dvd auto playing on hcpc.....

Tim Cooper

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Hi Chaps,

How does that old addage go "if it ain't broke don't fix it" well i'm getting bored with my HCPC performing great so i thought i'd experiment with auto play....you know disc in the dvd rom & TT fires up blah blah....i d/loaded dvdautorefresh BUT i can't get this to work at all, followed the instructions to the letter, no luck, it just don't change resolutions, also i can't get TT to fire up on auto load (auto insert is enabled) the only thing that does is PC friendly..... piece of sh@.... so i download tweak UI & enable auto load music cd's tab but PC crappo still loads....seems that my HCPC is defying me & it ain't gonna win :D
All i want to do is make it more wife friendly she's said to me " why can't i just put in a dvd & it goes".....can't argue with that i suppose.
Any insights tips tricks alchemy or witchcraft etc greatly app'd

oh the system specs

Win 98 se

powerstrip 3

dvdautorefresh

tweakui 1.3

TT dvd player

72hz ntsc res

75hz pal res

dvd region killer

girder 3.2

Cheers

Tim
 
I've yet to find a way of stopping the PCFriendly thingy auto starting either (other than disabling auto load function!).

I have found that sometimes DVDgenie will load up and then kick off PowerDVD even though the PCFriendly thing is on the screen, so you might want to give that a try.
 
Hello Tim,

Theatertek autoplays just fine on my PC. DVD starts up and goes to the first menu everytime.

DVD's that I have set a start point/ bookmark [control-B] for, start at the first chapter usually.

There are a few DVD's that wont work with the Bookmark, but most do.

I guess one of the utilities you have installed has corrupted a setting, or you have 'over tweaked' that registry ;)

Good luck,

Mark.
 
Thanks for the reply chaps....

Mark:
Do you only use one screen resolution then on your auto setup?
Hmmm over tweaked the registry...well i backup my hcpc to ghost i think i'll reinstate the original setup & take it from there.
And i thought that autoplay hcpc was going to be easy ;)

Cheers

Tim
 
Originally posted by Tim Cooper
Thanks for the reply chaps....

Mark:
Do you only use one screen resolution then on your auto setup?

Cheers

Tim


Hello Tim,

Yes I am only using a DLP projector at 800x600, so easy to set up for me,
not joined the CRT club :(

Mark.
 
Tim,
Did you ever get DVDautorefresh working? Sorry, I missed this originally because of the subject. Please give me a shout here if you need any help.

Insert DVD to play using TheaterTek (with DVD RegionKiller and DVDautorefresh) is exactly how I use my HTPC.

I didn't get any PCfriendly pop-ups with WinME/RegionKiller. Perhaps it was because I originally used DVDgenie and perhaps mucked with auto-play before going over to the simpler DVD RegionKiller.

I've just re-built my own HTPC using WinXP Home, TheaterTek 1.5 and DVD RegionKiller 2, although I haven't used it an awful lot yet. DVDautorefresh seems to work well for me on WinXP Home, as it did when was running WinME.

I'm about to try disabling the dvd-rom data autoplay using WinXP's TweekUI to stop PCfriendly pop-ups, such as with Star Wars EP1, region2 as noted in a few avsforum topics. Reportedly Win9x's TweekUI is different.

regards,
Rob.
 
Hi Rob,
No in a nutshell I could not for the life of me get dvd-auto-refresh to work maybe it was the old version of powerstrip or maybe it was me, i think i had an old beta version...anyway i've since upgraded to a more up to date version, would be willing to try again, but i've mislaid the d/load site.
Cheers
Tim
 
I'm doing the following:
Used TweakUI to switch off autorun completely to get rid of Interactual/PCFriendly rubbish.
Installed DVDSpy for Girder.
Wrote some girder scripts to detect the insertion of a DVD which then fires up WinDVD. Also messed with getting windows explorer to fire up when it's a normal data CD.

I'll have to check it over again to see that it's running properly, but I can post the Girder script if anyone's interested....
 
I'll have to check it over again to see that it's running properly, but I can post the Girder script if anyone's interested....

Cheers Richard i'll take a gander at that if you want to post it to me post it to [email protected]
Thanks.
Tim.
 
autoplay works great on mine.
W2K TT (1.2) radeonVE (6025 driver) maudio2496.
And the only thing I intend to do to this machine is get some form of remote control workability when I get the time. Its sweet as a nut as it is.
 
Tim, I was just having a fiddle last night - my setup works OK, but in fact DVDSpy comes with a great sample girder script (well, several - wish I'd found them before I sent ages fiddling...), but there's one that does the DVD detect and fires up Theatertek too - there's also a good DVDSpy Girder script on the girder site with settings for various software.
 
I take a more simplistic view. I do not believe that the DVD should run.

I disable all autorunning for everything.

The reason is that it is a pain in the derriere, and can lead to all sorts of troubles. It should be put disc in and press play. Same as most dedicated DVD Players.

Neil.
 
Rob,
Funnily enough, I was trying to get DVDAutorefresh to run last night on my Win98se system but no joy:(

I also had problems trying to get PS3 (3.29) to allow me to set one resolution but have 2 refresh rates (I tried the recommended method of creating the shortcut etc but it didn't work).

Any hints/tips appreciated.

Tim,
Did you also remove the check from the DVD drives properties under My Computer on the desktop to stop the auto-loading of PC friendly etc?
Regards,
Paul
 
Q1: If you re-boot the HTPC, is there an icon in the system tray with a finger pointing to a globe? (see example at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rob.screene/DVDautorefresh)

Y: see next Q4
N: DVDautorefresh is not starting. Find the DVDautorefresh shortcut under Click Start, Programs, DVDautorefresh DVDautorefresh icon to open the setup form.
--------------------------------------------
Q2: At the setup form, is Automatically run DVDautorefresh at startup checked? (see example at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rob.screene/DVDautorefresh)

Y: see next Q3
N: Check "Automatically run..." and click OK.
--------------------------------------------
Q3: Do you now see an icon in the system tray with a finger pointing to a globe?

Y: see next Q4
N: Use add/remove to uninstall DVDautorefesh and re-install the latest version (Mar-2002 1.1(11) from http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rob.screene/DVDautorefresh)
--------------------------------------------
Q4: Move your mouse pointer over the system tray icon, a tooltip should appear:-

A) If no discs have been inserted since bootup, this should read "DVDautorefresh".
B) This should say PAL or NTSC if a DVD has been inserted and detected by DVDautorefresh.
--------------------------------------------
Q5: Insert a Region1 DVD and re-check the tooltip. Has the tooltip changed to read "NTSC" correctly for this DVD?

Y: Check the Powerstrip .exe location on the DVDautorefresh setupo form, plus ensure you have a powerstrip setting saved named "dvdNTSC" within powerstrip.
N: The disc insert is being missed, try enabling auto-insert notification in Windows.
--------------------------------------------
Q6: Insert a Region2/4 disc and re-check. Has the tooltip changed to read "PAL" correctly for this DVD?

Y: Check the Powerstrip .exe location on the DVDautorefresh setup form, plus ensure you have a powerstrip setting saved named "dvdPAL" within powerstrip.

Q7: What version of powerstip have you installed and what is the path it is installed to.

Q8: Copy the command string for PAL and use Start Run and paste it in, does Powerstrip set your resolution correctly?
e.g. c:\program files\PowerStrip\PStrip.exe /p:dvdNTSC

Q9: Use Start Run REGEDIT and check the registy under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VB and VBA Program Settings\DVDautorefresh
Notes are made here of the last DVD insert found. Exporting this to a .reg file may help me troubleshoot further.

How did you guys get on with the above then?

regards,
Rob.
 
Originally posted by PaulB
I also had problems trying to get PS3 (3.29) to allow me to set one resolution but have 2 refresh rates (I tried the recommended method of creating the shortcut etc but it didn't work).

You need to goto the Eintech Forum and you will find the solution to this. Its quite a big thing to fix so best not try and detail it here. PM me if you still get stuck.

Neil.
 
Hi all,
I've managed to get dvd-auto-refresh to work at last i dug out my old windows 2000 ghost image & decided to have a play. The reason i probably could not get dvd-auto-refresh to work was because i was MODIFYING the powerstrip profiles/shortcuts i.e renaming them, this method i can attest does not work, you have delete any profiles in powerstrip, then go back into powerstrip's advanced timing options>custom resolutions>user defined & re-add your chosen resolution(s) THEN rename the profiles/shortcuts dvdPAL & dvdNTSC, it now works like a charm put a disc in & dvd-auto -refresh really does what it says on the tin:D
Tweak UI takes care of the intractual sh@
The usual method for having two refresh rates for one resolution does not work for me, but i will plod on until i get it to work;) at the moment i have 1280x720 @ 71.928 Hz & 1280x722 @ 75 Hz yes i know the latter is not "pixel perfect" but it works for me.
I've also upgraded to TT 1.5 The latest m-audio "consumer" drivers the picture quality is superb Monsters inc looks the nut's (it's the only superlative i know :D )
Thanks for all the info & to Rob who developed it, my Mrs can now slap in a disc & off it goes....nice one :D
Cheers.
Tim.

P.S dvd-auto refresh-does not work in windows 98se for me
 
Thanks for the feedback Tim. Sorry it didn't work on Win98se.

Here's how to determine the absolute timing commands for multiple refresh rates in a single resolution with PowerStrip:-

1. Under PowerStrip, Display profiles, Configure...

2. Choose your resolution e.g. 1280x720, then click the Advanced Timing Options button. Click selected if a question box appears.

3. For speed, open the Windows calculator to copy your desired vertical refresh into the clipboard otherwise you may be typing it a lot! e.g. 71.928

4. Highlight the powerstrip refresh rate and paste 71.928 in then press Tab.

5. You may see the screen flash and the rate change slightly. If I want it exact I raise or lower the Front porch and paste my 71.928 in again and press Tab and repeat until I get an exact number.

6. In this case I settled for 71.932 on my desktop Geforce2 GTS machine. (ATI Radeon cards may require ever so slighly different numbers and my HTPC is not to hand)

7. Now click the Copy to clipboard icon, in between the lower Cancel and Apply buttons.

8. Open Windows Notepad and Edit, Paste to see the copied text:
e.g.
PowerStrip timing parameters:
1280x720=1280,104,80,208,720,5,5,20,90203,2048

Generic timing details for 1280x720:
HFP=104 HSW=80 HBP=208 kHz=54 VFP=5 VSW=5 VBP=20 Hz=72

Linux modeline parameters:
"1280x720" 90.203 1280 1384 1464 1672 720 725 730 750 +hsync +vsync

9. Now the command you need to call pstrip.exe with must end with the numbers after the = on the second line.
e.g. c:\program files\powerstrip\pstrip.exe /t:1280,104,80,208,720,5,5,20,90203,2048

10. I repeated the above for PAL discs at 75Hz and got 75.001Hz
e.g.
c:\program files\powerstrip\pstrip.exe /t:1280,136,80,208,720,5,5,20,95851,2048

11. You can create a Windows shortcut with this if you want, or in the DVDautorefresh Settings form, click Custom Settings and add your commands in these two textboxed which appear to the right.

12. Thats it. Test using your Windows shortcuts or insert a disc.

These absolute timings override any per resolution saved settings, allowing you to have two or more refresh rates for a single resolution.

The reason I stuck with saved powerstrip profiles in DVDautorefresh is that any fixed-resolution display apparently doesn't usually benefit from multiple refresh rates, supposedly they all work best at 60Hz.

regards,
Rob.
 
More information than a man can cope with!

Excellent and informative thread, my thanks to you all. Looks like I may have to move to Win2k or XP (couldn't get either of them to work properly with earlier versions of TT, with 1.5 its worth another go but Win98 runs soooooo well).

I'll have a look at the Entech forum over the weekend, cheers Jenz.
Paul
 
I'd say hold on upgrading from Win9x for now.

I now have TT 1.5 and DVDautorefresh running fine back on a WinME fresh build. Initially they look fine.

I did have on teething problem where DVDautorefresh gave an error I first ran it, and when checking the Auto start button, because WinME was missing a HKEYcurrentuser/software/microsoft/windows/currencversion/run key. I used regedit to add that key, then DVDautorefresh was able to set itself into the run on login for the current user.

I haven't yet watched any films properly in WinME/TT1.5 yet though to form any full opinions.

I'm almost sure WinAmp/MADMP3 sounded better last night back on the Win9x VXD m-audio driver!

I now have two GHOST image backups so that I could swap and compare them or to do a >2GB Falcon or CX23881 laserdisc capture.

regards,
Rob.
 
Rob,
TT is running soooo well on Win98se I'm beginning to wonder if its worth ruining such a good relationship!?

I'll try DVDAutorefresh again over the weekend - Tim gave a good tip when he said that you have to name the PS shortcuts from within PS rather than manually renaming them which is what I did.

For the sake of my 6 or so PAL discs , in truth its not probably worth the effort but DVDautorefresh is an excellent idea and I wouldn't mind having it beavering away in the background!
Paul
 
Hi all,
Finally got powerstrip to accept 2 refresh rates for a single resolution so i'm now running 1280x720 in pal & ntsc.
Girder also changes the resolutions a treat (i use girder to set default windows resolution to 1280x720 pal)
So to recap i have now got a windows 2000 setup running TT 1.5 on autoplay with dvd-auto-refresh changing resolutions, i must say my usual superlative "it's the nuts".
Now going to ghost this & have a go with windows 98se, armed with my new found skills, it'll be a piece of cake;) (he says)
Rob: thanks for resurrecting the thread & for your hints-n-tips:)
Cheers.
Tim
 

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