NEC 1300A .avi problem

[johnmalc]

Been using mine for months for copying DVDs, no problems. My video editing friend was impressed so I got him one also. A lot of his stuff is in AVI format, and that's where the problems start. If we copy any avi files from his hard drive to dvd, then play it back on the NEC burner, the playback is jerky, constantly stopping for a split second then going again, quite unwatchable. I thought it was a problem with his new burner, so tried it on mine, exactly the same!
BUT, take the dvd disk to my girlfriend's Plextor DVDRom, plays perfect. Also, copy the files from the DVD back to the hard disk, plays no problems.
Done this on Nero and Roxio, on both machines,play back on PDVD5 and Win Media player, same everytime. Also tried flashing latest firmware, no difference.
So, my conclusion is that the NEC can write AVIs, but has problems reading them, which is a major problem. Can anyone save me from an RMA situation?

[setarip]

1) Make sure DMA is ON for all drives

2) Most people don't use their burners for playback - it will shorten the burner's life considerably. If you have an extra bay, it's a far better idea to spend $30-$40US to add a high speed DVD-ROM (player) to your system

[johnmalc]

*UDMA is enabled, I moderate a forum on such matters , but thanks for the advice. And I am not being a smart arse here!

I agree that this drive burns great, but is lousy on playback. From what I have read, here and elsewhere, .avi is NOT a format for DVD anyway, so perhaps it is a non-problem really. I rate this drive, it works!

Setarip, you obviously know your stuff, so have a look at rhcf.com
bright minds always welcome.

[setarip]

"Setarip, you obviously know your stuff"

One can only hope ;>}

[johnmalc]

Yes, but have you taken a look......

[ashy]

Maybe the data rate of your AVI is just too high and the NEC just can't spin the disk fast enough to supply it smoothly and may have something to do with the 2x limitation of the drive.

The NEC is locked to 2x DVD ripping. When ripping a DVD the files on the DVD are treated as ordinary data files not movie files and are therefore limited to 2x.

When you play a DVD as a normal movie the drive isn't limited to 2x, so you won't have a problem.
My guess is that when you attempt to play the AVI from the DVD the 2x limitation is kicking in because it is simply treating the AVI as ordinary data.
Seems a bit strange, but is the only explanation I can think of.

You can remove this limitation and also make your drive region free with hacked firmware that is avaiable on the net.
Your drive should then rip at 12x and should then play your AVI's smoothly, it will also add other capabilities to the drive such as book type setting.

You can find firmware here: http://www.herrie.org/

[johnmalc]

Ashy

I can't argue with your logic, seems good. But I just went to Herries site, downloaded the latest "hacked" firmware, 1.08V2, flashed it,and same problem. Do I actually have to activate a setting somewhere?

[ashy]

Maybe you should download Nero DVD speed and Nero InfoTool to check the transfer rate of your drive.
You can also use Nero drivespeed to change the speed.

http://www.cdspeed2000.com/

[thedukehasyou]

Originally posted by ashy
[My guess is that when you attempt to play the AVI from the DVD the 2x limitation is kicking in because it is simply treating the AVI as ordinary data.
Seems a bit strange, but is the only explanation I can think of.

I agree on the hypothesis. Strange behavior on the drive do.

Fine on Plextor... hum... Mine to was stuck at 2x.

Out of curiosity, I did burn an avi (12 minutes in length) and played it back on my 1300a lookalike (mitsumi dw7802te) and it plays fine...

The problem is solved by http://forum.digital-digest.com/show...threadid=32188

But if yours is a real NEC, I would advise you read http://www.herrie.org/modules.php?na...oad&cid=29#cat I suggest version 1.07 and above, excluding 1.0a (which I have not tried yet)

Hope it helps.

Regards

Duke