Won't RIP (or play) more than 1min of DVD

[PeterJ72]

I recently received some training videos which must have some sort of different protection on them. These DVDs play perfectly on a DVD player, but won't play more than about 1min10sec on my Mac (or on a PC). I tried to copy (using Mac the Ripper) as well as RIP (using Handbrake), but got the same problem. I also tried inserting these into a PC running Neo software, but had the same limitation.

When using Mac the Ripper no error message came up, but the file size was only 100MB. When using DVD player on my Mac it came up with an error message (after the 1min mark) saying there was a problem with the disk (error -36), although as I said earlier, it plays fine in a DVD player. There are no menus on these DVDs (they play as soon as inserted), no subtitles and they are set to Region 0.

Any idea what the problem is and how I could get around this? Any help would be most appreciated.

[Baldrick]

please post mac in our mac forum. moving you.

[PeterJ72]

OK, but I also experienced the same problem when trying to play/RIP this DVD on a PC, so this isn't Mac specific.

[albloom]

Are you perhaps using "main title" extraction instead of
the "full disc" mode? That will often give you a spurious
small file that sure seemed to be the main title.

[Frobozz]

I wonder if these were originally burned on a standalone DVD recorder. If so, there likely are time code breaks that are causing this problem. MPEG Streamclip has the ability to fix time code breaks with most VOB files. Also, Toast 7.0.2 can now extract the MPEGs from VIDEO_TS folders where there are time code breaks.

[PeterJ72]

Thanks for the replies.

1. I am using main title extraction.

2. It is quite possible that these DVDs were burnt on a stand alone recorder. However, from what I can see I couldn't use either pieces of software that were recommended, since I can't get access to more than 1min10sec of the DVD (either by playing or using Mac the Ripper).

It seems to me that there must be some sort of copy protection on the DVDs that is stopped them from being played on computers - as I said in my original post, these work fine on standalone players.

[Frobozz]

Thanks for the replies.
2. It is quite possible that these DVDs were burnt on a stand alone recorder. However, from what I can see I couldn't use either pieces of software that were recommended, since I can't get access to more than 1min10sec of the DVD (either by playing or using Mac the Ripper).

Do you have MPEG Streamclip and Apple's QuickTime MPEG 2 Component? If not, one is free and the other is just $19.95. If yes, control-click on the VTS 1.1 file in the VIDEO_TS folder and choose Open with... MPEG Streamclip. What happens? Streamclip will alrert you if there are time code breaks. If you get this warning choose Fix Time Code Breaks from the Edit menu. When that's done you'll be able to see the entire movie. If you choose Save as MPEG, there is a fair chance that the repaired MPEG will be extracted and saved. However, some MPEGs are stubborn and still have the breaks in the extracted file. If that's the case you may need to convert to a format other than MPEG.

As I mentioned, Toast 7.0.2 added the ability to properly extract MPEGs from VIDEO_TS folders that have time code breaks. You do this using the Media Browser. I explained how to do this in this thread:
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=289453

[PeterJ72]

I just bought/downloaded both bits of software. I was able to open the VTS 1.1 file, but it only showed it being 32sec in length.

I then went and choose Fix Time Code Breaks from the Edit menu, which lengthened the track time to 3min8sec (about 108MB, which is the size of the VTS 1.1 file).

I don't have Toast, but since I'm having problems with a variety of programs, I'm wondering if the investment in that is also worthwile.

That said, you seem to know your stuff, so if you think it will do the trick let me know and I'll get it. Thanks again.

[Frobozz]

Don't bother with Toast just yet. You say that the VTS 1.1 file did get lengthened to its actual size after Streamclip fixed the time code breaks.

Okay, now do this with the VTS title set that has the video you want to extract. For example, the next one is VTS_02_1.VOB and the one after it is VTS_03_1.VOB (if there are that many; there may be up to 99). If Streamclip asks if you want to open just the first VOB or the entire set, choose the entire set. Repair the Time Code Breaks and choose Convert to MPEG.

When the MPEG is saved, open that file in MPEG Streamclip to see if the entire program is now displayed. If yes, you should be able to play the MPEG with VLC Media Player.

[PeterJ72]

Sorry for the slow reply - flew from Sydney to London since my last post.

I may not have been clear when I said that the VTS 1.1 file lengthened. Yes it did (as first time round it was only a little over 1min), but the actual length of the DVD is around 1hr, so 3min is well short. If I go to the finder and look at the Video_TS folder, it only has 6 items, with the biggest one being the VTS 1.1 file at 180MB (as mentioned earlier). There are no other VTS files (at least that are visible).

Somehow whoever burnt this disk is hiding the balance of the disk - from both Macs and PCs. As I said, I can watch the whole hour without any problem on a standalone DVD player, but put it on a Mac/PC, and ....

I know this may be an usual problem, but hopefully it is an interesting enough one for a solution to be worked out. Please note that I have tested other DVDs from the same supplier (a producer of educational videos), and all have the same problem. The producer has said that they didn't make them to be compatible with Macs (although its not compatable with PCs either), as I think they are worried about them being pirated. I'm not interested in that - I just want to be able to use them on my Mac, and later on my iPod. I'm on the road a lot, so accessing a DVD player isn't always practical.

[albloom]

Peter, why don't you just surrender and do a whole-disk rip?

[PeterJ72]

How do you suggest doing that? I think that you may not understand what I said originally, as (as far as I know) I have been trying to rip the whole disk from the start. If you read the thread from the beginning you will see that the problem is that these disks have some sort of protection that stops them being played on Macs/PCs.

That said, maybe I am doing something wrong, although as I've managed to rip every other DVD I've got, I doubt it. Just to reconfirm, Mac the Ripper will only do a little over a minute of the DVD, as will Handbrake.

I didn't say it in the original mail (as I didn't want to make this too Mac centric, since the problem also affects PCs), but I did also try first creating a disk image from the DVD (ie. a 'dmg' file), but that also had the same problems with playing/ripping, even though it is also 4.1GB.

By the way, the Video_TS folder shows as only being 109MB, although the disk is 4.1GB.

[Frobozz]

By the way, the Video_TS folder shows as only being 109MB, although the disk is 4.1GB.

It seems you are out of options. For some reason the Mac isn't seeing the DVD's content. I haven't encountered or read of this before so don't know what to suggest. All you can work with is what the OS sees.

[PeterJ72]

Perhaps this is a new form of copyright protection? If you hear more about it or hear of a fix let me know through this thread. Thanks for trying to help!

[albloom]

How do you suggest doing that? I think that you may not understand what I said originally, as (as far as I know) I have been trying to rip the whole disk from the start.

Uh, no. In response to my first query you said you were doing
main title extraction.

Ain't the same thing.