How to reformat DVD for A-B repeat?

[SSINFUL]

Some DVD titles come formatted so they cannot do an A-B repeat using the DVD player.

Some titles can be reformatted by splitting or making a movie-only copy to enable A-B repeat.

Still, some titles are resistant to reformatting to achieve A-B repeat.


Are there any other methods to enable A-B repeat not commonly used?

And, yes, all of the DVDs used/editted in this manner are paid for.

-TIA

[r0lZ]

I haven't much experience with the A-B repeat function, as I think I have never used that function. I assume that it is not possible to use it if it is also not possible to seek to a specific time with the remote. There can be several reasons for this:

1 - The title has no Time Map table.
2 - The Title is flagged as not-one_sequential.
3 - The Title is made of several PGCs.
4 - The Title is played in random or shuffle mode.
5 - The Title has a NextPGCN link pointing to itself (with some players only).
6 - There are PUOs prohibiting the seek operation.
7 - The video is in the Menu domain.

Most points can be fixed with PgcEdit.

1 - Select the title PGC in the left pane and use Title > Rebuild Time Map of Current PGC (or Rebuild All Time Maps in DVD)

2 - Use Title -> Title Play Map Table and untick the 3 checkboxes.

3 - No solution. Re-author that title with DVDShrink in re-author mode.

4 - Double-click the Title PGC in the left pane and select the Sequential PG Playback mode (in the upper left corner of the PGC editor window).

5 - Double-click the Title PGC in the left pane and change the Prev/Next/GoUp PGCN Link values to 0.

6 - Use Title -> Title Play Map Table and untick the 3 checkboxes. Then double-click the title in the left pane and set the Prohibited User Operations value to 0. There are also PUOs in the VOB themselves. You can examine ot change them with the PUO plugin for PgcEdit. (Note that most rippers clear all PUOs from the IFOs and VOB files anyway, so you should not need to apply this point.)

7 - No solution, but you can also reauthor that menu PGC with DVDShrink. (Note that the fact that the video is in the menu domain doesn't mean that it's really a menu. It can be a (relatively) short video with a single sound track.)

To summarize, you should rebuild the time map, clear the values in the upper left corner of the PGC editor, clear the checkboxes in the Title Play Map table, and clear all PUOs.

Note that applying point 2, 4 or 5 may break the navigation of the DVD. Do it at your own risk!