DVP 642: Can't read all files or play whole movie.

[latichever]

I did a search and found similar but not exact matches for the problems I'm having.

Sometimes I can't play whole movie or load all fiiles with 642.

I'm new to burning, etc. I'm mostly using a hauppauge pvr to record tv in mpeg-2 files. I have a dvp642. I was using sony dvr-r at first. I burned some 3 gb mpegs to Sony dvd-r using lacie usb double layer burner and easy media creator 7, drag to disc. They seemed to play in 642, but then I noticed--I don't undertand this and I'd appreciate it if someone would enlighten me--the single mpeg file appears a series of files in the menu, and not all files would appear--although it's only one file in Windows. I couldn't play the whole movie or get through all the files on 642 although I could on burner or dvd rom. I called Philips and they said they don't support dvd-r and I should try dvd+r. Dubious, I said why not and I tried a couple of Maxell dvd+r and they seemed to work better. (It seems to take longer to burn +r than -r, at least with my equipment.) Then I noticed that sometimes again not all the files would load, i.e., appear in menu. But I tried loading again and I noticed sometimes when you load dvd all files appear and you can play to the end and sometimes not. Anyone else have these kinds of experiences? Any problems with a single large mpeg on one dvd? Is there a possible issue with my burning software? It has some options regarding udf versions at finalization that I could play with. Is this relevant to how the 642 plays files?

I know I should try a variety of dvd brands, etc. but that's my story so far.

I'd really like this to work because basically I want to record and then burn tv shows and movies and who wants to spend hours encoding movie DVDs when this can (or should) play raw mpeg fiiles. (I know about networking movies, etc, but I can't take my network on vacation.)

Thanks for any thoughts.

[latichever]

Or to simplify the matter: any recommendations regarding software, settings, media brand, etc. for burning and playing raw mpeg-2 files on the 642?

I guess my aim is to avoid reencoding or converting to other format. Just burn plug and play.

Thanks.

lhauppauge usb pvr 941
lacie double layer usb burner 300776u

currently using roxio easy media creater 7 for burning.

[jman98]

First of all, Easy Media Creator is no doubt by those same guys who make Easy CD Creator. I think their programs are pretty much garbage. I would recommend using anything else. Nero is good.

Playing raw MPEGs is a nice capability, but it's not really guaranteed on the player. It does it basically because of DivX support. Your experience sounds really odd to me that Windows shows one file and the player shows multiple files. God only knows what kind of crap Easy Media Creator is doing to your files. Try using Nero. You can get a free demo copy for 30 days at http://www.ahead.de and see if you get better results with that. Burn your files to DVD as DVD-ISO files. What Philips said about DVD-R is nonsense. The player will support DVD-R discs fine, but it may work better with DVD+R. All media is not the same. I tend to stick with Verbatim and Fuji DVD discs. Memorex discs are so bad I wouldn't use them if you gave them to me for free.

With Hauppage cards there is no reason to re-encode video for DVD if you use the right capture settings. I can understand you wanting to save time, but your reference to spending "hours encoding movie DVDs" makes me think that you are doing something weird with your card, like capturing at resolutions DVD doesn't like or using MPEG-1 video. MPEG-1 video is valid for DVD, but there are tons of restrictions on it (bit rates can't be above 1700 for starters) and most authoring programs incorrectly reject MPEG-1 video when you try to make DVDs out of them. I record with my Hauppage DVD-350 all the time and NEVER have I had to re-encode something to burn it to DVD. Yes, I spend time setting up chapters and generating the DVD files to be burned and that's not as quick as burning raw MPEGs to disc, but I don't spend hours on each DVD I make either.

[latichever]

Thanks for your response.

I don't think I was doing anything weird. I was creating movie dvds, i.e., encoding them into vob files etc. That encoding process does take quite a while.

Are you saying you edit mpeg fiels into chapters and scence but still burn them as mpegs?

The reason I was attracted to the 642 is because it can play raw mpeg files. I'm using normal hauppauge capture rates.

When I use easy media creator to copy an mpeg to a dvd it does show one file in windows but the 642 lists it as a series of smaller files. I have some other options for burning including a Nero download so I'll experiment.