DVD ripping problems and hardware

[deguthrie]

I am new to this forum but do have some experience copying DVDs. I occasionally have a problem ripping a DVD. The ripping will eventually hang and not complete. I normally use DVDdecrypter to exract the files, but when the problem shows up, Smartripper also stops ripping on the same VOB file. DVDxCopy also will not work. If I am persistent and lucky, after about 20 - 30 attempts or the next day, I can rip the DVD. All the DVDs I am ripping from all play fine and are not scratched.

I am ripping from a Sony L120A writer. My question is, would I have better results ripping if I had a separate DVD-ROM to rip from instead of ripping from the Sony writer. I have scanned the forum, and see similar problems ripping and see answers about trying another DVD drive to rip from, but have not seen the subject of a separate DVD-ROM for ripping discussed. What do you guys think, would a separate DVD-ROM drive ripp more reliably than a DVD-writer?? If so is there any advantage of using a SCSI DVD-ROM instead of a IDE DVD-ROM? I have a SCSI CD-writer that I am getting ready to move out of my case, and could replace it with the SCSI DVD-ROM.

[shelbyGT]

generally speaking its best to have a dvd-rom to rip from just to let up from the burner and hopefully end in a longer lifespan.

[Bricktop]

Well my experience points me to the writers being able to read better than a ROM drive.
I have a LG ROM drive and a pioneer 105 writer and i wanted to back up my damaged copy of cliffhanger. The ROM drive really struggled whereas the writer battled through and only ignored a few sectors.
A standalone will give much better ripping speeds but writers are better for reading.
If all programs struggle on the same vob then the disc may be damaged....its happened to me a few times.
You may be able to use isobuster to extract the vob you are struggling with as that slows the read speed down and has a few tries at it before compaining.
Hope you are successful.

[SaSi]

I agree with Bricktop. My DVD burner is many times much more succesful in ripping DVDs, when they are damaged. As you say, your's are fine.

Well, burners are machines and sometimes they also brake.

Are you at all succesful in ripping a DVD ? Or are there only specific disks that fail? Have you tried these failing to rip disks on another machine? Just explore the possibility that the drive is failing.

[deguthrie]

Thanks for your tips and advice. I can rip DVD's usually without a problem. Today, I decrypted 4 DVD's without a problem, but had a lot of trouble on two DVD's. One of these Monty Python Holy Grail could not extract vts-01-02.vob and vts-01-03.vob. After going away and trying an hour later, those two VOB's did extract. Seems like if it was a bad disk, then I would never get the vob extracted. Then Robin Williams Live on Broadway is my latest disaster. vts-02-03.vob, vts-02-04.vob and vts-02-05.vob all have the "unknown positioning error" and I cannot get them extracted. I do not have another computer to try this on. I will try again fresh in the morning. I will also give isobuster a try, I have never used it but I'm sure there are guides on this site.

[deguthrie]

Well I spent the $30 and got isobuster but alas, it also would not extract the files. It tried harder and more times but no joy. I guess there is a problem with the DVD. I am going to try someone else's system and see if a different set of hardware performs any better.

[Denvers Dawgs]

try this
1. Dvd Decrypter
2. DVD2One
3. CopytoDvd

Have you tried Dvd Decrypter yet? Or how about Clone DVD

[deguthrie]

I installed a Toshiba DVD-ROM in place of my CD-RW and was able to use DVDdecrypter to extract the three remaining VOB files without any errors. I am assuming my DVD burner may be going bad, and am searching for a replacement. My problem was solved by trying a different piece of hardware for extraction.

[SaSi]

I installed a Toshiba DVD-ROM in place of my CD-RW and was able to use DVDdecrypter to extract the three remaining VOB files without any errors. I am assuming my DVD burner may be going bad, and am searching for a replacement. My problem was solved by trying a different piece of hardware for extraction.

Some scratched DVDs are hard to rip. DVDDecrypter starts the retries and doesn't proceed any further. After the retries are exhausted, it brings up an error.

I usually wait a couple of seconds and then hit retry. This retries once more. If this doesn't work, it's time for some cotton tubs and white toothpaste! to scrub the scratches. This usually fixes it.

Obviously, different ROM/Writers behave better or worse with scratched disks. Comparing my SONY DRU500A with my Pioneer 116, the sony is marginaly better in reading. Perhaps a newer DVDROm is even better in reading scratched disks.

[deguthrie]

Just one final update to this string. I have ripped 7 DVD's with the Toshiba DVD-ROM without a single read error since I installed it. I'm happy when things go the way I want them.

[rezisluh]

I also had the same problem with decrypter and smatripper. I had three movies that would not complete when ripping them . I tried several times on each with no luck. Finally I reinstalled xp after doing so I tried again . I had no problem with the first. I was sure I had resolved my problem. but when i tried the next on It failed at the same spot. In my frustation I took the disk and cleaned it very well. It had no scratches at all... in fact it didnt even look like it needed to be cleaned , but after doing so It work perfect and I have had no problems as long as I clean the DVD's before ripping.