menu button problems with new Pioneer dvd player

[sadsack]

For reauthored dvds (after using vobblanker & pgcedit), my new Pioneer dvd player DV-420 won't activate the menu buttons. I have to press an arrow-button on my remote to get some menu button to come on. If I go to/fro submenues, same problem. This didn't happen on my older Pioneer player, and new Panny recorder.
I can't do a simple store-exchange to determine if it's a bad player because I bought it online. Anyone else with a similar model have this issue? Does it sound like a bad player, or an incompatibility with new Pioneer players in general?

[r0lZ]

I have never heard about a similar problem, but I don't have any Pioneer player.

What have you made with VobBlanker and PgcEdit? Have you converted the menus to stills, replaced the background, or hid some buttons?

[sadsack]

I've done all of the above operations, as well as blanked out various parts (previews, etc), depending on the original dvd. I "Still menu without audio," and blank transitions in Vobblanker.
In general when I hide a button, I usually set a specific available button to be activated because I found I had the aforementioned problem happen; my solution was based on assuming the hidden button was activated, and therefore nothing was highlighted.
Again, these played fine in my old Pioneer and Panny recorder, and noone I've given dvds to have complained.

[r0lZ]

Try MenuShrink. Although it uses a very similar method than VB to convert menus to stills, there might be some subtle differences. Unfortunately, it cannot replace the background.

If it doesn't work, it might be interesting to try one thing at a time, to locate from where the problem is coming from.

[sadsack]

Btw, I phoned Pioneer before posting here, but they didn't have any idea about this problem.
I really like the flexibility and features of Vobblanker & Pgcedit, and have used them on several dvds over the years. It would be a shame that it was all wasted...but maybe I haven't been doing something correctly which is only being exposed now. I'd still like to rule out if it's bad dvd player issue before changing my methods.

[sadsack]

I tested a dvd on a Pioneer blueray player, and it worked fine. On the strength of that, I exchanged the regular player with the online store BUT the menus still won't work correctly. Some buttons never get highlighted but are selectable. Sometimes the highlighting is only partial. Some buttons won't work at all.

[r0lZ]

Sometimes the highlighting is only partial.That confirms that it's probably a player bug.

[sadsack]

I read a review on Videohelp about the Pioneer DVD-400 (400/410/420 all do HD upconversion & have HDMI output), wherein the user complained of menu problems after using some reauthoring ware, so I'm not alone having a Pioneer issue. But as noone else has complained, it could be that reviewer and myself are not using our software correctly.
I just bought an earlier series model (DVD-393) which doesn't have the 400 Series features and looks more like my old player. Unfortunately it does the same thing - doesn't highlight buttons by default, and some buttons dont activate correctly on a submenu.
The DV-393 also didn't highlight the correct Menu button areas on a specific dvd BUT did so correctly when I set the dvd player output to WIDESCREEN (instead of Letterbox or Pan&Scan). Unfortunately I don't recall if I tried that in the DV-420. I probably didn't because the dvd was a 4:3 TV show, and I wouldnt expect the dvd menu required widescreen output.
To be fair, my Panny recorder didn't play one of the submenus on one dvd, though it generally displays/plays all the menus.
Maybe I'll go back to the Pioneer Bluray - that seemed to work.

[bigotti5]

Is it possible to upload such a menuvob and corresponding ifos to analyse it?
If so use PN for not violating forum rules...

[sadsack]

Is it possible to upload such a menuvob and corresponding ifos to analyse it?
If so use PN for not violating forum rules...
I can probably upload it to a site like Badongo or Megaupload (so you could download it). Do you mean send it as a PM (private message)?

[bigotti5]

Do you mean send it as a PM (private message)?
I mean the link to your upload (megaupload, rapidshare or similar) because of forum rules.

Read here (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=293395#post293395).

[sadsack]

You originally wrote "use PN" - I was asking if you meant PM (I don't know if PN is an abbreviation for something else). Anyway, I PM'd you a download link.

[bigotti5]

I was asking if you meant PM
Sorry, my native language is german - in german PM is called PN...
-----------
SYNC-Info for sub-stream1 and sub-stream2 is 0x0, this indicates no sub-streams present (two streams are present in VOB though). Should be 0x7FFFFFFF for the two streams (in each NAV pack in menu-vob at byte position 0x5a9 and 0x5ad).
16:9 menus always requires at least two subpicture streams.
All menus in VTSM1 are one frame in length (~33 ms) - the spec requires a GOP to be at least ≥ 400 ms (this violation is caused by Vobblanker).
VOBU end presentation time at 0x3d (NAV-pack) has to be at least 69069 ticks for every Vob-Id in your case (in each NAV pack at byte position 0x3d and 0x437).
Playback time in VTSM_PGCI_UT PGC_7 to PGC_16 has to be corrected too (from 0xC1 to 0xD4 two times per PGC).
I uploaded a fixed version - try it on a DVD-RW.
For the link check your PM.

[r0lZ]

What a bunch of errors! Now, the question is: what has caused these errors? VobBlanker? The original authoring?

I've just used DVD-Lab and DVDSubEdit to regenerate the tiny black VOBs used by PgcEdit to replace the blanked cells, now with two empty subpictures, and none of these errors are present. So, I guess that VobBlanker (that I haven't used) might be the culprit.

[bigotti5]

the spec requires a GOP to be at least ≥ 400 ms (this violation is caused by Vobblanker)
Short GOPs are caused by Vobblanker creating stills vom moving menus.
MenuShrink creates conform GOPs doing this.

Neither Vobblanker nor MenuShrink causes the SYNCI error. Maybe Sadsack can do it step by step again to locate the culprit.

[r0lZ]

Thanks for the precision. I didn't know that VB bug!

[sadsack]

The fixed video/menu works on my new (and temporary) Pioneer DV-393 (returned the DV-420 player). I'm anxious to find out what I've been doing wrong with Vobblanker and Pgcedit all these years (so many screwed up dvds...).
Ironically, it would seem the dvd player bug might have been in my old Pioneer player which played these dvds without problem (blinding me to the fact I was using the ware incorrectly).

What I usually do is copy full dvd to PC with Dvdshrink (but with no shrinking, and without unwanted audio/subtitles streams) and then load in Vobblanker 2130. Or copy to PC with Vobblanker 2120 with DVD43 running (and omit unwanted audio/sub streams later).
In either Vobblanker version, I would "still menu without audio" and delete transitions. A few months ago, I switched from deleting transitions to blanking them. The sample dvd was recent (blanked transitions).
Then I would blank specific "previews," vobs, etc.
Add chapter breaks (Split) to VOBs. On rare occasions, I would adjust a menu in Cells (Preview/Cut mode).
After processing, I'd load the result into Pgcedit. It would prompt me to correct any stream issues.
I might check buttons to make sure they were easily selectable with remote.
If I blanked videos on the dvd and/or omitted any audio/subtitle streams, I'd delete or hide buttons to those options.
Often I'd add a cell at the end of videos so if you chapter-forward to the end, you'd be brought back to the menu (rather than being sent to another video). Btw, is there a way to so this with a command rather than adding a cell? Then save the dvd.
If the dvd needed shrinking to burn to dvd5, I would use Dvdshrink as the final process.

[blutach]

One of the answers to your issues is not to use VobBlanker for stilling menus. See post 15 for a solution.

However, bigotti5 says it does not make the SYNCI error, which may well be the critical thing.

The stream issues you refer to in PgcEdit are in the IFO files. bigotti5 has identified problems in your VOB.

Regards

[r0lZ]

Often I'd add a cell at the end of videos so if you chapter-forward to the end, you'd be brought back to the menu (rather than being sent to another video). Btw, is there a way to so this with a command rather than adding a cell?You can change the NextPGCN link to point to itself. (For example, in PGC 2, change the NextPGCN number from 0 to 2, or use PgcEdit's Enable All Operations function.) But doing this might be illegal (there is still an open discussion on this subject) and that trick doesn't work with some players. Adding a dummy cell with a new chapter point works always and it's the method used in commercial DVDs.

[sadsack]

Glad adding the dummy cell wasn't as bad an idea as I thought.

bigotti5 wanted to narrow down what was causing the menu issues, so he gave me two fixed versions - one with SYNCI error (GOP fixed), the other with GOP error (Synci fixed). The SYNCI error (GOP fixed) played fine. The GOP error displayed the menu problems, so it would appear it was Vobblanker menu-still function that was the culprit. Is jsoto still available and inclined to address issues with his software?
Meanwhile, I'll go back to Menushrink for that feature.
Thanks all for your input, especially bigotti5! :)

[r0lZ]

I'm not sure Jsoto has still enough time to fix the bug. Luckily, we have MenuShrink. (IMO, MenuShrink is easier and faster to use.)

[sadsack]

In my case, when I have a dvd that needs it's menu shrunk, I'm always doing some misc. blanking with Vobblanker, so it's great that one program does it all. I never shrink a menu without doing some other tinkering. But if I were only shrinking the menu, I agree Menushrink is wonderfully quick.
Awhile back, I had a problem with Menushrink where it wouldn't "Still" a special features menu and seemed to mess up the menu navigation. That's when someone suggested I use Vobblanker.

Actually I'm having Menushrink problems with current dvd. After stilling the main menu, some of the Special Features on the Special Features menu are deactivated - specifically an audio-only feature and Photo gallery. This is with previewing all cells and keeping the Special Features menu unshrunk (and even keeping the transition menu to it). Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

Using Pgcedit I changed the photo gallery cell still times back to 255, and replaced the audio feature (using Vobblanker, and setting audio stream in Pgcedit), so both features work. But still would like to know why Menushrink couldn't leave those features intact.