LottaNZB • Easy-to-use SABnzbd Frontend for Linux

[Lantash]

LottaNZB is a frontend for SABnzbd designed with focus on usability and elegance and features a tight integration with GNOME desktops. It aims to be useful for people who are new to Linux or the Usenet, but also users who prefer a shiny native interface over a web interface.

Homepage: http://www.lottanzb.org/

The development of this SABnzbd-based version of LottaNZB began over 1 year and 8 months ago, when it became more and more clear that the original HellaNZB backend was not a viable choice for the future. During this time, a couple of suggestions related to SABnzbd's API have been implemented by the SABnzbd crew. The SABnzbd developers really deserve credit for the great piece of software they've created! Compared to previous versions, the user interface of LottaNZB has been polished considerably and the setup process has been made smoother. This is how the main window looks like:



Packages for both Ubuntu and Fedora are available, as well as a source tarball. Please note that 0.6 is the very first release of LottaNZB which is based on SABnzbd and even after months of testing by the developers and people who have used the daily builds, you might still encounter bugs or crashes. For instance, some users are reporting random crashes due to segmentation faults, which are still being investigated. You’re encouraged to report any bugs you find at https://bugs.launchpad.net/lottanzb/+filebug

I'd love to hear from you what you think about it and how it could be improved. Have fun with LottaNZB!

[Lantash]

Thanks for asking! SABnzbd isn't bundled with LottaNZB. LottaNZB however tries to assist as much as possible when it comes to bringing everything in place. When starting LottaNZB for the first time, you are asked whether you want to download to this computer (requiring a local installation of SABnzbd) or manage the downloads of another computer where SABnzbd is already running and allowing remote access.

In the first case, LottaNZB will try to find an existing SABnzbd installation. If it doesn't find one, it will provide you with a nice "Install..." button on recent Debian-based systems or a link to http://www.lottanzb.org/help/installing ... g-sabnzbd/ that explains how to install it manually.

So, if you are already running SABnzbd (for example installed from JCFP's PPA), setting up LottaNZB will require nothing but clicking "OK", as LottaNZB detects both SABnzbd and that a server has already been specified.

I'll try to clarify the post. The main goal was to make the usage of LottaNZB as self-explanatory as possible, without requiring the user to read pages of documentation upfront. Also, the minimum version requirement is 0.5.2. Since the server configuration API has changed in SABnzbd 0.6, it's currently not possible to edit servers when connected to an instance of SABnzbd 0.6.

[Lantash]

LottaNZB doesn't alter the software sources on the system (it never ever executes code as root). It simply uses python-apt to check whether there is a sabnzbdplus package that is installed or can be installed. If not, the user is pointed to the instructions at http://www.lottanzb.org/help/installing ... g-sabnzbd/. LottaNZB then waits until SABnzbd has been installed by the user, i.e. from the source or using JCFP's PPA.

[AVee]

The downloads page for Debian tells me to 'apt-get install', but that will get me the 0.5.4 version. Are there .debs for squeeze available somewhere?

[Lantash]

The downloads page for Debian tells me to 'apt-get install', but that will get me the 0.5.4 version. Are there .debs for squeeze available somewhere?

Ah, right. LottaNZB 0.6 has not been uploaded to Debian yet. The package built for Ubuntu 10.10 should work as well. Don't hesitate to tell me if you encounter any problems.

[AVee]

I downloaded and installed the Ubuntu 10.10 package, installed SabNZB en the dependencies, all from Squeeze.

Configuring servers and starting downloads all works, but the application does chrash randomly. I was running it remotely through NX, so that might affect it. When I get back home I'll retest it locally.

Some console output:

Code: Select all

/usr/lib/pymodules/python2.6/lottanzb/core/__init__.py:95: PangoWarning: shaping failure, expect ugly output. shape-engine='BasicEngineFc', font='DejaVu Sans 7.03125', text=''
  gtk.main()
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/pymodules/python2.6/lottanzb/gui/main/download_list.py", line 347, in renderer_text_func
    download = tree_model.get_value(rowref, DownloadListStore.COLUMN)
TypeError: unknown type (null)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/pymodules/python2.6/lottanzb/gui/main/download_list.py", line 400, in renderer_func
    download = tree_model[rowref][DownloadListStore.COLUMN]
TypeError: unknown type (null)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/pymodules/python2.6/lottanzb/gui/main/download_list.py", line 421, in renderer_func
    download = tree_model[rowref][DownloadListStore.COLUMN]
TypeError: unknown type (null)
**
Gdk:ERROR:/scratch/build-area/gtk+2.0-2.20.1/gdk/gdkregion-generic.c:1108:miUnionNonO: assertion failed: (y1 < y2)

Otherwise it looks great, I'm really pleased with the switch to SABnzb, this make it a lot more usable and flexible.

[adrianc1982]

Please add get bookmarks from newzbin from the menu in the upper toolbar and inside the main window of your program. Its quite useful and its a must for any newzbin user. Thanks.

[Lantash]

Please add get bookmarks from newzbin from the menu in the upper toolbar and inside the main window of your program. Its quite useful and its a must for any newzbin user. Thanks.

Thanks for the suggestion! Adding support for Newzbin and NZBMatrix.com is definitely planned for future releases, but not a priority right now. Such features should be implemented as plug-ins within LottaNZB, but the plug-in infrastructure doesn't exist yet in LottaNZB 0.6.

[DasFox]

I wish someone from the sabnzbd team could give the developer of Lottanzb a hand with his application, 0.6x is not stable and it has never been for anyone, constant crashes.

Such a shame, a nice gui comes along and it's hardly usable...


CHEERS

[shypike]

Eh, we have work enough with SABnzbd itself and too little time.
Which is exactly what LottaNZB's developers lack too.