VIDEO_TS.ifo info?

[hoops10]

The reason for this post is because I'm backing up a Disney movie and it played fine in ifoedit and powerdvd xp but not in my stand alone (Apex). In the stand alone, when the dvd started, it just went to a black screen (probably looking for something that wasn't there). So I figured I must have done something wrong in ifoedit. Here is what I did. I loaded up the video_ts.ifo file into ifoedit and then looked under VMGM_MAT and then under First Play PGC (I did this because I want the dvd to go right to the main menu when it starts). In the PGC Command Tables, it lists the Pre Commands. This particular one says (Jump VMGM) Jump to VMG PGC: 9. I tried changing this but I wanted to follow it to see where it goes. Where would i look to find VMG PGC 9 at? Thanks.

BTW, if someone could explain what the pre commands mean that would be great?

[mpucoder]

The VMGM is the video manager group menu, which means it is in video_ts.ifo
To find it select VMGM_PGCI_UT, expand it, and then go to the PGC you want (in this case 9)
You can get more information on the contents of DVD-video at http://mpucoder.kewlhair.com/dvd/ That includes the details of the commands used in program chains. (Virtual Machine instructions)

[hoops10]

@mpucoder

WOW, what a great link. I bookmarked it and I think everyone should read in multiple times or at least have it on hand as a reference guide. Thanks. One other question though, I have had success in IFOEdit in the past when it comes to making the dvd start up right to the main menu. I have loaded up the video_ts.ifo file in ifoedit and then looked under VMGM_MAT and then under First Play PGC, I set it to Jump to Title 1 (if that is what the main movie is in). When the dvd first starts up, this usually causes the main menu to come up first (which is exactly what I want). Some title, i.e. Disney, I have to mess around with but have found that with these titles, I can't just set the First Play PGC to Jump to Title, for some reason it wont work. Any ideas why that in some titles this works perfectly and it some it doesnt work at all? One last thing, I'm using an Apex, which is known to be forgiving when playing dvds. Would this Jump to Title "trick", work on other stand alones? (in case I get a different stand alone in the future). Thanks again.

[mpucoder]

Thanks for the compliment, the site is what gave Derrow the info he needed to write IfoEdit.
It's no trick, this is exactly what the First Play PGC is for, to tell the player where to start the show.
As for Disney titles, I have no experience with them. Maybe someone else has examined them closely and can tell us what is going on.

[nytr0x]

I had the same problem with Monsters Inc. For this title there are a load of pre commands resetting registers to 0 before jumping to the menu but the menu has some code which links to other PGCs based on the values in these registers. Looking through the other ifos I noticed if one of the registers is set to 61 (hex 3D) the code jumps straight to the main menu.

Hope this helps.