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10 Basics of DVD Rip, Play, Burn

by blazevideo

Many people encounter ripping or burning errors or computer system instability when they want to copy or play a DVD. Sometimes it is a bug in DVD backup software, however, before reporting it as such you should do all you can to verify your computer system is stable.  Here are some basic points which will help you in backup your DVDs. I got tired of explaining to my friends for 5 or 10 mins how to set DMA and wait for them to reboot and explain how to run memtest, etc.

Tip 1 set region for dvd drive If you've never played a DVD in your DVD-ROM or DVD?RW burner with a DVD player software such as BlazeDVD, WinDVD , etc. then your DVD Region is NOT set. It must be set otherwise you'll have errors when trying to decrypt it.

To get to device manager do the following: Right-click on My Computer and choose Properties

Double-click on your DVD burner and/or DVD-ROM

If you attempted to rip a dvd, you'd get a CSS encryption error until the region is set.

In Windows, you have 5 times to set it to one of the 6 regions. If you left only 1 region setting choice, make sure you pick the correct one that your collection of DVDs is in.

Download Memtest86 memtest86.iso.zip

Extract the .iso and burn the .iso file with DVD Ghost to make a bootable CD-ROM. In your BIOS make sure you have CD-ROM to boot before your Hard drive. Reboot your computer with the memtest86 CD and it'll automatically start testing.

Screenshot shows it's currently on Test 4 (4 out of 10) and Errors at 0. Pass is 0 and indicates how many times it's completed all 10 tests. Usually 1 pass is enough which takes about 20 to 30 mins. Memtest86 will run indefinitely unless you stop it.

Memory can go bad or be bad when you bought it. Some symptoms like blue screens, constant crashing of programs, etc. Usually it won't crash until the memory has hit that particular spot in the memory stick. Memtest86 is a free memory tester which you can put on a bootable floppy or a bootable cd. Run it see if it passes all 10 tests. If there is a single error then your memory stick needs to be replaced with a good one.

My opinion based on personal experience. Once I tested ten DDR 512MB memory sticks from Fry's and about 6 or 7 of them failed memtest86. I've had probably 20 friends go buy cheap memory at Fry's (US computer store) because it's cheap. More than half of them ended up taking it back because it failed memtest86. They had to take it back and pay more to get a brand-name. Get a brand-name like Crucial, Mushkin, Kingston, Corsair, etc. It's not worth the hassle and time wasted saving a few dollars.

Tip 2 Set DMA for all drives in system

Make sure DMA is set on all drives (hard drives, DVD-ROM, DVD burners, CD-ROM). If it's set to PIO, it'll use almost all your CPU to transfer data and is a common complaint as to why it's taking forever or people exerperiencing buffer underruns while attempting to burn DVDs. 

Double click on Primary IDE Channel and also Secondary IDE Channel 

Verify all Devices 0,1,2,3 are all set to DMA. Notice for Device 1 there isn't any device so it's it's N/A.

Be sure to reboot for the DMA mode to take effect.

Tip 3 CPU Burn-in (CPU tester)

Download CPU Burn-in CPU_burn-in.zip  Many people overclock their CPUs and they never have problems until they try to encoding with CCE, or transcoding for an hour. Either the CPU will overheat and cause the computer to shutdown completely or other erratic behavior. 

Try running CPU Burn-in for about 20 minutes or more if time permits. It'll stress test your CPU and system and determine if it's stable to handle processor intensive applications such as DVD backup encoding, etc.

Open task manager (right-click on taskbar) if you wish and you'll see the CPU at 100% constantly for the duration of the CPU Burn-in test. 

CPU Burn-in ran and had no errors to report so the CPU doesn't overheat under heavy load.

(To be continued)

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Tip 4 Memtest86 (memory tester)

Download Memtest86 memtest86.iso.zip

Extract the .iso and burn the .iso file with DVD Ghost to make a bootable CD-ROM. In your BIOS make sure you have CD-ROM to boot before your Hard drive. Reboot your computer with the memtest86 CD and it'll automatically start testing.

Screenshot shows it's currently on Test 4 (4 out of 10) and Errors at 0. Pass is 0 and indicates how many times it's completed all 10 tests. Usually 1 pass is enough which takes about 20 to 30 mins. Memtest86 will run indefinitely unless you stop it.

Memory can go bad or be bad when you bought it. Some symptoms like blue screens, constant crashing of programs, etc. Usually it won't crash until the memory has hit that particular spot in the memory stick. Memtest86 is a free memory tester which you can put on a bootable floppy or a bootable cd. Run it see if it passes all 10 tests. If there is a single error then your memory stick needs to be replaced with a good one.

My opinion based on personal experience. Once I tested ten DDR 512MB memory sticks from Fry's and about 6 or 7 of them failed memtest86. I've had probably 20 friends go buy cheap memory at Fry's (US computer store) because it's cheap. More than half of them ended up taking it back because it failed memtest86. They had to take it back and pay more to get a brand-name. Get a brand-name like Crucial, Mushkin, Kingston, Corsair, etc. It's not worth the hassle and time wasted saving a few dollars.

Tip 5 NTFS and FAT32 (4GB file limitation)

To see if you have NTFS or FAT32 open windows explorer (windows key + E) and right-click on the drive / partition and choose Properties.

Windows 2000/XP can read/write NTFS partitions. NTFS doesn't have a 4GB file limitation like FAT32 partitions do. Win98 can only read/write FAT32 partitions. Many programs will split VOB files (video object files) into 1GB chunks and various DVD backup programs and DVD rippers you'll have to verify it's splitting them into 1GB chunks otherwise you'll run into the 4GB file limit. Still if your running win2000 or XP and you have FAT32 partitions you should format them to NTFS.

Tip 5 NTFS and FAT32 (4GB file limitation)

To see if you have NTFS or FAT32 open windows explorer (windows key + E) and right-click on the drive / partition and choose Properties.

Windows 2000/XP can read/write NTFS partitions. NTFS doesn't have a 4GB file limitation like FAT32 partitions do. Win98 can only read/write FAT32 partitions. Many programs will split VOB files (video object files) into 1GB chunks and various DVD backup programs and DVD rippers you'll have to verify it's splitting them into 1GB chunks otherwise you'll run into the 4GB file limit. Still if your running win2000 or XP and you have FAT32 partitions you should format them to NTFS.

Tip 6 DVD media (cheap vs. quality)

DVD media (cheap vs. quality)

Back in 1996 blank CD-Rs were $6 a pop in Japan and you could get cheap CD-Rs for $2 a pop. I purchased a few $2 media and had to end up buying the $6 media. When CD-R media first appeared for the first couple of years you could have terrible burns and other problems related to cheap CD-R media. Nowadays it's almost a non-factor and almost any brand of CD-R (95% is my guess) works just great.

Fast forward to 2004 and DVD?R media has only been out a little over a year and it's just like deja-vu all over again. You really have to read the forums and see what others say and form your own opinion. There are so many dvd burners and various firmwares it's hard to say. Anyway here's my opinion (not fact) based on my own personal experiences.

Reliable media: 4X TDK DVD+R and 4X Fuji DVD-R.Unreliable media: Memorex and Ritek (I had one good Ritek G04 4X 100 pack and one bad 100 pack which only burned at 2X max) and many others.

Tip 7 Size of DVD?R, common terms, and Regions

DVD?R sizes

Blank DVD-R     4,489MB     4,706,074,624 bytes     4.383GB

Blank DVD+R     4,483MB     4,700,372,992 bytes     4.377GB

4.7GB is on the label but it's really 4.37GB. Same as harddrives, false advertising.

DVD     Read/Burn     Speeds

1X         1,385KB/s     ~60mins

2X         2,770KB/s     ~30mins

2.4X     3,324KB/s     ~22mins

4X         5,540KB/s     ~15mins

8X         11,080KB/s     ~9mins

12X     16,620KB/s     ~?mins

4X (5,540KB) DVD speed = 36X (5,400KB) CD speed

P-UOPs (Prohibited User Operations) restricts user from accessing Title, Menu, FastForward, etc. Forces one to watch FBI warnings, studio promos, etc.

Macrovision prevents viewing DVD via TV-Out on video card or copying DVD to VCR via standalone DVD player.

Flipper main movie is on double-sided DVD. You must flip it over to continue watching. Gangs of New York NTSC RC1 is an example.

Layer break "layer breaks are one of those misnomers (an inaccurate name) that has grown out of IfoEdit identifying clock discontinuities as possible layer breaks, as an aid to splitting a DVD.

A clock discontinuity is when the system clock reference (SCR), a running value used for synchronization, has been interrupted. Most usually it has been set back to zero because the 2 pieces of video were encoded seperately. The last "phantom" chapter of many movies is an example of this. It also occurs during a layer break sometimes, which is where it got its name. Playback is not seamless over a discontinuity in a lot of players, causing a pause. If the SCR has been replaced with a new continously inceasing value, the marks can be removed.

The true layer break code, six or more sectors of all zero bytes, is removed by the DVD reader, and never seen by PC software." --by mpucoder

Region Code Protection DVD must be same region as standalone DVD player. Commonly referred to as RC1, RC2, RC3, etc.

DVD region codes:

Region 1 - U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories

Region 2 - Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East (including Egypt)

Region 3 - Southeast Asia and East Asia (including Hong Kong)

Region 4 - Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean

Region 5 - Eastern Europe (Former Soviet Union), Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia

Region 6 - Peoples Republic of China

RCE (Region Code Enhancement) region protection in addition to restricting playback only for DVD player in the same region as the DVD it also checks if your DVD player has been made 'region free' which is usually done with hacked firmware.

Tip 8 Ripping Speed of DVD-ROMs and DVD Burners

CSS = Content Scrambling System and is the protection used on Hollywood DVDs. Almost all DVD burners are locked at 2X or 2.4X CSS ripping speed. Lite-on DVD Burners are not locked and you can get 8X ripping. If you do have a DVD Burner that is locked at 2X CSS ripping speed your best bet is to buy a $30 DVD-ROM as a secondary drive.

Indicates ripping at 7.5X speed.

8X ripping will take about 15 mins to rip to your harddrive while 2X ripping will take about 45 mins.

Tip 9 Install an ASPI layer

Download forceaspi17.zip

To install extract all files then double click on INSTASPI.BAT

Once it's installed just reboot your computer and it'll be installed.

Many programs used to require an ASPI layer to access your DVD. However, nowadays most come with their own (Nero, BlazeVideo DVD Copy, CloneDVD, etc.) or use another method. So only install this if you encounter ripping problems.

Tip 10 DVD Backup software available

Nero Recode

Burns DVD, part of NeroVison2 which is in Nero 6 Ultra Edition

Ripping/Decrypting

CloneDVD 5

Decrypts DVD, Burns DVD, inserts copyright message, embeds number on DVD to identify.

BlazeVideo DVD Copy

Back up DVD to another DVD/CD or DVDs, or copy DVD movie to computer hard drive, burn movie files like .ISO file to DVD/CD.

DVD Ghost(Professional DVD decrypter)

BlazeDVD - DVD Player (Freeware)

DVD player, decoder, recorder, converter software.


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About blazevideo Advanced     

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Joined APSense since, November 29th, 2007, From Eden Prairie, United States.

Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

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