Question about playback problems (long...)

[DJJeffMills]

Hey all,

A friend told me about this site so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Bear with me...I'm more or less a n00b when it comes to this type of stuff but I'll do my best.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:
I noticed in the past few months, and even more recently, that I'm getting - for lack of a better term - "choppy" playback on my LG DVD-ROM. The audio is kind of choppy/"crackly" and the picture is too.

WHEN DOES IT OCCUR?:
I can play DVD movies seamlessly up to a point, then the movies get all blegh & choppy. In other words, I can play, say, an episode or 2 of the sopranos/a movie/etc. and it works fine, but then it kinda gets wonky after a movie or 2.

It does this on original OEM dvd's and with burned movies.

MY ATTEMPT AT A DIAGNOSIS:
The dvd's/movies work fine in my PS2 so I (think I) eliminatedt he actual disc itself as the problem. My computer is a little over a year old...specs:

P4, 2.4GHz
512 RAM
120gig HD (about 25gigs left) - - it was choppy when it was about 10gig, and still does now
128mb of video
Win XP Home SP2

I'm using PowerDVD 5.0 (came with the computer). I installed WinDVD 7.0 to see if it was the software and the problem STILL persists.

I do not know the model # of my LG DVD-ROM player...is there any way of finding that out?! (I don't have any of the manuals...I'm in Toronto and all my booklets are 2hrs away at the parents house)

I haven't made any changes to the video settings (hardware acceleration, etc.) since I got the computer Aug 2004, and it's not a real gaming rig either (mostly surfin the net for porn & stock quotes etc.)

Sometimes the DVD movie will work (temporarily) when I say, eject the disc and put it back in (whatever that does), or when I cold boot the computer (kind of like an older pentium where if you did a cold boot it'll free up the RAM and make your Windows 98 "run quicker"

Any help would be appreciated...

...if you have any other questions or need clarification don't hesitate.

- Jeff

[anonymez]

just a couple of things you need to do:

find out the name of your drive. make sure there is no disc in the drive, right-click 'my computer', click 'properties', then 'device manager'. it will be in there.

make sure DMA is enabled http://forum.digital-digest.com/show...threadid=44808

download & install your latest graphics card drivers

does the problem occur when you decrypt the dvd to the hard disk and play from there?

download & install 'media player classic' from http://www.free-codecs.com and try to reproduce the problem.

my guess though is that your DVD-ROM is wearing out, and maybe time for a new one...

[DJJeffMills]

Thanks for the prompt reply,

1. "find out the name of your drive. make sure there is no disc in the drive, right-click 'my computer', click 'properties', then 'device manager'. it will be in there."

--> HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8163B (googled that and gave me a lot of info about an LG DVD-ROM 16X/48X - - I perused more links/info and i came across Updating Firmware...I will let my buddy do that so I don't screw it up)


2. "make sure DMA is enabled http://forum.digital-digest.com/show...threadid=44808"

--> went through the steps and the 'Transfer Mode:' is "DMA if available" - but the 'Current Transfer Mode:' is "Not Applicable" (for Device 0 & Device 1). I then went to another crosspost that was linked and perhaps i came across the issue of experiencing too many problems (i think 6 or more) and so it 'disabled' DMA on me *shrug*? or maybe I just don't have DMA with this computer. I will uninstall/reinstall under my buddy's supervision (i'm too much of a wuss to eff around with my setup hehe)


3. "download & install your latest graphics card drivers"

--> haven't done that yet (i'm in the middle of exams but will likely get to that in the next couple days)


4. "does the problem occur when you decrypt the dvd to the hard disk and play from there?"

--> no, works perfectly.


5. "download & install 'media player classic' from http://www.free-codecs.com and try to reproduce the problem."

--> I downloaded & installed it and I will play a DVD later on (too busy at the moment)


6. "my guess though is that your DVD-ROM is wearing out, and maybe time for a new one..."

--> in your experience, is 14 months a typical lifespan for a DVD-ROM? I assume there's many factors involved (ie. amt it gets used, etc.)?? Are they costly to get just a basic one? $100? $200?



Thanks again,

I will get back to you re: the above things I did not do in the next little while.

-Jeff

[LT. Columbo]

here is where to get the latest firmware for your dvd-rom

http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?download_id=1871

regarding the DMA "not applicable" just means nothing is connected to that particular channel--that's fine.

if or when you buy a new dvd-rom you can get them much cheaper than 1-200 dollars. i've seen them as low as 20$!

i must say you have put the most effort in your trying to resolve this problem and your posts than any other member i have seen, truly excellent work

[anonymez]

trust me, your computer has DMA . does it say 'ultra dma mode 2' for the dvd drive? also make sure your hard disk is set to 'ultra dma mode 5' (possibly lower for older hard disks)

updating firmware also solves a lot of issues, but you may want to get your buddy to do that if you're hesitant. make sure he/you read the instructions first!

don't know about the lifespan of a dvd-rom, but it will definitely wear out quicker the more you use it (for example, if you play many dvd's straight from the disc instead of decrypting them first). i've had mine for ~3 years now, but i always decrypt movies first. don't worry they are very very cheap nowadays . get a dvd burner instead.

[jm1647]

@DJJeffMIlls - In addition to getting the other things straightened out I would delete some files off your HDD or get another HDD. A handy little program called CCleaner available here will clean out junk that is just taking up space. Since you mentioned it works better when you first reboot a nice little program called MaxMem from AnalogX is available here. I only have 456MB Ram and use it on XP, and after it frees memory up it puts zip back into it.

[DJJeffMills]

here is where to get the latest firmware for your dvd-rom
http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?download_id=1871

I found that page earlier & bookmarked it. There're 6 'links'/downloads? which do I download?! *shrug*

i must say you have put the most effort in your trying to resolve this problem and your posts than any other member i have seen, truly excellent work

hehe thx...these things can be frustrating *shakes fist @ dvd-rom*

trust me, your computer has DMA . does it say 'ultra dma mode 2' for the dvd drive? also make sure your hard disk is set to 'ultra dma mode 5' (possibly lower for older hard disks)

??? I don't know where to find it? is it in the Device Manager?

here's a screenshot

get a dvd burner instead.

already got one

[DJJeffMills]

handy little program called CCleaner available here will clean out junk that is just taking up space.

athanku

[jmet]

I found that page earlier & bookmarked it. There're 6 'links'/downloads? which do I download?! *shrug*

Perhaps this thread could be of some assistance when trying to update your firmware: http://forum.digital-digest.com/show...threadid=50100

[DJJeffMills]

Perhaps this thread could be of some assistance when trying to update your firmware: http://forum.digital-digest.com/show...threadid=50100

many thanks

[anonymez]

ok there is nothing connected to the primary IDE BUS at all. the hard disk should be in primary, and dvd/cd drives in secondary. who built your PC?

in the device manager, double-click 'secondary ide bus', and post a similar screenshot

[jm1647]

@anonymez - good eye I skimmed through the response and didn't see the link for the screenshot.

@DJJeffMills - from Image Shack copy the Imbeddable link for forums from "my images" and just paste it into your response. I copied the properties of your link and put [IMG] your link [/IMG]

It'll show automatically like this

[DJJeffMills]

ok there is nothing connected to the primary IDE BUS at all. the hard disk should be in primary, and dvd/cd drives in secondary. who built your PC?

lol...by a company in the city I'm from (London, Canada)...can I connect something to the primary (or secondary) IDE BUS myself? (ie. either physically inside or via reinstalling something?

in the device manager, double-click 'secondary ide bus', and post a similar screenshot

[jmet]

Check your DMA settings - How ? do this -> Go to Control Panel> System> Hardware Tab> Device Manager> IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers> Right Click Primary IDE channel (and Secondary IDE channel after you finish with Primary)> Properties> Advanced Settings Tab> Transfer Mode or go here: http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=101616

Do the above from both "Primary & Secondary IDE channels".

I (We) and you need to look at whats in both "Transfer Mode" and "Current Transfer Mode". Screen shot below is what I'm talking about.


If it is in "PIO" mode. Click the "Driver" tab, and uninstall the driver. Then reboot. Upon rebooting windows will automatically reinstall the driver and it should go back to "DMA" mode.



(Your screen may or may not look the same as my screen shots)

[anonymez]

djjeffmills, open up your tower case. look at the hard disk and the dvd drive. you will see that they share a thin, flat cable (called the IDE cable). you will need another one of those. (make sure its an 80 pin cable)

Turn your PC off. give the hard disk and the dvd drive its own flat cable (they must not share the same one), and plug each one into its corresponding place on the motherboard (they should be labeled something like IDE1 and IDE2 OR Primary and Secondary). make sure the hard disk is connected to IDE1 or Primary, and the dvd drive to IDE2 or Secondary. then enable dma, as shown in jmet's post.

check out this links for pictures (hard disks install the same way dvd/cd drives do). post if you're still confused.

http://www.helpwithpcs.com/upgrading/install-hard-drive.htm