pgcEdit problems....

[StonedJuggalo]

I have an interesting problem, and was just wondering if anyone can give me some feedback.

I was, until recently, using Windows 2kPro. Did a recent upgrade to XP Pro SP2, and installed all my old apps. Installed the new version of pgcEdit, VOBBlanker, etc, and my good 'ol DVDDecrypter.

When I open a movie using the Arcoss wizard in pgcEdit, everything goes through the first rip fine, until it's done. Decrypter is done, and I'm ready for the next step, but when I close Decrypter, pgcEdit freezes and no longer responds under the task manager.

I have noticed that a 'ghost' process of Decrypter is left running under task manager, but the program file is closed. I End Process, and pgcEdit tells me it was a failed rip. However, if I run Decrypter on it's own, there are no 'ghost' processes of it, and things seem to go smoothly. Only problem....pgc doesn't want to open the DVD files properly, if I rip with Decrypter alone, and skip the bad VOB's.

Never had this problem before, and haven't heard of anyone else having it either. Any ideas???:stupid:

[setarip_old]

Hi!

You are likely dealing with a newer "ARccOS" or "RipGuard" copy-protected DVD that the "plugin" cannot handle (It hasn't been updated in some time).

I'd suggest that instead, you try ripping your DVD(s) using the easy to use "RipIt4me" package. You can download this excellent freeware from:

www.ripit4me.org

While you're at that site, read the excellent "how to" tutorial...

[StonedJuggalo]

I've used RipIt for a while now, and tried it to no avail. I kept getting really bad navigational errors when importing the rip into Shrink. It was Click RC1. I did, however, download the newest update to DVDFab, and it worked beautifully. I guess that's just how the game works.

BTW: I tried pgcEdit on my copy of Stealth, just for the heck of it, and it worked fine. Like you said, probably more of a protection hang up than a software glitch.

Thanks, seta, for the quick response, though. I appreciate the help. You're right, though. As soon as I had my first 2 fails in pgc, I tried RipIt right away and you know that one. I don't know about anyone else, but I've noticed that RipIt seems to like to put a ton of dummy sectors into the PSL that aren't there if it's run through pgc. I love running it, 'cause 90% of the time, if pretty much anyone is using it they'll agree, it WILL work, if tweaked properly. It's that damned 10% that are a real pain in the butt.

[r0lZ]

Interesting problem, indeed.

I doubt the problem is caused by a protection, since DVDD seems to have finished its job correctly.

I know that the plugin needs to modify the DVDD settings before launching it. Among other things, the default location for the log file is changed, so that the plugin knows where to find it. Maybe the target folder doesn't exists any more, or you don't have the rights to write in that folder. If I remember correctly, the plugin uses the same TEMP folder than the main PgcEdit exe. It's the folder pointed to by the %TEMP% MS-DOS variable. Under XP, %TEMP% points usually on a user specific hidden folder somewhere in documents and settings.
To find it easily, open a Command Prompt or the Run dialog and type:
explorer %TEMP%
You should see the DVDD log file. It might be interesting to look at the last messages in the file...

[setarip_old]

It was Click RC1.I had absolutely no trouble using the "RipIt4Me" package to make a backup of the R1 version of "Click".RipIt seems to like to put a ton of dummy sectors into the PSL that aren't there if it's run through pgcNo, it's just that the more recent "ARccOS"-protected DVDs have more bad sectors than did earlier ones. See my post at:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=116954

(Coincidentally, it's specifically about "Click" and bad sectors ;>} )

[r0lZ]

The dummy sectors are inserted by DVDD, but it is true that the cells with the dummy sectors are normally never played and therefore are useless.
The plugin did a great job to find and remove them with FixVTS. But the game has evolved, and honestly, currently, I think RipIt4Me is better. Anyway, if you prefer the way the plugin handles the cleanup phase, you can probably use its manual mode on a DVD ripped with RipIt4Me.

[setarip_old]

The "RipIt4Me" package incorporates the use of "FixVTS" as well - and, in conjunction with "RipIt4Me", likewise removes the dummy sectors...

[StonedJuggalo]

r0lZ: Yeah, uh, I'll, uh, find it again this weekend for a couple of days, and see if it does the same thing, post the log file. Might help. I have DVDD set to save it on my DVD Backup Drive (WD 120G), so I can use pgc manually when necessary.

seta: No, I mean the same movie. I've tried it. Done the same movie with both programs, to see which was the better rip, and I noticed that RipIt has done several movies lately that have 300+ marked sectors in the PSL. When the same film is run through pgc, however, I think the largest I've had is around the high 50's.

I have noticed also, though, that a good number of those have that particularly annoying Sony autoload for PC's. You know, the one that goes fullscreen like a huge, annoying flash popup. RipIt tries to eliminate that, where as pgc doesn't even look at it. DVDD doesn't even try to copy it, far as I can tell.