Grip User's Guide

Introduction

Grip is a cd-player and cd-ripper for the Gnome desktop. It has + the ripping capabilities of cdparanoia builtin, but can also use + external rippers (such as cdda2wav). It also provides an automated + frontend for MP3 (and other audio format) encoders, letting you take a + disc and transform it easily straight into MP3s. Internet disc lookups + are supported for retrieving track information from disc database + servers. Grip works with DigitalDJ to provide a unified "computerized" + version of your music collection.

Playing CDs with Grip

Grip functions as a full-featured CD player, as can be seen in + FigureÂ 1, âGrip as a CD Playerâ. Tracks can be selected by clicking on + them with the left mouse button. Double-clicking will select the track, + and begin playing it.

FigureÂ 1.Â Grip as a CD Player

CD Player Controls

Underneath the "LCD" display is a panel of buttons that allow + you to control CD playing in Grip. These buttons function as + follows:

+ Play/Pause â Causes the selected track + to play if it is stopped or paused. If a track is currently + playing, it will go into pause mode.
+ Rewind â While this button is held + down, Grip will move backward in the currently playing track. +
+ FastForward â While this button is + held down, Grip will more forward in the currently playing + track.
+ Previous track â If a track is + currently playing near the beginning of a track, this will + rewind to the beginning. Otherwise, it will skip to the previous + track. +
+ Next track â This will skip to the next + track.
+ Track Mode â This brings up the track + mode interface, described in the section called âTrack Mode Selectorâ. +
+ Stop â Stops track playback.
+ Eject â Opens or closes the cdrom + tray.
+ Scan disc contents â Causes Grip to + force a scan of the current CD as if it were just inserted (useful + if you have polling for a new disc turned off).
+ Volume â Toggles display of the + volume control slider interface.
+ Track Edit â This brings up the track + editing interface described in ...
+ DiscDB â This initiates lookup of the + CD over the network, or aborts a disc lookup currently in + progress.
+ Min/Max â Toggles between the "full" + and "cd-only" (shown in FigureÂ 2, âGrip in "cd-only" mode.â) display + modes.
+
FigureÂ 2.Â Grip in "cd-only" mode.

+
+ Quit â Exits Grip.

Track Mode Selector

+

FigureÂ 3.Â The Play Mode Interface

+

The track mode selection interface (shown in FigureÂ 3, âThe Play Mode Interfaceâ) allows you to control how Grip plays the + tracks on a CD. The following options are available:

+ Normal Mode â In this mode, + tracks will be played in normal, numbered order.
+ Random Mode â In this mode, + tracks will be played in a random order.
+ Playlist Mode â In this mode, + track will be played in an order you specify. In the text + entry box, entry a list of comma separated list of the + tracks you wish to play.
+ Loop Mode â In loop mode, when + playback finishes it will then resume at the beginning + again.
+ Single Play Mode â In this mode, + when playback finishes it will not begin again.

Ripping CDs with Grip

Playing CDs is great, but what Grip is really designed for is + ripping CDs and creating encoded versions of the tracks.

Selecting Tracks To Rip

Before ripping, you need to select the tracks that you would + like to rip. This can be done by right-clicking on tracks in the + "Tracks" tab, or left clicking on a track when your mouse is under the + "Rip" column. In addtion, you can quickly select/deselect all tracks + for ripping by clicking on the "Rip" column label.

Ripping CDs

FigureÂ 4.Â The ripping interface

There are number of buttons in the interface under the "Rip" + tab. They function as follows:

Rip+Encode â This will cause Grip + to rip and then encode all selected tracks.
Rip Only â This will cause Grip + to rip all selected tracks, but not encode them.
Abort Rip and Encode â Clicking + this button will abort all active rip and encode + processes.
Abort Ripping Only â Clicking + this button will abort ripping, but will leave encoding + running.
DDJ Scan â Clicking this button + will insert all track information for the current disc into + DigitalDJ's database (if it is installed)
Rip partial track â If selected, + Grip will configured to rip a portion of a single track (as + specified by the "Start sector" and "End sector" values). The + "Play" button can be used preview the selected portion.

In the bottom portion of the interface, Grip displays progress + bars for the rip and encode processes. It also computes the speed of + the processes as a function of normal playback speed (so 2.0x, for + example, means that processing is running twice as fast as normal + playback, on average). In addition, if Grip is using builtin + cdparanoia to rip, there will be a "smilie" indicator next to the + progress bar that reflects how much trouble Grip is having ripping + the CD. The meaning of the different smiles are as follows:

Normal operation, low/no jitter
Normal operation, considerable jitter
Read drift
Unreported + loss of streaming in atomic read operation
Finding + read problems at same point during reread; hard to correct
SCSI/ATAPI transport error
Scratch detected
Gave up trying to perform a correction

In addition to the individual track rip/encode progress bars, + Grip displays overall progress bars that indicate the overall progress + of a multi-track rip.

Grip also places an indicator for both ripping and encoding the + the LCD display. They show progress in %25 intervals, as can be seen + in this example of Grip in "small" mode. In this case, we are almost + finished ripping a track, and have encoded about a quarter of a + track.

FigureÂ 5.Â Ripping in "small" mode

Increasing Ripping Performance

If you are using an IDE CDrom drive, using SCSI emulation can + give a significant performance increase. Apparently, dma is not used + by the IDE driver (at least in 2.4 kernels). To enable SCSI + emulation, add "hdx=ide-scsi" (where the "x" in "hdx" is is replaced + with the appropriate letter for your CDRom device) to end of the + "kernel" line in /etc/grub.conf (if you are using grub), or as a + line after "root=/dev/something" in /etc/lilo.conf (if you are using + lilo)

You can also disable paranoia to get approximately a 2x + speedup. This is not recommended, however, unless you are very + confident in the ability of your drive to do rock-solid CDDA + extraction (or unles you enjoy having pops in your audio)

Using a SCSI drive

If you are using a SCSI drive, or an IDE drive under SCSI + emulation, Grip needs to access the generic scsi device in + addition to the cdrom device. On most systems, the generic scsi + device will be /dev/sgx, where 'x' is a number. Unless you have + multiple scsi devices, the device would be /dev/sg0. Ensure that + your user account has access to this device, and that this device + is specified in your rip configuration (see the section called âThe "Rip" config tabâ).

Configuring Grip

The "Config" tab gives you access to a series of sub-tabs that + allow you to configure the various functions of Grip. Each of these + sub-tabs is described in detail in the following sections.

The "CD" config tab

FigureÂ 6.Â The "CD" config tab

This tab allows to you configure options associated with your + cdrom device and CD playback. The options are:

CDRom device â Specifies the + CDRom device to be used for CD playback.
Don't interrupt playback on + exit/startup â If this option is checked, Grip + will not stop a playing track when it is shut down. Also, if a CD + is already playing when Grip starts, it will keep playing.
Rewind when stopped â If this + option is checked, Grip will rewind to the beginning of the disc + whenever playback is stopped.
Startup with first track if not playing + â If this option is checked, Grip will always make the first + track on the CD the current track if the CD is not currently + playing. Otherwise, Grip will start with whatever track is + currently set with the CDRom device.
Reshuffle before each playback â + If this option is checked, randomized playback will be + re-randomized each time playback is restarted. Otherwise, the same + random sequence will be reused.
Work around faulty eject â If + this option is set, Grip will not rely on querying the open/closed + status of the CDRom tray.
Poll disc drive for new disc â If + this option is set, Grip will poll the disc drive to check if a + new disc has been inserted.
Poll interval â This specifies + the number of seconds Grip waits between checks for a new + disc.

The "Rip" config tab

This tab allows to you configure Grip's ripping + capabilities.

FigureÂ 7.Â The "Rip" config tab

Ripper â This allows you to + select from various presets configured for various Rippers. By + default, "grip (cdparanoia)" is used, which rips with Grip's + builtin version of cdparanoia.
Disable paranoia â If this option + is checked, Grip will disable cdparanoia's verification + system. This will make ripping approximately twice as fast, but + can result in errors. Unless you are very confident that your + drive is rock solid, it is recommended that you do not select this + option.
Disable extra paranoia â If this + option is selected, Grip will only do overlap checking to ensure + proper alignment of reads. It will not verify reads for + errors.
Disable scratch detection / repair + â These options allow you to determine whether Grip attempts + to detect scratches on the CD, and whether or not it attempts to + repair the scratches it detects.
Calculate gain adjustment + â If this option is checked, Grip will calculate a suggested + gain adjustment for tracks as it rips. Computed values can then be + passed to external programs via the '%r' and '%R' switches.
Rip file format â This allows to + you configure the filename and path that Grip rips files to. The + list of available switches can be found in the section called âConfiguration (%) switchesâ.
Generic SCSI device â If you are + using a SCSI drive, or an IDE drive under SCSI emulation, you need + to specify the generic SCSI device to be used. Form more + information on using a SCSI drive, see the section called âUsing a SCSI driveâ +

If you select a ripper other than Grip's builtin cdparanoia, the + configuration dialog will look slightly different:

FigureÂ 8.Â Configuring an external ripper

Ripping executable â This is the + full path to the executable to be used for ripping
Rip command-line â This is the + command-line to be passed to the ripping program. The list of + available switches can be found in the section called âConfiguration (%) switchesâ.

The second sub-tab contains addition options that you can + specify to configure the ripping process.

FigureÂ 9.Â Additional ripping options

Rip 'nice' value â This allows + you to set the 'nice' level to run the ripping process at. This + changes the scheduling priorty of the process. The range goes from + -20 (highest priority) to 19 (lowest).
Max non-encoded .wav's â This + allows you to specify the maximum number of ripped wave files that + can accumulate if ripping is proceding faster than encoding can + keep up. It is useful to keep unencoded .wav files from taking up + too much disk space.
Auto-rip on insert â If this + option is checked, Grip will automatically begin ripping all + tracks on a disc when it is inserted.
Beep after rip â If this option + is checked, Grip will emit a beep when ripping is finished.
Auto-eject after rip â If this + option is checked, Grip will eject the disc after ripping is + finished.
Auto-eject delay â This allows + you to specify a delay (in seconds) before auto-ejection will + happen. This is useful on some drives that need time to spin down + before ejection can occur.
Delay before ripping â If this is + selected, grip will delay 5 seconds before starting to rip. This + can help with some drives (particularly some dvd drives) that take + a while to spin up.
Stop cdrom drive between tracks â + If this is selected, grip will spin down the cdrom drive between + ripping tracks.
Wav filter command â This allows + you to specify a program (full path to executable, followed by + the command-line) to run after a file has been ripped, but + before it is encoded. This is useful for such tasks as + normalization. The list of available switches can be found in + the section called âConfiguration (%) switchesâ.
Disc filter command â This + operates much like the Wav filter command, except that it is run + once after an entire disc has finished ripping.

The "Encode" config tab

This tab allows to you configure Grip's encoding + capabilities.

FigureÂ 10.Â The "Encode" config tab

Encoder â This allows + you to select an encoder preset.
Encoder executable â This specifies + the full path to the executable program you wish to use for + encoding.
Encoder command-line â This is the + command-line to be passed to the encoding program. The list of + available switches can be found in the section called âConfiguration (%) switchesâ.
Encode file format â This allows to + you configure the filename and path that Grip encodes to. The + list of available switches can be found in the section called âConfiguration (%) switchesâ.

The second sub-tab contains addition options that you can + specify to configure the encoding process.

FigureÂ 11.Â Additional encoding options

Delete .wav after encoding â If + this option is checked, Grip will delete wav files after it has + finished encoding them.
Insert info into SQL database â If + this option is checked, Grip will insert track meta-data into the + DigitalDJ database (if it is installed).
Create .m3u files â If + this option is checked, Grip will create .m3u playlist listing the + tracks on a CD when it is ripped.
Use relative paths in .m3u files + â If this option is checked, filename is .m3u files will be + relative to the directory the .m3u file is in (otherwise, full + paths will be used).
M3U file format â This specifies + the filename format to be used when writing .m3u files. The list + of available switches can be found in the section called âConfiguration (%) switchesâ.
Encoding bitrate â This is the + encoding bitrate (kilobits per second) to be used. This value is + passed to the encoder using the '%b' switch.
Number of CPUs to use â On + SMP systems, Grip can encode using multiple processors. This value + specifies the number of simultaneous encode processes to run. Grip + needs to be restarted for a change to take effect.
Encode 'nice' value â This allows + you to set the 'nice' level to run encoding at. This changes the + scheduling priorty of the process. The range goes from -20 + (highest priority) to 19 (lowest).
Encode filter command â This allows + you to specify a program (full path to executable, followed by + the command-line) to run after a file has been encoded. The list + of available switches can be found in the section called âConfiguration (%) switchesâ.

The "ID3" config tab

This tab allows to you customize Grip's use of ID3 tags.

FigureÂ 12.Â The "ID3" config tab

Add ID3 tags to encoded files â + If this option is checked, Grip will add ID3v1 tags to the files + it encodes. ID3 tags are used to put song meta-data into an + encoded file. You will want to disable this if you are encoding + with a format other than MP3.
Add ID3v2 tags to encoded files â + This option is only displayed if Grip has been compiled with ID3v2 + support. If it is checked, Grip will add ID3v2 tags to the files + it encodes. ID3v2 tags remove the 20-character field length + limitation imposed by ID3v1.
ID3 comment field â This allows + you to specify the format of the ID3 comment field. The list of + available switches can be found in the section called âConfiguration (%) switchesâ.
ID3v1 Character set encoding â + The character encoding to be used for ID3v1 tags. ISO_8859_1 is + recommended.
ID3v2 Character set encoding â + The character encoding to be used for ID3v1 tags. ISO_8859_1 or UTF-8 + are the most likely options.

The "DiscDB" config tab

This tab allows to you customize how Grip talks to disc + information servers (such as freedb) to obtain disc meta-data.

FigureÂ 13.Â The "DiscDB" config tab

Primary/Secondary Server â Grip + allows you to configure a primary and secondary disc database + server. If information cannot be found using the primary server, + Grip will then try using the secondary server.
DB server â This is the http + address of the disc database server.
DB server â This is the path to + the CGI to be used on the disc database server. It is generally + "~cddb/cddb.cgi".
DB Character set encoding â The + character encoding to use when tranferring data to/from the + server. This should generally be set to UTF-8.
DB Submit email â This allows you + to specify the email address to send disc database submissions + to.
Use freedb extensions â If + checked, Grip will make use of extensions to the disc database + format used by freedb. Otherwise, it will use an older + format.
Perform disc lookups automatically + â If this option is checked, Grip will automatically query + the disc database server when a disc is inserted that does not + already have meta-data stored.

The "Proxy" config tab

This tab allows to you configure Grip to communicate through a + proxy server.

FigureÂ 14.Â The "Proxy" config tab

Use proxy server â Indicates + whether or not Grip should do disc lookups via a proxy server. +
Get server from 'http_proxy' env. var + â If this option is checked, Grip will check the + 'http_proxy' environment variable, and use its value as the name + of the proxy server. +
Proxy server â The name of the + proxy server to use. +
Proxy port â The port to use on + the proxy server (usually 8000). +
Proxy username â Some proxies + require user authentication. This field is the username you wish + to authenticte with. +
Proxy password â This is the + password that goes along with the username for proxy + authentication. +

The "Misc" config tab

This tab allows contains various additional configuration + options.

FigureÂ 15.Â The "Misc" config tab

Email address â A valid email + addres where you can be reached. This is used with disc database + submissions to allow the disc database server to contact you if + there are problems with a submission. +
CD update program â This allows + you to specify a program (full path to executable, followed by + the command-line) to run when a new disc is inserted. This is + useful for such tasks as normalization. The list of available + switches can be found in the section called âConfiguration (%) switchesâ. +
Do not lowercase filenames â By + default, Grip lowercases the strings used when translating the '%' + switches. If this option is checked, it will not do this. +
Allow high bits in filename â By + default, Grip strips high-bit characters in the strings used when + translating the '%' switches. If this option is checked, it will + not do this. +
Do not change spaces to underscores + â By default, Grip replaces spaces with underscores in the + strings used when translating the '%' switches. If this option is + checked, it will not do this. +
Characters to not strip in filenames + â Grip strips all non-alphanumeric characters in the + strings used when translating the '%' switches. Any characters + entered here will explicity not be stripped. +

Configuration (%) switches

Here is a list of the '%' switches used in command-lines.

b â The bitrate that files + are being encoded at.
c â The CDrom device + being used.
C â The generic scsi + device being used (note that this will be substituted with the + CDrom device if no generic scsi device has been + specified).
w â The filename of the + wave file being ripped.
m â The filename of the + file being encoded.
t â The track + number,beginning at 1, and zero-filled (ie: '03' for the third + track).
s â The start sector of + the track.
e â The end sector of the + track.
n â The name of the + track.
a â The artist name for + the track.
A â The artist name for + the disc.
d â The name of the disc. +
i â The disc database id + (in hex) for the disc.
y â The year of the disc. +
g â The ID3 genre id of + the disc.
G â The ID3 genre string + of the disc.
r â The recommended + replay gain for the track (in dB). Note that this is only applicable + if you have enabled gain calculation. You can find more information + on this gain adjustment at www.replaygain.org
R â The recommended + replay gain for the entire album (in dB). This value is only valide + after an entire disc has been ripped (it is designed to be used with + the disc filter command).
x â The encoded file + extension (ie "mp3")

Any of the '%' switches can optionally be preceded by a '*' or + '!' modifier (for example, '%*a'). '*' prevents Grip from doing any + stripping of characters from the string. '!' forces Grip to strip + characters from the string. If neither modifier is used, Grip will + do what it thinks is best (generally, it will only munge strings if + it knows they are part of a filename).

FAQ

Q: When I try to rip a track, I get X I/O errors. What + gives?
A: This seems to be a problem with non-thread-safe + systems. Make sure your system is safe for threads. This often + seems to be associated with libc5.
Q: I just get a message saying that the program can't + access my drive. This makes it hard to do much. Help!
A: Your user account must have access to the cdrom device. +
Q: I can play cd's fine, but my ripper can't access + the drive. Why not?
A: On scsi systems, rippers (cdparanoia, at least) need access + to the generic scsi device as well.
Q: The progress bar doesn't seem to be completely + accurate when encoding. Why can't it get it right?
A: The progress bar is done based on the size of the output + file. If you have the kbits/sec set properly, Grip should estimate + the size properly. Note that if you use variable bitrate encoding + (supported by encoders like LAME and xing) Grip has no way to + accurately guess the file size.
Q: When I try to rip, Grip skips some of the tracks I + have selected. That's not nice -- how can I make it stop?
A: Some drives (particularly some dvd drives) take a while to + spin up, and get confused if ripping starts before they are + ready. Try enabling the "Delay before ripping" setting in the section called âThe "Rip" config tabâ.
Q: When I encode tracks, the progress bar never + does anything. What happened to progress?
A: If your encoder doesn't accept an output filename (like + BladeEnc), or you haven't passed it one on the command-line, then + it might not be outputting to the file Grip expects. Make sure + that your encoded file format is set to what your encoder is + actually producing.
Q: When Grip looks up disc information, it works, but + says "Error saving disc data". Why?
A: Grip saves local copies of disc track information in the + directory "~/.cddb". It must be able to create or access this + directory.
Q: How come I don't get any scrollbars in the track + display?
A: You are using a version of Grip compiled for gtk+ v1.0.x on + a system that has gtk+ v1.2.x installed. You need to either get a + binary compiled for the development series of gtk+, or compile + Grip yourself.
Q: When my buddy runs Grip, he gets those nifty LCD + icons showing rip/encode/DiscDB status, but I don't. What makes him + so special?
A: He's using a more recent version of gtk+ than you are. Due + to bugs in gtk+ v1.0.x, I don't support the icons under + it. Upgrade your gtk+!
Q: I can't get Grip to rip any tracks! This makes it + less than useful...
A: Grip won't rip tracks unless you tell it what to rip. Use + the right mouse button to select tracks for + ripping.
Q: I was listening to a CD in Grip and it sounded + horrible! What's up?
A: Perhaps you are listening to country + music...

Getting More Help

If you need more help with Grip, + your best resource is the Grip mailing list. You will find it + here. Be sure to check the mailing list archives for answers to + any questions you may have.

Reporting Bugs / Sumitting Patches

To report a bug with Grip, or to submit a patch. Please do so at + the Grip + section on sourceforge.net.

CDDB notes

I have declined to sign a license + agreement with Escient, the company who owns "www.cddb.com" and runs + the CDDB server "us.cddb.com". Their license would (among other + things) have required me to place advertisements in Grip and restrict + you, the user, to use only their databases. I am against this + commercial use of the track information submitted by users such as + yourself. For this reason, I encourage you to use free servers, such + as freedb.org.

License and Disclaimer

Grip is Copyright + &copy 2002 by Mike Oliphant. Grip may be used and distributed + under the terms of the GNU General Public License. All other brand and + product names are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of + their respective holders.

These programs are distributed in the hope that it will be useful, + but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of + MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU + General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License + along with this distribution; if not, write to the Free Software + Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111, + USA.

Acknowledgments

Thanks go to:

Everyone involved in GTK development for a wonderful + GUI
Tony Arcieri, for libcdaudio, which formed the basis + of Grip's low-level cd control and disc database access + routines
Monty, for cdparanoia and the paranoia + library
Heiko Eissfeldt for cdda2wav
Mike Cheng, Mark Taylor and all the others who have + worked on LAME
Tord Jansson for BladeEnc
Michael Kaiser and everyone else who has helped out + with freedb
Ti Kan, for the xmcd button bitmaps, many of which I + use in modified form (shame on you for the cddb fiasco, + however)
mp3.com for hosting nostatic.org
David Robinson and Glen Sawyer for + ReplayGain
Everyone else who has given me feedback, contributed + code, and helped test Grip (see the ChangeLog and CREDITS for + specific contributions)