"guranteed" mini-dvd authoring guides

[lourenc2]

i came across a site that claimed that if certain steps were followed a minidvd could be made that 95% of standalone players would play... site is : http://tech-dvd.itgo.com/Twelve.htm

first question is whether anyone has tried this and whether it works and second is where i could find some of this software...i have looked on the net and its been virtually impossible for some of them..

what do yall experts think?

Jay

[offline]

Interesting. The tools mentioned are old though. Steps 1-3 can be done easily with other tools. The rest of the guide just seems to be an older alternative to what is already out there.

The only thing that got me was the divide by 2048 issue- is this true? I wonder.

As for the 95% compatability claim - rubbish! More like 9.5%

[lourenc2]

well 9.5% is still even high but according to this author it has worked on virtually all the standalone players he tested them with....i would like to give it a shot cuz it wont hurt u can always erase an RW but i cant find any of the software.

[offline]

Ok, if you have the time and inclination - why not. Try this:

step 1 use DVDdecrypter (set preferences for no max vob size)
select stream audio, english soundtrack

step 2 not necessary as you have the one big merged vob file already

step 3 use rempeg2 to reduce the file size and use rempeg2's tools
to reattach the ac3 audio to your new vob file

step 4 already done in step 3

step 5 Do not know a similar prog to resize

step 6 paste vob files into something like SpuceUp

step 7 - 11 all done in step 6

step 12 unlikely

[BJ_M]

i didnt go through in depth on the whole thing but a couple things stuck out -
1. is that dvd players for a dvd look for a UDF or UDF/iso file system.
(all original dvd were made on unix file system and soon thereafter apple)

2.

"....DVD players look for a file system that has been packetized in blocks of 2048 bytes. It won't read anything else. .."

this is untrue - DVD players must be able to read both 2054 and 2048 ..
commercial DVD's are mostly all 2054 accually.

3. step 11 i am dubious about ..

[duhmez]

DVD units can read both as they can read VCD and SVCD. When you author a minidvd, you do indeed use UDF too to keep it as normal aspossible. The trouble with the compatibility is with the block size, which is why a unit must be specially made to support it, on purpose. A unit will not, by accident, play mini dvd's.

[lourenc2]

duhmez...do u think it is possible to make virtually any dvd player read a mindvd is u author it correctly?

[andydd]

In a word..'no'. Most DVD players will NEVER read a mini Cd because as soon as you insert a CD disc the DVD firmware tells it to look for the data it would 'expect' to find on a CD disc..(ie CD audio, Video Cd , maybe MP3). This is the simple reason why miniDVDS do not play on the majority of players.

I have an Afreey LD2060 (from the Sampo family) and this plays miniDVDs, but it was never 100 % succesful and Ive now moved on to DVD-Rs. (Check out my now rather old miniDVD guide at www.area450.com).

Interestingly the Sampo family of players used to have probs with the reverse. It couldnt read mp3, mpeg, etc data on a DVD-R disc, but this has been solved with a firmware fix which allows you to either read a DVD-R as a DVD-Video disc or as a DVD-Rom (data) disc.