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LameXP/doc/FAQ.html
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<head><title>LameXP - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)</title></head>
<body><tt>
<h3>LameXP - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)</h3><br>
<b>What is LameXP ???</b><br>
<br>
LameXP is a graphical user-interface for a number of audio encoders. It was developed to support a huge<br>
number of input formats. File formats are detected reliably using MediaInfo. Compressed audio formats are<br>
decoded to uncompressed Wave files using suitable CLI audio decoders. Furthermore LameXP allows batch<br>
processing of multiple audio files. Multithreading is implemented by processing several audio files<br>
concurrently. All the third-party tools incorporated in LameXP are listed in the "About" dialog. The Nero AAC<br>
encoder cannot be redistribited due to licensing issues; it is availabel as a free download from the public<br>
Nero web-site. Note: LameXP does NOT use/need any "external" audio decoders. It neither requires nor supports<br>
any ACM Codecs or DirectShow/DMO filters! And it will NOT install anything of that kind on your system.<br><br>
<br><br>
<b>What platforms does LameXP run on?</b><br>
<br>
LameXP is currently being develped and tested on the following platforms:<br><ul>
<li>Microsoft Windows XP, Service Pack 3
<li>Microsoft Windows 7, 32-Bit and 64-Bit editions
<li>Microsoft Windows 2000, Service Pack 4</ul>
<br>
The following platforms should work as well, but aren't tested extensively:<br><ul>
<li>Microsoft Windows Vista, 32-Bit and 64-Bit editions
<li>Microsoft Windows Server 2008
<li>Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
<li>GNU/Linux using Wine (native Linux version planned)</ul>
<br>
The following platforms are NOT supported any longer:<br><ul>
<li>Microsoft Windows 95
<li>Microsoft Windows 98
<li>Micorosft Windows Millenium Edition</ul>
<br><br>
<b>What output formats (encoders) does LameXP support?</b><br>
<br>
Currently the follwing output formats are supported by LameXP:<br><ul>
<li>MPEG Audio-Layer III (MP3), using the LAME encoder [built-in]
<li>Ogg Vorbis, using the OggEnc2/libvorbis encoder [built-in]
<li>Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), using Nero AAC encoder [available as separate download]
<li>Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) [built-in]
<li>Uncompressed PCM / Waveform Audio File (WAV/RIFF)</ul>
<br><br>
<b>What input formats (decoders) does LameXP support?</b><br>
<br>
Currently the follwing input formats are supported by LameXP:<br><ul>
<li>AC-3 (ATSC A/52), using Valib decoder [built-in]
<li>Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), using FAAD decoder [built-in]
<li>Apple Lossless (ALAC)
<li>Apple/SGI AIFF
<li>Digital Theater System, using Valib decoder [built-in]
<li>Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC)
<li>Microsoft ADPCM
<li>Monkey's Audio (APE)
<li>MPEG Audio-Layer I (MP1), using mpg123 decoder [built-in]
<li>MPEG Audio-Layer II (MP2), using mpg123 decoder [built-in]
<li>MPEG Audio-Layer III (MP3), using mpg123 decoder [built-in]
<li>Musepack
<li>Shorten
<li>Speex
<li>Sun/NeXT Au
<li>The True Audio (TTA)
<li>Uncompressed PCM / Waveform Audio File (WAV/RIFF)
<li>WavPack Hybrid Lossless Audio
<li>Windows Media Audio (WMA), using NCH Software decoder [available as separate download]</ul>
<br><br>
<b>My anti-virus program raises an alarm when I try to download/install/launch LameXP. Why is that?</b><br>
<br>
Occasionally your anti-virus program may mistakenly detect "malware" (virus, trojan, worm, etc.) in some of<br>
the files here. This is called a "false-positive" and the files are actually innocent/clean. It's an error in<br>
your specific anti-virus software. In case you encounter such problems, goto <a href="http://www.virustotal.com/" target="_blank">http://www.virustotal.com/</a> and<br>
check the file with multiple anti-virus engines! Moreover take care with results like "suspicious", "generic"<br>
or "packed". Those are *not* real malware detections, they are just wild speculation.<br>
<br>
Apparently anti-virus programs tend to suspect installers/uninstaller created with NSIS. Furthermore some<br>
anti-virus programs blindly suspect all UPX'd (packed) executables of being malware. Obviously this is a<br>
stupid generalization, so please ignore those warnings! Last but not least: Always keep in mind that this is<br>
OpenSource software. If you don't trust the people providing the pre-compiled binaries, download the source<br>
code, search the code for "malicious" functions (good luck ^^) and compile your own binary.<br>
<br>
DON'T SUBMIT ANY VIRUS REPORTS, UNLESS YOU HAVE VERIFIED THE INFECTION WITH MULTIPLE ANTI-VIRUS ENGNINES!<br><br>
<br><br>
<b>Who created LameXP?</b><br>
<br>
LameXP was written from the scratch by LoRd_MuldeR &lt;MuldeR2@GMX.de&gt;. However it has to be noted that LameXP<br>
uses a number of thrird-party tools, which have been created by the individual authors. Moreover various<br>
people have contributed LameXP translations. Please see the "About" dialog for details!<br><br>
<br><br>
<b>What license is LameXP released under?</b><br>
<br>
LameXP is free software. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public<br>
License (GPL) as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your<br>
option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY<br>
WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.<br>
<br>
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>
<br><br>
<b>Do I have to pay for LameXP? / How can I donate to the authors of LameXP?</b><br>
<br>
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>
currently do NOT accept any donations. Therefore you should NOT pay or donate any money in order to obtain<br>
LameXP! However it was brought to our attention that some dubious thrid-party web-sites offer "payed"<br>
downloads of LameXP and/or include Adware into the LameXP download. We do NOT cooperate with any of these<br>
sites. So if you pay for the LameXP download, the authors of LameXP will not get a single cent! Instead you<br>
should save your money and download LameXP from one of the official mirrors (see below), which is 100% free.<br>
<br>
If you want to support the development of LameXP, you can do so by contributing translations and/or code :-)<br><br>
<br><br>
<b>How do I enable AAC/MP4/M4A output (encoding) in LameXP?</b><br>
<br>
LameXP uses the Nero AAC Encoder for creating AAC/MP4/M4A files. The Nero AAC Encoder is available as a free<br>
download. However the license doesn't allow redistribution! Therefore we can NOT ship the Nero encoder along<br>
with LameXP. Instead you will have to obtain the Nero encoder as a separate download from the official "Nero<br>
Digital" web-site. Currently you'll find the latest Nero AAC Encoder version at this location:<br><ul>
<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>
<br>
After you have downloaded the Nero AAC Encoder as a ZIP file, you must "install" the encoder binaires, so<br>
LameXP can use them. Simply unzip the files 'neroAacEnc.exe', 'neroAacDec.exe' as well as 'neroAacTag.exe' to<br>
the same directory where your LameXP executable ('LameXP.exe') is located. For unzipping the ZIP file you can<br>
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>
the LameXP directory, the AAC encoding option should be "enabled" on the next startup of LameXP.<br><br>
<br><br>
<b>Is there a way to output ".aac" or ".m4a" files with LameXP?</b><br>
<br>
LameXP uses the Nero AAC Encoder for AAC encoding. And the Nero encoder always puts the AAC streams into an<br>
MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14) container - in almost any case that is exactly what you want/need! The one and only<br>
"correct" file extension for MP4 files is '.mp4'. However sometimes the "incorrect" file extension '.m4a' is<br>
used to indicate "audio-only" MP4 files. Even worse: There are some buggy (hardware) players that will<br>
recognize MP4 audio file only with the "incorrect" .m4a extension, but NOT with the "correct" .mp4 extension.<br>
Of course LameXP will save your MP4 files with the "correct" .mp4 extension. But if you need your MP4 files<br>
with an .m4a extension for some reason, you can simply rename(!) these files. This isn't more or less<br>
"incorrect" than saving the files with an .m4a directly. After all, an MP4 file remains an MP4 file.<br>
<br>
Having said that, you should NOT rename any .mp4 or .m4a files to .aac, because these are MP4 files and NOT<br>
"raw" AAC streams. The Nero AAC encoder has NO option to output "raw" AAC streams and usually you don't need<br>
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>
<br><br>
<b>How do I enable WMA input (decoding) in LameXP?</b><br>
<br>
WMA input requires the WMA decoder component to be installed on your local computer. Usually LameXP will show<br>
a warning on startup, if the WMA decoder component could not be found. In that case you can simply choose<br>
"Download &amp; Install" in order to install the WMA decoder component on your system. Alternatively you can<br>
also install the WMA decoder component manually by choosing "Install WMA Decoder" from the "Tools" menu. In<br>
any case you must restart LameXP after the WMA decoder component has been installed.<br>
<br>
It has to be noted that the WMA decoder component relies on the Windows Media Format Runtime. All supported<br>
versions of Microsoft Windows should have the Windows Media Format Runtime installed out of the box. However<br>
Wine does not! In case you encounter problems with the WMA decoder component, try downloading and installing<br>
the <a href="http://www.citizeninsomniac.com/WMV/wmfdist11.exe" target="_blank">Windows Media Format 11 Runtime</a> manually. This should also work under Linux/Wine.<br><br>
<br><br>
<b>How can I use LameXP as a "portable" application?</b><br>
<br>
LameXP always is "portable", in the sense that the application works out of the box: LameXP does NOT require<br>
any additional software, such as codecs, encoders, decoders or runtime libraries, and it will NOT install<br>
anything of that kind on your local computer! All the third-party tools used by LameXP are already built-in.<br>
There currently are two notable exceptions: The Nero AAC encoder and the WMA decoder cannot be redistributed<br>
along with LameXP for legal reasons. Therefore these tools have to be obtained as separate downloads.<br>
<br>
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>
That's because on a modern multi-user operating this is the only "correct" folder to store user-specific<br>
configuration files. Also it's one of the few folders where an application is guaranteed to get write-access,<br>
even when the application was launched by a "normal" (non-admin) user and did not request elevated rights.<br>
Storing the configuration file in the "install" folder is antiquated and highly error-prone.<br>
<br>
Still some users may want to store the configuration file in the same folder as the LameXP execuatble file,<br>
e.g. when launching LameXP directly from their USB stick on different computers. For this purpose LameXP now<br>
offers a "true" portable mode. You can enable that mode simply by renaming the LameXP executable file to<br>
"LameXP-Portable.exe". But be aware: When running LameXP in the "portable" mode, the user(!) must ensure that<br>
write-access is granted to the directory where the LameXP exectable is located.<br><br>
<br><br>
<b>The LameXP startup (splash screen) takes very long on my system. What can I do?</b><br>
<br>
Starting up LameXP shouldn't take longer than approximately 10 seconds. However it was brought to our<br>
attention that badly optimized anti-virus software can slow down the startup procedure a lot! On our test<br>
system (Windows 7 running on an Intel Core2 Q6600 with 4 GB of RAM) starting up LameXP takes about 3 seconds<br>
without an anti-virus software and about 6 seconds with the "real-time protection" of Micorosft Security<br>
Essentials enabled. With other anti-virus software the startup was delayed up to 20 seconds and more!<br>
<br>
So if you think that LameXP is starting up too slow on your system, you should temporarily(!) disable or<br>
uninstall your current anti-virus program and try again. Usually it should be sufficient to disable only the<br>
"real-time protection", "file system protection" or "guard" feature of your anti-virus software. If it turns<br>
out that the startup is signficanntly(!) faster WITHOUT the anti-virus software, please report the problem to<br>
the developer of the anti-virus software. And, if they don't fix the problem, switch to a better product!<br><br>
<br><br>
<b>Why does application 'xyz' not open the Wave files created by LameXP?</b><br>
<br>
Some of the decoders used in LameXP will insert an additional 'JUNK' chunk into the Wave/RIFF file, right<br>
before the 'fmt' chunk ("Wave header"). There are technical reasons why this 'JUNK' chunk (placeholder) might<br>
be needed at the beginning of the file. The 'JUNK' type is a standard RIFF type and, by definition of the<br>
RIFF file format specification, any reading application must ignore/skip all 'JUNK' chunks it may encounter!<br>
Evidently most reading applications do so and thus will correctly open the Wave file. Unfortunately it was<br>
brought to our attention that there are a few broken(!) applications, which reject Wave/RIFF files with an<br>
additional 'JUNK' chunk in front of the 'fmt' chunk. It seems that these applications make false assumptions<br>
and expect the 'fmt' chunk to be located at a fixed postion, rather than actually parsing the RIFF structure.<br>
<br>
While it is evident that applications, which reject the Wave/RIFF file because of the extra 'JUNK' chunk, are<br>
broken with respect to the RIFF specification and should be fixed by the respective author, there is an easy<br>
workaround: Re-saving the Wave/RIFF file with SoX creates a file that even the broken applications seem to<br>
accept, as SoX apparently doesn't insert any 'JUNK' chunks (although it would be free to do so!) Re-saving<br>
your Wave file with SoX does NOT change the actual content at all, as long as no additional filters are used.<br>
<br>
You can use a command-line like this:<br>
<dir>sox.exe "c:\some path\input.wav" "c:\some path\output.wav"</dir>
<br><br>
<b>How can I translate LameXP to my language or improve an existing translation?</b><br>
<br>
Please see the guide for translators at:<br><ul>
<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>
<br><br>
<b>Where can I download the latest version of LameXP?</b><br>
<br>
The latest "official" release of LameXP can be found on the following mirrors:<br><ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP/downloads" target="_blank">https://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP/downloads</a>
<li><a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/lamexp/files/" target="_blank">http://sourceforge.net/projects/lamexp/files/</a>
<li><a href="http://code.google.com/p/mulder/downloads/list" target="_blank">http://code.google.com/p/mulder/downloads/list</a></ul>
<br><br>
<b>Where can I submit bug reports or feature requests?</b><br>
<br>
The preferred place to report bugs or request new features is the LameXP thread at Doom9's Forum:<br><ul>
<li><a href="http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=157726" target="_blank">http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=157726</a></ul>
<br><br>
<b>Where can I find the LameXP source code?</b><br>
<br>
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>
<li><a href="git://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP.git" target="_blank">git://github.com/lordmulder/LameXP.git</a>
<li><a href="git://lamexp.git.sourceforge.net/gitroot/lamexp/lamexp" target="_blank">git://lamexp.git.sourceforge.net/gitroot/lamexp/lamexp</a>
<li><a href="git://gitorious.org/lamexp/lamexp.git" target="_blank">git://gitorious.org/lamexp/lamexp.git</a></ul>
<br><br>
<b>What are the prerequisites to build LameXP from the sources?</b><br>
<br>
LameXP is currently being developed using the following build environment:<br><ul>
<li>Visual Studio 2008, Service Pack 1
<li>Qt libraries v4.7.1 for Windows (VS 2008)
<li>Microsoft Windows SDK v7.1</ul>
<br>
Also note the following hints:<br><ul>
<li>You must launch Visual Studio using "qtvars.bat vsstart" in order to enable the Qt tools
<li>The Microsoft Windows SDK v6.0A should work as well, with a few limitations
<li>In order to make a fully "static" build of LameXP, you need to compile Qt as static libraries
<li>Support for the GNU Toolchain (GCC/MinGW + Make) is planned for a future version</ul>
<br><br>
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