Avi issue/dvd player

[nanrector]

Hello,

I sent a friend some avi files on a dvd disc. They play fine on her regular dvd player. However when she tries to make another copy of the copy I sent to her they copy fine, but will not play on the dvd player.

I know that the type of codec matters as to how the avi files are encoded but I’m not sure what could be causing this. Is another codec involved when she just copies my avi’s to her own dvd disc?

Thanks so much!
Nancy

[Ai Haibara]

That depends on how she's making a copy. Is she doing a straight copy (data disc to data disc), or is her burning program trying to re-encode the videos? It shouldn't - for any reason - change the codecs or such in an AVI.

[nanrector]

Thanks. I'll verify which program she is using. I'm fairly certain its a basic copy program. Which didnt make sense why they would not play. I have XP and she has Vista. Not sure if that makes a dif.

Nancy

[Ai Haibara]

Oops - I forgot to ask: what type of disc media is she using? Some DVD players might not like certain types of cheap media, or DVD-RW discs.

[jman98]

Don't hold your breath that you're ever going to figure this one out unless you are able to get physical access to the copy and possibly watch how she does it.
Possible causes are:

1) Failure to finalize the copy.
2) DVD player doesn't like the media (Ai Haibara said this).
3) Error of some kind in the copy process.

[nanrector]

Thanks for the info everyone. I know there could be a variety of causes. I've given her the info about what they might be including making sure that shes using the correct type of disc for her machine. At least she has some leads to follow now.

Thanks again for the input and ideas!
Nancy

[tomlee59]

Advise her to have the copy software perform a verification pass (this option might not be selected by default, because it takes extra time to do the verification). If it passes that, but the disc still will not play, then that's a useful clue of where not to look.

And if it fails the verification pass, look at media, burner, etc. issues. And make sure that she knows not to touch the laser-facing side (non label side) of the disc. Ever. If she is a bit careless about this, that can wreak havoc. Burning is much, much more sensitive to dust, fingerprints and scratches than reading. Some folks get a bit casual about handling because they see that their CDs still play even if they aren't too careful. But burning is a whole 'nother thing altogether.

[nanrector]

She also downloads some movies and tv shows from the web. So its also possible that they have the incorrect codec for her dvd player. I also told her that. But I'll tell her about fingerprints and verification too. Ive seen that myself and never used it.

Thanks Tomlee59!