DVD playback problem

[Macks]

Hi all,

Hopefully someone can assist me with the following problem:

I just upgraded my machine by removing my old motherboard/cpu & memory with a new Biostar m/b, E4400 and 2GB Corsair PC5400 DDR2. I've reused all the old drives, HD, DVD & floppy.

The DVD drive seems to work. It handles data discs fine and I can hear it spin and the access light comes on when it's seeking.

However I tried to watch a DVD movie, which I could previously okay and after a brief flash of video (1 second at most) the application crashes with the stock 'Software DVD Player has encountered a problem and needs to close' error. Interestingly I do get to see the FACT warning before the movie begins before the crash. It appears it doesn't like the video.

I'm using the same codec (Intervideo) that I used before. Though I tried using AVS in trying to solve this problem and with that it repeats 'loading dvd' over and over.

The only thing I can think of is that this new upgrade uses on board video where previously I had a dedicated agp graphics card and I've not gotten around to buying a new pci-e card yet.

Is dvd playback an issue with onboard graphics?

The onboard video shares my main memory and is set to 128Mb and streams stuff from youtube etc, fine.

Cheers in advance.

[LeftyAce]

What's the CPU usage as you start watching a DVD?

What were your old CPU, motherboard and ram? What brand/rating is your powersupply?

[Macks]

Originally Posted by LeftyAce What's the CPU usage as you start watching a DVD? What were your old CPU, motherboard and ram? What brand/rating is your powersupply?

It peaks about 18%.

I had a Athlon XP 2800+ (Barton) with some generic ddr pc 2700.

My psu is a Corsair 520W (cmpsu-520hxuk).

Thanks LeftyAce, what do you think it could be?

[LeftyAce]

I was concerned either that your processor and onboard video wasn't able to handle the dvd for some reason (it seems fine; 18% utilization means it's not straining), or that you upgraded a bunch of components without upgrading the powersupply (Your powersupply is great).

In general, onboard video should be fine for DVD playing. It's games that it won't do.

Since it's neither of those, can you try a different DVD playing program? VLC is free. If another program exhibits the same issues, it might be an issue with your old DVD player. I realize it reads data fine, but live video playback can't be delayed without crashing....

Which BIOStar motherboard do you have? (A lot of newer motherboards have non-native IDE controllers that cause issues with IDE drives).

[Macks]

Originally Posted by LeftyAce I was concerned either that your processor and onboard video wasn't able to handle the dvd for some reason (it seems fine; 18% utilization means it's not straining), or that you upgraded a bunch of components without upgrading the powersupply (Your powersupply is great). In general, onboard video should be fine for DVD playing. It's games that it won't do. Since it's neither of those, can you try a different DVD playing program? VLC is free. If another program exhibits the same issues, it might be an issue with your old DVD player. I realize it reads data fine, but live video playback can't be delayed without crashing.... Which BIOStar motherboard do you have? (A lot of newer motherboards have non-native IDE controllers that cause issues with IDE drives).

Thanks for the quick response. I did remove intervideo and tried a free one called AVS DVD player which again lets me watch video from my hard drive but when trying a disc doesn't crash but says 'loading dvd video. Please wait.......' then counts to 100% it then displays D:\video_ts but loops back to the 'loading dvd video.....' again.

Does the fact that I can watch a dvd clip that resides on my HD but not one from disc point to the DVD player being incompatible somehow with the new board and/or IDE controller? I'm not clear what non-native IDE means.

The motherboard is a P4M900 Micro 775.

[LeftyAce]

Non native IDE means that the IDE chipset is made by someone other than the main chipset on the board (On newer ASUS boards, which I have the most experience with, the chipset is Intel, and the IDE controller is JMicron).

I looked up your board, and it's using Via for the main chipset (Which we don't recommend; they're low quality) and as far as I can tell, the IDE controller is VIA as well, but the page I saw didn't specify.

At this point I'm not sure whether the drive being IDE is the problem or the VIA chipset is completely acting up.
How long ago did you get the motherbaord? Is it possible to swap it for something like an ASUS P5B-VM? (onboard video, Intel chipset, but you might still need a SATA optical drive).

Others may have some input here.

[Macks]

Originally Posted by LeftyAce Non native IDE means that the IDE chipset is made by someone other than the main chipset on the board (On newer ASUS boards, which I have the most experience with, the chipset is Intel, and the IDE controller is JMicron). I looked up your board, and it's using Via for the main chipset (Which we don't recommend; they're low quality) and as far as I can tell, the IDE controller is VIA as well, but the page I saw didn't specify. At this point I'm not sure whether the drive being IDE is the problem or the VIA chipset is completely acting up. How long ago did you get the motherbaord? Is it possible to swap it for something like an ASUS P5B-VM? (onboard video, Intel chipset, but you might still need a SATA optical drive). Others may have some input here.

Thanks Lefty, very helpful. I'm learning as I go. It's a brand new motherboard but the intention is to replace it when my budget allows an upgrade. I've been doing it piecemeal but with hindsight wish I'd build a completely new machine.

I don't have a spare motherboard to try as all my old ones are for AMD cpu's.

Looking at the prices of new optical DVD writers though I'm tempted to just buy a new SATA drive, but am worried that won't solve the problem.

What do you think? Any advice would be appreciated.

[LeftyAce]

I would try a SATA optical drive. If it solves your problem, great! If it doesn't, at least it's a part you're going to need down the road when you do upgrade that motherboard.

Either the SATA drive fixes the problem, or it tells you you need to go ahead and get a better board, which will require a SATA drive anyway.

Piecemeal isn't recommended, and you're sort of seeing why, but it's not the end of the world. Check out a retail LiteOn SATA burner; they come with software.

[glc]

I never have had real good stability with Via chipsets and Intel processors.

Verify that the DVD drive is running in DMA mode. That would be in the properties of the IDE channels. Did you install the latest set of chipset drivers?

[Macks]

Originally Posted by glc I never have had real good stability with Via chipsets and Intel processors. Verify that the DVD drive is running in DMA mode. That would be in the properties of the IDE channels. Did you install the latest set of chipset drivers?

I've checked the drive is running in DMA mode under device 0 it says the current transfer mode is 'Ultra DMA Mode 4' and under device 1 'not applicable'.

Is the device 1 section referring to any slave drive I could have on that channel?

Also, I noticed while looking in device manager that I have listed 2 primary IDE channels and 2 secondary IDE channels? Is that normal and if so which does what? I'm somewhat confused as I only have one HD connected to IDE 1 on my motherboard and one DVD drive connected to IDE 2, both set as master drives.

I installed the chipset drivers that came on CD with the board but also tried the latest version from the Biostar website which hasn't resolved the problem.

[glc]

Yes, device 1 would be a slave. The reason you have double channels is SATA, they emulate IDE and show up in device manager that way.

[Macks]

Thanks GLC.

Incidentally, I tried another drive this afternoon, one that is confirmed working in another system. It's even older than the Pioneer I've got now but I wanted to see if it was an issue with the Pioneer.

Doesn't work either.