Slightly OT: Have you ever felt like an idiot!!

briang wrote on 10/16/2004, 3:01 AM
About two and a half years ago I purchased a Pioneer 7000 DVD Recorder with Firewire to use with Vegas Video. This was prior to DVDA being released.

I successfully used it for a while for my own DVD's.,

When DVDA was released I bought myself a Pioneer DVD burner, and was very, very happy with the results of DVDA.

Since then my DVD recorder has been used to record and play my favourite TV programmes.

However, I have been getting increasing requests from some of my clients for a lower cost solution to transfer Video to DVD (not a lot of money where I live).

It occurred to me that my DVD recorder was the answer to this opportunity.

However after several attempts, I discovered that I was getting 100% incompatibility problems on DVD players.

Why is this so I asked myself?

I searched the Pioneer Knowedge Base and searched this forum and others for a solution to the problem, with no success.

In utter desperation, I went back to the Pioneer DVD Recorder user manual and discovered to my complete amazement that you have to "Finalise" a disk to make it compatible with other other DVD players.

I felt like a complete and utter idiot!!

So far, I have had no compatibility issues, after finalising the DVD's.

The moral of this story is, if you have a problem, consult your user manual or help system before going any further.

It's good for your health!

BrianG
Silicon Forge Pty Ltd
Queensland
Australia

Comments

farss wrote on 10/16/2004, 3:29 AM
Brian,
this happen to me at least once a week so don't feel bad. The only consolation is in the same week I cause someone else to go "Oh, that's why it didn't work" several times. When that ratio changes I'll give the game away.

Bob.

RalphM wrote on 10/16/2004, 5:36 AM
BrianG,
Have I ever felt like an idiot? All the time!!

To show you that your opinion is respected, I'll pose a problem that I have.

I drive my Pioneer 7000 directly from the timeline, treating it like a tape output.
When I use the firewire connection, the sound drops out on a regular pattern with the dropouts being about 1.5 seconds in length.

The recurrance interval is not the same from project to project, but once it starts, it is very regular. Sometimes every 3 minutes, sometimes every 5 minutes, etc. Video never drops.

If I drive the 7000 through a D/A converter (VX2000), to the audio composite inputs, there are no dropouts.

If I drive the 7000 from a camcorder via firewire connection there are no dropouts.

This happens with three different NLEs including Vegas.

My system is a P4 (Dell 8100 at 1.6 GHz) running Windows 2000. 512 M or RAM, multiple HDs.

Any thoughts?
Chienworks wrote on 10/16/2004, 5:53 AM
DELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sure Grazie will chime in with some (not terribly charitable) thoughts eventually, but i'll have a go at it until then ...

Dell's architecture has been known to have a problem in that when the thermostat detects the need for more cooling it generates a very high-priority system interrupt to turn on the fans. This can play havoc with audio streaming and will happen at very regular intervals after the system warms up. Grazie found a program named something like FanGUI that allows you to turn the fans on permanently before streaming to an external device. This prevents the fan interrupts from occuring. You can then disable it after you're done printing.
Erk wrote on 10/16/2004, 6:38 AM
Felt like an idiot?

Yes, 5-8 times daily, drops to only 2-4 times a day on the weekends.

G
RalphM wrote on 10/16/2004, 7:26 AM
Re: FanGUI,
Oops! My idiot factor strikes again. My "8100" is a Dimension 8100 which is a desktop and I think the fan runs constantly on the desktops.

As far as I can find when Googling, the fan interrupt problem is on Laptops - would love to be proven wrong however.

Thanks
p@mast3rs wrote on 10/16/2004, 7:40 AM
Im married. I always feel like an idiot. Just kidding.
goshep wrote on 10/16/2004, 8:12 AM
Manuals? Stuff comes with manuals!??
DOH!

B.Verlik wrote on 10/16/2004, 12:55 PM
All you have to do is read some of the things I've written here. I've even asked the same questions more than once and forgotten that I already asked.
briang wrote on 10/16/2004, 5:18 PM
RalphM

I used my Pioneer 7000 connected via Firewire to a Compaq AP 550 Workstation.

Dual 800Mhz Pentium 3 Processors, 256Mb Ram, 10,000 RPM Seagate Fast SCSI Disk.

Had no problems whatsoever with video or audio signals using Vegas print to tape. It worked flawlessly. So perhaps Chienworks might be on the right path.

Sounds like a bit of a tricky issue. Hope you are able to find a solution.

What I did not mention in my last post was that I could record -RW discs (Client needed 25 copies, in excess of two hours recording time) and play them on the clients DVD player without finalising them.

Hence my utter confusion as to why I could not play - R's, until I read the manual.

This business is certainly not dull!

Brian
Grazie wrote on 10/16/2004, 10:06 PM
Hiyah! Heard my name being used . ..

The Fangui thang was for my Dell Inspiron Laptop - as has been noted the pc under question here is a Dimension standalone - I don't have any experience of these machines and video work.

. .. just to make "Closure" - I think is the therapy word for it! - on the Fan thingie, what really nailed it was the Power Management [ PM ] utility. Within PM what I thought to be an always on to the AC connection - therefore not needing to check out the battery condition - was not the case at all! BUT this was an erroneous state of affairs. What I assumed was ALWAYS ON was being further ignored by another overall "ALWAYS ON" option through the PM [ power management is the utility that keeps power drain on the battery to a minimum ] - this took me 3 years to discover! And this information from another Veghead too!

. . aint life great!

Now if you are getting drop outs maybe your Dimension IS a laptop in standalone clothing!?!?!?! . . .Kelly may have point in that do check out and see if there are any "interrupts" created by the Dell cooling system/s - in the laptop they were very VERY complex and clever. There were thyristors, rheostats and various eletro-mechano devices checking for ANY temp changes. Now, maybe MAYBE Dell have gone all super tech with their new standalones - - I really don't know. get onto their Forums and ask some "pointed" questions .. do searches for this issue there too . .. yeah?

. .Thanks Kellsie! I thought I'd heard the last of this. "Just when I thought I was out . .they PULL me back in!" . . ..

Best regards,

Grazie
Grazie wrote on 10/16/2004, 10:09 PM
. .. not being funny - but see if you get dropouts WHEN a fan switches on? I'm serious! . . . This was how I started to identify an issue with my Inspiron. - G
briang wrote on 10/18/2004, 3:09 AM
Hi Guys

Thank you for your responses.

It is very comforting to know that I am not the only idiot around here.

I feel much, much happier now!!

Regards

BrianG
Grazie wrote on 10/18/2004, 7:20 AM
. .. yeah . . .that'll be the medication kickin' in! - I have mine about noooooooowwwwww . . . . .. . .. . .. . . .ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz



.. . g