MDS files and how they apply to self-built ISOs?

[CZroe]

"MDS" stands for "Media Descriptor" IIRC. I always thought they stored the extra disc information that an ISO would not contain. For instance, the disc's physical size (80mm vs. 120mm).

A couple years ago, I had a mini-DVD video from the Wal-Mart exclusive version of 1080 Avalanche (a Gamecube game). The DVD was not encrypted. DVD Decrypter reported that it was an 80mm disc. I ripped it and mounted the MDS with Daemon-Tools and looked at the info DVD Decrypter reported. It reported 120mm instead of 80mm, so it was not accurately emulating the original disc like expected. Daemon-Tools and DVD Decrypter were both so refined at that time that I question whether my interpretation of what an MDS file is was correct.

My goals are to make my backups as close to the original as possible. I use full ISOs almost exclusively, so the advent of newer copy protections forcing me to use DVD Fab Decrypter and other non-ISO freeware has made me concerned about my backups. For instance, I backed up Silent Hill this way, until I found RipIt4Me.

So here's my question: If I want Silent Hill to be as close to the original as possible when I can only make a file-backup, can I use the MDS I generate from DVD Decrypter with the ISO I build with ImgBurn? Also, what did people use to build their ISOs before ImgBurn added the capability? The few times I was forced to do this, I just set DVD Shrink to "no compression" and outputted a DVD9 ISO but I'm sure my results were far from the original (I guess the layer-break was wherever Shrink decided to put it).

[r0lZ]

You cannot use Shrink to build a DVD-9 ISO. It cannot handle the layer break properly. Anyway, if it's not too late, don't burn the ISOs created that way!
If you want to create an ISO without using ImgBurn, use PgcEdit's burn function. But honestly, currently, the only advantage of PgcEdit over ImgBurn v2 is that you have a preview when you need to select the layer break cell.

Note that PgcEdit doesn't create a MDS file. The layer break position is passed directly to ImgBurn via the command line arguments.

[CZroe]

You cannot use Shrink to build a DVD-9 ISO. It cannot handle the layer break properly. Anyway, if it's not too late, don't burn the ISOs created that way!
If you want to create an ISO without using ImgBurn, use PgcEdit's burn function. But honestly, currently, the only advantage of PgcEdit over ImgBurn v2 is that you have a preview when you need to select the layer break cell.

Note that PgcEdit doesn't create a MDS file. The layer break position is passed directly to ImgBurn via the command line arguments.

I don't remember why I've done this is the past... probably to mount with Daemon-Tools without re-encoding or something. The only DL movie my brother and I have burned until yesterday was Family Guy Volume 2 Disc 1 made from a malfunctioning original disc. At some point, we became unsure of which ISO was the original and which was made after we exchanged it for a working set. After a while, we needed to reclaim the drive space so my brother just picked one and burned it. Oddly, the Prohibited User Operations are removed, so it appears to be one that was extracted with Shrink or something but it works just fine (I just fast-forwarded through the "play all" option).

Thanks for all the information. I'll make sure not to do it that way (should have to with PGCEdit and ImgBurn ;)).

At the moment, I am having trouble burning House M.D. Season 2 Disc 2 and Disc 3 and potentially the rest of the six-disc set (Disc 1 burned fine). I just wasted three DL discs (two bombed on Disc 2 @ 47%, and, after giving up, the third bombed on disc 3 at 46%). The percentage complete when the burn fails seems to indicate that it happens at the layer switch.

The images were made with DVD Decrypter and burned with ImgBurn on a Plextor 740A drive. Only original MDS files were selected when setting up the queue. All six House M.D. Season 1 discs (made from three DVD18 discs) burned just fine but when the queue reached Season 2 I started having these problems, so I don't think it's my method. I did move to a different batch of Verbatim DL discs when starting Season 2, but Disc 1's success seems to exonerate that suspicion.

So, does anyone have any idea if the 80mm vs. 120mm information is supposed to be included in the MDS file? I'm still curious.

Will I get a working DVD if I combine a MDS file from DVD Decrypter with an ImgBurn-created ISO made from DVDFab Decrypter's output? If not, a file backup doesn't seem like an acceptible preservation of the original. After all, the Audio_TS and Video_TS folders wouldn't even have the original disc label!

[r0lZ]

So, does anyone have any idea if the 80mm vs. 120mm information is supposed to be included in the MDS file? I'm still curious.Yes, probably, but I'm not sure.
If you rip a DVD-Video with very few data (less than 700 MB), it is not recognized as a DVD by most programs, because it fits on a CD. However, with the MDS, it is recognized as a standard DVD.
I suppose it's the same with 80mm discs.

Will I get a working DVD if I combine a MDS file from DVD Decrypter with an ImgBurn-created ISO made from DVDFab Decrypter's output? If not, a file backup doesn't seem like an acceptible preservation of the original. After all, the Audio_TS and Video_TS folders wouldn't even have the original disc label!Don't try that! But you can create a new MDS file with ImgBurn for an image created by another program. I suppose the layer break position is lost, though.

Anyway, don't trust me too much. I'm not an ISO/MDS specialist! Personally, I rip always in file mode, to be able to modify the DVD, and I burn with PgcEdit and/or ImgBurn. I have never used a MDS file! With those programs, the layer break can be placed at another position, but the same position than in the original is normally available, and should be selected by default. Since PgcEdit's burn function and now ImgBurn v2, you don't need any more to keep the original structure intact to do a good burn.