[dvd::rip] dvd::rip, xvid, compatibility issues, and multiple audio trac

Hello,

I've done some searching on google and Yahoo and did check the xvid home
and dvd::rip project home pages but did not find the answers (and
truthfully the documentation the sites refer one to is weak to
nonexistent - no offense intended so please don't read anything into
that statement!)

[note: name of DVD replaced by fooDVD below due to MPAA members who seem
to think that I do not have the Fair Use right to transfer content I
purchased to other media for my own use. The DVD in question could be
Popeye (public domain), Plan 9 From Outer Space (public domain), The
Matrix (not public domain) or my own creation for all those cretins need
to know]

Goal: consolidate the ~120 or so DVDs to one HDD and a handful of DVD-Rs
for watching on my PocketPC and laptop, while keeping commentary tracks
intact.

Platform: 
--------
Pentium 3.4e, 1GB RAM, ATI AIW 8500DV with open-source x.org drivers
OS: SuSE 9.3 with SMT support compiled into the kernel
uname -a output:
Linux kimp4 2.6.11.5-21.7-kimCustom #6 SMP Sun Jun 26 12:52:54 EDT 2005
i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

Download location for dvd:rip: packman's yast source

dvd::rip .52.6 (0.52.6-0.pm.0)
          ^---- If you tell me I need to download the latest source and 
                compile before proceeding further I'm fine with that, if
                these are known issues with older builds.

Download location for xvid: packman's yast source
xvid 1.1.0 (1.1.0-0.pm.2beta2)

Install source for transcode: SuSE/Novell
transcode 1.0 (1.0.0-0.pm.0)

Install source for ImageMagick: SuSE/Novell
ImageMagick: 6.1.8-6

Install source for mplayer: SuSE/Novell
mplayer: 1.0 (1.0pre7.pm.1)


I've been using dvd::rip for a while for ripping to xvid and mpg so I
could watch dvds on the go with my pocketpc and laptop.  I'd like to
also consolidate my DVDs onto fewer DVD-Rs so I can watch them on my
work computer. I've been wanting to re-rip my DVD collection for a while
so I could get the additional audio tracks so Sunday I started with one,
and am running into problems.ima

Encoding options:
----------------
codec: xvid4
framerate: 23.976 (in the file below I tried 25fps)
audio track: mp3 (have also tried AC3)
2-pass encoding: have tried both enabled and disabled

First problem: 
-------------
I have a Philips DVP642/37 (firmware rev 37) DVD player and the files
are detected as mpg4 however when I attempt to play them the DVD skips
through the video, never displaying the video but increments the time
counter display by leaps and bounds. I have confirmed the player does
play xvid .avi files because I have downloaded television shows and
played them on the DVD player without problems. What am I doing wrong? I
know this is a PEBCAK issue because I can play xvid files others have
encoded with no problems.  Also: my PPC and laptop can both play the
problematic xvid files just fine.

Second problem:
--------------
I have been trying to encode multiple tracks into an xvid file but it
keeps failing (see dvd::rip messages below). I have also tried the divx
codec with similar results. Is encoding an xvid-encoded AVI file with
multiple audio tracks possible? Is this ONLY an ogg/ogm feature? (if it
is restricted to ogg/ogm: bummer! Neither my PocketPC nor DVD player can
play ogg/ogm video files) 

 If this question is covered already: is "TFM" around so I can "R" it?
Failing that, are there any FAQs or articles anyone could point me to?
I've seen people post questions covering this topic in several forums on
the 'net but no replies. 


----------------------------------------------------

I started re-ripping my DVD collection yesterday (I already deleted the
old rips; bummer!) and tried creating xvid-encoded AVI files and found
that once the program makes it through merging in the first track, it
fails. Here is the output:

Probe Command:
==============
dr_exec tcprobe -H 10 -i /dev/dvdrecorder -T 1 && echo DVDRIP_SUCCESS; dr_exec 
dvdxchap -t 1 /dev/dvdrecorder 2>/dev/null


Rip Command:
============
rm -f //home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/vob/001/fooDVD-???.vob && dr_exec tccat -t dvd -T 
1,-1,1 -i /dev/dvdrecorder | dr_splitpipe -f 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/tmp/fooDVD-001-nav.log 1024 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/vob/001/fooDVD vob  | tcextract -a 0 -x ac3 -t vob | 
tcdecode -x ac3 | tcscan -x pcm && echo DVDRIP_SUCCESS


Grab Preview Image Command:
===========================
mkdir -m 0775 /tmp/dvdrip23501.ppm; cd /tmp/dvdrip23501.ppm; dr_exec transcode  
-H 10 -o snapshot -y ppm,null -x vob,null -i //home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/vob/001 -c 
13-14 -L 1515394 && dr_exec convert -size 720x480 
/tmp/dvdrip23501.ppm/snapshot*.ppm 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/tmp/fooDVD-001-preview-orig.jpg && dr_exec convert -size 
720x480 /tmp/dvdrip23501.ppm/snapshot*.ppm 
gray://home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/tmp/fooDVD-001-preview-orig.raw && rm -r 
/tmp/dvdrip23501.ppm && echo DVDRIP_SUCCESS


Transcode Command:
==================
mkdir -m 0775 -p '//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/tmp' && cd //home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/tmp && 
`which nice` -n 19 dr_exec transcode -H 10 -a 0 -x vob -i 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/vob/001 -w 1610,50 -A -N 0x2000 -f 24,1 -M 2 -y xvid4 
--psu_mode --nav_seek //home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/tmp/fooDVD-001-nav.log --no_split  
-o //home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001.avi --print_status 20 && echo 
DVDRIP_SUCCESS 


Additional audio tracks commands:
============================

mkdir -p //home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001 && `which nice` -n 19 dr_exec transcode  
-H 10 -g 0x0 -u 50 -a 1 -y raw -o 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001-01.avi -x null,vob -i 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/vob/001 -f 24,1 -b 128,0,0 --a52_drc_off  --psu_mode 
--nav_seek //home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/tmp/fooDVD-001-nav.log --no_split 
--print_status 20 && echo DVDRIP_SUCCESS

`which nice` -n 19 dr_exec avimerge -i 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001.avi -p 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001-01.avi -a 1 -o 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001.avi.merged && mv 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001.avi.merged 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001.avi && rm 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001-01.avi && echo DVDRIP_SUCCESS
mkdir -p //home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001 && `which nice` -n 19 dr_exec transcode  
-H 10 -g 0x0 -u 50 -a 4 -y raw -o 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001-02.avi -x null,vob -i 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/vob/001 -f 24,1 -b 128,0,0 --a52_drc_off  --psu_mode 
--nav_seek //home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/tmp/fooDVD-001-nav.log --no_split 
--print_status 20 && echo DVDRIP_SUCCESS

`which nice` -n 19 dr_exec avimerge -i 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001.avi -p 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001-02.avi -a 2 -o 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001.avi.merged && mv 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001.avi.merged 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001.avi && rm 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001-02.avi && echo DVDRIP_SUCCESS

View DVD Command:
=================
mplayer dvd://1 -aid 128 -chapter 1 -dvdangle 1 -dvd-device /dev/dvdrecorder 


View Files Command:
===================
mplayer movie.avi 


CD image creation command:
========================
No files for image creation selected.


CD burning command:
==================
No files for burning selected.


WAV creation command:
====================
mkdir -p //home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001 && dr_exec transcode -a 0  -y null,wav 
-u 100 -o //home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/avi/001/fooDVD-001-00.wav -x null -i 
//home/kim/DVD/fooDVD/vob/001 && echo DVDRIP_SUCCESS