Philips Dvp642 and external sub problem

[winman42]

I'm having trouble with a few divx files and subs in .srt format. 9 times out of 10 they work
fine, but i have a few that will NOT work. The DVP 642 wont let me select the srt file, therefore
i cant get it to play. When i hi-lite the .SRT sub file, and press the SUBTITLE button, i get the
little hand icon.

any help would be appreciated.

thanks,

Win

[guns1inger]

Try loading the .srt file into Subtitle Workshop, then saving a new copy to use.

[handyguy]

keep your file names short.

[jman98]

This player is REALLY REALLY fussy about SRT files. I don't mess with Divx much, but I remember having a problem where my file had UNIX line feed (LF) characters instead of the DOS CR-LF. I opened it up in Word Pad and saved it and it worked fine because Word Pad converted the LF to CR-LF. This is more likely a problem than the length of the file name, but I suppose if you had some ridiculously long file name, it might be an issue. Open the file in Word or Word Pad and save it and if that doesn't work, open the file again and look for weird characters. Make sure that the beginning of the file is the number 1 on the first line and not something else.

[winman42]

Guys, thanksfor the tips, i will check into SUBTITLE WORKSHOP. The file name is approx 15 characters long, so is that perhaps too long? I'll also try theWORD PAD tip as well. thanks again.
Win

[winman42]

Well, i've tried renaming the file, so the name is much shorter. Still get the dreaded white hand, when i high-lite the subtitle file, and push the subtitle button.

Tried opening the SRT file in word, and saving it, still no joy. I havent
tried the subtitle workshop tip yet.

Win

[giannid]

It's possible that the file is too big for the DVP642. Files have to be less than 140kb (more or less) for it to keep in memory while your film is playing. .Srt files take up more space than .Sub (microdvd) subtitle files. So check the size of your .srt file and if it's over 140kb, convert it to .sub (microdvd) using Subtitle Workshop (instructions below).

If your .srt file is over 140kb, then open it in subtitle workshop again. click on Save As. Choose microdvd, and save. If your file is still over 140kb, you should probably split your film and subtitle.


Or it's possible the subtitle file might have some error in regards to the timing or numbering of lines. Like it was said, you can use Subtitle Workshop to fix your problem subs.

Open the subtitle with Subtitle Workshop - the film should load automatically.

Hit CTRL+I, click on fix errors, and save. (You may wish to "save as" a new subtitle file to preserve your original. Click on Save As, Choose Subrip, Save.)

[amontoth]

apprently, 642 does not recognize SRT on UDF format dvd's only on ISO
see 642 vs 5140 thread.

[winman42]

Well, the SRT files are only 4kb, so i guess its not a file size problem.
I've been burning these discs with NERO for years with no issues, and this is maybe the 2nd time i couldnt get an SRT file to work, so i dont think its the UDF vs ISO formatting.

I'm at a loss here, but thanks for all the help. The only thing i havent tried is 'fixing' the files with subtitle workshop, so i guess
thats my next thing, before i give up.

Win

[Squash]

You might try opening the .srt with Windows Notepad, then doing a "save as" and making sure that "ANSI" is selected in the "Encoding" box on the bottom of the "Save As" screen. If the .srt was created or converted using SubRip, it will occasionally suggest that you save as Unicode to preserve formatting or special characters or whatever. However, when I tried saving it that way (Unicode) the subtitle would not play on the 642; only ANSI enocoding worked. It's been a couple of years ago so I don't remember exactly what kind of error the 642 gave. But SubRip is a pretty popular program and whoever created the .srt (if it wasn't you) may have taken the unicode option.

4kb is a pretty small .srt file. They generally run about 1kb per minute (on most movie-size AVIs I have the .srt is about 70 to 100Kb). If they're short clips, though, that would be about right.

Good luck.