312 lines
20 KiB
HTML
312 lines
20 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
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<html>
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<head>
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<title>LameXP - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)</title>
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<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
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</head>
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<body style="font-family:Monospace;font-size:10pt;">
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<h3>LameXP - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)</h3><br>
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<a name="6a0b023d"><b>What is LameXP ???</b></a><br>
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<br>
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LameXP is a graphical user-interface for a number of audio encoders. It was developed to support a huge<br>
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number of input formats. File formats are detected reliably using MediaInfo. Compressed audio formats are<br>
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decoded to uncompressed Wave files using suitable CLI audio decoders. Furthermore LameXP allows batch<br>
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processing of multiple audio files. Multi-threading is implemented by processing several audio files<br>
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concurrently. All the third-party tools incorporated in LameXP are listed in the "About" dialog. The Nero AAC<br>
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encoder cannot be redistributed due to licensing issues; it is available as a free download from the public<br>
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Nero web-site. Note: LameXP does NOT use/need any "external" audio decoders. It neither requires nor supports<br>
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any ACM Codecs or DirectShow/DMO filters! And it will NOT install anything of that kind on your system.<br><br>
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<br><br>
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<a name="be0a8459"><b>What platforms does LameXP run on?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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LameXP is currently being developed and tested on the following platforms:<br><ul>
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<li>Microsoft Windows XP, Service Pack 3
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<li>Microsoft Windows 7, 32-Bit and 64-Bit editions
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<li>Microsoft Windows 2000, Service Pack 4</ul>
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<br>
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The following platforms should work as well, but aren't tested extensively:<br><ul>
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<li>Microsoft Windows Vista, 32-Bit and 64-Bit editions
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<li>Microsoft Windows Server 2008
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<li>Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
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<li>GNU/Linux using Wine (native Linux version planned)</ul>
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<br>
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The following platforms are NOT supported any longer:<br><ul>
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<li>Microsoft Windows 95
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<li>Microsoft Windows 98
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<li>Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition</ul>
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<br><br>
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<a name="29065b86"><b>What output formats (encoders) does LameXP support?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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Currently the following output formats are supported by LameXP:<br><ul>
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<li>MPEG Audio-Layer III (MP3), using the LAME encoder [built-in]
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<li>Ogg Vorbis, using the OggEnc2/libvorbis encoder [built-in]
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<li>Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), using Nero AAC encoder [available as separate download]
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<li>Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) [built-in]
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<li>Uncompressed PCM / Waveform Audio File (WAV/RIFF)</ul>
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<br><br>
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<a name="4e398a46"><b>What input formats (decoders) does LameXP support?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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Currently the following input formats are supported by LameXP:<br><ul>
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<li>AC-3 (ATSC A/52), using Valib decoder [built-in]
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<li>Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), using FAAD decoder [built-in]
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<li>Apple Lossless (ALAC)
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<li>Apple/SGI AIFF
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<li>Digital Theater System, using Valib decoder [built-in]
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<li>Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC)
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<li>Microsoft ADPCM
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<li>Monkey's Audio (APE)
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<li>MPEG Audio-Layer I (MP1), using mpg123 decoder [built-in]
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<li>MPEG Audio-Layer II (MP2), using mpg123 decoder [built-in]
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<li>MPEG Audio-Layer III (MP3), using mpg123 decoder [built-in]
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<li>Musepack
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<li>Shorten
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<li>Speex
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<li>Sun/NeXT Au
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<li>The True Audio (TTA)
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<li>Uncompressed PCM / Waveform Audio File (WAV/RIFF)
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<li>WavPack Hybrid Lossless Audio
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<li>Windows Media Audio (WMA), using NCH Software decoder [available as separate download]</ul>
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<br><br>
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<a name="96205e91"><b>My anti-virus program raises an alarm when I try to download/install/launch LameXP. Why is that?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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Occasionally your anti-virus program may mistakenly(!) detect "malware" (e.g. virus, trojan horse or worm) in<br>
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LameXP. This is called a "false positive" and the file is actually innocent/clean. It's an error in your<br>
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specific anti-virus software. So in case you encounter such problems, please use <a href="http://www.virustotal.com/" target="_blank">http://www.virustotal.com/</a>,<br>
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<a href="http://www.virscan.org/" target="_blank">http://www.virscan.org/</a> or a similar online-service to check the file in question with multiple(!) anti-virus<br>
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engines. Especially take care with scan results like "suspicious", "generic" or "packed", as such results are<br>
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NOT confirmed malware detections and in almost any case they can be ignored/discarded safely!<br>
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<br>
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Apparently anti-virus programs tend to suspect installers or uninstallers created with <a href="http://nsis.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">NSIS</a>. Furthermore some<br>
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anti-virus programs blindly suspect all "packed" executables of being malware. Obviously that is a stupid<br>
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generalization, so please ignore these nasty warnings! Last but not least: Always keep in mind that LameXP is<br>
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OpenSource software. If you don't trust the provided pre-compiled binaries, simply download the <a href="#982cf1c0">source codes</a>,<br>
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search the code for "malicious" functions (you won't find any!) and then <a href="#a0c1e92b">compile</a> your own binary.<br>
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<br>
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Conclusion:<ul>
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<li>IN CASE YOU HAVE A CONFIRMED INFECTION, RE-DOWNLOAD THE FILE FROM ONE OF THE *OFFICIAL* MIRRORS!
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<li>DO NOT SEND US VIRUS REPORTS, UNLESS YOU HAVE VERIFIED THE INFECTION WITH MULTIPLE ANTI-VIRUS ENGINES!
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<li>PLEASE REPORT "FALSE POSITIVES" TO THE DEVELOPER OF YOUR ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE. WE CANNOT FIX THEM!</ul>
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<br><br>
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<a name="fd53d98a"><b>Who created LameXP?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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LameXP was written from the scratch by LoRd_MuldeR <MuldeR2@GMX.de>. However it has to be noted that LameXP<br>
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uses a number of third-party tools, which have been created by the individual authors. Moreover various<br>
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people have contributed LameXP translations. Please see the "About" dialog for details!<br><br>
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<br><br>
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<a name="de1c5e44"><b>What license is LameXP released under?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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LameXP is free software. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public<br>
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License (GPL) as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your<br>
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option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY<br>
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WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.<br>
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<br>
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Please see the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html" target="_blank">GNU General Public License</a> for more details!<br><br>
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<br><br>
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<a name="303e5fa7"><b>Do I have to pay for LameXP? / How can I donate to the authors of LameXP?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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LameXP is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software" target="_blank">free software</a>, so you may use it for free and for any purpose. Moreover the authors of LameXP<br>
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currently do NOT accept any donations. Therefore you should NOT pay or donate any money in order to obtain<br>
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LameXP! However it was brought to our attention that some dubious third-party web-sites offer "payed"<br>
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downloads of LameXP and/or include Adware into the LameXP download. We do NOT cooperate with any of these<br>
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sites. So if you pay for the LameXP download, the authors of LameXP will not get a single cent! Instead you<br>
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should save your money and download LameXP from one of the official mirrors (see below), which is 100% free.<br>
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<br>
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If you want to support the development of LameXP, you can do so by contributing translations and/or code :-)<br><br>
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<br><br>
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<a name="71a113b0"><b>How do I enable AAC/MP4/M4A output (encoding) in LameXP?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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LameXP uses the Nero AAC Encoder for creating AAC/MP4/M4A files. The Nero AAC Encoder is available as a free<br>
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download. However the license doesn't allow redistribution! Therefore we can NOT ship the Nero encoder along<br>
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with LameXP. Instead you will have to obtain the Nero encoder as a separate download from the official "Nero<br>
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Digital" web-site. Currently you'll find the latest Nero AAC Encoder version at this location:<br><ul>
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<li><a href="http://www.nero.com/deu/downloads-nerodigital-nero-aac-codec.php" target="_blank">http://www.nero.com/deu/downloads-nerodigital-nero-aac-codec.php</a></ul>
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<br>
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After you have downloaded the Nero AAC Encoder as a ZIP file, you must "install" the encoder binaries, so<br>
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LameXP can use them. Simply unzip the files 'neroAacEnc.exe', 'neroAacDec.exe' as well as 'neroAacTag.exe' to<br>
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the same directory where your LameXP executable ('LameXP.exe') is located. For unzipping the ZIP file you can<br>
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use any suitable archiver, such as <a href="http://rarlabs.com/download.htm" target="_blank">WinRAR</a> or <a href="http://sevenzip.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">7-Zip</a>. Once the required Nero encoder binaries are located in<br>
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the LameXP directory, the AAC encoding option should be "enabled" on the next startup of LameXP.<br><br>
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<br><br>
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<a name="126abc5a"><b>Is there a way to output ".m4a" or ".aac" files with LameXP?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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LameXP uses the Nero AAC Encoder for AAC encoding. And the Nero encoder always puts the AAC streams into an<br>
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MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14) container - in almost any case that is exactly what you want/need! The one and only<br>
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"correct" file extension for MP4 files is '.mp4'. However sometimes the "incorrect" file extension '.m4a' is<br>
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used to indicate "audio-only" MP4 files. Even worse: There are some buggy (hardware) players that will<br>
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recognize MP4 audio file only with the "incorrect" .m4a extension, but NOT with the "correct" .mp4 extension.<br>
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Of course LameXP will save your MP4 files with the "correct" .mp4 extension. But if you need your MP4 files<br>
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with an .m4a extension for some reason, you can simply rename(!) these files. This isn't more or less<br>
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"incorrect" than saving the files as .m4a directly. After all, an MP4 file remains an MP4 file.<br>
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<br>
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Having said that, you should NOT rename any .mp4 or .m4a files to .aac, because these are MP4 files and NOT<br>
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"raw" AAC streams. The Nero AAC encoder has NO option to output "raw" AAC streams and usually you don't need<br>
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such streams. Still, if you want to extract the "raw" AAC stream from an MP4 file, you can use <a href="http://www.videohelp.com/tools/mp4box" target="_blank">MP4Box</a>.<br><br>
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<br><br>
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<a name="ebf016ab"><b>How do I enable WMA input (decoding) in LameXP?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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WMA input requires the WMA decoder component to be installed on your local computer. Usually LameXP will show<br>
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a warning on startup, if the WMA decoder component could not be found. In that case you can simply choose<br>
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"Download & Install" in order to install the WMA decoder component on your system. Alternatively you can<br>
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also install the WMA decoder component manually by choosing "Install WMA Decoder" from the "Tools" menu. In<br>
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any case you must restart LameXP after the WMA decoder component has been installed.<br>
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<br>
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It has to be noted that the WMA decoder component relies on the Windows Media Format Runtime. All supported<br>
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versions of Microsoft Windows should have the Windows Media Format Runtime installed out of the box. However<br>
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Wine does not! In case you encounter problems with the WMA decoder component, try downloading and installing<br>
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the <a href="http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Windows_Media_Format_11.htm" target="_blank">Windows Media Format 11 Runtime</a> manually. This should also work under Linux/Wine.<br><br>
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<br><br>
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<a name="9fd53558"><b>How can I use LameXP as a "portable" application?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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LameXP always is "portable", in the sense that the application works out of the box: LameXP does NOT require<br>
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any additional software, such as codecs, encoders, decoders or runtime libraries, and it will NOT install<br>
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anything of that kind on your local computer! All the third-party tools used by LameXP are already built-in.<br>
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There currently are two notable exceptions: The Nero AAC encoder and the WMA decoder cannot be redistributed<br>
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along with LameXP for legal reasons. Therefore these tools have to be obtained as separate downloads.<br>
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<br>
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Having said that, LameXP stores its configuration file in the <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd378457(v=vs.85).aspx#FOLDERID_LocalAppData" target="_blank">%LOCALAPPDATA%</a> folder on the local computer.<br>
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That's because on a modern multi-user operating this is the only "correct" folder to store user-specific<br>
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configuration files. Also it's one of the few folders where an application is guaranteed to get write-access,<br>
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even when the application was launched by a "normal" (non-admin) user and did not request elevated rights.<br>
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Storing the configuration file in the "install" folder is antiquated and highly error-prone.<br>
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<br>
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Still some users may want to store the configuration file in the same folder as the LameXP executable file,<br>
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e.g. when launching LameXP directly from their USB stick on different computers. For this purpose LameXP now<br>
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offers a "true" portable mode. You can enable that mode simply by renaming the LameXP executable file to<br>
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"LameXP-Portable.exe". But be aware: When running LameXP in the "portable" mode, the user(!) must ensure that<br>
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write-access is granted to the directory where the LameXP executable is located.<br><br>
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<br><br>
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<a name="df406578"><b>The LameXP startup (splash screen) takes very long on my system. What can I do?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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Starting up LameXP shouldn't take longer than approximately 10 seconds. However it was brought to our<br>
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attention that badly optimized anti-virus software can slow down the startup procedure a lot! On our test<br>
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system (Windows 7 running on an Intel Core2 Q6600 with 4 GB of RAM) starting up LameXP takes about 3 seconds<br>
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without an anti-virus software and about 6 seconds with the "real-time protection" of Microsoft Security<br>
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Essentials enabled. With other anti-virus software the startup was delayed up to 20 seconds and more!<br>
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<br>
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So if you think that LameXP is starting up too slow on your system, you should temporarily(!) disable or<br>
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uninstall your current anti-virus program and try again. Usually it should be sufficient to disable only the<br>
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"real-time protection", "file system protection" or "guard" feature of your anti-virus software. If it turns<br>
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out that the startup is significantly(!) faster WITHOUT the anti-virus software, please report the problem to<br>
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the developer of the anti-virus software. And, if they don't fix the problem, switch to a better product!<br><br>
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<br><br>
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<a name="9b0a5c32"><b>Why does application 'xyz' not open the Wave files created by LameXP?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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Some of the decoders used in LameXP will insert an additional 'JUNK' chunk into the Wave/RIFF file, right<br>
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before the 'fmt' chunk ("Wave header"). There are technical reasons why this 'JUNK' chunk (placeholder) might<br>
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be needed at the beginning of the file. The 'JUNK' type is a standard RIFF type and, by definition of the<br>
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RIFF file format specification, any reading application must ignore/skip all 'JUNK' chunks it may encounter!<br>
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Evidently most reading applications do so and thus will correctly open the Wave file. Unfortunately it was<br>
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brought to our attention that there are a few broken(!) applications, which reject Wave/RIFF files with an<br>
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additional 'JUNK' chunk in front of the 'fmt' chunk. It seems that these applications make false assumptions<br>
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and expect the 'fmt' chunk to be located at a fixed position, rather than actually parsing the RIFF structure.<br>
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<br>
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While it is evident that applications, which reject the Wave/RIFF file because of the extra 'JUNK' chunk, are<br>
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broken with respect to the RIFF specification and should be fixed by the respective author, there is an easy<br>
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workaround: Re-saving the Wave/RIFF file with <a href="http://sox.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">SoX</a> creates a file that even the broken applications seem to<br>
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accept, as SoX apparently doesn't insert any 'JUNK' chunks (although it would be free to do so!) Re-saving<br>
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your Wave file with SoX does NOT change the actual content at all, as long as no additional filters are used.<br>
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<br>
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You can use a command-line like this:<br>
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<blockquote>sox.exe "c:\some path\input.wav" "c:\some path\output.wav"</blockquote>
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<br><br>
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<a name="89cbd3d0"><b>Why does LameXP run only 'n' parallel instances/threads on my computer?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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By default LameXP will detect the number of CPU cores that are available on your system and run as many<br>
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encoder/decoder instances in parallel as CPU cores are available. This is done in order to maximize the CPU<br>
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usage on modern multi-core processors and thus speed up the overall encoding process. However be aware that<br>
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the number of instances that can run in parallel is also limited by the number of files you are converting.<br>
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Consequently the number of instances that will run in parallel is the minimum(!) of the number of CPU cores<br>
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and the number of files to convert. Moreover the number of parallel instances is currently bounded at four!<br>
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<br>
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Limiting the maximum number of parallel instances to exactly four might seem somewhat arbitrary. But the more<br>
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instances are running in parallel, the more instances will be competing for the hard disk. At some point this<br>
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will result in "HDD trashing" and actually slow down the encoding process! The limit will prevent this<br>
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situation on computers with a lot of CPU cores. If, however, you want to use even more (or fewer) instances,<br>
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then you can use LameXP's option to manually overwrite the maximum number of parallel instances/threads.<br>
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<br>
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Also be aware that LameXP only controls the number of instances that will run in parallel, but it does NOT<br>
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control how many threads an individual instance will create! Some encoders use "built-in" multi-threading and<br>
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thus will create several threads for a single encoder instance.<br><br>
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<br><br>
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<a name="8dba381f"><b>How can I translate LameXP to my language or improve an existing translation?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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Please see the guide for translators at:<br><ul>
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<li><a href="http://mulder.brhack.net/public/doc/lamexp_translate.html" target="_blank">http://mulder.brhack.net/public/doc/lamexp_translate.html</a></ul>
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<br><br>
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<a name="8dba381f"><b>Where can I download the latest version of LameXP?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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The latest "official" release of LameXP can be found on the following mirrors:<br><ul>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP/downloads" target="_blank">https://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP/downloads</a>
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<li><a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/lamexp/files/" target="_blank">http://sourceforge.net/projects/lamexp/files/</a>
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<li><a href="http://code.google.com/p/mulder/downloads/list" target="_blank">http://code.google.com/p/mulder/downloads/list</a></ul>
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<br><br>
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<a name="9c2e273d"><b>Where can I submit bug reports or feature requests?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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The preferred place to report bugs or request new features is the LameXP thread at Doom9's Forum:<br><ul>
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<li><a href="http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=157726" target="_blank">http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=157726</a> (English)
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<li><a href="http://forum.gleitz.info/showthread.php?t=37956" target="_blank">http://forum.gleitz.info/showthread.php?t=37956</a> (German)</ul>
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<br>
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Please do NOT send me E-Mail unless you really have to! I receive a LOT of E-Mail and your mail can get lost!<br><br>
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<br><br>
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<a name="982cf1c0"><b>Where can I find the LameXP source code?</b></a><br>
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<br>
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LameXP is developed using the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_(software)" target="_blank">Git</a> revision control system. The LameXP Git repository is mirrored at:<br><ul>
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<li><a href="git://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP.git" target="_blank">git://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP.git</a>
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<li><a href="git://lamexp.git.sourceforge.net/gitroot/lamexp/lamexp" target="_blank">git://lamexp.git.sourceforge.net/gitroot/lamexp/lamexp</a>
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<li><a href="git://gitorious.org/lamexp/lamexp.git" target="_blank">git://gitorious.org/lamexp/lamexp.git</a></ul>
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<br><br>
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<a name="a0c1e92b"><b>What are the prerequisites to build LameXP from the sources?</b></a><br>
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LameXP is currently being developed using the following build environment:<br><ul>
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<li>Visual Studio 2008, Service Pack 1
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<li>Qt libraries v4.7.1 for Windows (VS 2008)
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<li>Microsoft Windows SDK v7.1</ul>
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<br>
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Also note the following hints:<br><ul>
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<li>You must launch Visual Studio using "qtvars.bat vsstart" in order to enable the Qt tools
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<li>The Microsoft Windows SDK v6.0A should work as well, with a few limitations
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<li>In order to make a fully "static" build of LameXP, you need to compile Qt as static libraries
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<li>Support for the GNU Toolchain (GCC/MinGW + Make) is planned for a future version</ul>
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