I seem to have a weird problem. My new Ativa drive plays cd's fine, and the audio that comes with non-commercial video files. But when I put in a purchased DVD, the sound stutters constantly. Is there something I can try?
Since the sound is garbled (but present) I would expect that the required AC3 filter is installed and something is interfering with it. Possibly the video card. If you could check the advanced properties and perhaps turn off 'hardware acceleration' to test. If it has no effect, turn it back on. Failing that, install this AC3 filter and try a DVD. The filter has an uninstall program and if the filter has no effect, uninstall it. http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/codecs_and_filters/ac3filter.cfm
I tried both ideas and unfortunately neither worked. Here is the info about my computer eMachines T2642 Intel Celeron CPU 2.60GHz 256 mb RAM 40 gb hard disk Intel Extreme Graphics controller 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Realtec AC'97 Audio Think any of that is the problem?
I don't know if the sound is a card or part of the motherboard, but if you can find out either the type of motherboard or the sound card and try to get an update or reinstall of the drivers. But why a burned DVD would play and a commercial one wouldn't is a head scratcher.
No, I haven't tried a burned DVD - there didn't seem to be much point in burning any until I figured out the problem with the purchased ones. I did get the latest drivers from RealAudio for the sound card and it didn't help. Could the drive just be defective?
Play a DVD, then open Task Manager then under 'Performance' see what kind of CPU usage it shows. Also under 'Physical Memory' what does it say under 'Available'.
The CPU usage changes every 2 seconds or so. I saw the following numbers in the space of a short time in this order 49% 64% 46% 35% 59% 50% 59% 66% The total Physical Memory is 260,080 and the available also changes. It went from a low of 65,743 thru various ups and down to a high of 66,084 Are these good numbers or bad? If bad what can I do to change them. BTW the only thing I had open was Windows Media Player and Windows Explorer. I really appreciate this help!!
Well those numbers seem high. When I use NeroShowtime I'm at at about 30% cpu usage. You have a faster cpu than mine (AMD at 2.2), but I've got 1GB of RAM. As a test grab VLC player and see if your results/sound improve. For me it runs at about 6-10% cpu usage. http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ 256MB of RAM seems inadequate for running XP. More RAM (512MB should suffice) will definitely help your system, you will notice an all around speed improvement, but I don't know for sure if will solve your audio problem.
Unfortunately the VideoLan didn't solve the sound problem, and made the video jump with the jumping of the sound. So it was worse. I'm going to call the manufacturer and see if there is any chance that I just have defective hardware.
There are still a few other things you could try. Is your drive possibly stuck in PIO mode instead of DMA? Check out this guide DMA Settings Have you checked for an updated firmware for your drive? Is this a internal drive or external USB drive? Could need chipset/USB driver updates to your motherboard also. Ir it is internal is the drive set as master or slave? If internal do you have the audio cable hooked up to the sound card (this may or may not help try both ways)? Have you tried several DVD's or just one (could be a problem with the one you are testing with)?
