First of all, Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season, regardless of your religious affiliation -- or non-affiliation. Getting ready to burn my first movie while I wait for Santa. I have ScubaPete's guide printed out and in front of me. My media is Verbatim DataLifePlus -- just bought today. Opened DVD Shrink and made all of the recommended changes. Closed DVD Shrink and opened DVD Decrypter, made the required changes here also. Put the original DVD (American Pie 2, (unrated version) in my DVD-ROM and here is where things did not go as planned. In the tool bar, the icons for "Analysis" and "Back Up" are GREYED out. According the the guide, I am supposed to select "Back Up", but I can't. Any advise for this "friggin noobie"? Thanks. Tom
Well if you are going to use shrink, you need to put the dvd into the dvd drive on the computer and then click on the "Open Disc" Tab in the upper right left corner of Shrink. Then the program will do a quick analysis (one to two minutes" and then you will be able to proceed as wrote out in the guide If you ripped the movie with dvd decrypter, you would open up Shrink and go to "file" and then "open disc Image" to open the file (American pie 2) then it would do the quick analyaia and then you can proceed as follows. Hope this help Aaron
raceman17. Thanks for the quick reply, but I think I will try this tomorrow morning. It's getting late and I'm a little frustrated. Thanks for your info.
I just backed up American Pie 2 last week. What I do may be different from others but it works for me every time. Some movies DVD Shrink won't decrypt and will go through most of the process and then throw up an error. For this reason, I started doing the following. First, I rip it to my harddrive with DVD Decrypter, in File mode. Then if it requires shrinking, I open it in DVD Shrink. You will need to click on Open Files and browse to the folder where you stored the files. Now, since you just used DVD Decrypter to rip it in file mode, make sure to change the setting in Decrypter to ISO/Write mode before running shrink. In Shrink, click on Edit, Preferences, File I/O. Remove the check from Enable Burning with Nero if you plan on burning with DVD Decrypter. Once the files are open in Shrink, click on Backup. In the Select backup target: choose ISO image file and burn with DVD Decrypter. In the Select target image file: choose anywhere on your harddrive you want the ISO image to be stored so it can be burned. You can later delete this file after the burn is complete. I find it easier to make folders ahead of time so I can find them later to delete stuff. I do this every time I burn and so far I've had no coasters. Well, none except for when I first started and was using Memorex media, but that's another story. Good luck and let us know how it turns out. Mike
Well, I guess I am not destined to rip movies. Just spent over 3 hours waiting for DVD Shrink to copy the movie to my hdd. Once it copied, DVD Decrypter started right on cue. Got 5% into the burn and I get the following message: I/O Error Device: [0: 0: 0:] Lite-On DVDRW LDW-851S GSOP (F (USB) CDB: 2A 00 00 01 F2 AO 00 00 20 00 Interpretation: Write (10) - Sectors: 127648 - 127679 Reason: The semaphore timeout period has expired. Can anyone tell me what this possibly means? I followed the excellent guide and everything was running smooth (although taking a hell of a long time) and this happened. Would appreciate any input. Thanks. Tom
You have the exact same burner as I do so here is how I do my burning. I use DVD Decrypter to rip the movie to the hard drive, I like this over DVD Shrink as I think it is a tougher program for ripping. I then use DVd Shrink in re-author mode just to extract the main title. I then use Nero to burn the final disc (you can tell shrink to use nero as well). I make sure all programs running in the background are off,including screensaver. The less interferrence and the least amount of resources being used elsewhere will hopefully help your cpu to do its job. Burning at 4x. Anyway this is what I do and it works everytime, so good luck.
Hi there tsquare73, Tom, when it says the semaphore has timed out that means that the software has been trying to write but the writer (your burner) has been busy. Many times this means that the burner could be bad. First - have you burned with this drive before ? Have you made sure the firmware, ASPI and DMA are all running up to snuff ? There are some things we should check as they have a direct influence over how our drive behaves - Physically, Your burner s/b set as "master" on your IDE cable and the IDE cable s/b an 80-pin cable not a 40-pin. Always double-check your burner's jumpers to make sure they are correct if you installed the burner. 1. Let's check for up-to-date Firmware for your burner. "OK, so what is this "Firmware" garbage?" Fair question. Firmware is a "tutor" who's job it is to eliminate any "bugs" found in your drive and to "introduce" your burner to all the different kinds of media to your burner is likely to run into and to tell your burner a little bit about it. What type of media it is and at what speed to burn it. As new media is introduced OR, as the Mfgrs of your burner find new ways to use it, new firmware updates OR "Flash upgrades" come out to "school" your burner, keeping it up-to-date. It's good to keep your burner up-to-date as it "tweaks" your burner and keeps it operating at peak performance. Of major Importance - When dealing firmware, you must match your burner's exact model with the proper Firmware. Trying to "Flash" your burner with something "Close" won't do it. It must be the exact firmware for your drive. ("Flashing" is what the installation is referred to when you put the firmware into your drive.) Trying to "Flash" your drive with some other drive's firmware can ruin your drive. At the bottom of the page look for "What's my firmware? - Try this little tool I found," Download this tool and check out your Firmware's health (up-to-date wise). You can probably get a current upgrade there also - http://flashman.rpc-1.com/ Firmware page - http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_all.php Always check your burner's Mfgr's "Support" section to see if some newer Firmware is there - Firmware, You can't burn without it - Now we need to see if we have a working ASPI Layer. "Yea right, and ASPI stands for Another Stupid Piece of Insanity, right ?" No, not quite, it stands for "Advanced SCSI Programming Interface". "Well that tells me nothing, what's it do ?" That's a much easier question to answer. It is kind of a "translator" allowing your software to talk your hardware in a manner that your hardware will understand. Let's imagine an Earthman trying to talk to a rock. Now, think of a sledgehammer as being the interface. With the interface in play, the Earthman can tell the rock to disperse into gravel no matter what planet the rock is from, OK ? Good, let's see if we have a sledgehammer - 2. Check for your ASPI Layer. If one isn't present, we'll need to get one and reinstall it, then reboot our PC to allow it to "settle in". ASPI Checker - http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/su...oduct/EZ-SCSI_5.0&filekey=aspichk.exe&sess=no Force 1.8 ASPI Layer - http://forceaspi18.w.interia.pl/ Finally, we need to check your DMA. "Ooohh, no you're not ! Only my husband or my Doctor checks my "D", "M" . . whatever . . ." No, no, it's OK, DMA stands for "Direct Memory Access" transfer mode OR as we say in the computer field, it's a really, fast way to move stuff. Many PC's today are using UDMA or "Ultra Direct Memory Access transfer mode, or as we like to call it, a really super-duper fast way to move stuff as opposed to the PIO mode. The PIO or Programmed I/O mode, is a technique whereby the system CPU and support hardware directly control the transfer of data between the system and the hard disk since shortly after the beginning of PC's up until the mid-1990's. So we want DMA (fast) more than we PIO (slow). 3. Let's check your Drive's transfer mode. It should be DMA-4, not PIO. Windows XP downgrades the Ultra DMA transfer mode after receiving six CRC errors and drops it down to the much slower PIO mode. To enable DMA mode using the Device Manager 1. Go to "My Computer, ""System Tools," "View System Information," then System Properties, "Hardware," Then Open Device Manager 2. Double-click IDE ATA//ATAPI Controllers to display the list of controllers and channels. 3. Right-click the icon for the channel to which your burner is connected and select Properties. Now click the Advanced Settings tab. 4. In the Current Transfer Mode drop-down box, select DMA if available if the current setting says, "PIO Only." If the drop-down box already says, "DMA if Available" but the current transfer mode is PIO, then the user must "toggle" the settings. That is, change the selection from "DMA if available" to PIO only, and click "OK". Then repeat the steps above to change the selection to "DMA if available". OPTION: Right-click the burner and select "Uninstall" and then "OK" all prompts until the PC reboots. Upon rebooting, the PC should "find" your burner and reinstall it setting it by "Default" to DMA. Lastly, when did you last defrag your Hard Drive (HD) ? If you have to stop and think about the last time you did it, then it's way, way overdue. Here we go, (Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. When it opens, choose your HD, analyses it to see where we stand then if you need it (you probably will) choose Defragment.). After you finish doing it now you might want to think about having "Scheduled Tasks" in your Control Panel do it for you on a daily basis. A fragmented HD not only drastically slows down your system but it can cause all number of things to happen inside your PC, a messed up burn being one of them. Once we've done that, our DVD burner should operate at peak efficiency ) Cheers, Pete Now let's see if everything will work together the way we want it to, OK ? Give it a test run and let us know how you make out - Aaron "Raceman", the "Open Disc" is on the screen's upper LEFT hand-side, not the right - (Lol)
ScubaPete: Thanks for the reply. In a few minutes, I am going to run down through all of the steps you outlined. However, just wanted to answer/clarify a couple of things you asked about. This might get long winded, but please bear with me. I have burned with this drive before, but not always in a smooth manner. I regret getting an external burner and will probably replace this one. I purchased DVDCopyXpress and burned about 10 movies with this burner. It seemed to work sort of OK, but took forever even though I am running USB 2.0. I got the bright idea to upgrade from Win98SE (which I was happy with), to WinXP Home -- not one of my better ideas. Shortly after the upgrade, I decided to move a large amount of family photos & scanned documents from my hard drive to DVD's using Roxio. Drive would not recognize a DVD at the burning stage. My buddy at work has the same drive and he took mine home, hooked it to his PC, and it worked like a champ, naturally! Still had problems at home so I decided to dump Roxio and try Nero. Worked fine for CD's, but not for DVD's -- don't know why. I contacted Lite-On and they gave me a link to "flash" the drive and still not working. They finally told me to send it back to where I bought it (Dell, in May 04). This didn't make sense because it worked fine with my buddy's PC. Also, I could not use X-Copy anymore -- my registration seemed to have gone bye-bye during the XP upgrade. Long story short, I ran across this site about 3 weeks and I have been steadily reading everything here to try to see if I can burn the movies. Will keep you posted if I succeed. Thanks for your help so far. Tom
Hi there Tom, Thanks for the info - that helps a lot. I'm sorry one of my links got "Buggered up" - it's fixed now. Now that you've "flashed" your burner, don't worry about your firmware BUT take a look at your ASPI layer, make sure it's working - Defrag your HD and take a lQQk at your IDE cable - find out if it's a 40 or an 80 pin cable - these last 2 things could well be the cause of your problems. I want your check-off list to read - 1. Defrag your HD 2. Check to be sure your transfer setting for your burner is "DMA" and not PIO. 3. 40 or 80 pin IDE cable ? 4. While your PC is open, Re-check your jumper settings to make sure it's set as a master NOT a slave. Finally, on your secondary IDE cable make sure your burner is the master. Should need help on anything, let me know BUT we don't want to miss anything - Pete
ScubaPete: Thanks for your patience and perserverance with me. I have been working my way through your suggestions and these are the results so far: - defragged the HD. This took about 6 hours! - checked to make sure DMA was "DMA if Available" and not PIO - installed and ran APSI checker and got the following message: Component version date size WNASPI32.DLL 4.70(0) 12/10/1 45568 WNASPI.DLL 4.60(1021) 12/10/1 5600 ASPI32.SYS 4.70(0) 12/10/1 17101 WOWPOST.EXE 4.60(1021) 12/10/1 4672 There is also this message: "ASPI is not properly installed. One or more components have been replaced with older versions of the software". It give me options to Save or Exit. Went to http://forceaspi18.w.inertia.pl/ and downloaded forceasp18zip. When I unzip it, there are several files (i.e., kill.bat, install.bat - and these are MS-DOS batch files). When I click on the install.bat file, the following message comes up: Windows NT or 2000 Detected. Windows is in: C:\WINDOWS Installing files..... +WINASPI.DLL +WOWPOST.EXE +WNASPI32.DLL +ASPI32.SYS Add Registry Settings...... Done! Adaptec ASPI 4.71.2 Installed. Reboot your PC to make the changes active. Press any key to continue.... When I press any key, this message disappears. When I reboot, and then run ASPI checker, I get the message I have above. Regarding the 40 vs 80 pin, my burner is an external USB 2.0 burner. I used a new USB cable - thought this might help. How do I check slave vs master. I thought this was only for internal drives. As you can see, I think I might be getting there, but the ASPI thing really bothers me. Thanks for sticking with me. Tom
Tom, You're doing well there my friend, dom't quit now - The kill thing you saw is to get rid of the old ASPI stuff so that the new one has a home - run that, THEN inmstall the new ASPI and all should be fine in BedRock. The Master/slave thing was for internal don;t sweat bullets on that one - Get that straightened out and let's see where we stand, OK ? I'll be here waiting - Pete
ScubaPete: Did the "kill" step and rebooted. Did the "install" bat and rebooted. Ran ASPI checker and ASPI still not installed. I'm goint to try to copy the error message here: LOG0143: ***************************************************************** LOG0144: Starting ASPICHK installer on Sun Dec 26 14:53:58 2004 ASPICHK0438: OS = Windows NT (5.01.2600) UPGRADE0965: File c:\windows\system32\wnaspi32.dll does not exist UPGRADE0369: No existing file to compare, upgrade recommended UPGRADE0965: File c:\windows\system\winaspi.dll does not exist UPGRADE0369: No existing file to compare, upgrade recommended UPGRADE0965: File c:\windows\system32\drivers\aspi32.sys does not exist UPGRADE0369: No existing file to compare, upgrade recommended UPGRADE0965: File c:\windows\system\wowpost.exe does not exist UPGRADE0369: No existing file to compare, upgrade recommended ASPICHK0522: Inconsistent version numbers among components ASPICHK0592: ASPI installation has problems LOG0218: Closing installer log on Sun Dec 26 14:53:58 2004 LOG0219: ***************************************************************** LOG0143: ***************************************************************** LOG0144: Starting ASPICHK installer on Sun Dec 26 15:41:10 2004 ASPICHK0438: OS = Windows NT (5.01.2600) UPGRADE1004: c:\windows\system32\wnaspi32.dll dated 12/10/2001 22:32:34, 45568 bytes. UPGRADE1062: c:\windows\system32\wnaspi32.dll version 4.7.0.0 UPGRADE1004: c:\windows\system\winaspi.dll dated 12/10/2001 22:32:22, 5600 bytes. UPGRADE1062: c:\windows\system\winaspi.dll version 4.6.0.1021 UPGRADE1004: c:\windows\system32\drivers\aspi32.sys dated 12/10/2001 22:29:42, 17101 bytes. UPGRADE1062: c:\windows\system32\drivers\aspi32.sys version 4.7.0.0 UPGRADE1004: c:\windows\system\wowpost.exe dated 12/10/2001 22:33:18, 4672 bytes. UPGRADE1062: c:\windows\system\wowpost.exe version 4.6.0.1021 ASPICHK0522: Inconsistent version numbers among components ASPICHK0592: ASPI installation has problems LOG0218: Closing installer log on Sun Dec 26 15:41:10 2004 LOG0219: ***************************************************************** LOG0143: ***************************************************************** LOG0144: Starting ASPICHK installer on Wed Dec 29 13:00:21 2004 ASPICHK0438: OS = Windows NT (5.01.2600) UPGRADE0965: File c:\windows\system32\wnaspi32.dll does not exist UPGRADE0369: No existing file to compare, upgrade recommended UPGRADE0965: File c:\windows\system\winaspi.dll does not exist UPGRADE0369: No existing file to compare, upgrade recommended UPGRADE0965: File c:\windows\system32\drivers\aspi32.sys does not exist UPGRADE0369: No existing file to compare, upgrade recommended UPGRADE0965: File c:\windows\system\wowpost.exe does not exist UPGRADE0369: No existing file to compare, upgrade recommended ASPICHK0522: Inconsistent version numbers among components ASPICHK0592: ASPI installation has problems LOG0218: Closing installer log on Wed Dec 29 13:00:21 2004 LOG0219: ***************************************************************** Is it possible that something in the background is stopping the installation? At one point I had Norton AV but had some problems with it conflicting with other programs and uninstalled it. Now use McAfee that I get free from my work site. Any other ideas? Thanks. Tom
I don't know Tom BUT something is certainly blocking progress - I'm wondering if it isn't your Roxio. Roxio causes a whole host of problems, generally with Nero. Since you're not running Nero I pushed it to the side - We might try losing Roxio AND I'm wondering about your media - I know it's supposed to be Verbatim DataLife, I'm wondering if it could possibly by pirated discs, stamped and coded as Verbatim BUT really something else. See if you can pickup a disc or two of Sony, HP, Phillips Maxel +R's (not -R's they are pure crap - My feeling is, if we can load up Nero (free trial) it will produce a log which will help us determine what's cooking during your burn sessions. Here's some help - The best way to rid our selves of Roxio is remove him through "Control Panel", "Add and Remove Programs". After you've done that, I'm thinking you haven't gotten all of Roxio, actually you haven't, you need to run this - Remove all types of Roxio tentacles and tendrils with Roxio Zapper - Find it here: http://www.microadvantage.net/downloads/zapper60.zip Once you've done that, reboot your PC to "flush everything out of your PC's system Load Nero up from here: http://www.ahead.de/us/nero6-ultraedition.php Now take it out for a spin and let's see what happens. Remember to open DVD Shrink, edit - preferences - I/O tab and check,"enable burning with Nero" Report back with your progress - Pete
Actually, I'm using Nero (free trial version). I did have Roxio and deleted it, but I will also run the program you recommended (I already downloaded it). I bought the Verbatim last week at Micro Center. Will pick up a 3-pak of a couple of others and try again. Just don't understand why it shows no ASPI when I installed it. Stoooopid puter! Thanks. Also, went back to forceaspi18.w.inertia.pl/ to re-download ASPI and it was only in Polish. Took me a minute to realize that's what the "pl" was in the tag. Tom
First of all, I apologize for bumping this back to the top but I have a couple of questions before possibly giving up on burning. I used ScubaPete's excellent guide to rip the movie to a designated folder on the hdd. I can see the file in the folder, and DVD Decrypter opens on schedule and begins the burn process. It gets to the 10% mark and I get an I/O error saying the "semaphore timeout period has expired". I have tried at least 6 diferent brands of media and nothing is working -- they all stop about the same 10%-11% area. Wonder why it starts at all rather than stopping at the same place each time. ScubaPete explained that semaphore timeout means the software has been trying to write, but the writer has been busy. I have checked for firmware updates (already have the latest), defragged the hdd, everything is set for DMA output and I have checked my ASPI layer. Now here is where I have a problem and it is frustrating the hell out of me. When I run aspichecker, it shows me an updated aspi, but tells me my aspi is not properly installed. I went to the forceaspi link provided and downloaded/installed it again. Rebooted the pc and still not properly installed. WTF?? Someone suggested that it might be a conflict with some other program such as Norton A/V. I previously had Norton installed but deleted it and installed MacAffee which I get free via my workplace. I used the add/delete function to uninstall Norton and also used start/find function to make sure everything was deleted. However, when I go to run and check my registry, I see a ton of stuff for Symantec - which is Norton. I know enough about the registry to know that I have no business messing around in here, but why isn't this stuff deleted when you unistall the software? Could this be a conflict with decrypter burning the file? I obviously don't have a clue about this and would appreciate any answers you might have. I hate to go spend $$ on a new burner and find out that wasn't the problem. My burner is an external LiteOn LDW-851SX. If I replace it, I will buy an internal unit. Sorry for the rambling, but just trying to decide it this is all worth it. Thanks. Tom
Hi Tom, Something else to check - any packet-writting proggys - Roxio "Drag and drop", Nero's InCD. Close them down in msconfig as well all AV apps except McAfee. I have that as well and it causes no problem. The NAV. If you have nothing else of Norton on your system it's pretty safe to delete everything in your registry that carries their name. Here's a general registry cleaner (RegClean) that tries to delete those entries that have no valid connections - http://www.download.com/3000-2094-881470.html?tag=list There is a proggy named System Mechanic which has a 30-day free trial - an excellent proggy - http://www.wugnet.com/shareware/spow.asp?ID=235 Lastly, I want you to go to DVDD, Tools then settings and under the tab that says ISO write, I want you to uncheck the box that says "Lock volume - exclusive access" See if that doesn't open it up so that DVD Shrink can use Decrypter to burn the disc - Let me know how you make out - Pete
ScubaPete: Thanks for the tips. System Mechanic is quite a good little proggy. Amazed at the "crap" that is in my system. I'll get back to you in a couple of days (been on vacation and have to go back to work) and let you know how it turns out. Thanks so much for your input. Tom
Heh, heh No Tom, I wouldn't be amased, I've used it too remember and you're right, there was a lot - I couldn't believe it either - Wait until you see how much better your PC runs what all of that stuff is gone -
Hi folks, Hope I'm in the right place. I too am having a problem with Semaphore timeout period. I have been following the steps that Scuba Pete has set out but I'm not there yet. The hard drive is defragged, everything is set for DMA, ran ASPI Checker and downloaded. Now here is one of the problems, ASPI did not install right so I went to to Force 1.8 ASPI Layer sight and the sight came up in polish. I do not read polish and have not been able to get the computer to translate it. Can someone help? I'm using an eMachine T2385 / Intel Celeron 2.3 GHz/ 512MB/80GB/ DVD/CDRW/ Windown XP Home/ and an I/O Magic External Dual Format Burner.
