README

Introduction
============

  odvr is a user-space driver for Olympus digital voice recorders that do not
support USB Mass Storage. Not all formats are directly supported
(sandec/PULCOD), and functionality is limited, but basic download and listing
capabilities are implemented.


Building
========

  Build dependencies:

```
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install libusb-dev libgtk2.0-dev libsndfile1-dev -y
```

  There is no configure script at this time. Libusb and libsndfile,
and their associated development headers, are required. To build, run:

$ make odvr

  A static x86 linux binary is included as odvr.x86.


Installing
==========

 1. Build odvr.
 2. Run "make install" as root.
 3. If you are not running Ubuntu, modify "41-odvr.rules" to fit your distro
    and install it. Don't forget to reload the udev rules. The other option is
    to run odvr as root, but this is not recommended.


Running
=======

  odvr *requires* access to the user-space USB interface. It is recommended
to place "41-odvr.rules" into "/etc/udev/rules.d" or setup your own udev rules
rather than running odvr as root. After changing udev rules, don't forget to
run "udevcontrol reload_rules" and to replugin your DVR.

  Again, root privileges are required unless udev is properly setup.

  For the impatient, run the following to test odvr:

$ sudo odvr -l


Usage
=====

Usage: odvr [options]
-= Options =-
  -h             : This help.
  -v             : Print version.
  -d <folder>    : Download all files in <folder>.
  -e             : Download everything.
  -l             : List all files.
  -x <folder>    : Delete all recordings in <folder>.
  -c             : Delete all recordings.
  -y             : "yes" to all yes/no questions.
  -r             : Reset the DVR. This may fix some sync issues.
  -D             : Enable debug tracing.
  -E             : Download everything in RAW format.


Examples
========

List recording information:

$ odvr -l

Download all recordings in folder B:

$ odvr -d b

Download all recordings in the scheduled folder: 

$ odvr -d s

List and download every recording:

$ odvr -l -e


Notes
=====

  Downloaded files are signed 16 bit PCM WAV files at the recorded sample rate.
Olympus DVRs internally use a 3-bit differential PCM format with 14 bit
resolution. Unfortunately, the Windows software converts from this format into
lossy 4bit IMA ADPCM *and* it resamples. Files downloaded by odvr should be of
higher quality than with the Windows software, but it does result in larger
WAV files. It is recommended to recompress the WAV files with MP3, Vorbis, or
Speex if file size is an issue.

  Some programs may have difficulty playing or reading the odd bitrate WAV
files. If they do, I recommend using "sox" to resample them into something more
common, such as 44100hz.

  Mac/PPC support is currently non-existent. There are several places in the
odvr code that are endian sensitive, and the code hasn't been tested on
big-endian machines. PPC Mac/Linux/BSD developers are more than welcome to
submit patches!

  odvr may get out-of-sync with the attached DVR. Use "-r" to force a DVR reset
when odvr runs. For example, "odvr -r -l" will reset and then list recordings.

  Some Olympus DVRs have a high-quality encoding option (PULCOD). This
encoding type is not directly supported and odvr will complain about it. Use a
different quality level for your recordings or try the unsupported "sandec"
program that that is included with this source. It requires wine, the wine
development envornment, and a copy of "san_dec.dll." Use odvr to download the
raw files, then run sandec with the filename of the raw file.