I have used dvdsanta successfully in the past but recently had some problems and I inadvertingly deleted it. I actually repurchased it because it had been so easy. All I really want to do is convert avi movie on the hard drive to dvd and burn. I had trouble with just converting it and my event log showed it was a problem with xvid codec so I got rid of. Problem solved. Now I have a problem with burning the converted file. The whole program freezes after I click burn. I am unable to close the program even with task manager. I have to restart. When I check the event log it says that it is an "application hang" and gives a number of the fault bucket whatever that means. Sorry this is so long. Can anyone help with this specific problem and program? Thanks.
Did you uninstall DVD Santa using the Control Panel before reinstalling it again? When it hangs, instead of the 'Application' panel are you using the 'Process' panel in the Task Manager to stop it?
Hi attar, Thanks for replying. No, I have just used the application panel, not processes. But it hangs each time I try to burn so I don't think it will make a difference if I can end it or close it. It still won't burn. But it would be nice to close properly so I will try that. And yes, I did uninstall from control panel add/remove programs and then reinstall. I guess I will have to give up on dvdsanta unless you have any other ideas. They have absolutely no support even though they give contact info on website. They never respond! Thanks so much for taking the time to try to help. I appreciate it.
Can you burn the DVD files without using Santa? If you are satisfied that the program is installed ok, that your burner is ok (DMA is set 'on') you can boot into safe mode and start conversion and burning again. If it is ok, then there is a conflict with something which is installed at normal boot (other software..and that has to be resolved). or, uninstall Santa and try this. Convert AVI to VOB with VSO DivX2DVD http://dl.afterdawn.com/vsoDivxToDVD_setup_v0.5.2b.exe Set 'Aspect' 4:3 (unless your tv set is a widescreen) Set 'Standard' NTSC (unless you live in a PAL region). The output will be in a DVD files folder on the HDD. Program has it's own codecs and is a precursor of the commercial program 'ConvertXtoDVD'. After conversion, click on one of the VOB files in the output folder to check that it plays ok, sync, etc. Burn with your favourite program. I use DVD Shrink in combination with DVD Decrypter. Everything is freeware and all proven reliable.
I am embarrassed to say that I don't know what "DMA is set on" means. Where would I check that? Thanks.
If you have Nero on your PC then you probably have this tool. Otherwise the tool can be downloaded separately. Download Nero Info Tool, unzip and run. Click the 'Configuration' tab. It lists your hard drives and CD/DVD drives, look for 'DMA ON'. http://www.cdspeed2000.com/files/NeroInfoTool_403.zip DMA ensures maximum data transfer. If (outside of DVD Santa)you can burn a CD or DVD without the time dragging out from minutes to hours, then there is probably no problem with the setting.
I checked my drives under configuration tab as you suggested. My hard drive shows DMA on. My internal drives which don't have dvd burning capabilities show DMA off. And my external dvd writer that I am using just says autorun instead of DMA on or off. Also, is there a way to set my external dvd writer as the default? Thank you so much for your help. I am going to try your software suggestions.
One last check. My Computer > Properties > Hardware > Device Manager > Universal Serial Bus Controllers. Click on '+' and there should be a 'USB2 Enhanced Controller'. I assume that it is working, only sometimes it reverts to USB1 and has to be turned back on in the PC Bios. Good luck.
There is one that says "Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller". That is the one that is closest to USB2 Enhanced Controller. Is that it? You can see that I am not very computer literate in this area.
What about making my external dvd writer the default one? Do you know how to do that? Also, was that ok that it said autorun rather than DMA on in device manager? Thanks again for all your help.
I would never advise on DVD-Santa , but VSO ConvertXtoDVD instead for complete easiest use of .. encoder. I would say DMA enabled is what you want & perhaps uncheck box that says auto-burn & maybe use Nero to burn said output instead for absolute compatibilty for all stand alone dvd players.
Since this is the only device capable of burning it is the default. Since it is an external USB device, DMA does not apply. Autorun/autoplay simply means the system looks for a particular file on a disk and tries to execute the instructions. Selecting the drive and right clicking to select properties will take you to the that option. You haven't mentioned if in fact the burner works outside of DVD Santa. E.G have you tried to burn data to a cd or dvd?
Hi attar, Whenever I try to burn or just to check a disk on Nero, it automatically goes to internal drive and says no disk inserted. Then I have to select my external drive and do it again. I had done a clean uninstall of Nero and then reinstalled dvdsanta since I read somewhere that there might be a conflict with the two. And also when I checked error details microsoft help showed there was a problem with xvid and to go to their website. But didn't find anything helpful there. Anyway, I have since reinstalled Nero and had a problem with that burn also. It didn't even show an error log. I am going to try your other suggestions but it looks like it isn't a software problem after all.
I take it this is a laptop (because you are using an external burner). Do you have a Nero log file you can post (with your serial removed)?
No, it is not a laptop, it just seemed easier to buy an external drive rather than installed another internal. It has worked fine in the past even with dvdsanta. I will try using Nero again. I didn't get a log file the last time for some reason. I tried doing a conversion and burn with dvdsanta in safe mode as you suggested. I go through the conversion fine but when I got to burn it didn't respond at all. So I will try Nero and install the free programs you suggested and try those and let you know what happens. Thanks again for spending so much time helping me. Gail
Attar, I tried Nero again. I was able to convert but not burn. After I clicked "burn" there was no progress made, it just froze and the exit button was grayed out so I couldn't close the application. Since the process did not complete there was no log file. I am including some info I received from a codec checker I have that shows a missing file. Type Format Name Merit Driver File DSH YV12 Nero Digital AVC Video Encoder 0x00200000 **File Missing It also included the very long ID. Also, I downloaded DivXtodvd, dvd shrink and dvd decryter as you suggested. I used divxtodvd to convert an avi file and am including the log. Some of the messages look like there was a problem (msg level #1 warning min_rate>0 but min_rate!=max_rate isn't recommended!, input frame rate 25/1 doesn't match the output frame rate (29.97Fps). Rate compensation will be... (screen ends here). If it did convert properly, which program do I use to burn? Not sure what dvd shrink or decrypter do. I was able to burn a cd without any problem. If you have time to look at all this, I would appreciate it. Here is the copy of divxtodvd screen: (When I tried to copy and paste, only copied the text from my word document, not the pictures I created when I used alt, print screen to copy the screen from divxtodvd). How do I copy the pictures or attach the word document?) I am sorry to be so much trouble. If you want to give up on me, I understand. I am not usually this ineffective with computer work. Maybe I should give up on dvds. Thanks, Gail
Did you use the Nero Clean Tool to remove all traces of Nero before reinstalling? When using DivxtoDVD, you should get a'conversion is complete' pop-up;clicking 'ok' takes you to the outpt file folder. Look for the destination folder, clicking on the large VOB file should play the video. In any case if 'preview' was checked off you should have seen the output playing. Here is the location of the Divxtodvd log: C:\Program Files\vso\DivxToDVD\divto2dvd.log The timeline is bottom to top. 2007-05-07 15:59:40 info ******************** Report session closed ********************* 2007-05-07 15:59:21 info Delay of audio #0 = 130 mS 2007-05-07 15:59:21 info Computed Frame Aspect Ratio : 1.4667 2007-05-07 15:59:21 info Stream#1 - Audio: mp2, 44100 Hz, stereo, 224 kb/s 2007-05-07 15:59:21 info Stream#0 - Video: mpeg1video, 352x240, 29.97 fps 2007-05-07 15:59:21 info Found 2 Stream(s) - movie duration 00:01:00.827 2007-05-07 15:59:21 info Input file "C:\Documents and Settings\Superuser\My Documents\Untitle.mpg" 2007-05-07 15:59:19 info conversion completed in 00:00:37 2007-05-07 15:59:19 warning Due to frame rate conversion, 1 frames have been dropped. 2007-05-07 15:59:19 warning Due to frame rate conversion, 2 frames have been duplicated. 2007-05-07 15:59:19 info Avg. quantization factor 0.0 (smaller is best) 2007-05-07 15:58:42 info MSG Level #0 - rc buffer underflow 2007-05-07 15:58:42 info Output Stream#1 - Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, 192 kb/s 2007-05-07 15:58:42 info Output Stream#0 - Video: mpeg2video, 720x480, 29.97 fps, q=2-31, 8807 kb/s 2007-05-07 15:58:42 info MSG Level #1 - Warning min_rate > 0 but min_rate != max_rate isnt recommanded! 2007-05-07 15:58:42 info Stream #0.1 --> #0.1 2007-05-07 15:58:42 info Stream #0.0 --> #0.0 2007-05-07 15:58:42 info Stream mapping 2007-05-07 15:58:42 info Set Avg. video bitrate 8807.0 kb/s 2007-05-07 15:58:42 info Segment #1 - Untitle.mpg 2007-05-07 15:58:42 info 1 file(s) to convert - Total Time 00:01:00 2007-05-07 15:58:42 info NTSC 29.97 FPS output format has been selected 2007-05-07 15:58:42 info 4:3 automatically selected 2007-05-07 15:58:42 info conversion started 2007-05-07 15:58:36 info Delay of audio #0 = 130 mS 2007-05-07 15:58:36 info Computed Frame Aspect Ratio : 1.4667 2007-05-07 15:58:36 info Stream#1 - Audio: mp2, 44100 Hz, stereo, 224 kb/s 2007-05-07 15:58:36 info Stream#0 - Video: mpeg1video, 352x240, 29.97 fps 2007-05-07 15:58:36 info Found 2 Stream(s) - movie duration 00:01:00.827 2007-05-07 15:58:36 info Input file "C:\Documents and Settings\Superuser\My Documents\Untitle.mpg" 2007-05-07 15:58:28 info User default language : 1033 (0x0409h) - English (United States) 2007-05-07 15:58:28 info System default language : 1033 (0x0409h) - English (United States) 2007-05-07 15:58:28 info Version 0.5.2.99 2007-05-07 15:58:28 info ExeName : "C:\Program Files\vso\DivxToDVD\DivxToDVD.exe" 2007-05-07 15:58:28 info OS : Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (Build 2600) If you get a valid output file it can be burned with the other programs I mentioned. The conversion process is separate from Nero and the external burner. The conversion program has its own codecs so that should take care of codec problems. If you did not get a valid file, then boot into safe mode and try the conversion again. In safe mode the PC runs with minimum resources loaded.
