with significant slowdowns and decided to downgrade back to 3.1.3. In the comments of our guide to downgrading, several 3G owners, however, noted that they were perfectly happy with the upgrade on their 3G phones—some even claiming it was faster. If you're in that boat, and want to see how your device fares with multitasking, screen orientation lock (this feature and the new music player shortcuts are bundled into the multitasking app switcher—just swipe to the left), and background wallpapers, the process is relatively simple.
What You'll Need
Before we get started, you'll need:
- An iPhone 3G or Second Generation iPod touch already running iOS 4 and already activated in iTunes.
- Download redsn0w 0.9.5 beta. It's available for both Windows and OS X at the bottom of the page linked above.
- That's it!
redsn0w is a cross-platform jailbreaking app that currently only supports iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G. Using it, you'll not only jailbreak your device, but you can also install Cydia (the non-App Store, third-party application manager/repository that's popular among jailbreakers), enable multitasking and wallpapers, and a bit more if you want. Here's how:
UPDATE: Reader Jason Cherwak points out that—while the current 0.9.5 beta release of redsn0w does enable these features—it actually disables MMS. I never use MMS on my phone so I didn't notice it at all, but Jason offers a workaround: Start with your fresh, un-jailbroken iOS 4 installation, then jailbreak with 0.9.3 before jailbreaking a second time with 0.9.5 beta. When you jailbreak using 0.9.5, uncheck Cydia. If you've tried this or another method that kept MMS around, let us know.
How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3G/iPod touch 2G and Enable Multitasking, Home Screen Wallpapers, and More for iOS 4
Launch redsn0w and point it toward the iOS 4 image. If you've already installed iOS 4 on your device, you should be able to find the iOS 4 image on your hard drive already at
C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updateson Windows or~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updatesin OS X. The file name should look something likeiPhone1,2_4.0_8A293_Restore.ipsw(that's exactly what mine is called).
Decide what features you want enabled. Once you've browsed to the image and clicked Next, redsn0w will prompt you to choose what features you want enabled during the jailbreak process. I chose to install Cydia (the package manager mentioned above), enable Verbose boot (which displays a whole lot of streaming text detailing what's going on whenever you power on your device), enable multitasking, enable homescreen wallpapers, and enable battery percentage. Pick your preferences and click Next.
Plug your iPhone 3G or iPod touch 2G into your computer and turn it off. Your phone should be turned off before you continue with the jailbreak process. So plug it in via the USB connector, then hold the power button until the "slide to power off" option shows up—and then slide away. If your device is plugged in and turned off, click Next to continue.
Put your phone into DFU mode. At this point redsn0w will prompt you to enter DFU mode. The process, as detailed in the redsn0w wizard, goes like this:
- Hold the power button down for a couple of seconds.
- Without releasing the power button, press and hold the home button for 10 seconds.
- Without releasing the home button, stop pressing the power button. Hold the home button for an additional 30 seconds.
Watch Your Device Reboot While the Jailbreak Works Its Magic. If you correctly entered DFU mode, you should be done with things on your desktop, as the rest of the process takes place on your iPhone. Your phone will reboot, and you'll see a screen that says "Downloading Jailbreak Data" (above), followed by the Flashing NOR screen you see below. You don't have to do anything at this point but sit back and patiently watch.
When redsn0w has finished the jailbreak, your device will reboot back into iOS 4—with multitasking, home screen wallpapers, and all the features you'd been missing enabled.
How Does the iPhone 3G Handle Multitasking?
Sure you can enable multitasking and the like, but can the iPhone 3G handle it? (After all, Apple didn't ship those features to the device specifically because they said it couldn't handle it.) In my experience so far, it's really no more slow or buggy with those installed than without—but I wasn't thrilled with iOS 4's performance on my iPhone 3G to begin with. So to me, the performance after enabling multitasking doesn't really seem worse, doesn't seem much better.
In a nutshell, then, I'm still not sure if I'm going to stick with jailbroken iOS 4 or downgrade back to iOS 3.1.3. One things for sure: I'm not going to run stock iOS 4, since it's ultimately the worst option. I don't get the marquee features of iOS 4 that I want, but I do get crappier performance. (Remember, if you're not happy with the jailbreak, you can always get things back to normal by restoring iOS—I'd recommend just going straight to our 3.1.3 downgrade guide.)
Let's hear what route you're taking—and how iOS 4 is performing on your device, jailbroken or not, in the comments.
Send an email to Adam Pash, the author of this post, at tips+adam@lifehacker.com.
Posts
