The miniDVD on Standalones issue... :devil:

[niz_se]

Hi!
I was wondering why my miniDVDs don´t work on my standalone DVD-player. At Robshot’s site I found this:

"
There are a number of reasons DVD-Video players can't play DVD-Video content from CD media:

1) checking for CD media is a fallback case after DVD focus fails, at which point the players are no longer looking for DVD-Video content

2) it's simpler and cheaper for players to spin CDs at 1x speed rather than the 9x speed required for DVD-Video content

3) many players can't read CD-R discs.
"

So, I kept thinking.
No 3 is out of the question. I have burned both VCDs and SVCDs successfully.
No 2 should also be out of the question since I used the same bitrates as in my SVCDs.
That leaves me with No 1 doesn´t it?

Lets look into No 1.
The Mpeg-board usually use SCSI/ATAP-commands to communicate with the DVD-unit (Loader).... Please correct me if/when I´m wrong!
So this is how I figure it. When a disc is loaded the loader checks wheither it´s a DVD or a CD and report to the board. If it´s a DVD the board then asks for the VIDEO_TS, but if it´s a CD it requests the MPGAV or MPEG2 folder. Now, what happens if we somehow interrupt the SCSI/ATAPI commands and trick the board to think that the disc is a DVD...
The loader is in CD-mode and the board asks for the VIDEO_TS...
This little tweak could be patched in the firmware. I guess that´s impossible since I don´t even have the original firmware accessable. The humble idea I have is to make a device that listens to the SCSI/ATAPI interface and when the right command is found it will replace it with the one that tells the board "DVD".

Well this is all theory of course, but please share your thoughts and ideas with me. And if anyone have more info on the subject, please share it too. I´m looking for easy info on the SCSI/ATAPI interfaces.

Regard!
Niz_se :sly:
(I have a Grundig GDV120, by the way...)

[guillep2k]

I think the problem lays in the authoring and burning: your miniDVD is most likely created as one mode 1 track, whilst DVDs (I think) are more similar to SVCDs in that many files are stored in a mode 1 track, except for the media files, which are stored in a mode 2 track referenced as sector numbers from the IFO file in the mode 1 track. Until one DVD authoring tool comes up that create images as in SVCD (mode1+mode2 tracks), I don't think the miniDVDs will play in many players.

As a reference, my SAMPO DVE-620 is perfectly capable of playing miniDVD, as of firmware version 3.4c and up. I had to upgrade my firmware to play miniDVDs, so, its mostly a software issue.

Guille

[errol]

I have a pioneer 717 quite expensive at the time, and that won`t play mini dvd or svcd i`m just stuck with video cd which is crap i think the problem stems from the fact that the pioneer uses a twin laser assembly when you insert the disk the player checks tthe density of the disc and then switches lasers accordingly and then reads the content thats why it says it`s a cd and won`t play. You probaly would have more chance of playing these discs on a single laser setup. Pity region firmware modders don`t offer this as part of there features as my guess is this is the only way to get it to play these discs.