DVDINFO - Discussion Area. (Advdinfo replacment app.)

[nicw]

NEW APPLICATION.

Folks,

In consulation with >NIL: author of ADVINFO. I have written (writing) a replacment application called DVDINFO.

This program is freeware. I am looking for feedback, suggestions, new skins, etc for the program. It supports both DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW.

Have a look and let me know what u think.

http://www.nicsoft.com.au/dvdinfo.html

Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows NT4.0 do not need aspi.

Windows 95, 98 ME require aspi and will work on Aspi V4.60 but V4.7.1.2 is recommended. (NOTE: V4.70 and V.71) do not work properly please update to V4.7.1.2 from the adaptec web site http://www.adaptec.com

cheers
nicw (author)

[VinnySem]

How about making it work with external burners? I have tried every "tip" under the sun to get these ADVDinfo to work with my DRU-500UL, and nothing works. Maybe you, being the author, have some ideas?

[simonko]

ADVDinfo is still better.... straight to the point 0E - Gives all the info needed. I dont think people need a fancy skin system anyways it just gives basic info not like the 0E - command in ADVDinfo which tells everything.

[nicw]

Well the author of ADVINFO does not agree with you go ask him, he loves the new one and recommends it over his.

If I had not made skins you would be complaining about that, you cannot please some folk. If you don't like my program fine, don't use it, its not meant for you.

DVDINFO also has the OE 'straight to the point' as you put it and of course gives the exact same info if you go via the hex or ascii function.

I will look into external burner support but without having one I am flying blind a bit.

regards
nicw

[deadmonty]

Well the author of ADVINFO does not agree with you go ask him, he loves the new one and recommends it over his.

If I had not made skins you would be complaining about that, you cannot please some folk. If you don't like my program fine, don't use it, its not meant for you.

DVDINFO also has the OE 'straight to the point' as you put it and of course gives the exact same info if you go via the hex or ascii function.

I will look into external burner support but without having one I am flying blind a bit.

regards
nicw

What is the point of asking for feedback if you are just going to get snotty when people give you it. The previous poster had a legitimate point and he passed it to you as you requested.

Personnally, when it comes to skinning a program like this then I agree with him and see little reason to do it, but that is my opinion. And it is an opinion I am expressing because that is what you requested.

[nicw]

If you took it as snotty then that is not how it was meant and I apologise to you both.

Criticising without any constructive offerings at all is not really feedback. Saying I don't like it, and advinfo is better is not feedback, its an opinion and while still welcome, its probably better if it remains either un-said or expanded upon, otherwise its not constructive.

His comment was also inaccurate as the program offer the information in a similar way to advinfo does as an option, and without extra information. Saying mine has 'too much' info I find very puzzling indeed when its an option. If you dont want the extra info, then dont click the button.

The OE option while useful for him or some, is not useful for PLUS owners as its not supported an does not work. DVDINFO is being written to try and support all burners and give as much info as users want. I started writing it 7 days ago and I am working as hard and fast as I can on it, with a list of user requests here.

I would also like someone to show me "everything" out of the 0E command which gives very little information actually.

It would have been better if he had gone further to explain in details what he liked and disliked so I could copy that over the dozen or so forums I am on about this and get general opinion.

cheers
niw

[nicw]

If enough users write and inform me, or post here that they would prefer not to have a customizable window, I will make an option in settings to provide a standard interface.

Here is your chance, if you would prefer not to have skins, then let me know here. Stand up and be counted

cheers
nicw

[dcsos]

Please allow your program to read info from EXTERNAL boxes..
This is where windows falls short and you could make up the difference
I f you give enuff info..we won't need Sandra anymore!
Firewire, USB and SCSI burners pls

[nicw]

If anyone can provide any info on reading external boxes, as obviously aspi does not seem to do this, please contact me. Especially if you have a C++ class or library I can use to access these devices.

I have added to my todo list and will see what I can do.

BTW external scsi burners on a scsi bus are supported in theory (untested)

cheers
nicw

[StudeBarc]

Yo NicW,

I love this program, especially the new version 0.11. I have had all sorts of problems in the past with ADVDinfo and my MP5125 Ricoh. The program is so easy to use and presents the info very nicely indeed.

To the other self-managed sexual gratifiers (that's wankers for short) above, "Get A Life"....Jeez. The program is FREE, some people are just plain silly.

My original suggestions for "bitsetting" ability for + drive owners has been taken up and it works perfectly. I know that the + drive owner fraternity appreciate your efforts and we look forward to future improvements as they are implemented.

Thanks greatly for this program...Keep up the good work !!

Regards
Studebarc

[vcdlover]

I'd love to try it, but that directory is not working.

vcdlover

[StudeBarc]

vcdlover,

Try the main site link : http://www.nicsoft.com.au

Then you will see the DVDinfo program listed for download.

I think there is a full stop at the end of the link above that has buggered it.

Regards
Studebarc 8)

[vcdlover]

StudeBarc,

Thanks. I got it and it doesn't seem to work with my USB2.0 DRU500AX. It shows only couple digits.

vcdlover

[StudeBarc]

vcdlover,

It would be helpful to NicW if you could send the "clipboard data" from your experiences with the 500a to his email address. He will try to get an "external" working version for USB/firewire burners. The only way this can be done is with assistance.

Can you help?

Hope so.
Regards
Studebarc 8)

[vcdlover]

StudeBarc,

What kind of 'clipboard data' are you mentioning? I'll be glade to help if I can.

vcdlover

[tjtoed]

Here is a question (maybe a dumb one, but I am going to ask it anyway):
I have an internal LiteOn DVD-ROM drive and the external Sony DRX-500UL, will this program not work using my internal drive, or do you have to use these sort of tools on the actual burner?

Thanks.

[defense]

@nicw, your program easily surpasses that of ADVDINFO. I have no clue where those other posters come from, but there are many of them around here. The reason I say that is because you are correct when you say that an "opinion" about "looks" or skins of a program have no bearing on the simplicity of it.

How ANYONE can actually post that your program isn't an user friendly or "candid" as ADVDINFO is beyond me. The functions appear to be as clear as CRYSTAL and couldn't possibly be more to the point unless they BITE THE USER IN THE ASS!

The skins and fonts are great, and I think skins are smooth on ANY program. Why would a skin be good on Kazaa or Winamp but NOT DVDINFO? I have no clue, but I think it spices the proggy up and it's definitely a GREAT PROGRAM! It doesn't give all those damn 0's which most people have no clue what those are anyway. It doesn't give that B@P garbage or the J@P garbage.

It tells a person EXACTLY what they should care about, and that is the "manufacturer ID" of a particular type of blank media. Great job on the program and I wouldn't change it for ANYONE because the program doesn't need ANY changing. It Serves its purpose and it's straight to the point!

Thanks

[StudeBarc]

vcdlover,
There is a function on the program screen shown as "copy to clipboard". As you compose an email to Nicw you can get DVDinfo to give the data selection and copy to clipboard. By right mouse click in the email area you will see a paste function. Paste the clipboard contents into the email and you don't have to type out what the program displays. Just makes it easy to describe EXACTLY what the program is doing when looking at the drive or media. The paste function is also transportable to MS word and text editors also. Less typing...more fun...he he he.

defense,
Agree with your comments and criticisms of some posters regarding the operation etc of DVDinfo. Perhaps in your circle of friends, someone has an external burner to help on further refinement of DVDinfo. As above the clip & paste options help with debugging etc. I am sure this program will become the definitive for DVD drive and media recognition.

Regards
Studebarc

[StudeBarc]

vcdlover,
Here is an example of a "copy to clipboard" paste of Media info from my MP5125a. With the xternal burner you probaly don't get anything meaningful...but anyway.

Media Information
DVD+R/RW Mfr ID MCC A01
Book Type DVD-ROM
Media type DVD+RW
Max Rate 10.08Mbps?
Linear Density 0.267um/bit
No of Layers 1

Drive Information
RICOH DVD+RW MP5125
021213RICDA14039980
Firmware Revision 1.51
User Region changes left 5
Vendor Region changes left 4
No region has been set
Drive conforms to RPC-2
Drive supports CD-ROM read
Drive supports CD-R write
Drive supports CD-RW re-write
Drive supports DVD-ROM read
Drive supports DVD+R write
Drive supports DVD+RW re-write

PS I've just realised that the paste will add a heap of blank lines also. Perhaps a step of pasting into Notepad and then just cut & paste the relevant data will be better.

Regards
Studebarc

[nicw]

Folks,

I need some testers for DVDINFO V0.20. I have removed the requirement for ASPI. This required some major rewrite of some of the routines.

The program is ready for testing. It should hopefully now work more easily and (hopefully) support external devices, this needs testing.

If you want to test if before release please contact me via email.

cheers
nicw

[tjtoed]

nicw,
I would loveto test the new version.

I have an external Sony DRU-500XL and no ASPI installed that I know of.

How do I get it?

tj

[Baldrick]

Nice with a new dvdinfo tool and it looks easy to use. How about support for dvd-rom drives? Advdinfo works fine with my dvd-rom.

[nicw]

Err, it does, works on every dvd-rom I have tried so far.

what version are you running?

nicw

[tjtoed]

OK, nicw, you did it...

The new DVDinfo (V0.20) works great with my Sony external DRX-500UL (XP) and no aspi installed...

I opened it up, selected my Sony, chose Code OEh and hit "show ascii data" and it shows the manufacturor of my disk.

I also hit "copy to clipboard", opened up notepad, pasted and it showed all the info. Here is the first 3 lines:
00 6A 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 50 00 02 98 0C 13 .j...@....P.....
76 78 80 00 03 54 44 4B 47 30 32 00 04 30 30 30 vx...TDKG02..000
30 30 30 00 05 88 80 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 000.............

Very good program as I have not been able to get advdinfo to work before...

Thank you very much.

[nicw]

Thats great, and thanks for the comments.

I will release it as V0.21. Use the update checker in about to tell you when its available.

I am glad it works, it has been a real achievment in one day to remove aspi requirement and make work for external.

Thanks and keep up the feedback.

cheers
nicw

[tjtoed]

I agree. I am very impressed with you improvements.

You might have saved all us XP and external writer users who were having problems with that other prog.

Thank you again.

TJ

[nicw]

Folks,

I have released DVDINFO V0.20 to the site.

NO MORE ASPI.

I have manged to now work without aspi which is a big improvment.
I have also added compatibility with external burners.

Cheers
nicw

[StudeBarc]

Yo tjtoed,

Could you do a bit of testing on some +R/RW media with your 500ul? Just to see how it performs that way. Of course the + media will need some data on them first. Would also like to see the error message for "Alter Book Type" on some +RW with the external 500 too. Post results to NicW, please.

PS Just use the "DVD Media Info" button for information, the 0E command won't work with a + media/drive.

Thanks and Regards
Studebarc

[tjtoed]

I am at work now, but when I get home I will test it.
The only + disk I have is a Sony +RW. I will run it through the test unless someone else beats me to it today.

TJ

[-jsl-]

Yo tjtoed,
PS Just use the "DVD Media Info" button for information, the 0E command won't work with a + media/drive.

With DVD+R/RW you can use the first 00 - Physical format information to get the complete media information.

But it might be a good idea to have a button for "Complete media code" that shows the ASCII data for "Physical format information" if it's a DVD+R/RW media and the ASCII data for "Prerecorded information in lead-in" if it's a DVD-R/RW media since these commands are not very logical for a new user.

It would be even better if this function for "Complete media code" only displayed all the lines before the first line with zeros in the hex data so you directly can copy the info when you add media to the DVDRHelp's media list (ie like the "Complete media code" described here).