Nebiyu, make sure you empty your trash can. Your computer processor is very close to mine, you have twice the RAM so it is your HD. Try emptying your trash can, de-frag your disk and try to make as much space available as you can by compressing your old files. I use several rippers and converters there is little difference beweeen the different packages. Converting takes much longer than ripping. I suspect temp files are written and deleted so that there is much more writting than you might suspect. HDs write faster if there are large spaces to write to.

There are major speed differences between an IDE, ultra IDE and an SATA. The differences are so vast they need different cables. The older style cables for each system can not physically transfer that much data that fast. Each type has more shealding on the cable than the previous version. When I say speed I mean how fast can it read or write a gig of data.

jrtorrent, sorry to break the news to you. None of these little fly-by night cos have any real help. They spend all there money on developers. Even the bigger, more established ones like DeFab as no help and no tutorials even though they are listed in the help menu. They are in a very tough market, Everyone wants fantastic software for nothing! Users are looking for crack codes etc. The market is very small one that is fairly demanding. The reality is most of these cos are in the red just hoping to be able to break even in a few years. If they start to make real money the media maffia sues them out of business. However, it is great to get this out in the open. That is why afterdawn is so important.

Right now I and using DeFab Platnum to do most of my conversions. I also use the ported Handbreak app. I have downloaded Super which looks super and confusing. I did not know what most the options ment. I think I converted something but it did not tell me where it put it nore what the name of the file was. I don't expect much from paid for apps in this business and far less for the free-bees.

If you do look back you will see my posts throughout this thread. I started reading this thread a few months after is started it started. I have read most of the postings, not that I can remember much after a few months but I am aware of all the problems.

You are doing a valuable service by venting. Hopefully someone will will read your venting before they buy. Maybe they will try a freebee first. The freebees and the paid fors are getting better all the time.

I have no like, dislike or any connection with Cusoft. I am a developer so I can appreciate the level of effort required for the various software packages and I am more critical than most about all the junior level mistakes I see. I bought X-Copy Platnum for $120 a long time ago. That was the first real copy buster. It had just a few options and read and burned at 1X, no faster and no slower. I don't think they had any software support but since it only had a one button (start) and maybe 3 option check boxes which all worked for me I would not know. I suspect they made money and I know they were sued out of business. With this history, am am more appreciative for what works and more forgiving if it does not.

If the package really doesn't work please vent! I get real nasty when I think someone has ripped me off. This is the place to do it where it might make a difference. I am sure someone from there reads this thread.

I can say DeFab works but there are few options. Again there are few buttons to go wrong. DeFab probably will beat Cusoft for critical updates every time. I used their freebee software for years. They and Rip4me can beat the others by days up to a month or so. When they added the mobile technology I bought in. More for payback for years of freebees than for the mobile technology.

Originally posted by Mez:

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Nebiyu, make sure you empty your trash can. Your computer processor is very close to mine, you have twice the RAM so it is your HD. Try emptying your trash can, de-frag your disk and try to make as much space available as you can by compressing your old files. I use several rippers and converters there is little difference beweeen the different packages. Converting takes much longer than ripping. I suspect temp files are written and deleted so that there is much more writting than you might suspect. HDs write faster if there are large spaces to write to.

There are major speed differences between an IDE, ultra IDE and an SATA. The differences are so vast they need different cables. The older style cables for each system can not physically transfer that much data that fast. Each type has more shealding on the cable than the previous version. When I say speed I mean how fast can it read or write a gig of data.

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Mez -

Thank you so much.. I just emptied out my trash can.. there was a lot of stuff in there and I rechecked my hard drive and now I have 15.7 GB of free space.. 21.4 is still being used out of which 6.74GB is for the movie I'm trying to convert.. Its "HEAT" have you seen it? Its a long movie but Geez.. does it need that much space? So, now I retried it again and it says it needs 2.5 hours.. That is much better than 7 to 10 hours.. but I wish I can still get it shorter.. It takes me 2 hours to decode the DVD and if this means 2.5 hours to convert it to iPod, that's a total of 4.5 hours.. And the worst part is that when I run these programs, my PC gets SO slow that I have to stop everything else I'm doing.. So, that means I can only do this when I'm not using my PC.. Or may be its because this movie is too long? I will have to try another movie after this and see how it performs..

Also, I have an external hard drive with 120GB of memory.. that's where I store my iTunes, music and other files.. but for some reason when I decode the DVD and try to save it to the hard drive, it says the "Folder has reached capacity" and will not do it.. So I have to first RIP the DVD to my hard drive then convert it to iPod and save it to the external hard drive where iTune is stored.. This is really bizzare..

Do you think I sho

Has anybody got this Warning! message before?

"iTunes cannot locate the CD Configuration folder, so you cannot import or burn CDs and DVDs. This folder must be in the same directory as iTunes."

I check my iTunes folder and there is already a "CD Configuration" folder, so I dont' know what this is talking about...

I called Apple and they told me to delete and re-instal iTunes. I asked them if I will lose my stuff and they assured me I won't but I don't believe them..

Does anybody if I can try keep all my stuff including my music burnet from CDs, Videos and Youtube video's that I have in my iTunes right now?

Has anybody deleted and re-installed their iTunes before?

Nebiyu,
Do not delete unless you are POSITIVE that is what they told you to do! Uninstall then reinstall.
I can't imagine that a reinstal of itunes would do anything to your tunes. Even though itunes is an unconventional software in that it does not always use standard methodology in its interface, it is a solid app. A solid app does not destroy data. You have your tunes on an external drive anyway. Do not plug it in when you do the uninstall just to be 100% safe.

2.5 hrs is still slow for even a standard IDE but you are in the ball park. Any major improvement will need a new drive. Putting in a new drive will be faster and much easier then squeezing that last 20-30% out of your old drive. There is a software device that speeds up data transfer about 20-30% called something like DMA. That is not functioning properly on your old drive. It is often much easier to get a new drive than to get that device driver working.

What kind of cable does your external have? I ask this because even fire wire is slow for a fast disk drive. Get an internal SATA if you want some speed. I can't remember the exact stats but I bet a SATA cable transfers data 100x faster than firewire. It is way easier to install than you would think. Get controller and drive. You can get a controller for $20 plus shipping on the internet. I saw 300g SATAs in Best Buys for $99 and you can easily get a 500g for a little more on the internet. All you need is a Phillips head screw driver. The controller plugs in then you lock it in with a screw. The drive slides in to the internal drive bay. You need to slide it in and secure it with a screw. I only use one screw because I am lazy and you only need one. Your computer should have extra power cables, so just plug in the power cable and the controller cable then instal the software. The only problem that I can see happening is the new HDs have a new power supply plug. If that is the case, a local mom and pop computer store will carry a 6 " adapter cord. One end plugs into the old style the other into your HD. It will take 10 min if you have done one before 1 hr tops if you are clueless. Everything plugs in and ALL the plugs are idiot proof in that you can only plug them in the right way.

Good Luck!

Mez - this is a work laptop and I can't do all these things.. this is why I use an external drive to store my stuff..

If you really think that the problem is my HD, then I guess I'm out of luck.. because I thought may be the problem would be with the type of iPod convertor I'm using..

The external disk that I use is a 120 GB Smartdisk FireLite.. and the cable came with it..

You might look into the DMA access. Your main disk is slower than it should be. If you have a PC person at work let them check to make sure your Direct Memory Access is working OK. That can squeek some more speed out of it. Other than that you are out of options. From my experiance, I have not noticed any real speed difference between one converter to another. I assume they all use the same core functionality but I could be wrong. However, being a senior programmer, I can tell you we are coders not mathmatitions. We get formulas out of a book or somewhere we don't make them up. Remember I am using a freebee and a side utility in a paid for package that does other things. They are all slow for me. We both have fairly slow computers. I do not think you can buy a desktop that is even twice as fast as mine anymore. The bottom of the barrel computer probabily a processor that is 2.5 times faster than ours. A good desktop could blow mine away. So you can't expect the times others can get with a high end computer.

Thanks Mez for all the info..



pheew... some wishful thinking... can't wait 'til the day we have Quantum Computers in our desk tops...

Looks like I'm getting a similar problem. I loaded v5.28 and when I start ripping the DVD, I get a Cucusoft DVD Software error and the application shuts down. My system has two DVD drives and it fails on both. I then loaded it on two other computers I have and it works fine! The problem is the box it doesn't work on was the one I fixing up for my son and he's the one with the iPod!! I've reinstalled, and looked over this thread, not sure what else to do with the computer. I wanted to try v3.16.3.29 but haven't found it anywhere to download. Any suggestions?

Try wading through this thread more carefully. There have been at least 1 case where something like this happened. There were mismatches in drivers that were not Cucusoft.

I guess this is the BIG problem with this software. It relies on different sets of drivers on your computer that may not be up to date but work fine in their own app. If something is out of sync it is not obvious what the problem is. You need to do lots of digging to figure out what is wrong. Most users may not even have the savy or the perserverance to solve the problem.

Good Luck!

@Woch2331, just check your private message to get it. Both version 3 and 5 worked on my computer (IBM 1.6GHz, WinXP).

Excellent tutorial!
I have a question. How should I put the flv videos downloaded from Youtube to my 80GB iPod?

Originally posted by cupfor200:

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Excellent tutorial!
I have a question. How should I put the flv videos downloaded from Youtube to my 80GB iPod?

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i got Moyea FLV to Video Converter from http://www.zunescene.com/forums/index.php?topic=1999.0

mrxxg, Thank you for the reply. I got around this.
Online convert Youtube FLV to MP4 for iPod, PSP, AVI.
http://vixy.net/
100% FREE!!
Thanks anyway!

I downloaded the DVD/Video to I-pod suite. I can get video to the I-pod but when I try to convert a DVD to I pod I get an error message that says " DVD::Init0Failed." No matter what I try It does this. I have tried to contact CUCUSOFT but nobody will reply. Can anyone help or do you know how to contact cucusoft other than the support web site? A phone # would be great.
Thank you

@hggrdpmp,

Originally posted by Woch2331:

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Thanks! I downloaded the full version of v3.16.3.29 and it works! (How odd, old version works on one computer, new version on two others).

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Which version did you use? Just check your private message to get the 3.16 version to have a try.

I think Cucusoft iPod Video Converter Suite is a good choice . I have using it for a long time , it works pretty good , I downloaded it at http://www.afterdawn.com/general/adprices.cfm , you can try it , too .

Hi all,

I just went through 4 hous of converting the Movie Matrix into my iPod and now I try to check it out and its in french. What the hell? How do I change it back to English? I have already deleted the uncoverted file from my computer so I hope I don't have to redo it again.

After loading the DVD into the iPod conversion program, you should select the lauguage (audio track) and subtitle you like first, then rip the DVD. If the result mp4 movie is in French, you have to convert again. It seems that there is no way to change a movie file's lauguage.

Originally posted by dkmopq:

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After loading the DVD into the iPod conversion program, you should select the lauguage (audio track) and subtitle you like first, then rip the DVD. If the result mp4 movie is in French, you have to convert again. It seems that there is no way to change a movie file's lauguage.

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Shouldn't the default be English? This is not the first movie I rip'd and converted, and I never had to mess around the language before. So, basically what you're telling me is I have to waste another 4 hours re-converting this damn movie from the DVD?

To Nebiyu, every DVD are different with default language setting, the most safe way is to check before you start to rip it...the answer to your question is unfortunately YES.

Cucusoft DVd to iPod video converter software has been upgraded. The new version includes two running modes, one is "Direct Mode", the other is "Batch Mode".
1) "Batch Mode" means that user can select the DVD titles/chapters they want to rip via checkbox list. This mode is very easy for batch ripping Music DVD's, MTV DVD's and Episodic DVD's.
2) "Direct Mode" means that user can directly click the DVD Menu to select the movie they want to rip. This mode is very easy for ripping a DVD movie.

Enjoy!

I get the following error message when copying a dvd to ipod using Cucu iPod DVD Converter software. Any idea what this message means, and how I can fix
The message = ‘getaudioattributesfailed’
Other dvds can be ripped with no any problem, only this one failed.

@msfaffaa, The DVd you ripped must be a little uncommon. Try to adjust "audio bitrate", "Sample rate", and "audio codec" to fix this problem.