iso and mds?

so I decoded my dvd sent to hd and it made an iso file and a mds file. What is a mds for, considerably smaller, but both are accepted by shrink. If I disable dvd decoder from making this will it mess up the backup process?

 

ISO file is an image file that contains full content of the disc, including every single track, directory, file and information about the structure of the disc. It must be mounted with a tool like daemon to view, but no conversion is necessary.

MDS is a media data store file. A MDS file is a small meta file that contains description information about the associated ISO file. It is not an ISO file nor can a MDS file be converted into a ISO file, you must have the ISO file; however, you can have an ISO file without the MDS file.

So, to answer your question, if you just want the ISO file, you can disable the MDS, but not visa-versa.

You can make a backup from either one actually. In fact Decrypter used to make backups from the ISO file but I have noticed in the recent updates it now chooses the MDS file(even if you choose ISO, it will pick the MDS file) when converting and burning to disc.

I also use Alchohol 120 to convert and burn ISO files, so when I'm using decrypter I use the MDS and when using A120 I use the ISO.

Hope I helped and didn't make it more confusing.LOL :>)

 

The MDS is a media descripter file. DVD Decrypter automatically creates one when ripping in ISO mode. It is needed for rips of a dual-layer DVDs (most video DVDs nowadays are DL), as it stores information about the layers. Although DVD Decrypter does have a tool that can create an MDS file from an ISO file, it is only possible on single-layer ISO files, because, information about the layers cannot be recreated from just the ISO file. That's the reason behind using the MDS file.

 

Thanks a lot, The perfect amount of info. Thanks for the tip, Big Orange

 

How do I disable it in Decrypter?

 

Tools -> Settings -> ISO Read Mode, then uncheck "Create MDS file."

If you don't mind me asking, why would you want to disable it?

 

I'm curious also? :>(

 

Well actually a friend of mine is having a problem that I was trying to help him with. I backed up the same DVD he is trying to back up with no problem using the ISO file. But he keeps getting this MDS file and Dycrpter keeps telling him that he should have chosen the MDS file and not the ISO file. Decrypter then MAKES him use the MDS file which then for some reason will not burn onto a DVD. So I figured if he gets rid of the MDS file then Decrypter will have no choice but to use the ISO file. When I back up the DVD I had no problem using the ISO file.

 

The MDS file will work. Tell your friend to use a slow burn like 1x and see if that won't work.

 

Thanks, I'll pass that along. As you said,I have noticed that I do get more reliable burns using a slower speed. I also thought that maybe it might be a media problem, so I'm going to give him two different brands of DVD's to try.

 

If this doesn't work he's thinking of buying DVD XCopy or DVD2One. Any opinion on these? I had the old DVD XCopy that worked fine but of course they went out of business so I was left with a coaster. A new company has taken over (Xcopy Intl.) and is selling the software again.

 

DVD X Copy is a waste of time and money, in my opinion (and many many many others' opinions here), but if you like it, go for it. I threw away $100 of my hard-earned money on it.

I use AnyDVD and DVD Shrink. AnyDVD has a 21 day free trial, after that it's like $40. DVD Shrink is free. AnyDVD is definitely worth the money. I'd actually pay $100 for it before I'd pay $40 for DVD X Copy.

 

Well it does appear to have been the media after all. The media I gave him worked fine. Although now he is getting an error that says:"(E ATA unable to lock volume for exclusive access. Reason: access denied Abort-Retry-Ignore" I 'Googled' it and someone suggested that the drive is in use by another program, possibly packet writing software like InCD from another burning program. I never had these kinds of problems! Jeez!

 

Welcome to DVD X Copy's world of software conflicts. It's a pretty bumpy rollercoaster (almost made me puke many times). Eventually you will get so frustrated with it you will switch, just like we all did.

 

You misunderstood. We're not using DVD Xcopy, we're using Shrink and Decrypter. But the problems have cleared up since updating the software to the latest versions and using a different brand DVD media.

 

Lots of times when you get the Abort-Retry-Ignore with decrypter, it is a scratched or dirty disc. You can try ignore or retry and sometimes it will work if you're persistent. I have gone as many as 300-400 tries and finally it copied doing a little at a time til it got past the bad spot.