DVD Copying

[rocco1997]

I started copying DVD's using shrink and nero, they were taking roughly 34 minutes to encode and less than 30 minutes to burn. Now after copying around 10 DVD's it is now taking 1 1/2 hours to encode and over 1 hour to burn to disc. Can anyone explain the reason this might be and if there are any solutions to this problem?

Also the last minutes of certain featurettes on discs are freezing could this be down to cheap discs?

Thanks
rocco1997

[ammck55]

Welcome to the Forum, rocco!

Shrink by itself should not slow your system down. Here are a few things to try:


Check your media, it sounds like this could be the main source of your burning problems. Burner/media compatibility database (http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdwriters)
Select a slower burning speed
Dump any extra files generated by DVDDecrypter, if you're using it
Execute an uninstall/reinstall of both Shrink and Nero
Check your recycle bin for ripping files you no longer need
Check if you've accidentally enabled "Deep Analysis" as opposed to "Quick Analysis" in Shrink. The former is much more time intensive.
No joy, report back with more info. Include your system spec's

I ask about system spec's because it would give us an idea of how long the process should take. If I rip with Decrypter, process in Shrink, and burn with Nero, it takes approximately one hour to produce a backup, with the burning portion running around 12-13 minutes of the total time using a 4x burner and 4x media.

Your speed issue is most probably caused by something other than your ripping and burning tools. Installed any new software recently or having problems in other areas of operation?

ammck55

[rocco1997]

Thanks for your reply - I tried some of your suggestions including uninstalling the software. It is still over 1 hour 50 minutes to encode the DVD. I am not using DVDDecrypter and I do not have deep analysis checked.
The system specs are:
Intel pentium M 1.73 Ghz
Ram 512MB
Record DVd's 8x dual layer dvd recording
L2 cache 2MB
Hard disk 60 UATA GB
It is a Sony Vaio FS215B

I hope this info is useful and what you were looking for.
Am I just being impatient with the copying times?

[ammck55]

Your last post says you're working with DL discs, which I have no experience with, but 90 minutes plus is still way too long for burn times.

Here's a good link that covers DMA mode (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=91750&highlight=dma) for burning, and offers solutions and advice. See if any of this helps you out, and if not, come on back.

Additionally, you said that your first ten or so discs finished out in around 30 minutes, so my guess is that some setting, either in your burning software, or your system, has changed. You can also run a search on dual layer burning and see if you can come up with anything specific to your problem, believe me, it's in here, somewhere. :)

ammck55

[rocco1997]

Is it really a good idea to uninstall the IDE controllers and let the laptop re-install them?
I have two controllers listed an Intel Ultra ATA storage controller and a primary IDE channel. Will it cause any permanent problems if I do remove them and allow windows to re-install them?

[ammck55]

No, no damage, XP will find the controller and reload it on your next boot. What did you find out on your DMA setting, I assume it was set to "Autodetect" and "Use DMA if available"? Help us out here by supplying a few more details of what you've done and what you've found out along the way.

OT, anytime you have a problem with a hardware device, one of the quick fixes that sometimes works is to delete the device and its driver; as stated above, XP will find and reload them on the next boot.

This might be a stretch, but since you're ripping on a laptop and it's summer, is your work done in a room where the temperature is significantly higher than it was during your earlier, successful rips?

ammck55

[rocco1997]

After removing the primary IDE device and letting Windows re-install the device my copying times are back down to 29 minutes.
Thank you for your assistance.

[CWR03]

Don't forget to delete all the ripped files from DVD Decrypter, Shrink and Nero - Nero may even be set to not delete the image file it creates before burning, and a hard drive filling up will also become slow. (I don't mean to condescend with advice that's painfully obvious to some people, but there is a reason this is called "Newbies." :))

[BSpielbauer]

Is it really a good idea to uninstall the IDE controllers and let the laptop re-install them?
I have two controllers listed an Intel Ultra ATA storage controller and a primary IDE channel. Will it cause any permanent problems if I do remove them and allow windows to re-install them?

As others have said, yes, this will not cause any problems. Windows will simply tell you it has "found new hardware" as it loads, after you re-boot. If your hardware is capable of DMA mode (which it probably is), it will automatically be set back to DMA mode.

Almost every time someone mentions a serious speed slowdown from their previous experiences, it has turned out to be this culprit. I strongly suspect this is the case in your situation. Here is why:

Windows has a "bug" of sorts (which was a deliberate programming decision by Microsoft). If you experience six or more errors on a hardware device, Windows decides maybe your hardware is not really capable of handling DMA mode. So, Windows quietly changes the device from DMA mode to PIO mode. This can happen easily on your primary controller, and also on any secondary controller.

Of course, with DVDs, one can experience a LOT of errors if one tries to rip a very dirty or scratched disc. Or, if one tries to use DVDShrink to rip a new ArCCos disc. Or, if one tries to burn using lousy media. You can expect a lot of "Cyclic Redundancy Check" Errors (which are listed as I/O errors). This is one of the types of errors which will trigger the change in Windows. I have had more than six of these errors on ONE bad disc.

Windows does not inform you that is changing things. It just quietly does it.

Microsoft does have a couple of tech papers in the knowledge base dealing with this issue.

So, for anyone lurking, even if you resolve this issue, today, it can come screaming back. Next week, or in a month, or eight months from now. Just keep it in mind. The solution is simple, but not at all something most would look for, at first.

-Bruce

[niann]

Good Point Bruce. You can check this out by going into device manager and looking at the properties of the Primary and Secondary IDE controllers under the advanced settings tab. You should see device 0 and device 1 and it will tell you what transfer mode the drive is currently using. If it is stuck in PIO mode then you will need to remove the controller and reboot. :)