Sick Beard Install, Setup, and Configuration Guide for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)

Introduction

Greetings, this is an updated Install, Setup, and Configuration guide for Sick Beard on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx). This guide should also be easily adapted to other GNU/Linux distributions like Linux Mint 9 (Isadora), Xubuntu, Kubuntu, and Lubuntu and somewhat close for Debian Squeeze, Sidux, and any other Debian based distos.

This guide will be actively maintained and updated throughout the two year life of the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) release. Ubuntu 10.04 LTS is my supported and recommended operating system so I will not be doing specific guides for Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) or for any subsequent releases until Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (though this guide should be easily adaptable for any interim releases).

This guide is considered a companion guide to my SABnzbd+ Install, Setup, and Configuration Guide as it assumes you have a fully functioning installation of SABnzbd+. It can be used without, but it’s not supported.

Since my last guide Sick Beard has seen steady and progressive development and while it is still considered developmental software, it is being used regularly by many with minimal issues. For anyone looking for a Usenet PVR application, or for anyone using Episode Butler or similar applications, I strongly recommend trying out Sick Beard, as I’d bet dollars to donuts that you might just stick with it (and for good reason!).

For those who are not familiar, Sick Beard is an application that can, at its basic level, be used to automatically scan any existing episodic content that your computer might have, create a list of all the files that are present and missing, and then automatically search for any missing episodes that you might want. It can then send these found sources to SABnzbd+ and then rename and organize them for you. Sick Beard when combined with SABnzbd+, XBMC, and some solid Usenet index sites can make for a fabulously streamlined setup (one which, is probably second to none).

This guide, like my others, is written in casual English in an effort to be accessible by as many as possible, we’ll stay out of the command line as much as possible and stick to the good old graphical user interface. I do not think Ubuntu is a nerd only operating system and I try to write my guides so that even novices can utilize them (see my About page for more details).

With that out of the way, onwards! Read the rest of this entry »

SABnzbd+ Install, Setup, and Configuration Guide for Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx)

Introduction

This is my long time coming, (updated) Install, Setup, and Configuration guide for SABnzbd+ on Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx). This guide should be easily adaptable for Linux Mint 9 (Isadora), and somewhat close for Debian Squeeze and Sidux.

This guide will be actively maintained and updated throughout the life of the Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) Long Term Support release (two years). This is my supported and recommended operating system so I will not be doing specific guides for Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) or for any subsequent releases until Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (though this guide will likely be easily adaptable for the interim releases).

Since my last guide it’s become a lot easier to get SABnzbd+ up and running on an Ubuntu based system. To reflect that I’ve expanded this guide to include installing a multi-threaded par2 file checker, added a supplemental software list, and I have worked to polish up the guide even further (like adding select screen shots!).

For those that are not familiar, SABnzbd+ which, I read as “SAB-newzbin” (though “SAB-nzb-daemon plus” is probably much closer to correct!), is an Usenet client. It is highly automated, robust, and once set up can run and run with minimal user intervention.

Like my last, this guide avoids the command line as much as possible and is written in casual English in an effort to be accessible by as many as possible. I do not think Ubuntu is a nerds only operating system, and I write guides that even novices should be able to understand (see my About page for more information).

So, without further ado, lets move on to the… Read the rest of this entry »

Suggested Operating System Page Updated

News

The Suggested Software Operating System page has been updated for Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx). The content has been edited and expanded to improve clarity and to adjust for changes for the new Ubuntu release.

Cheers!

Suggested Web Browser Page Updated

News

The Suggested Software Web Browser page has been updated. Changes include a revised add on list (with expanded configurations for each), an added search engine section, and a general revision of the entire page adding and clarifying content throughout.

Enjoy!

Site Updates, Changes, & Free Advertising

News

Due to some outside interference (a.k.a., “life”) the site has been on hold for the last week or two. Thankfully that’s all but done with now, and we should be moving forward with new and updated content once again.

Along with the content we will be launching a new site. Once launched this new site will begin hosting all non-Usenet/Torrent related content. Essentially it will house non-grey area guides for GNU/Linux with a focus on multimedia and gaming.

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Sick Beard Install, Setup, & Configuration Guide for Ubuntu & Linux Mint

Note: This guide is now deprecated. The new guide can be found here.

Introduction

Welcome! This guide is written with a heavy heart. Despite all hope Newzbin has been (at least temporarily) nerfed. This guide is dedicated to Newzbin’s memory, innovation, and awesome service.

This guide is also written with hope that by some stroke of rational, technologically understanding, jurisprudence the site’s appeal will actually succeed. Or, failing that, the site will be migrated to a more accepting state, or the site will open source its code so that others might succeed where it may have failed.

With that aside, Sick Beard (the actual focus of this guide) is a very neat application. After hearing about Newzbin’s court loss I loaded it up (right after completing the Episode Butler guide) and found that I really like it.

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Heroes of Newerth, Commercial GNU/Linux Game, Open Beta Now Live!

Introduction

First off, go here to get in on the open beta.

Second off, this is a commercial game that is releasing on GNU/Linux. For more information see the wikipedia entry for the game here.

If you want to help encourage mainstream gaming on the GNU/Linux system I recommend spending the $30 dollars to order or pre-order this game.

I will be doing a review of this game once it is out of beta (beta testers appear to be under a non-disclosure agreement).

Read the rest on my new site, Anihil.org!

Hardware H264/x264 GPU Decoding with Nvidia & VDPAU on Ubuntu & Linux Mint

Introduction

Greetings, this will be a quick little guide on getting setup with VDPAU on Ubuntu 9.10 or Linux Mint 8. This process should stay much the same for Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) and Linux Mint 9 but the driver’s aren’t currently available under the Lucid PPA so you will either need to use the ones that come with Lucid Lynx (LM 9) or download them directly from Nvidia.

VDPAU is an open source technology for newer Nvidia graphics cards which enables the offloading of the decoding of the video onto the GPU. This technology is all but a necessity for playing HD video content on an Ubuntu or Linux Mint based system. This will allow you to smoothly play back files encoded in H.264 or x264.

Read the rest on my new site, Anihil.org!

Episode Butler Install, Setup, & Configuration Guide for Ubuntu & Linux Mint

Introduction

Greetings, this is a companion guide for my SABnzbd+ guide. I’ll be updating this guide for Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) and Linux Mint 9 but it should be pretty much the same. This will also likely work well on Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) and Linux Mint 7. I’ll be installing this program to the home folder for an easy install and also so that if your OS has issues you wont lose your episode database (assuming you have your Home directory on a different drive or partition, like me )

Episode Butler is simply awesome and it’s currently the application to use for Usenet and episodic content. Basically, it’ll make Usenet as convenient (if not more so) than a cable/PVR set-up. Specifically, it will automatically keep you up-to-date on your favourite episodic content while helping you build your collection with little to no hands on (after this initial set-up & configuration).

Episode Butler can be very selective in what it downloads for you. For instance, you can set it up to download only the superior x264 encoded files that have English audio.

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Sick Beard Usenet PVR Preview

Briefly

Sick Beard is an application for sorting, renaming, and auto-matically downloading episodic content from Usenet and (limitedly) torrents. This program is currently in early alpha phase and I have not yet attempted tried to run it.

I am mainly posting this as it looks like a potentially promising program that could at some point become a part of SABnzbd+ and replace or complement either Episode Butler, or Series Rename, or both.

Edit: I am currently running this program and working on a complete installation, setup, and configuration guide for Ubuntu and Linux Mint.

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