Video converter for Linux!!

I just bought the fuze in the hope to put videos on it … As i can see it there is no way to do so on a linux system. Why do you use such a bad f…ed up codec? Is there any reason? Just to use a stupid software? Seems so i think …

I hope you see the need for a useable way for your customers. You got my money now i would like to get what i did pay for.

You may feel smarter or superior because you use Linux, but just as Apple fans discover/know, the world revolves around Windows. Right or wrong, that’s just the way it is. Software is written for the majority of users because that’s where the money is.

If you’ve been using Linux for any length of time, I’m sure this isn’t the 1st time you’ve run into this situation, and it’s one you should have anticipated before you spent your money on your Fuze. A simple check here or a few well-placed questions during the shopping process or before the purchase could have saved you your obvious frustration.

Your hostility? That’s another issue. Most places DO refund your money if the product does not meet your expectations or fit your needs. No one is forcing you to keep it.

Lots more fish in the sea.

That is one reason why I want to switch over from Linux back to Windows. I see no reason to run software that limits the usability of the hardware that I use. It’s ridiculous. I’m not going to ■■■■■ at Sansa because I decided to go with software that isn’t universally supported because I wanted to rebel against the status quo.

I hesitate to reply after the rudeness of the original post, but Sansa is working on a FW update to allow the use of standard converters besides SMC and Rhapsody:

http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=sansafuse&view=by_date_ascending&message.id=6842#M6842

It should solve the problem for Linux/Mac users.

I’d also like to point out that this is an issue with virtually every single small player available.  It’s not specfic to the Fuze.  All of them require conversion to some kind of very specific codec+specs, generally using some vendor supplied utility.  None of which are going to run on Linux.

So chill man.   You should have done a little homework.  If you want wide codec support and drag/drop video support without conversion, you need to step up to a real PMP.  That just a fact of the market, it’s not some scam Sansa is running to screw Linux users.  Jeez…

@mib07 wrote:

I just bought the fuze in the hope to put videos on it … As i can see it there is no way to do so on a linux system. Why do you use such a bad f…ed up codec? Is there any reason? Just to use a stupid software? Seems so i think …

 

Well… just reverse engineer the codec and write an open-source converter for Linux. Not only will your problem be solved, you’ll make a lot of other Linux users happy. 

As i see it - some tried it (partialy tried it too) :-/ Well i used these type of words brcause of the information i got. An allmost like standard codec(like it seemed) was modified in a way that no existing software can create a usefull output.

I think its actually possible to create software wich is plattform independent (Java for example). An other way would be to offer the required information about the modifications in the codec.

Rhapsody is downloadable in the us - other countries are not supported - good alternative i think :slight_smile:

Windows isn’t an alternative for me - i don’t like to cry out all my private data to the world :-/ 

… i think i’ll sell this one …

have a nice day …

Well I am since Sansa advertises the fuse as being Linux compatible…

Because that advertising is one of the biggest reasons that we bought a Fuse in the first place.  If I had known about this issue beforehand I would have went with a Cowon or an Ipod instead and spent the extra money.

And I don’t feel superior or anything like that, I just prefer to use Linux instead of Windows, just like some people prefer to use Mac over Windows.

But if they know it isn’t fully functioning then they shouldn’t say it is… and I don’t mean to sound confrontational or anything of that sort.  I just feel like I have been a little misled in this, especially when I could have spent a little more and bought something that is truly going to work with the OS that it says it will.

Thank you for this post and the link…

Do you know of any timetable there might be for this?  I really like the Fuse all-in-all, but Linux support was one of the bigger sellling points for me when I was looking for a player and the Fuse seemed to fit the bill for what I was looking for.

Hopefully this issue can get worked out and everybody can be happy… :smiley:

@cptrohn wrote:

Well I am since Sansa advertises the fuse as being Linux compatible…

 

Because that advertising is one of the biggest reasons that we bought a Fuse in the first place.  If I had known about this issue beforehand I would have went with a Cowon or an Ipod instead and spent the extra money.

 

And I don’t feel superior or anything like that, I just prefer to use Linux instead of Windows, just like some people prefer to use Mac over Windows.

 

But if they know it isn’t fully functioning then they shouldn’t say it is… and I don’t mean to sound confrontational or anything of that sort.  I just feel like I have been a little misled in this, especially when I could have spent a little more and bought something that is truly going to work with the OS that it says it will.

The Fuze is lunix Compatable. Its the Software thats not. There are hundreds If not Thousands of work arounds out there when it comes to Video usage try some, experiment. You will see that SMC doesnt even work well with PC most of the time. We Windows users have to experiment and find a working solution just like you Linux users will.

Yes, conversionbox.

That is true… And don’t get me wrong I really do like the fuse, I think it is a slick little PMP for the money really.  I’m sure these are just bugs right now and that the folks at Sandisk are searching for answers and working hard on it… They do have a very goo reputation in the Linux community really… For now I will just load my music files on it and keep my fingers crossed that the new firmware update that was talked about before will take care of things…   I was just hoping to be able to find an easy work around here…

I’ve got faith in the Linux community though, so if it can be done then I am sure there is probably somebody working on it there as well too…  Just a tad disapointed I guess… and in these economic times every dollar seems to count more than ever right now.   But for now I haven’t been able to find much…irireverter,VLC, Banshee etc are all things I have tried with no luck so far…  I use Ubuntu and they pride themselves on their hardware compabitility, so maybe they will have something in the next release for this.

from what I have found most linux distros have better hardware compatability than windows does for the most part… I dumped Vista and windows completely about 8 mos ago and haven’t looked back…

Of course I’m not going to turn this into a Linux vs Windows thread everybody has their own preferences.

Hi,

if this is still an issue for you, look here:

http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=sansafuse&thread.id=31437

or directly here:

http://code.google.com/p/video4fuze/

A user of this forum has put all the available info together and even programmed a rather nice GUI. Seems to work for me so far.

Enjoy,

soenke

"Hi,

if this is still an issue for you, look here:

http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?boar

d.id=sansafuse&thread.id=31437

or directly here:

Google Code Archive - Long-term storage for Google Code Project Hosting."

Thanks for posting that, soenke, it tells ME where to go look! I just bought this thing

last December as a Christmas present for myself .

Linux peeps have it easy. The tools used (mencoder, fuzemux) are commandline tools especially suited for shell scripting. If you can do scripts–and why are you using Linux if you can’t?–then here’s all you need to get videos onto the Fuze:

mencoder -msglevel all=0:statusline=5 -ofps 20 \ -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vqscale=3:keyint=15 \ -vf field,scale=224:-2,crop=:176,expand=:176,harddup \ -srate 44100 -af resample=44100:0:1,format=s16le \ -oac mp3lame -lameopts cbr:br=128 \ input\_file -o temp.avi fuzemux temp.avi output\_file.avi

If you want to change the video aspect ratio (AR) to better fit the Fuze 4:3 screen, do a case statement and swap out the -vf parameter above with these:

Pan-n-scan: -vf field,scale=-2:176,crop=224,expand=224,harddup Forced 16:9 AR: -vf field,scale=224:126,expand=:176,harddup Forced full-screen AR: -vf field,scale=224:176,harddup

Ewelot’s old script has a image-scaling bug with ‘tall’ videos. If the video AR < 224/176, you get garbage on the right-side of the screen.

Don’t use the mencoder bundled with your system. Download/compile latest SVN. This may not apply to the Fuze, but for anything that deals with H.264, you’d want the latest compile, as x264 is in active development and change almost on a weekly basis:

mencoder: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html
fuzemux: http://code.google.com/p/fuzemux/

I’m finding mencoder to be a useful front-end for x264, since it can do automatic image resizing, which x264 can’t do at the moment. I can do the same thing in AVISynth, but it’s a Win app, and requires more tech savvy in install and use. The flip side is that mencoder is more limited. I’m trying to find a way to do auto-IVTC and auto-deinterlace w/ mencoder, which probably can’t be done w/o external tools.