External HD playing VIDEO_TS folder

[dokkendude]

I bought a WD 500gb external for extra storage (connected usb 2.0)
and when I rip a dvd (dvd decrypter in file mode)
to that drive and put the contents
into a VIDEO_TS folder so that InterVideo WinDVD 7 will play it
(I didn't write the prog, that's just how it is)

I get this message



then the drive is empty till I shut it off and turn it back on

I can burn a dvd from that drive, just don't understand
why it won't let me play a dvd from that drive
drive is NTFS
WinXP Home SP2

[Krispy Kritter]

Sorry...I can't read the message. Are you closing DVD Decrypter before trying to play the files?

If you are just leaving the files as is, you could just rip the disc as an image (iso) instead of a video_ts folder. Then just mount the image using daemon tools or Alcohol 120% (or something similar) and play using any dvd playback software.

[dokkendude]

dvd decrypter is just usd to rip the files to the hard drive
WinDVD is being used to play the file

[IKnowNothing]

If I'm reading your message correctly it's saying that the device to which you wrote data has disappeared between it being written to cache and the cache trying to commit the data to the device.

In other words the USB interface on the drive is hanging or getting out of sync.

Try it in a different USB port (one direct into the computer not a hub) and see if that works. Also try copying a large amount of data from your internal hard drive to your external one. If that fails the I'd suspect a duff drive. Don't forget to make sure all the cables are fully home as well

[redwudz]

I used to get that all the time with USB drives. It's lost contact with the drive and the data stream was interrupted. It can be caused by the hard drive controller in the external box or a running program in your computer or even Windows trying to use the USB port at the same time. If it does this often when writing to the drive, it will eventually corrupt the data on the drive.

I would remove all USB devices except the drive and try it again. Also try a different USB port and check to see if you have any programs running in the background, like antivirus programs that may be trying to access the drive. You have probably noticed that turning off the drive or unplugging it will get it working again.

Other causes, VIA chipsets on the motherboard can be problematic, incompatible chipsets in the external box, bad USB cables and probably a dozen other things. Do a Google search for 'Delayed write failed' and you may find something specific to your system.

What I do is make sure all external drives I use on my laptop have both a FireWire and USB 2.0 interface. If one doesn't work, the other usually will. For my newer external drives connected to my desktop computers , I use a SATA interface and the drives perform just like another internal drive. This is definitely the best solution.

And welcome to our forums.

[oldandinthe way]

It helps when using removable media such as USB drives to disable NTFS caching on that drive. Writes are slower but when you have completed your rip the data is actually written. You are probably trying to read data that is not actually on the disk yet and due to the large size of the files XP is unahppy.

[jg0001]

I've done a lot of playing with external USB drives/snap-ons/cases....

There are (at least) three possible things going on here:
(1) try turning on the PC first, then the external HD, THEN plugging the USB cable into the PC (and definitely into the PC, try to avoid hubs for this usage)

(2) use a SHORTER USB cable -- 2 to 4 feet max. I've found that longer cables can lead to just the type of problem you may be having.

(3) it could just be a fluke... try again. Usually WinXP turns off delayed writing to external drives on purpose... you may need to see if you can configure the drive (via device manager) to specifically not try to do 'write caching/ write behind'.

[jg0001]

Oh... ALSO, turn off INDEXING on that drive ! (right click, properties, etc.)