DiscEcho

Self-hosted optical-disc archival service for the homelab. Watches optical drives, classifies inserted discs, runs per-disc-type rip → transcode → tag → move pipelines, and exposes a mobile-first web UI for live status and history.

Rip, transcode, tag and file your physical media automatically — just feed discs to the drive.

Supported disc types:

• DVD / Blu-ray / 4K UHD video (MakeMKV rip → optional HandBrake re-encode)
• Video CD / Super Video CD (vcdxrip → MPEG-1/MPEG-2 .mpg tracks)
• Audio CD (whipper → FLAC, MusicBrainz-tagged, ReplayGain)
• Game discs — PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Saturn, Dreamcast, Xbox, Sega CD, 3DO, PC-FX, Atari Jaguar CD, Philips CD-i, PC Engine CD, Neo Geo CD (redumper + chdman, Redump-verified); Amiga CD32, FM Towns, and Bandai Pippin via manual disc-type override (not auto-detected)

Screenshots

Dashboard

History

Settings

On mobile

The web UI is mobile-first:

Dashboard	History	Settings

Quick start

git clone https://github.com/jumpingmushroom/DiscEcho.git
cd DiscEcho
cp .env.example .env
# edit DISCECHO_LIBRARY_PATH and CDROM_GID for your host
docker compose up -d --build
curl http://localhost:8088/api/health   # → {"ok":true}

Open http://localhost:8088/ on your phone (or laptop in mobile viewport) for the dashboard.

DISCECHO_LIBRARY_PATH (host bind mount) and DISCECHO_LIBRARY (the in-container path the daemon writes to, normally /library) seed the library setting on first boot. After that, the value is editable from Settings → System → Library and the new value is used on the next container restart.

How it works

A single Go daemon (chi + modernc.org/sqlite) watches the optical drives via udev. When a disc is inserted it classifies the disc, then runs the pipeline for that disc type (daemon/pipelines/<type>/) through the canonical steps — rip → transcode → compress → move → notify — writing the finished files into the library bind-mount. The same container also serves the embedded SvelteKit SPA, so there is no separate frontend service.

The wire format shared between daemon and UI is defined once in daemon/state/types.go and mirrored by hand in webui/src/lib/wire.ts (the Go side is authoritative; there is no shared/ package).

Deployment

DiscEcho assumes a trusted LAN by default — no authentication is required. Anyone who can reach :8088 can list drives, start rips, and manage profiles. This matches the homelab single-user case the project is designed around: the embedded UI works on first install with zero config.

To expose DiscEcho beyond your LAN:

1. Put it behind a reverse proxy that terminates TLS and handles authentication (Caddy with basicauth, Tailscale Funnel, Cloudflare Access, etc.).
2. Set DISCECHO_TOKEN=<long random string> on the daemon (.env, systemd unit, or compose env block).
3. Configure the proxy to inject Authorization: Bearer <token> on every upstream request — or strip auth at the proxy and use the token as a defense-in-depth layer.

The embedded SvelteKit UI does not send an Authorization header, so once you set DISCECHO_TOKEN the UI only works through a proxy that injects the header for you.

Profiles

A profile decides how discs of one type are ripped and where the output lands. Each disc type has a curated set of compatible engines — the editor only offers valid combinations, and choosing a disc type pre-fills a working profile you can tweak:

• AUDIO_CD → whipper. Audio CDs are ripped to lossless FLAC; whipper has no lossy output, so MP3/Ogg are intentionally not offered.
• DVD → MakeMKV+HandBrake (re-encode), MakeMKV (lossless passthrough), or HandBrake (dvdbackup + encode).
• BDMV / UHD → MakeMKV+HandBrake or MakeMKV.
• PSX / PS2 / Saturn / Dreamcast / Sega CD / 3DO / PC-FX / Jaguar CD / CD-i / PC Engine CD / Neo Geo CD / CD32 / FM Towns / Pippin → redumper+chdman (CHD).
• Xbox → redumper (ISO). DATA → ddrescue (ISO).

Quality (encoding profiles only) is a tier — Archival, High, Balanced, Space-saver, or Custom. A tier resolves to the right constant-quality RF and encoder speed-preset for the chosen codec (x265, x264, NVENC, AV1 each use different RF scales). Custom exposes the raw RF and encoder-preset fields. Lossless/passthrough engines have no quality knob.

Output path is a Go text/template rooted at the library path. The editor shows the variables available for the disc type as clickable chips plus a live preview. Common variables: .Artist .Album .Year .TrackNumber .Title .DiscNumber (audio), .Title .Year and .Show .Season .EpisodeNumber .EpisodeTitle (video), .Title .Year .Region (games). printf and if work, e.g. {{.Show}}/Season {{printf "%02d" .Season}}/….

TMDB

DVD identification queries TMDB (https://www.themoviedb.org/). To enable auto-identification:

1. Create a free TMDB account → settings → API → request a v3 key
2. Set DISCECHO_TMDB_KEY=<your-key> in your .env
3. Optional: DISCECHO_TMDB_LANG=en-US (or any TMDB-supported locale)

If the key is unset, identification returns empty candidates and the UI prompts for manual title entry — the daemon still starts and other pipelines (audio CD) work normally.

BDMV / UHD setup

DiscEcho's Blu-ray (BDMV) and Ultra HD Blu-ray pipelines decrypt and demux discs with MakeMKV. Audio CD and DVD work without any of the setup below; the rest is opt-in.

MakeMKV beta key (BDMV + UHD). MakeMKV needs a registration key. While the project is in beta the author posts a public key that refreshes roughly monthly:

• Forum thread: https://forum.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1053

Set the env var on the daemon:

DISCECHO_MAKEMKV_BETA_KEY=T-<rest-of-key>

DiscEcho writes ${DISCECHO_DATA}/MakeMKV/settings.conf on each start. Refresh the env var (and restart the container) when the public key rotates. Symptom of an expired key: BDMV/UHD jobs fail at the rip step with "registration key expired" in the logs. If the env var is unset the daemon still starts; only BDMV/UHD jobs will fail.

AACS2 keys (UHD only). UHD-Blu-ray discs are encrypted with AACS2. MakeMKV needs a KEYDB.cfg to decrypt. DiscEcho does not ship KEYDB.cfg and does not link to sources for it. Sourcing one is your responsibility and may be restricted in your jurisdiction.

Drop your KEYDB.cfg at:

${DISCECHO_DATA}/MakeMKV/KEYDB.cfg

If a UHD disc is inserted and KEYDB.cfg is missing, the job fails fast at the identify step with a clear error before any disc read. Regular BDMV (Blu-ray) discs do not need this file.

Game-disc setup (PSX / PS2 / Saturn / Dreamcast / Xbox / Sega CD / 3DO / PC-FX / Jaguar CD / CD-i / PC Engine CD / Neo Geo CD / Amiga CD32 / FM Towns / Bandai Pippin)

DiscEcho's game-disc pipelines use redumper for ripping and chdman (from MAME tools) for CHD compression where applicable.

Automatic identification via embedded boot-code maps

Insert a recognised game disc and the dashboard shows the correct title immediately — no extra setup required. DiscEcho reads the on-disc identifier (SYSTEM.CNF boot code for PSX/PS2, IP.BIN product number for Saturn and Dreamcast, XBE title ID for Xbox) and looks it up against embedded community databases:

• PS2 — PCSX2 GameDB (~12K entries)
• PSX — DuckStation gamedb (~10K entries, includes cover URLs)
• Saturn / Dreamcast — Libretro Redump metadata

These databases ship inside the daemon binary (~2 MB total, ~27K entries across four systems). No setup required for auto-identification.

Xbox boot-code auto-id is not currently supported (Libretro's Xbox dat uses publisher codes rather than XBE title IDs); Xbox discs fall back to Redump MD5 verify when a dat is present, or IGDB manual search.

Sega CD, 3DO, PC-FX, Atari Jaguar CD, and Philips CD-i are also auto-detected by on-disc magic signatures (no embedded title database; identification is post-rip via Redump dat or IGDB). PC Engine CD and Neo Geo CD are not yet auto-detected — insert one of those and select the disc type manually from the dashboard override before ripping.

Amiga CD32, FM Towns, and Bandai Pippin are not auto-detected; insert one of these, select the disc type manually from the override, then start the rip. Post-rip Redump dat verification is available for all three if the matching dat-file is present.

Disc detection is automatic:

• PSX/PS2: classifier reads /SYSTEM.CNF and parses the BOOT[2]= line (case-insensitive) to distinguish them.
• Saturn: raw sector 0 magic SEGA SEGASATURN + product number from IP.BIN.
• Dreamcast: multi-session TOC heuristic (two sessions with session 2 starting at LBA ≥ 45000); product number read from IP.BIN at sector 45000.
• Xbox: /default.xbe at the disc root + XBE certificate title ID. Original Xbox only — Xbox 360 (XGD2/3) requires Kreon-flashed drive firmware and is out of scope.
• Sega CD: raw sector 0 magic SEGADISCSYSTEM or SEGABOOTDISC (cooked or raw 2352-byte sector layout).
• 3DO: sector 0 binary volume magic.
• PC-FX: sector 0 substring PC-FX:Hu_CD-ROM.
• Atari Jaguar CD: sector 0 substring ATARI APPROVED DATA HEADER ATRI. Note: the Jaguar CD boot header lives in the disc's second session, so physical discs may not auto-detect — use the manual override if needed.
• Philips CD-i: ISO 9660 PVD standard-identifier CD-I or system-identifier containing CD-RTOS.

Optional: Redump dat-files for byte-perfect verification

If you drop Redump .dat files into ${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/<system>/, the daemon will MD5-verify your rip against the Redump reference at the compress step. This is an integrity check on top of the boot-code auto-id — ripping and identification work without it.

${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/psx/Sony - PlayStation - Datfile (*.dat)
${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/ps2/Sony - PlayStation 2 - Datfile (*.dat)
${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/saturn/Sega - Saturn - Datfile (*.dat)
${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/dc/Sega - Dreamcast - Datfile (*.dat)
${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/xbox/Microsoft - Xbox - Datfile (*.dat)
${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/sega-cd/Sega - Mega-CD & Sega CD - Datfile (*.dat)
${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/3do/Panasonic - 3DO Interactive Multiplayer - Datfile (*.dat)
${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/pc-fx/NEC - PC-FX & PC-FXGA - Datfile (*.dat)
${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/jaguar-cd/Atari - Jaguar CD Interactive Multimedia System - Datfile (*.dat)
${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/cdi/Philips - CD-i - Datfile (*.dat)
${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/pc-engine-cd/NEC - PC Engine CD & TurboGrafx-CD - Datfile (*.dat)
${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/neo-geo-cd/SNK - Neo Geo CD - Datfile (*.dat)
${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/cd32/Commodore - Amiga CD32 - Datfile (*.dat)
${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/fm-towns/Fujitsu - FM Towns series - Datfile (*.dat)
${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/pippin/Apple - Pippin - Datfile (*.dat)

Sourced from http://redump.org/downloads/. Refresh manually as Redump adds new dumps. DiscEcho does not auto-download or redistribute these files.

The daemon walks ${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/<system>/*.dat at startup and merges every dat-file into one in-memory index. Dat files placed directly under ${DISCECHO_DATA}/redump/ (without a subdirectory) are not loaded; move them into the right per-system subfolder.

Settings → API keys & connections → Game disc identification shows a per-system table of which boot-code maps and Redump dats are present vs missing, plus the dats directory. Because dats load at startup, a file added while the daemon is running shows as present but needs a restart to take effect.

Optional: IGDB for manual search of unidentified discs

If a disc is not in any embedded database (later releases, regional variants, homebrew), the awaiting-decision card offers a "Search IGDB" button. To enable it:

1. Register a free app at https://dev.twitch.tv/console/apps — choose category "Game Database".

2. Set the env vars in your .env or compose file:

   DISCECHO_IGDB_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
   DISCECHO_IGDB_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret

3. Restart the container. The Settings → System tab will confirm IGDB is connected and show per-system boot-code map counts.

If the env vars are unset, the "Search manually" button surfaces a clean "IGDB not configured" message — the daemon still starts and all other pipelines work normally.

Raw-data discs

Anything the classifier doesn't recognise (data CDs, data DVDs, unrecognised game discs) routes to the Data pipeline: a straight dd rip to ISO with conv=noerror,sync (bad sectors are zero-filled rather than aborting). The disc filesystem's volume label becomes the title; falls back to data-disc-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS when no label is present. SHA-256 of the produced ISO and total byte count are stored on the disc record for verification later.

Enabling GPU transcoding (NVIDIA NVENC)

DiscEcho can use NVIDIA NVENC for HandBrake-based transcodes (DVD and Blu-ray pipelines). Encodes run 5–10× faster than software x264/x265 at a small visual-quality cost — acceptable for media-server use.

Requirements

• An NVIDIA GPU with NVENC support (any modern card; Quadro P-series, GeForce GTX 1050+, RTX, etc).
• NVIDIA driver installed on the host.
• NVIDIA Container Toolkit configured on the Docker daemon so runtime: nvidia is recognised.

Compose

DiscEcho's bundled docker-compose.yml stays CPU-only by default — adding runtime: nvidia there would break the container on hosts without an NVIDIA GPU. Layer a per-host override:

# docker-compose.override.yml
services:
  discecho:
    runtime: nvidia
    environment:
      NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES: all
      NVIDIA_DRIVER_CAPABILITIES: 'compute,video,utility'

docker compose up -d reads docker-compose.yml and any docker-compose.override.yml automatically.

Unraid

Edit the DiscEcho container in the Unraid GUI:

• Extra parameters: --runtime=nvidia
• Variable: NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES = all
• Variable: NVIDIA_DRIVER_CAPABILITIES = compute,video,utility

Configuring profiles

In the webui → Profiles, edit a HandBrake or MakeMKV+HandBrake profile and set video_codec to nvenc_h264 or nvenc_h265. The daemon detects NVENC availability at boot — visible in Settings → Integrations → GPU transcoding. When connected, profiles requesting NVENC use the hardware encoder. When not configured, NVENC profiles silently fall back to the matching software encoder (x264 / x265 / x265_10bit for BDMV) with a WARN line in the job log.

History retention

Settings → History retention controls how long completed-rip history records are kept (it never touches your ripped files). By default everything is kept forever. Turn that off to set independent limits for successful rips and failed / cancelled rips — each with an optional max age in days and/or an optional cap on how many of the newest entries to keep (set either, both, or neither per outcome). With "keep forever" off and no further changes, the defaults keep successful rips and prune failures after 14 days.

A background sweep runs daily at 03:00 (daemon-local) and on startup; the page shows a live preview of what the current policy would remove, the last/next run times, and a Run cleanup now button that applies the saved policy immediately.

Notifications

DiscEcho sends notifications through Apprise, which fans 100+ services out from a single URL. Add a notification under Settings → Notifications and paste an Apprise service URL (e.g. discord://…, ntfy://…, tgram://… — see the supported services). Per-notification Triggers select which events fire:

• done — a rich, media-aware "ripped" message (movie / TV / audio / game / data) with duration, size, counts, codec, and cover/poster art when available.
• failed — a failure alert with the failed step and error.

Apprise failures never fail a rip — the bits are already in the library.

Dev setup

You need:

• Go 1.24+
• Node 20 LTS, pnpm 9
• Docker with BuildKit
• Linux host with at least one optical drive at /dev/sr0 (manual testing of disc detection is Linux-only; macOS / Windows can build and unit-test)

Local loop:

# 1. Build the UI (run once, then re-run after UI changes)
cd webui && pnpm install && pnpm build && cd ..
rm -rf daemon/embed/webui_build && cp -r webui/build daemon/embed/webui_build

# 2. Run the daemon
cd daemon && go run ./cmd/discecho

# 3. (separate shell) UI dev server with hot reload, proxies /api → :8088
cd webui && pnpm dev    # opens http://localhost:5173

Tests:

cd daemon && go test ./... -race
cd webui  && pnpm check

Layout

Path	Purpose
daemon/	Go service: HTTP API, udev, disc pipelines
webui/	SvelteKit dark-only PWA + desktop dashboard
Dockerfile	Multi-stage build → python:3.12-slim runtime
docker-compose.yml	Single-service homelab deploy

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

Released under the MIT License.