disc-buddy

Rip Audio CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays on Linux — available as a CLI tool and a Flutter desktop GUI.

• Audio CD → FLAC, with metadata from MusicBrainz / CDDB / CD-TEXT and cover art from the Cover Art Archive
• DVD → lossless MKV via libdvdread (CSS decryption) or VOB concat fallback
• Blu-ray → lossless MKV via libbluray (AACS/BD+) or direct M2TS concat fallback

Drive detection updates in real time using udevadm monitor and the CDROM_DRIVE_STATUS ioctl.

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Packages

Package	Path	Description
disc_buddy	disc_buddy_lib/	Pure-Dart library — disc parsing, ripping, metadata, naming
disc_buddy_cli	disc_buddy_cli/	CLI binary
disc_buddy_ui	disc_buddy_ui/	Flutter desktop GUI

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Requirements

Runtime:

Tool	Purpose
ffmpeg + ffprobe	encoding / probing
lsblk, udevadm, eject	drive detection and disc management
libdvdread (optional)	CSS decryption on encrypted DVDs
libbluray + KEYDB.cfg (optional)	AACS decryption on encrypted Blu-rays
discid (optional)	accurate MusicBrainz disc ID lookup
mkvextract + subtile-ocr (optional)	subtitle extraction / OCR — feeds LLM auto-naming
whisper-cli + ggml model (optional)	whisper.cpp audio-transcription fallback for auto-naming titles without subtitles (config keys whisper / whisper-model, CLI --whisper / --whisper-model; use a multilingual model such as ggml-small.bin for non-English discs)

Build (CLI): Dart SDK ≥ 3.13. disc-buddy --version prints the version baked in at compile time (dart compile exe -DDISC_BUDDY_VERSION=v1.2.3 …; CI uses the git tag).

Build (UI): Flutter ≥ 3.47 (stable channel)

Install runtime dependencies on Fedora:

sudo dnf install ffmpeg lsblk util-linux udev libdvdread libbluray libaacs discid
# KEYDB.cfg for AACS: copy to ~/.config/aacs/KEYDB.cfg

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Build & run

CLI

dart pub get
dart run disc_buddy_cli/bin/rip.dart [options]

Or compile to a native binary:

dart compile exe disc_buddy_cli/bin/rip.dart -o disc-buddy-cli-linux-x64
./disc-buddy-cli-linux-x64 [options]

UI

cd disc_buddy_ui
flutter pub get
flutter run -d linux

Or build a release bundle:

flutter build linux --release
# Output: disc_buddy_ui/build/linux/x64/release/bundle/

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CLI usage

Usage: disc-buddy [options]

-d, --device    Optical device (e.g. /dev/sr0)   [env: DISC_DEVICE]
-o, --output    Output directory                  [env: OUTDIR, default: ./output]
    --ffmpeg    Path to ffmpeg binary             [default: ffmpeg]
    --ffprobe   Path to ffprobe binary            [default: ffprobe]
-f, --force     Overwrite existing files; skip language prompts
-h, --help      Show help

When --device is omitted, an interactive drive selection menu is shown. The menu updates in real time as discs are inserted or removed.

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Output layout

output/
  DISC_TITLE/               # DVD / Blu-ray
    title_01.mkv
    title_02.mkv
    ...
  Artist/                   # Audio CD
    Album (Year)/
      01-Track Title.flac
      02-Track Title.flac
      cover.jpg

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Disc types

Audio CD

1. Reads the TOC via discid or FFI SG_IO to compute an exact MusicBrainz disc ID.
2. Looks up metadata in MusicBrainz, falls back to CDDB/GnuDB, then CD-TEXT.
3. Downloads front cover art from the Cover Art Archive (if a MusicBrainz release is found).
4. Rips selected tracks to FLAC with full metadata tags (title, artist, album, track number, MusicBrainz IDs, …).

DVD

1. Parses VIDEO_TS.IFO and all VTS_XX_0.IFO files to enumerate titles with their duration, audio tracks (codec, channels, language), subtitle tracks, and cell ranges.
2. Smart auto-selection suggests titles for ripping:
   • Filters out clips shorter than 5 minutes (menus, trailers).
   • Detects series when ≥ 3 titles have similar duration (±30 % of median).
   • Otherwise selects the longest title (main feature).
3. Rips using libdvdread (via FFI) for CSS-encrypted discs. Falls back to VOB concat for unencrypted discs.
4. Audio and subtitle tracks are mapped in IFO order; language codes and codec titles are written as MKV metadata.

Blu-ray

1. Parses MPLS playlist files and CLPI stream info files to enumerate titles with duration, audio, and subtitle tracks.
2. Uses the same smart auto-selection logic as DVD.
3. Rips using libbluray (via ffmpeg) when available. Falls back to direct M2TS concat for unencrypted discs.
4. LPCM audio tracks are transcoded to FLAC; all other tracks are stream-copied.

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Library API

The pure-Dart modules are exported from package:disc_buddy/disc_buddy.dart and can be used in Flutter apps without modification:

import 'package:disc_buddy/disc_buddy.dart';

// DVD titles
final ripper = DVDRipper(opts);
final result = await ripper.loadTitles();

// Blu-ray titles
final ripper = BlurayRipper(opts);
final result = await ripper.loadTitles();

// MusicBrainz lookup
final meta = await MusicBrainz.lookup(discId, startTimes, leadOut);

// Cover art
final bytes = await CoverArt.fetchFront(releaseMbid);

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Project layout

disc_buddy_lib/            Pure-Dart library (Dart workspace)
  lib/src/
    selection/
      title_selector.dart  Auto-selection logic for DVD and Blu-ray titles
    device/
      drive_detector.dart  Lists optical drives via lsblk + udevadm
      drive_status.dart    CDROM_DRIVE_STATUS ioctl (tray open / loading / no disc)
      disc_type_detector.dart  Detects Audio CD / DVD / Blu-ray via udevadm
      cdrom_toc.dart       SG_IO READ TOC for exact MusicBrainz disc ID
      dvdread.dart         libdvdread FFI for CSS-decrypted VOB streaming
      resilient_read.dart  Retry / bisect / zero-fill of unreadable DVD sectors
    ffmpeg/
      ffmpeg_runner.dart   Runs ffmpeg with progress tracking
    metadata/
      musicbrainz.dart     MusicBrainz Web Service v2 lookup
      cddb.dart            CDDB / GnuDB lookup (fallback)
      disc_id.dart         MusicBrainz disc ID computation
      cover_art.dart       Cover Art Archive fetch
    models/                Data classes (DriveInfo, DvdTitle, BlurayTitle, …)
    naming/
      auto_namer.dart      Orchestrates LLM/TMDB auto-naming
      subtitle_source.dart Subtitle / transcript loading + LLM summary
      title_resolver.dart  TMDB title search and scoring
      episode_matcher.dart Episode matching, verification, conflicts
      episode_math.dart    Pure stem / multi-part / duration helpers
    rippers/
      audiocd_ripper.dart  Audio CD → FLAC
      dvd_ripper.dart      DVD → MKV (libdvdread + VOB concat fallback)
      bluray_ripper.dart   Blu-ray → MKV (libbluray + M2TS concat fallback)
      rip_report.dart      Per-title read-error / duration report
    utils/
      log.dart             LogCallback + stdio/emit helpers (lib never prints itself)
      prompter.dart        Prompter interface (TTY and non-interactive)
      atomic_output.dart   .part file + atomic rename for every rip
      …                    mount, sanitize, languages, …

disc_buddy_cli/            CLI binary (Dart workspace)
  bin/rip.dart             Entry point: drive/ISO flow, eject, disc waiting
  lib/src/cli/
    options_builder.dart   Argument parser + CLI/config resolution
    naming_flow.dart       Rename / auto-name / subtitle prompts
    directory_mode.dart    Directory and single-MKV modes
    rename.dart            Renames with sidecar files
    menu.dart              Drive selection menu (real-time udevadm monitor)
  test/                    CLI unit tests (no drive needed)

disc_buddy_ui/             Flutter desktop GUI (outside workspace)
  lib/
    main.dart              App entry point
    screens/               Home and settings screens
    widgets/               Drive list, title selection, rip progress, …
    providers/             Riverpod state management
    models/                UI-side data models
  linux/                   Linux runner (CMake)