(cache)Devede won't produce dvds

grizdog · 08-31-2025, 08:32 AM

I have been trying to use devede to create a video dvd. I found a number of threads in this forum and in the slackware subforum on the topic, and while I found some useful information, none of it solved my problem.

I have a good mp4 file. When I started up devede and used the "preview" feature, it worked fine. I also tried converting the file into an mp2 file, but nothing changed, except for a lower quality preview.

My drive has a clean 4.7GB DVD+R in it, but I never got to the burn stage. I have k3b installed and have burned data DVDs with it (yes, I know no one uses dvds anymore, but I am trying to do a favor for some people)

I looked for the dependencies and am pretty sure I have everything. I installed DVDauthor and vcdimager just in case.

I ran devede both from the application launcher and from the command line with /usr/lib/devede/devede_ng.py Same result, in particular, no error messages.

I followed the instructions to make a DVD I found at https://mozai.com/writing/devede

Every time, I get a dialog box that suggests there are 5 steps and it fails on the third step. The dialog box goes away when it fails, so I can't read whatever pops up there, but another box appears that says "There was an error while creating the disc" and that is all I have for error messages.

I am not wedded to devede, I would like to get it working, but if there is another utility I could use I would be happy to try it.

Thanks for any help

pan64 · 09-01-2025, 12:56 AM

k3b, brasero, .... We have a few tools to do that.
Have you installed all the dependencies? https://rastersoft.com/programas/devede.html
Anyway you need to check logs or look for messages, without any info hard to help. You may also try to contact the author.

teckk · 09-01-2025, 01:10 PM

A video DVD is mpeg2 video, ac3 audio. Or it can be wav. Then you'll need to make a menu for the DVD player.

I can give you an example, or the basic format how to make one, if it helps you to understand the process. Use your own parameters and whatever software you wish. I always did it manually.

Code:

#Make mpeg2/ac3 video
ffmpeg -i Input.mp4 -c:a ac3 -b:a 196k -c:v mpeg2video -target ntsc-dvd -b:v 2000k test.mpg

#Make the DVD structure (everyting goes into ~/mydvd)
export VIDEO_FORMAT=NTSC
dvdauthor -t -o mydvd -f test.mpg

ls -l ~/mydvd/VIDEO_TS
total 12640
-rw-r--r-- ...     6144 Dec  2 08:50 VIDEO_TS.BUP
-rw-r--r-- ...     6144 Dec  2 08:50 VIDEO_TS.IFO
-rw-r--r-- ...    12288 Dec  2 08:49 VTS_01_0.BUP
-rw-r--r-- ...    12288 Dec  2 08:49 VTS_01_0.IFO
-rw-r--r-- ... 12900352 Dec  2 08:49 VTS_01_1.VOB

Then if you want to make a menu for the video DVD.

Code:

#Grab a screenshot 720x480
ffmpeg -f x11grab -video_size 720x480 -i $DISPLAY -vframes 1 1.png

#Make video out of it
jpeg2yuv -n 50 -I p -f 29.97 -j 1.jpg | mpeg2enc -n n -f 8 -o menu.m2v

#Make 1 sec blank audio
ffmpeg -f lavfi -i anullsrc=channel_layout=5.1:sample_rate=48000 -t 1 menu.mp2

#Merge them
mplex -f 8 -o menu.mpg menu.m2v menu.mp2

#make menu.xml
spumux menu.xml < menu.mpg > menu_final.mpg

Or use a fancy graphical application that does it all for you.

I haven't made a video dvd in a good while.

pmv · Yesterday, 04:41 AM

To make a Video DVD structure you can use QDVDAuthor https://sourceforge.net/projects/qdvd, there are packages for Slackware 15.0. I burn the DVDs with K3b.

exerceo · Today, 07:09 PM

Have you tried creating an ISO image first and then mounting it? If that works, it seems to be OK on the software side.