Sony DVD Rom will only read ripped DVD's - why?

[katewhit]

I have recently installed a Sony DVD rom - but it will only read the ripped DVD's that I have. I will not play a store bought DVD. It says that there's something wrong with my tv out - or maybe it is that I don't have one? I have no idea what I have! I got my computer-knowledgeable friend to help me but even he is confused as to why it won't read the bought ones.
Also: Where to I go to get a clue on how to burn a dvd. I have a CDRW and hopefully,soon, a DVD rom. I have downloaded smart ripper - do I need anything else?

Thanks

[Pussylips]

My answer to that is look on this site to find out what you need. "GUIDES" -"AUTHOR". I take it you mean SVCD if you have a CDRW?. You need a DVD-ROM to read DVD's thats a start! Then a ripper ,then a encoder, then recording software. So its all here.

[Bob W]

Maybe it's set to the wrong region.

[katewhit]

Thanks for your replies - now another question - how do I change the region setting, if that is the problem?
Let's see - I have a DVD rom and I have a CD Burner - I got told I could back up my dvd's by burning them using the dvd in the dvd rom, onto a cdrw disk, using the cd burner, as long as I downloaded software that allowed me to do that - are you saying now, that I can't?
I'm soooooo lost.

[Hardcoreruss]

Not sure if I 100% understand what you want but if you want to take a dvd and back it up onto a cd-r or cd-rw then download a program called Eazy Vcd from the tools menu.

[katewhit]

Hey - I must be doing something right - I've got that program already! I've got no idea how to use it, but I'll learn.
Russ, you got any idea how to find out what region my dvd rom is set to? There's so much info in this site that I keep getting lost.

[Hardcoreruss]

I am not sure of how to see it but surely if you put in say a region 2 disc it will say that it cannot play it because...........?

There is software out there that will allow you to make your dvd rom region free, try searching google.

[burnmaster2003]

Make sure you set the "Region Code" of your DVD-ROM to your country area, then try playing a purchased DVD using Windows Media Player. "Ripped" DVDs do not have any region code, so they can be played anywhere. To set the code, enter Device Manager, then right click on "Properties" of your DVD-ROM drive. Click on all the tabs until your find the Region Code section. Set the code to the region of your DVDs. Keep in mind that this code only needs to be entered once, unless you will be playing DVDs from other regions. The region code can only be changed 5 times. Anyway, once setting the code, try playing the DVDs using Media Player, and if that works, try your other DVD playing software. If you are using Power DVD version 3 to play your movies, this may also explain the errors you are having. If Media Player works and Power DVD 3 doesn't, then upgrade to version 4. Version 3 had some problems with certain video cards, causing DVDs not to play and error messages to be displayed. Hope this helps

[katewhit]

Ok, as far as I can tell my region is set to 4. I'm in Australia - is that the right region?
Secondly, I have Power DVD XP - and I only have Windows 98 - is there a problem there perhaps?
Thirdly - I have a sony dvdrom DDU1611 GYS 1 and I am gettingt the error message F4D41436 which says "The TV Out port of your display card is not working properly". For more detail it says "This copy protected disc cannot be played when the TV out function is enabled"
I have tried to find device manager to check it all out - but I can't!
I have downloaded DVD genie - who knows what for! I have downloaded this other stuff too (again who knows) and now I'm on a firmware page. I can't even find a sony dvd rom on there.
I appreciate all the help you are all giving me. I'm so sorry I have blonde hair!
Please bear with me...

[Hardcoreruss]

Yes region 4 is the right code for oz. One of your problems sounds like it is being caused by your tv out socket which you will need to deactivate. Try fishing around in control panel until you find it, I would tell you where it is exactly but I am at work and my pc is a bucket. I will post back when I get home.

[Gazorgan]

I believe the problems stems from you video out not supporting macrovision. I've seen this once before. If you can disable your TV out, and by disable, i mean remove it and the drivers, it should work for you.

To test this, chage your video drivers to generic SVGA and see if it plays?

[katewhit]

Are you there Russ? I found Device Manager but I cannot find anything that remotely looks like a driver for the display card or tv out or whatever it is that I'm looking for!
I tried to see if my TV out supported macrovision but I can't even see where it says TV out port- maybe I don't have one? How do I get one if I don't have one?
Fair dinkum - I'm lost still!