Question for experienced ISOBuster user

[jman98]

My step-mother's brother sent her a DVD of him appearing on some TV show in the UK. Now my step-mom and my dad live in the USA. I'm well aware of PAL-NTSC issues on DVD and my dad does have a converting DVD player that can convert PAL DVD to NTSC output. My dad told me that the DVD wouldn't play on his DVD player or PC, so I had him mail it to me. I took a look and it's not finalized. There seems to only be about 35 MB, yes 35 MB, of data on it. I downloaded a trail copy of ISOBuster and it pulled some files off of track 1 and track 2 in ISO format, but I tried playing them with VLC and they don't show anything. 35 MB seems awfully small to me for DVD, so I used ISOBuster to then extract the 35 MB stuff into MPG format and that won't play either. The other track is less than 1 MB in size, but I don't remember the exact value. ISOBuster states that it can't recover anything else. At no point does it suggest that I buy the commercial one. So my question is - do you think it's fair to assume that this DVD was just completely botched by whoever made it and there's not really anything else I can do but ask the sender to make it correctly?

[MOVIEGEEK]

It's possible that it's a botched DVD, what files show up in ISOBuster?
If they are .VRO files then it was recorded on a DVD recorder, you might have to change the extension to .MPG.

[jman98]

Actually, that's my problem. What I am seeing in ISOBuster is really quite unhelpful. I can't really tell what it found except it calls them track 1 and track 2 and that's all I can get out of it. I don't see any VRO files. And at approx. 35 MB being about all it can recover, it seems to me that this DVD was just horribly botched however it was made.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Are you using XP?
If so install UDF Reader and extract via Explorer, DVD-VR uses UDF 2.0 so that might be the problem. The free version of ISOBuster can't extract UDF 2.0.

[usually_quiet]

The trial version of ISOBuster will not allow you to extract VRO or VOB files as such. I extract the track data as a .tao file, demultiplex to remove any unwanted elements in the file, then edit and remultiplex. VOBEdit works for demultiplexing. I had no trouble doing this using Windows XP.

[Edit] I have been able to recover files recorded in video mode and VR mode. If all the tracks are that small, something is wrong with the recording.

[usually_quiet]

On second thought, I'm not sure you are looking at the right information. I didn't have ISOBuster installed on my Windows 7 system. I just installed it then decided to look at a DVD-RAM disc recording since it is in VR mode. (My recorder uses Video Mode for DVD-R and DVD-RW)

The VIDEO folder only looks like 32 KB, but the actual Track data (my recorder never produces more than 1 track) itself was over 4 GB when I looked at it.

Click on "Session 1" (or whatever sessions are shown) to see what is really there.

To extract, open the Options menu, select "Image Files", and uncheck both "Default to ISO file extension instead of *.TAO", and "Default to ISO extension instead of *.BIN". Close the dialog window. Right-click on Track 01 (or whatever) in either pane of the main program window, then click on "Extract Track 01" (or whatever track number you are interested in). I think you can figure out what to do from there when combined with my previous post.

[lordsmurf]

This is why I suggest buying ISO Buster Pro for $25 (or whatever it is now).
It's worth it.

[jman98]

Thanks to all for the replies. I am running XP and I do have UDF Reader installed.

usually_quiet - I'll give your suggestions a shot.

lordsmurf - I don't mind buying but I need to be convinced that it really can extract the data AND that there is anything to extract. If I buy it and I recover nothing, I may never use it again so I'm out $30 (I think it costs $29.95 now).

[jman98]

I tried what usually_quite suggested. It can't find anything under the "Find missing files" option. I saved track 1 as a tao file and I used VOBEdit on it and I tried to demux, but the m2v file it produced was 0 bytes long. I am guessing that this means that the disc is simply botched and mostly empty, but I am no expert here so I welcome any corrections or suggestions.

[usually_quiet]

It doesn't sound to me like it had any video data in that track. How many tracks are there? Some recorders add more than one track per disc. Also, "Find missing files" won't be useful for recovering unfinalized video using the free version.

[Edit] The size of the track(s) shown in the right-hand pane when you click on a Session (in the left-hand pane) are a good clue as to whether there is video data to recover in that track. Video mode recordings from my DVD recorder just show the track data info in the right pane of the main program window and no folders in the left pane.

DVD-RAM discs from my DVD recorder show 2 folders for VRO recordings, MEI_UDF and VIDEO, in the left pane when the track is expanded. Look at MEI_UDF if it exists. That's where the VRO file is located, but the free version of ISOBuster won't allow you to extract those.

[jman98]

Here's a screen capture of what it looks like. Since I'm not seeing any VRO, MEI_UDF, VIDEO_TS, VIDEO, etc. directories, I'm guessing that this is just a horribly horribly botched DVD+R and there's nothing really to recover at all.

[usually_quiet]

That screenshot looks odd compared to what I am used to seeing on DVD RAM. The screenshot in this thread https://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/unplayable-dvd-because-it-wasn-t-finalized-prop...y-t373314.html is from a DVD recorder that uses DVD+R.

Is there a possibility it was produced by a computer and not from a DVD recorder?

[Edit] What do you see if you click on "UDF Lost and found" or "Files found via their signature"?

[jman98]

Yes, there is a possibility it was produced by a computer. Apparently my step-mother's brother hired someone to do this for him. Great work, huh? My dad and step-mother have no idea what was done to produce it. I'm not sure her brother even knows and he paid for it.

There is absolutely nothing in the "UDF Lost and found" and "Files found via their signature" sections. It says "No files or folders could be found by this method" in both.

[usually_quiet]

So, apparently ISOBuster didn't find anything useful in either track. I hope your relatives didn't pay much to get the disc made, considering that it not just unfinalized (and unplayable at best), but contains no recoverable video to boot.

[16mmJunkie]

I had someone who had a issue with a DVD disc that wasn't finalized and wouldn't play on anything but showed 2.35 GB . ISO buster wouldn't see it either. The file wouldn't play on any player. I just happened to have a copy of Nero 6(that's the last time I used Nero) and took a chance and it played the file. Ended up being a nero file ext. You may take the chance if you have a copy of Nero. Then you can go from there. I hope this helps, I'm just trying to think of something helpful.



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