platterpus 0.4.21

A secure, EAC-style CD ripper for Linux (FLAC, WAV, WavPack, MP3)

Platterpus

A secure, EAC-style CD ripper for Linux (FLAC, WAV, WavPack, MP3). Aims for EAC-equivalent (Exact Audio Copy) archival quality on Linux, packaged as a single-file AppImage. It drives the cyanrip ripping engine and verifies every rip against AccurateRip and CTDB.

Status: v0.4.x — public pre-release. Implemented end-to-end with 1,600+ tests (including a full-pipeline end-to-end test) at ~93% branch coverage (91% enforced in CI), and validated on real Bazzite hardware (Pioneer BDR-209D): a full 16-track rip through the published AppImage with every Test CRC matching its Copy CRC, plus AccurateRip-verified archival results on a pressed disc (12 of 14 tracks exact at confidence 200, the other 2 offset-variant matches). Highlights: no-terminal first-run setup (the AppImage adds itself to your menu; a guided wizard installs the ripping stack), read-offset auto-fill from the bundled AccurateRip drive list (no disc needed), cyanrip as the single ripping backend (actively maintained, no >587 read-offset bug — whipper was retired, see KDD-18), multiple output formats (FLAC is always the lossless master; WavPack/MP3/WAV are derived from it), goal presets (Fast verified / Archival exact / Portable) that anchor the settings to your intent, an at-a-glance verification verdict (AccurateRip + CTDB) with a machine-readable JSON rip report written beside the log, a per-drive read-offset trust line showing where the offset came from and how confident we are, true in-app updates (download → checksum-verify → self-restart), cover art from the Cover Art Archive, an EAC-compatible companion log with a per-track EAC CRC32 column in the results table, and software-version provenance (Platterpus + encoder versions) recorded in the log header and the window title. This is an early release for wider testing — expect rough edges, and please open an issue for anything you hit.

At a glance

• Linux only. Primary target is Bazzite KDE Plasma 6; should work on any modern desktop Linux running Qt 6 (Fedora, Arch, Ubuntu, Tumbleweed).
• Runs cyanrip inside Distrobox. The GUI calls the host-exported cyanrip binary; it never bundles cyanrip or tries to install it itself (the guided wizard provisions the container). This is intentional — see PLANNING.md §8 KDD-07.
• Single-file AppImage for the GUI itself; no system-level installs required.
• No terminal prompts from the ripper — the GUI queries MusicBrainz directly, then runs cyanrip offline with the chosen release's tags, so its interactive prompt never surfaces.
• Choose your output format — FLAC (default), WavPack, MP3, or WAV. FLAC is always produced as the lossless master; other formats are derived from it, so you never lose the archival copy. See Audio output.
• Distribution model: AppImage primary, pipx secondary.

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Capability & EAC-parity matrix

Where Platterpus stands against EAC-equivalent archival quality: what it has, what's missing, whether each gap is closeable, and — if closing it needs an upstream pull request — from which project's maintainer. ✅ have it · ⚠️ partial · ❌ not yet. Maintainers: cyanreg = cyanrip, rocky = libcdio-paranoia, itismadness = OPS/Orpheus Logchecker.

Capability	Status	Reachable? — how / who
Bit-perfect audio, CRC-provable	✅	Have it — AccurateRip + CTDB CRCs
AccurateRip verify (v1 + v2)	✅	Have it
CTDB audio-CRC verify	⚠️	Yes — CRC algorithm being corrected; Platterpus code, no PR
EAC-style log + per-track EAC CRC32 column + software-version provenance	✅	Have it
MusicBrainz tags · front/back/booklet art · UPC/catalog/label · ReplayGain	✅	Have it
AppImage · zero-terminal setup · in-app update · FLAC master + WavPack/MP3/WAV	✅	Have it
Gap / INDEX 00 pre-gap detection + HTOA (hidden track)	❌	Yes — cdrdao read-toc subprocess (no PR), and/or cyanrip PR #115 (cyanreg)
Test & Copy (two full passes)	⚠️	Partial — cyanrip -Z re-read consensus (a stronger guarantee); optional PR to cyanreg, low value
Cache-defeat verdict	⚠️	"Attempted, not measured" — optional self-test PR to cyanreg; low priority
C2 error pointers	✅*	Aligned with EAC archival best practice — which disables C2. The perfect-rip guide leaves C2 unchecked even when the drive supports it (drives falsely report clean reads while dropping C2 internally); the archival path relies on re-reads + AccurateRip/CTDB. So "no C2" is correct, not a gap
Signed EAC log checksum	❌	Never — signing our log as EAC forges provenance (bannable fake log). No PR, ever
Elite-tracker (RED/OPS/Orpheus) log acceptance	❌	Out of scope — identity-walled (checkers score cyanrip 0 regardless of audio). Honest path: re-add whipper, or a 2-PR chain cyanreg → itismadness (low odds)

In short: everything that proves a good archival rip — bit-perfect audio, AccurateRip, tags, art, provenance — is in place. The one clearly-worth-doing gap is gap/INDEX-00 + HTOA (a cdrdao subprocess integration, no upstream PR needed). CTDB is a code fix in progress. The rest is either never (signed checksum = forgery), aligned with best practice (C2 stays off), or identity-walled (elite-tracker acceptance). Contributor detail: docs/upstream-pr-roadmap.md and docs/ripper-engine-strategy.md §10.

Point-by-point vs. the EAC "perfect rip" checklist

Mapped directly to the settings the Archival-Grade Extraction master guide calls out for EAC 1.8 (docs/archive/archival-extraction-guide-2026-06.md). ✅ matches · ⚠️ partial/in-progress · ➖ deliberately N/A.

EAC "perfect rip" setting	Platterpus / cyanrip equivalent	Match
Secure Mode — re-read sectors until statistical parity	cyanrip paranoia = max + -Z N consensus re-read (re-rips a track until N reads agree)	✅
Accurate Stream drive feature	assumed by the paranoia read path	✅
Drive caches audio data → flush cache between re-reads (cache-defeat)	libcdio-paranoia attempts cache-defeat; we report it "(unknown)" — attempted, not measured (KDD-25), never faked "Yes"	⚠️
C2 error info — leave UNCHECKED (disable, even if supported)	We don't use C2 → exactly what the guide prescribes	✅
Read sample offset correction	applied via cyanrip -s, value from the bundled AccurateRip drive DB (by model, e.g. +667) or manual entry — not EAC's on-disc "Key Disc" method, but the same corrected result	✅
Overread into Lead-In/Lead-Out — off unless firmware-verified	cyanrip overreads +2 frames, filled with silence (conservative)	✅
Allow speed reduction on scratches	cyanrip adaptive read-speed ladder	✅
Gap/Index — Detection Method A, Secure	cyanrip emits INDEX 00/pregaps from the TOC today; exact subchannel detection + HTOA is cyanrip PR #115 (in progress)	⚠️
AccurateRip verify	v1 + v2 (+ offset-variant)	✅
CTDB verify	present; CRC algorithm fix pending your hardware re-validation	⚠️
FLAC -8 -V -j (max compression + decode-verify + threads)	cyanrip FLAC → post-rip FLAC verify (decodes clean) + optional max-compression recompress	✅
WAV uncompressed baseline	WAV output (no tags — the UI warns)	✅
WavPack hybrid -c + -m -v	WavPack lossless (not the lossy+.wvc hybrid)	⚠️
LAME -V 0 -q 4 (dodge the r6147 noise_shaping_amp bug)	MP3 is encoded by ffmpeg VBR, not lame.exe -q 0..3 — so that LAME-specific footgun isn't in our path	➖
Vorbis / APEv2 / ID3 tags per format	FLAC→Vorbis (cyanrip), MP3/WavPack tags via ffmpeg	✅
Signed EAC log checksum	never — signing our log as EAC forges provenance	➖ (refused)

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Installation

Easiest — download one file, no terminal (recommended)

You don't need the command line. Download the GUI, double-click, and it sets itself up by asking a couple of questions.

1. Download platterpus-x86_64.AppImage from the Releases page (one file).
2. Allow it to run (a one-time Linux step — a downloaded program isn't runnable until you say so):
   • KDE (Dolphin): right-click the file → Properties → Permissions → tick Is executable → OK.
   • GNOME (Files): right-click → Properties → Permissions → enable Allow executing file as program.
3. Double-click it. On first launch it will offer to:
   • add Platterpus to your applications menu (so next time you just click it in the menu), and
   • set up the ripping tool — a guided wizard installs everything ripping needs (it may ask for your password once; on Bazzite/Silverblue it's instant). No terminal.
4. Then in the app: Tools → Set up drive… — your drive's read offset is filled in automatically; click Save offset. Insert a CD and Start.

That's the whole thing: one download, a couple of clicks, answer the prompts. (Updating later = download the new AppImage and replace the old one.)

Easy second option — one command with pipx

Comfortable with a terminal? A single copy-paste installs Platterpus from PyPI and puts it on your PATH (the GUI still runs the first-run wizard to set up the ripping stack):

pipx install platterpus    # then run:  platterpus

Don't have pipx? sudo dnf install pipx (Fedora/Bazzite) or sudo apt install pipx (Ubuntu/Debian). Upgrade later with pipx upgrade platterpus. (If it isn't on PyPI yet — before the first published release — see Method B for installing from a checkout.)

Why a wizard? Ripping runs through cyanrip inside a small container so it never touches your system (why). The first-run wizard sets that container up for you — the same work the scripts below do by hand.

Quickstart for testers / scripted install

Prefer one command? This installs the host stack (Distrobox + cyanrip) and the GUI, plus shortcuts:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rmccann-hub/Platterpus/main/install.sh | bash

Prefer to download and run it yourself? Grab install.sh from the Releases page, then bash install.sh. Useful flags: --dry-run (preview), --no-host (GUI only, host stack already set up), --appimage PATH (use a local AppImage). First run takes ~20–40 min because it builds the container.

Then, inside the GUI: Tools → Set up drive… to calibrate your drive's read offset (one time), insert a CD, and rip. To remove everything later, use the Uninstall Platterpus shortcut (or see Uninstalling).

Already have cyanrip + Distrobox set up (e.g. re-installing on the same machine, or installing the GUI on a second box that shares the stack)? Skip the host build and just add the GUI: curl -fsSL …/install.sh | bash -s -- --no-host (or bash install.sh --no-host).

Why two pieces under the hood? The GUI can't rip without the host stack — that's by design (why). install.sh just sets up both for you; you can still do each step by hand (below).

Supported distributions

The one-line installer works on any modern desktop Linux. It auto-detects your package manager to install Distrobox + podman; everything ripping-related runs in a Fedora container, so your host distro only needs Distrobox and a container backend.

Distro family	Auto-handled by the installer?	Notes
Fedora / Bazzite / Silverblue / RHEL / CentOS	✅ Fully	Bazzite & Silverblue ship Distrobox + podman already; nothing extra.
Ubuntu / Debian (24.04+)	✅ Fully	Installs podman too (the distrobox package only recommends it).
Linux Mint / Pop!_OS / elementary	✅ Fully	Ubuntu-based — same path as Ubuntu/Debian.
Arch / Manjaro / EndeavourOS	✅ Fully	Installs distrobox + podman via pacman.
openSUSE Leap / Tumbleweed	✅ Fully	Installs distrobox + podman via zypper.
Other / older distros	⚠️ Fallback	Uses Distrobox's official installer. Make sure podman (or docker) is present first.

If the installer can't set up the host stack on your distro, do the manual steps once — they work everywhere and are the source of truth.

The rest of this section is the long form — read it if the quickstart hits a snag or you'd rather do each step by hand.

Fast path — one command (Steps 1-4 + 7)

setup-host.sh automates the host setup: it installs Distrobox (if needed), creates the ripping container, installs cyanrip + flac inside it, exports the binaries to your host, then clones this repo and runs dev-setup.sh (venv + editable install + app-menu shortcut).

# From a fresh clone:
bash setup-host.sh

# …or straight from the web (no clone needed first):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rmccann-hub/Platterpus/main/setup-host.sh | bash

Useful flags: --dry-run (print every command, change nothing), --yes (skip confirmations), --no-gui (host stack only). It's idempotent — safe to re-run. It does not calibrate your drive (do that in the GUI: Tools → Set up drive…) or install Picard (the GUI offers that on first run).

Prefer to do it by hand, or the script hit a snag? The manual steps below are the source of truth.

Manual steps

There are five things to set up. Plan on 20-40 minutes the first time. Once it's done, you don't touch most of it again.

Step	What	Why
1	Install Distrobox	Provides an isolated Fedora environment for cyanrip
2	Create a ripping container	Where cyanrip actually lives
3	Install cyanrip + flac in the container	The tools that do the ripping
4	Export them to the host	So Platterpus can find them
5	Set your drive's read offset	One-time calibration for accurate rips
6	Install MusicBrainz Picard (optional)	Manual tag editing for unknown discs
7	Install Platterpus	This project

If a step doesn't behave as written: skip to the Troubleshooting section near the end of this README. The common surprises — "no drives found", cyanrip: command not found, HTTPS clone authentication failure — all have entries there.

Step 1 — Install Distrobox

Distrobox lets you run a different Linux distribution's tools alongside your host system. It's the recommended way to run cyanrip on immutable distros like Bazzite.

Distrobox needs a container backend — podman (recommended) or docker. Bazzite, Fedora Silverblue, and most atomic distros ship podman already. On Ubuntu/Debian it isn't guaranteed, so install it alongside Distrobox (the commands below do this). If distrobox create later fails with "Cannot find a container manager", a missing backend is why — sudo apt install podman fixes it.

On Bazzite (already pre-installed):

distrobox --version

If you see a version, skip to Step 2.

On Fedora / Fedora Silverblue:

sudo dnf install distrobox

On Arch / Manjaro:

sudo pacman -S distrobox

On Ubuntu / Debian (24.04+):

sudo apt install distrobox podman

(Installing podman explicitly here is the Ubuntu-specific gotcha — the distrobox package only recommends it, so on minimal installs it can be absent and distrobox create then fails.)

On Linux Mint / Pop!_OS / elementary OS:

These are Ubuntu-based, so the Ubuntu command works:

sudo apt install distrobox podman

On openSUSE Leap / Tumbleweed:

sudo zypper install distrobox podman

(If your openSUSE version doesn't package distrobox yet, use the one-line installer under "older systems" below — but install podman with zypper first, since the installer doesn't pull a backend.)

On older systems:

Distrobox has a one-line installer:

curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/89luca89/distrobox/main/install | sudo sh

Verify with distrobox --version.

Step 2 — Create the ripping container

Create a Fedora-based container named ripping. The brief specifies Fedora 40; later Fedora versions also work — substitute :41 or :latest if you prefer.

distrobox create --name ripping --image registry.fedoraproject.org/fedora-toolbox:latest

Distrobox will prompt to pull the image — type Y and press Enter. The download is about 600 MB the first time. Once it finishes:

distrobox enter ripping

You're now inside the container. The prompt should change to show you're in the ripping environment. To leave at any time, type exit.

Why :latest and not :40? The brief specifies Fedora 40; newer Fedora releases (42, 43, 44…) also work and ship newer security fixes. :latest resolves to whatever's current. Don't pin below Fedora 42, though: the cyanrip COPR (barsnick/non-fed) only builds for Fedora 42–44 + rawhide, so an older container would fail the Step 3 dnf install cyanrip.

Step 3 — Install cyanrip and flac

Easiest path: run setup-host.sh (or the one-line installer above) — it adds cyanrip's COPR repo and installs everything for you. The manual steps below are only if you're doing it by hand.

Inside the container (your prompt should still show you're in ripping):

# flac provides both the `flac` decoder and `metaflac` (the tag editor).
sudo dnf install flac

# cyanrip isn't packaged by Fedora — add the barsnick COPR (GPG-checked), then install it:
sudo dnf copr enable barsnick/non-fed
sudo dnf install cyanrip

Verify the tools are installed:

cyanrip -V
metaflac --version

cyanrip -V should report a version such as cyanrip 0.9.3.1 (note the capital -V — cyanrip has no --version). metaflac is part of the flac package.

Step 4 — Export the binaries to your host

Still inside the container, export both binaries:

distrobox-export --bin /usr/bin/cyanrip
distrobox-export --bin /usr/bin/metaflac

This creates wrapper scripts at ~/.local/bin/cyanrip and ~/.local/bin/metaflac on the host (not in the container). Those wrappers transparently enter the container when called, so from the host's perspective cyanrip looks like a regular installed program.

Now leave the container:

exit

You're back on the host. Verify the wrappers work:

which cyanrip
# → /home/<you>/.local/bin/cyanrip

cyanrip -V
# → cyanrip 0.9.3.1

If which returns nothing, your ~/.local/bin isn't on $PATH. Most desktop Linux setups put it there automatically; if yours doesn't, add this to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Then open a new terminal.

Step 5 — Set your drive's read offset

Every optical drive reads audio slightly off from where it "should" — by a positive or negative number of samples. For bit-perfect archival rips that match AccurateRip's database, the offset for your drive has to be known so cyanrip can correct for it.

This is a one-time, in-app step — there's no terminal command for it. cyanrip reads no config file of its own; Platterpus stores the offset in its own config at ~/.config/platterpus/config.toml and passes it to cyanrip at rip time via the -s flag. You set it through the drive-setup wizard, offered on first launch (or anytime from Tools → Set up drive…), which gives you two ways to get the value:

• Automatic, no disc needed — if Platterpus recognises your drive model, it fills the offset in from the bundled AccurateRip drive-offset list (e.g. +667 for the Pioneer BDR-209D). Just click Save offset.
• Enter it by hand — look your drive up in the AccurateRip offset list and type the value into the wizard's manual-entry field. Handy if your model isn't recognised, or if you only have CD-Rs.

Why no "detect from a disc" button? cyanrip (the ripping backend) has no AccurateRip offset-finder, so Platterpus doesn't offer on-disc auto-detection — a button that could only guess or fail would be worse than none. The drive-offset list is the reliable, disc-free source; a rip that then verifies against AccurateRip is what confirms the offset is right for your unit.

What about ~/.config/whipper/whipper.conf? If you ran an older whipper-based install, that file may still exist. It's legacy, read-only reference only — kept so an upgrading user can see their previous offset. cyanrip neither reads nor writes it; the live offset lives in Platterpus's own config. There's nothing to create or edit there.

Step 6 — Install MusicBrainz Picard (optional)

Picard is what you'll use to manually fix tags for discs MusicBrainz doesn't recognize. The GUI installs it as a Flatpak (it auto-launches it via flatpak run), and offers to do so automatically when you first need it.

Ubuntu/Debian prerequisite: the GUI installs Picard through Flatpak, which isn't installed on Ubuntu by default. Install it once and the GUI's auto-install works as-is afterwards (the GUI's install command points at a .flatpakref that adds the Flathub remote for you, so you don't need a separate flatpak remote-add step):

sudo apt install flatpak

Bazzite, Fedora Silverblue, and most KDE/GNOME spins already ship Flatpak. Picard is optional — if you skip it, the GUI simply lists it as "Optional (not installed)" and never nags; you only need it for hand-editing tags on unrecognized discs.

To pre-install Picard yourself rather than letting the GUI do it:

flatpak install --user flathub org.musicbrainz.Picard

Verify:

flatpak run org.musicbrainz.Picard --version

Platterpus will auto-launch Picard with the rip folder when you mark a disc as Unknown Album, if you enable the toggle in Settings.

Step 7 — Install Platterpus

Recommended: Method A (AppImage). As of v0.1.0 it's published as a downloadable release asset — this is the simplest path for most people. Method B (pipx from PyPI) publishes automatically on each tagged release (Trusted Publishing); if it's not on PyPI yet, install from a checkout (see Method B). Method C runs the GUI from a source clone and is aimed at developers.

Pick one of the methods below.

Method A — AppImage (recommended for end users)

Download the latest platterpus-x86_64.AppImage from the Releases page, then:

chmod +x platterpus-x86_64.AppImage
./platterpus-x86_64.AppImage

That's it — the AppImage bundles Python, Qt, and the GUI's dependencies, so there's nothing else to install on the GUI side. (You still need the host stack for ripping to work — the first-run wizard sets it up.)

Menu entry / desktop icon: you don't need to do anything — on its first run the AppImage offers to add itself to your applications menu (and copies its icon), moving itself to ~/Applications so it lives with your other apps instead of staying in Downloads. Just say yes. (The old install-appimage.sh helper still exists for scripted setups and offers an --uninstall, but it's no longer required. AppImageLauncher also works if you prefer.)

Updates: use Help → Check for updates… — if a newer release exists the app downloads it in the background, verifies it against the release's published checksum, installs it to ~/Applications, and restarts itself. (Releases also ship a .zsync file and the AppImage embeds standard update-information, so AppImageUpdate delta updates work too, for those who use it.)

On a FUSE-less host (rare on desktop Linux, but some minimal setups): run with APPIMAGE_EXTRACT_AND_RUN=1 ./platterpus-x86_64.AppImage, or see AppImage won't launch in Troubleshooting.

Method B — pipx (recommended for technical users)

pipx installs Python applications in isolated environments and adds them to your PATH.

Install pipx if you don't have it (Bazzite ships with it):

sudo dnf install pipx     # Fedora / Bazzite
# or
sudo apt install pipx     # Ubuntu / Debian

Then install Platterpus:

pipx install platterpus

Releases publish the wheel to PyPI automatically (via Trusted Publishing on each tagged release). If pipx install platterpus can't find it yet — e.g. before the first PyPI-published release — install from a local checkout instead: git clone … then pipx install . from inside the repo.

Run with platterpus from any terminal.

Method C — From source (for developers)

The repository is public, so no authentication is needed to clone over HTTPS. (If you plan to push changes, set up SSH or gh auth login — but for just running from source, a plain clone works.)

Clone and install:

git clone https://github.com/rmccann-hub/Platterpus.git
cd Platterpus

The default main branch contains the full source — no branch switch needed.

From here you have two options.

Option 1 — one-shot setup script (recommended):

bash dev-setup.sh
source .venv/bin/activate
platterpus

dev-setup.sh creates a venv, upgrades pip, and runs pip install -e . for you. Run it again later (after git pull) to refresh dependencies if anything's been added.

Option 2 — manual steps (same effect, if you want to see each one):

# Create a virtual environment. On Bazzite, Fedora 38+, Ubuntu 24.04+,
# and other distros with PEP 668 enforcement, this is required — a
# plain `pip install` against the system Python will refuse with
# "error: externally-managed-environment".
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

# pip in a fresh venv is usually outdated; upgrade before installing
# anything else. Avoids "WARNING: ... newer version of pip available."
pip install --upgrade pip

# Install the package in editable mode. From now on, anything you
# edit in src/platterpus/ is picked up the next time you run the GUI.
pip install -e .

# Run the GUI. The console-script entry point lives in .venv/bin
# (added to PATH by the `activate` line above).
platterpus

To re-enter the same environment in a future terminal session:

cd ~/Platterpus
source .venv/bin/activate
platterpus

To leave the venv: deactivate.

To build an AppImage from your local checkout:

pip install --user build "python-appimage>=1.4,<2"
bash build/build_appimage.sh

The resulting platterpus-x86_64.AppImage appears at the repo root. See build/python-appimage/README.md for details.

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Ripping backend: cyanrip

The GUI drives a single ripping engine: cyanrip — actively maintained, EAC-equivalent archival quality. There's no backend setting or toggle; cyanrip is it. (The project originally used whipper, but its cd-paranoia has a known bug at read offsets over 587 samples that can fail tracks — e.g. the Pioneer BDR-209D's +667; cyanrip applies the offset correctly with its own paranoia even past that threshold, which is why we switched. See KDD-18.)

The GUI does the MusicBrainz lookup itself and then runs cyanrip offline — with -N (no network metadata lookup) and the chosen release's tags fed in via -a/-t — so cyanrip's own interactive prompt never surfaces and the rip needs no in-container network. Cover art is fetched separately by the GUI from the Cover Art Archive.

Audio output: what you get, what you don't

Output format is chosen in Settings → Output format: FLAC (default), WavPack (.wv), MP3, or WAV. Every rip produces FLAC first — the lossless archival master — and for any other choice the GUI keeps that FLAC and creates the selected format alongside it (a quick post-rip transcode via ffmpeg). So you never lose the lossless master, whatever you pick.

Format	Lossless?	Tags	Cover art	Use it for
FLAC	✅ (verified bit-perfect)	✅	✅ embedded	The archive. The master copy.
WavPack (.wv)	✅	✅	folder cover.jpg¹	A lossless library in a different container
MP3	❌ best-quality VBR (~245 kbps)	✅	✅ embedded	Phones, cars, portability
WAV	✅	❌	❌	Raw PCM interchange only (the GUI warns)

¹ The front cover always lands in the album folder as an image file; ffmpeg can't embed art inside a .wv (a known limitation — see docs/mp3-wav-support.md). For embedded lossless art, FLAC is the choice.

The flag-by-flag detail below is about how each format is encoded.

(cyanrip encodes FLAC through FFmpeg at maximum compression, and self-verifies the read with its own paranoia.)

FLAC (default — the lossless archival master)

cyanrip encodes each track to FLAC through FFmpeg at maximum compression, and verifies the read itself via its own paranoia engine — so every track is provably bit-perfect (and confirmed afterwards against AccurateRip and CTDB). There's no compression-level knob to set: it's already at the top.

Historical context — the "Re-compress FLACs" setting. Settings still lists a "Re-compress FLACs" toggle, but it is inert and disabled with cyanrip and does nothing: cyanrip already produces maximum-compression FLAC, so there's nothing to re-compress. (The control is kept only as a seam for a hypothetical future backend that didn't encode at max — for example, the old whipper backend relied on flac's default level 5, where a post-rip re-encode to -8 would have shaved ~5% off file size. That no longer applies.) Don't expect flipping it to change anything.

For background: all FLAC compression levels are lossless — -0 and -8 decode to identical audio; only file size (and a little decode CPU) differ. cyanrip's max-compression output and its self-verification give you the smallest standard FLAC with the bit-perfect property already proven.

The full FLAC encoder reference is at xiph.org/flac/documentation_tools_flac.html.

WavPack, MP3, and WAV (derived from the FLAC master)

When you pick a non-FLAC format, after each rip the GUI transcodes the FLAC master to your choice with ffmpeg, keeping the FLAC. It runs in the background (never freezes the window), writes each file atomically, and never costs you the lossless master — a transcode failure just means you still have the FLAC to retry from. Per file:

# WavPack — lossless, tags carried over (APEv2)
ffmpeg -i <file>.flac -map_metadata 0 -map 0:a -c:a wavpack <file>.wv

# MP3 — best-quality VBR (== lame -V0, ~245 kbps), tags + embedded cover
ffmpeg -i <file>.flac -map_metadata 0 -id3v2_version 3 -c:v copy \
       -c:a libmp3lame -q:a 0 <file>.mp3

# WAV — raw 16-bit PCM (no tags or cover art — RIFF can't hold them)
ffmpeg -i <file>.flac -map 0:a -c:a pcm_s16le <file>.wav

ffmpeg is the single encoder dependency for all three (it's already present wherever the cyanrip backend is — cyanrip is built on FFmpeg), detected through the same dependency self-management subsystem as everything else — no bespoke install code. The MP3 setting follows HydrogenAudio's Recommended LAME: VBR -V0 (joint-stereo on), the highest-quality VBR. Design + the full encoder-argument rationale: docs/mp3-wav-support.md.

Compared to EAC's bit-perfect settings

The widely-cited Perfect CD Ripping to FLAC with Exact Audio Copy guide is the gold standard for archival rips on Windows. Here's how this GUI's pipeline maps to it. Full audit in PLANNING.md KDD-13.

Bit-perfection here is proven the open way — AccurateRip and CTDB CRCs, checkable by anyone against public databases — not by chasing acceptance from private trackers (RED/OPS/Orpheus). That acceptance is a deliberate non-goal: it's gated on ripper identity, not audio quality, so no honest partial score exists to chase. See PLANNING.md KDD-24 and docs/eac-log-and-repair-feasibility.md.

Matches the guide today:

• Secure read mode (cyanrip's own paranoia engine, libcdio-paranoia)
• Defeat audio cache — libcdio-paranoia attempts this every rip (readahead-cache exhaustion + FUA where the drive supports it), but it's best-effort and never confirmed at runtime, so it's not a measured per-drive match the way EAC's toggle is; see PLANNING.md KDD-25
• Read offset calibration (per-drive, set in the GUI's drive-setup wizard and passed to cyanrip via -s)
• AccurateRip verification (the GUI/cyanrip query; we render the v1/v2 confidence)
• High error-recovery quality (cyanrip's paranoia is always at maximum)
• No normalization
• FLAC bit-perfect reversibility — libcdio-paranoia's own read-verify, plus an optional post-rip flac --test decode-check
• .log file written after every rip
• Gap handling — the audio placement (append/merge-to-previous) matches EAC (confirmed byte-for-byte on 12/14 real tracks); cyanrip doesn't use cdrdao and doesn't emit EAC-style INDEX 00 pre-gap cue metadata — a metadata gap, not an audio one (see docs/eac-parity-investigation.md)
• Status-report checksum (SHA-256)

Not configurable from the GUI (cyanrip is already at the archival maximum):

• FLAC compression level. EAC's guide says -8 --best; cyanrip already encodes FLAC at maximum compression, so there's nothing to turn up. Archival quality is identical at any compression level — only file size differs — and cyanrip is at the smallest standard size already. (The legacy "Re-compress FLACs" toggle is inert with cyanrip — see "FLAC" above.)

Not possible on Linux today:

• C2 error pointers. Cdparanoia is the Linux secure-read primitive; it doesn't use C2.
• A tracker-accepted EAC-signed log. The EAC log checksum algorithm has been reverse-engineered, so a valid checksum is technically reproducible — but signing our log as if Exact Audio Copy produced it is forging the rip's provenance (a bannable "faked log" on gazelle trackers), and we won't do it. We rely on the open, tool-agnostic trust signals instead: AccurateRip + CTDB verification and an honest log. See docs/eac-log-and-repair-feasibility.md.
• AccurateRip submission (writing new entries to the database). Blocked by AccurateRip's operators, who accept submissions only from EAC and dBpoweramp. Verification (reading) works fine — see "AccurateRip" in the audit above.

Now in Settings (surfaced in the Settings dialog):

• Goal preset — Fast verified / Archival exact / Portable snaps the format/verification/quality controls to your intent; editing any of them switches the goal to Custom
• Output format — FLAC (the lossless master, always produced), WavPack, MP3, or WAV
• Cover art — fetch + embed in FLAC, save next to it, or both (defaults to embed)
• Max retries per track (default 5)
• Max reads to confirm a shaky track — rip once at full speed, then re-read only the tracks that didn't match AccurateRip until N reads agree on the checksum (cyanrip's -Z; on by default, 2). See "How ripping works" below.
• Verify with CTDB after a rip (a second, whole-disc verification path alongside AccurateRip; experimental until the CRC is hardware-validated)
• Verify FLACs after a rip (decode-test each output against its stored MD5)
• Auto-eject after a successful rip, plus read-offset calibration via the drive-setup wizard

(Three whipper-only toggles — force overread into lead-out, keep-going-on-track-failure, and continue-ripping-CD-Rs — were removed with whipper, KDD-18, and are not Settings widgets today: cyanrip handles track failures and CD-Rs natively with no equivalent flag, and force overread is a re-openable cyanrip -x task if ever wanted — see TASKS.md.)

After a rip, the results pane shows an at-a-glance verification verdict (green = every track verified against AccurateRip, amber = partial, grey = not in the database) above the per-track table, plus the CTDB result.

How ripping works

Platterpus rips the disc once at full speed and checks every track against AccurateRip. A track that matches the database on that first read is already proven bit-perfect, so it's left alone. Only the tracks that didn't match are then secure-re-ripped — re-read until "Max reads to confirm a shaky track" reads agree on the checksum (cyanrip's -Z, on by default) — and the better read is kept. So a clean disc is a single fast pass (roughly real-time), and the careful, slow work happens only where it's actually needed. If read errors appear, an adaptive read-speed ladder also re-reads the disc more slowly. The FLAC master is always kept and, unless disabled, decode-verified against its stored MD5; any non-FLAC output is derived from that verified master.

See TASKS.md under "EAC bit-perfect parity gaps" for the history.

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First run

When you launch Platterpus for the first time:

1. Dependency check. The GUI verifies cyanrip, metaflac, and Picard are reachable. If anything's missing, it pops a dialog with one of three resolutions:

   • Auto-install (Picard): one OK and it runs flatpak install --user.
   • Pending installs: a checklist for items that need batching or confirmation.
   • Manual install: a copyable search string for items like libdiscid that need root + reboot.

2. Drive offset (first launch only). Rips can't be made bit-perfect until your drive's read offset is set. If none is configured yet, the GUI offers the drive-setup wizard once. It can fill the offset in automatically from the bundled AccurateRip drive list (no disc needed), or take a value you enter by hand (look your drive up at accuraterip.com/driveoffsets.htm — handy if your model isn't recognised or you only have CD-Rs). It's a one-time, dismissible prompt; afterwards re-run it anytime from Tools → Set up drive….

3. Pick a drive. The dropdown at the top of the window lists the optical drives detected on your system. Click Refresh if you plug in a drive after launch.

4. Insert a CD. The GUI fetches the disc's MusicBrainz ID, looks it up, and shows the match status. If multiple releases match, a picker dialog appears. (The GUI does the MusicBrainz lookup itself and runs cyanrip offline, so the ripper never prompts you for anything — this picker is where any disambiguation happens.)

5. Edit metadata. The track table is editable. Fix any tags that look wrong before you rip.

6. Click "Start rip." Progress and per-track AccurateRip confidence appear as the rip runs. You can cancel mid-rip.

7. View the log. When the rip finishes, the "View log" button opens the rip log in your default text editor.

For discs MusicBrainz doesn't recognize, use the Unknown Album flow from the menu — the GUI rips with placeholder Track NN tags and optionally launches Picard for you to fix them up.

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Command-line usage (advanced)

Platterpus is a GUI first, but it has a few command-line flags for diagnostics. There is no platterpus command on your PATH unless you installed via pipx (Method B). If you run the downloaded AppImage (the recommended install), the AppImage is the executable — pass the flags to it directly (its launcher forwards every argument straight to the app):

# Show the version and build fingerprint, then exit
./platterpus-x86_64.AppImage --version

# "Doctor" — a no-CD first-pass check of the ripping environment, then exit
./platterpus-x86_64.AppImage --doctor

# Verify an already-ripped album against the CUETools Database (CTDB) and sweep
# the CRC offset to confirm the read offset aligns with the pressing. No CD or
# re-rip needed — it reads the FLACs already on disk.
./platterpus-x86_64.AppImage --ctdb-calibrate "/path/to/Artist/Album/"

Path tip for --ctdb-calibrate: a rip folder can contain a look-alike colon (∶, U+2236) where the album title had a : — cyanrip substitutes it so the folder name is filesystem-safe. Don't type a normal : (the path won't be found); let the shell supply the real character — cd into the folder and pass "$PWD", or use tab-completion / a glob (…/Every\ Breath\ You\ Take*).

If you installed with pipx (Method B), the same flags work on the platterpus command instead — e.g. platterpus --doctor.

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Troubleshooting

pip install fails with "does not appear to be a Python project"

Make sure you're in the cloned repository directory (where pyproject.toml lives) and that the clone completed:

ls pyproject.toml    # should exist

Then re-run pip install -e . (or bash dev-setup.sh).

sudo dnf install gh fails on Bazzite

Bazzite is an immutable distro — the host filesystem is read-only and dnf only works inside containers. Two paths:

• Use SSH instead (recommended for one-time auth setup). See Method C in the install instructions above.
• Or install gh system-wide via rpm-ostree: rpm-ostree install gh && systemctl reboot. Requires a reboot. After the reboot, gh auth login will work.

pip install fails with "error: externally-managed-environment"

Bazzite, Fedora 38+, Ubuntu 24.04+, and other distros now ship a PEP 668 marker that blocks pip install against the system Python. The fix is to install into a virtual environment, which Method C already does for you:

cd Platterpus
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

If you tried pip install -e . without activating a venv first, no harm done — re-run with the venv active and it'll work.

git clone fails with "Password authentication is not supported"

The repository is public, so a plain git clone https://github.com/rmccann-hub/Platterpus.git needs no authentication. If you only want to run the GUI, you don't need to clone at all — use the AppImage from the Releases page (Method A).

If you plan to push changes, GitHub deprecated HTTPS password auth in 2021, so set up auth first — either an SSH key on your account (clone via [e-mail]:…) or gh auth login (web-browser login; stores a token in your git credential helper).

Where is my drive's read offset stored?

cyanrip uses no config file of its own. Platterpus stores your drive's read offset in its own config at ~/.config/platterpus/config.toml and passes it to cyanrip at rip time. Set or change it in the GUI via Tools → Set up drive…. (A ~/.config/whipper/whipper.conf left over from an older whipper install is legacy reference only — cyanrip doesn't read it.)

cyanrip: command not found

Your ~/.local/bin isn't on $PATH. Add this to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Open a new terminal. Verify with which cyanrip.

platterpus: command not found

There's no platterpus command unless you installed via pipx (Method B). If you run the AppImage, the AppImage is the executable — invoke it directly, e.g. ./platterpus-x86_64.AppImage --doctor. See Command-line usage.

"no drives found" when launching the GUI

The Distrobox container can't see /dev/sr0. Bazzite, Fedora Silverblue, and most modern distros pass optical drives through automatically. If yours doesn't:

distrobox stop ripping
distrobox enter ripping
# inside the container:
sudo dnf install eudev

(Some minimal container bases don't include udev; this restores device-node passthrough.)

You can also confirm the container can see the drive device node from inside it:

distrobox enter ripping
ls -l /dev/sr*

If the device shows up inside the container but the GUI still finds no drives from the host, the export wrapper isn't passing through device access. Re-run distrobox-export --bin /usr/bin/cyanrip from inside the container.

"MusicBrainz error: rate limited"

MusicBrainz throttles unidentified queries. The GUI already sets a User-Agent at launch; if you're still hitting limits, you're sharing an IP with a busy network. Wait a minute and try again.

AppImage won't launch

Most modern Linux distros have FUSE installed and AppImages just work. On Bazzite, no extra steps. If you see "AppImages require FUSE", either install FUSE or extract the AppImage:

./platterpus-x86_64.AppImage --appimage-extract
./squashfs-root/AppRun

The GUI launches but freezes

Check the log at ~/.local/share/platterpus/log.txt. The most common cause is the ripper hanging on a defective disc — cancel from the GUI, eject, try a clean disc.

The drive-setup wizard says my disc isn't in AccurateRip

If Platterpus doesn't recognise your drive model (so the offset isn't filled in automatically), look your drive up at accuraterip.com/driveoffsets.htm and enter the value by hand in the wizard's manual-entry field. After a rip, the AccurateRip verdict tells you whether the offset was right — matching tracks confirm it; zero matches (on a disc that's in the database) suggest the offset is wrong.

"metaflac: command not found" only when ripping

You exported cyanrip but not metaflac. Re-enter the container:

distrobox enter ripping
distrobox-export --bin /usr/bin/metaflac
exit

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Updating

Update Platterpus

• AppImage: download the new release, replace the old file.
• pipx: pipx upgrade platterpus
• From source: git pull && pip install -e .

Update cyanrip or metaflac

distrobox enter ripping
sudo dnf upgrade cyanrip flac
exit

The host-exported wrappers don't change; they always run whatever is currently inside the container.

Update the container's base Fedora version

distrobox enter ripping
sudo dnf system-upgrade download --refresh --releasever=41
sudo dnf system-upgrade reboot   # inside the container only

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Uninstalling

Easiest — no terminal: open the app and use Tools → Uninstall Platterpus…, or click the Uninstall Platterpus entry the AppImage adds to your application menu (under System). It removes everything the app installed — shortcuts, the cyanrip/metaflac commands (and any leftover whipper export from an older install), the ripping container, optionally the AppImage file itself, and the app's own settings and logs (including the stored read offset) — with a confirmation first and per-item checkboxes. Never touched: your music, and Distrobox/podman themselves (any other containers you have keep working). The same uninstaller can be launched from a terminal with platterpus --uninstall.

Script alternative (source checkouts, or if you prefer the terminal): the uninstall.sh script tears everything down in layers, safest-first — it also covers the dev .venv/, which the in-app uninstaller doesn't (a packaged app doesn't know your checkout's location). It never removes your ripped music or a source checkout without an explicit flag.

# Interactive — removes the GUI's venv/config/logs by default, then prompts
# you about the broader stack (Picard, the ripping container,
# the host-exported binaries) one at a time.
bash uninstall.sh

# Preview only — print what would be removed, change nothing.
bash uninstall.sh --dry-run

# Everything except your music files and the cloned repo, no prompts.
bash uninstall.sh --full --yes

bash uninstall.sh --help   # full option list

To remove the host stack fully by hand instead:

distrobox rm ripping            # remove the container
rm ~/.local/bin/cyanrip ~/.local/bin/metaflac   # host exports
rm -f ~/.local/bin/whipper      # leftover from an older whipper install, if present
rm -rf ~/.config/platterpus ~/.local/share/platterpus
rm -rf ~/.config/whipper        # legacy whipper config, if present

Your music at ~/Music/rips/ (or wherever Settings points) is never touched by any of this.

Where things live

Path	Contents
~/.local/bin/cyanrip	The Distrobox-exported ripper wrapper. Always present. Don't edit.
~/.local/bin/metaflac	The Distrobox-exported tag-editor wrapper. Don't edit.
~/.local/bin/whipper	Legacy leftover from an older whipper install, if present — no longer used; safe to remove.
~/Applications/platterpus-x86_64.AppImage	The app itself, after menu integration moves it out of Downloads.
~/.config/platterpus/config.toml	The GUI's own settings (output dir, templates, toggles) and your drive's read offset. The real settings file.
~/.config/whipper/whipper.conf	Legacy offset reference only — cyanrip does not use it. Kept so an upgrading user can see their old offset.
~/.local/share/platterpus/log.txt	GUI log file. Check here when something goes sideways.
~/Music/rips/ (default)	Where rips land, under Artist/Album/. Configurable in Settings.
…/Artist/Album/	The rip itself: the FLAC tracks plus the .log, .cue, and other sidecar files cyanrip writes next to them.

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Documentation for contributors

Core project documents (in this directory):

• CLAUDE.md — project rules and conventions (read before contributing); Project operations section has current build/run/test/uninstall commands
• PLANNING.md — architecture, directory tree, per-module responsibilities, keyed design decisions (KDD-01 through KDD-25)
• TASKS.md — active task checklist. P0 (T01-T32, complete), P1.1 (install/uninstall ease), P1 (broader backlog), P2 (future), Out of scope.
• DEPENDENCIES.md — pinned versions, last upstream release dates, replacement plans, retirement-review log

Source documents and reference material (in docs/):

• docs/README.md — index of docs/ contents, the single-source-of-truth map + rebuild-from-scratch checklist
• docs/architecture.md — architecture & contributor guide: layered design, patterns & lessons, extension recipes, packaging/release/security (read before contributing code)
• docs/testing.md — testing strategy & standards; docs/test-plan.md — manual & release testing procedure
• docs/platterpus-research-brief-v2.1.md — the canonical project brief
• docs/platterpus-session-start.md — bootstrap instructions for a fresh Claude Code session (Step 0 = optional research-rerun prompt)
• docs/log-format-comparison.md — cyanrip-log vs EAC-log field comparison

Build / dev tooling:

• setup-host.sh — one-command full bootstrap (Distrobox + container + cyanrip + export + clone + dev-setup)
• dev-setup.sh — one-command post-clone setup (venv + pip + editable install + app-menu shortcut)
• uninstall.sh — tear-down counterpart (use --help for options)
• build/build_appimage.sh — produce the AppImage locally
• build/make_icon.py — regenerate the app icon
• build/python-appimage/README.md — AppImage recipe details
• CI / releases: .github/workflows/ci.yml runs the tests on every push/PR; .github/workflows/release.yml builds the AppImage and publishes it to a GitHub Release when a vX.Y.Z tag is pushed — so cutting a release is just git tag vX.Y.Z && git push origin vX.Y.Z (no local build or manual upload).

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License

GPL-3.0-only. Chosen to align with the free-software CD-ripping ecosystem this builds on (whipper, cdparanoia, CUETools) and to keep the tool and any forks open. cyanrip and other GPL tools are invoked as separate processes (not linked), and PySide6 is used under its LGPL-3 option — so the combined work is cleanly GPL-3.0.

See PLANNING.md KDD-10 for the rationale.

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Last updated for Platterpus v0.4.19.