rip-dvds
In order to rip DVDs you need libdvdcss, which is used to decode the encrypted content on DVDs, and HandBrake, which performs the actual decoding and ripping.
This guide will help you acquire and install the software needed and provide some notes on this. Please find other guides on the net of how to do the actual ripping (i.e. how to choose the right 'title' on the DVD, appropriate settings and commands etc.).
Ripping DVDs without subtitles
If you want to rip DVDs but do not need subtitles, you can just install the latest version of HandBrake and libdvdcss:
1) install the latest version of libdvdcss (version 1.5.0 at the time of writing). While this is not at first sight straight-forward, icarolongo's commands will install it for you on Trisquel 11 and 12 (if you are on Trisquel 10, you can follow the guide for ripping DVDs with subtitles below).
Guide: without subtitles
Open a terminal, insert the following, enter your password and press enter:
$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install build-essential debhelper meson ninja-build python3-setuptools -y && wget https://ftp.debian.org/debian/pool/contrib/libd/libdvd-pkg/libdvd-pkg_1.5.0-1-1_all.deb && sudo dpkg -i libdvd-pkg_1.5.0-1-1_all.deb && sudo dpkg-reconfigure libdvd-pkg
2) Install HandBrake through Trisquel's repository. Insert the following and press enter.
$ sudo apt install handbrake
The first command will update the packages on your system, install the software needed to build the latest version of libdvdcss on you computer, build it and finally install it.
Note: Because you entered your password in the first command, it should not be necessary in the second. Also, since the first command included the update command, it is not needed in the second.
Now you should be able to run HandBrake from your menu (or terminal) and rip DVDs (without subtitles).
Note: If it does not work at first, please try to log out and log in again.
Ripping DVDs with subtitles
For some reason, HandBrake newer than version 1.3.3 causes subtitles to be out of sync, often overlaying one another. On the other hand, on HandBrake older than version 1.3.3 decoding with libdvdcss does not work (even with version of libdvdcss that do work for decoding - with syncing problems - with newer versions of HandBrake). As a consequence, we need HandBrake version 1.3.3 to rip DVDs with subtitles in sync. Unfortunately HandBrake 1.3.3 is not packaged for Trisquel 12 or 11. While it should be theoretically possible to build it by yourself, it has turned out to be quite cumbersome, especially with regard to necessary dependencies. One of our peer-members, icarolongo, came up with the solution to install Trisquel 10 for which HandBrake 1.3.3 is packaged (in the backports repository). The newest version of libdvdcss which works for HandBrake 1.3.3 under Trisquel 10 is version 1.4.2, and it works just fine.
You have to consider if you will install Trisquel 10 on a new partition either on you internal HDD/SDD, or on an external one, or in a virtual machine. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.
Internal drive: This may not be possible, if you are using LVM with encryption
External drive: Requires an external drive
Virtual machine: Can cause trouble with access to the DVD drive.
The installation process itself is the same. After installing Trisquel 10, you need to enable its "backports" repository, acquire, build and install libdvdcss version 1.4.2, and install HandBrake 1.3.3.
Guide: with subtitles
Enable the backports repository, using your favorite text (if not Pluma, substitute "pluma" in the command below):
$ EDITOR=pluma sudoedit /etc/apt/sources.list
This will open a text document of which the first line says: "#deb cdrom:[Trisquel 10.0 _nabia_ - Release amd64 (20220130)]/ nabia main". Some lines start with a "#"-sign which means that the specific line is not disregarded. A little down you find these two lines starting with a "#"-sign:
# deb https://archive.trisquel.org/trisquel/ nabia-backports main # deb-src https://archive.trisquel.org/trisquel/ nabia-backports main
You need to delete the "#"-sign at the beginning of each of these two lines in order to enable the backports repository. After that, save the file and close it down.
Then you can update the system and install libdvdcss 1.4.2
$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install build-essential debhelper meson ninja-build python3-setuptools -y && wget https://ftp.debian.org/debian/pool/contrib/libd/libdvd-pkg/libdvd-pkg_1.4.2-1-1_all.deb && sudo dpkg -i libdvd-pkg_1.4.2-1-1_all.deb && sudo dpkg-reconfigure libdvd-pkg
Finally, install HandBrake:
$ sudo apt install handbrake-gtk
You should now be able to rip DVDs with HandBrake with subtitles in sync.
