jerry, I do almost exactly as Steve Mann described. In this way, you don't have to fuss at all with a locally mounted physical optical drive.

More details: I have a TON of DJ stuff. When I went to install products, I FIRST used ImgBurn to make iso's of all the DJ discs. To speed up the process, I used two computers (and their optical drives) for this. Double-timed it, in other words.

SECOND. I just moved all iso's to a single directory on my network; this happens to be housed in my editing computer, but the location doesn't matter.

What DOES matter is that when you mount an iso image on your editing computer (I also use the excellent Clone Drive for this), it appears on your editing computer exactly as if you had popped in the disc from DJ. The Juicer doesn't care because, heck, Windows itself sees this mounted image as an inserted disk. It's just another logical drive with its very own letter.

This is WAY more simple to do than to explain.

DJ discs also have a reputation for being error-prone and, sometimes, VERY slow to install. Mounted iso images, by contrast, are instantly available (well, as "instant" as your HDDs can go; my DJ stuff is on a large RAID). Also, by making iso images up front you can quickly determine what, if any, DJ discs are faulty and get DJ to replace them ASAP (which they will do within reasonable time limits).

Hope this helps.

Steve

@Steves, Thanks for the quick replys. I'll give that a try. My DJ discs are DVD; it is just that my failed drive is a BD burner. I'm PO'd that it has died on me.

/jerry

Jerry, you're frustrated that your BR burned died and, for the moment, couldn't ID a workaround? I hear you.

Now you have a workaround which, in fact, gives you much sounder solution for handling DJ stuff. Your laptop BR burner is DVD-ROM too, right, right?!

Looks like you'll be out a modest lump of change for a new BR burner, but that's not a present roadblock. Seems like you're in serviceable shape now and even better shape once you get a new burner.

Cheers,
Steve

Virtual Clone Drive is free: http://www.slysoft.com/en/download.html

I used imgburn to create an ISO and stored it on my server. I then mounted it using virtual clonedrive. What i am still unable to do is install the Musicbox product using Juicer (File/install product). I get the error "No valid preview disk inserted." which is because the real media drive can't read a disct. So, although using ISOs makes a lot of sense once the product is installed, how do you install without a working DVD drive?

/jerry

Jerry, I don't have MusicBox, but I have installed a number of DJ products by (1) creating an ISO image of the Preview disc (usually #1 in a multi-volume DJ product), (2) mounting the ISO using Virtual CloneDrive, and (3) formally installing the DJ product within the Juicer.

I don't think the absence of a physical disc is your problem. Mounting an ISO image adds a logical drive, which Windows treats exactly like a physical drive with a disc in it.

In your case, it sounds like something is wrong in Step 3. Once the preview disc is mounted, can you use Windows Explorer to actually see the mounted disc in the Explorer pane and then browse through its contents as with any other drive or volume? I assume you can, and I also assume that your physical disc is OK since ImgBurn didn't complain.

Try un-mounting the ISO image, move the ISO file from your server to your editing computer, then remount it and try installing with the Juicer. Sounds dumb, I know, but maybe something about your network is causing a hiccup.

Also, um, you DO have the most current version of the Juicer installed, right? DJ seems pretty obsessive about that.

If none of the above doesn't work, then I recommend posting to the DJ forums, which seem to be moderately active...or call DJ itself.

And here is something completely different to try (if it works with MusicBox). For MOST of DJ stuff, not everything, I don't need the Juicer except to browse and search. For instance, I don't need to render a sound effect from the Juicer. I just drag and drop the source wav into Vegas or use the Vegas explorer to do the same. So I copied all of the DJ disc content to a massive RAID on my computer. When I find the DJ disc number and sub-directory from Juicer, I simply browse in Windows or Vegas, find the file, and drop it onto the timeline.

Why? Because I got tired of looking at a blizzard of mounted discs in my Windows explorer pane. They chew up drive letters. It was needless clutter.

For other DJ stuff, mainly their compositor's toolkit videos, I will in fact use Juicer to render what I need for Vegas or After Effects. Almost everything else I can just install directly in the DJ library without hassling with ISO's and mounted volumes in Virtual CloneDrive.

I noticed that DJ's earlier products usually require the insertion of a disc (or mounting of an ISO). Their later products will allow installation of the preview AND source files locally. I have tons of storage, so I opt for the latter.

Works fine here. Make the iso files of each MusicBox DVD, select Install Locally in Juicer, double-click on the iso file for disc 1. When juicer wants disk 2, use Windows Explorer to eject disc 1 and double click on the iso for disc 2, etc.

I really appreciate your help on this. I've tried your suggestions but still can't get music box to install. I'm going to be out of the office until this afternoon but here is some additional information:

1. I copied the iso for the first disc 1 to my video pc and then I mounted it. I went into device manager and the virtual drive is there as expected. I could open it and see the media files. I then uninstalled my real (and broken) bd-rom. Still Juicer can't install. It still displays "No valid preview disk inserted."

2. When I go into Juicer I see "Install products...". I don't see anything about installing locally. I am running the most current version of Juicer downloaded from DJ's site - version 3.88a build 121.

3. Curiously, when I select "My Products" in Juicer I see Video Trax HD which I also bought but haven't yet installed. I do recall now when I was installing Juicer I told it to get the previews from the web so that explains why Video Trax HD previews are showing up. I am going to try this when I return - 1) Uninstall and reinstall Juicer choosing local content, and 2) create an iso for the first Video Trax HD disc. I'll post back what I find.

Thanks again.

EDIT: I reinstalled Juicer and same results. But now I am looking at the Product Installation Wizard. Perhaps that is where I should have been already. It lists numerous DJ products including VideoTraxx HD, but it does not list Music Box. Is Music Box perhaps a legacy product that can only be installed from Juicer 2?

/jerry

Jerry, sorry for your continued angst. Based on what you've written, I really think you have a Juicer hiccup, not anything to do with Windows or your (successful) mounting of ISO images.

I have only two remaining suggestions. First, contact DJ to troubleshoot.

Second, delete/uninstall everything DJ from your computer. I know this sounds draconian, because it is. Not long ago I discovered that the Juicer works best when it's library is all in one place nice and tidy. I decided to move my library from the default c: directory to my massive RAID (in the Juicer, you specify where you want the library to install). In the end, and I'll spare you gory details, I simply scraped my system clean of DJ, reinstalled the Juicer, and then installed all of of DJ products afresh. This worked very well. The procedures that Steve Mann and I have been describing work like a charm. No headaches, no fuss, no muss.

See, this is where having ISO images REALLY pays off. I had only a few at the time, so I was forced to install slowly and painfully from physical discs.

I know you may not like option 2, but it is akin to reinstalling Windows, which can eliminate a multitude of pesky and irksome issues.

Post back with your success. I hope this works out for you. It will, one way or another.

Have you tried mapping a local drive letter to the remote drive? I do this a lot when using Nero. It won't see network resources in the form of \\otherpc\shareddrive, but if i map \\otherpc\shareddrive to, say, K:\ then Nero happily uses K:\ just fine.

Last night my wife and I went to see American Idiot. This morning I am feeling a bit like an American Idiot ;-).

The reason I was unable to install music box was because I was trying to install with "disc 1" mounted, rather than "install disc". Once I created an ISO for the install disc and mounted it everything worked exactly as you guys have described. I was led to this solution by a post on DJ's forum from someone having the same problem as I did.

In a way I'm glad I had this problem because I learned from you about imgburn and virtual clonedrive - and about a better way to use DJ's products. So, thanks much for your help.

/jerry