Old DVD IFO Files Not Working Properly

[trdvd]

Hey everyone,
I have an old DVD with IFO/VOB files that’s not working right. The DVD menu has options for disc 1 and disc 2. disc 1 plays fine, but disc 2 doesn’t work. The VIDEO_TS folder has 5 VOBs: VTS_01_1.VOB to VTS_01_5.VOB. I can get disc 2 to play if I copy-paste all the VOBs and rename them to VTS_02_1.VOB to VTS_02_5.VOB.
The DVD switches from disc 1 to 2 in the middle of VTS_01_3.VOB. I tried to open PgcEdit and it look like there are 2 VTSMs is there a way to move the tiles from VTSM 2 to 1 and delete it or something like that to fix the IFO files and keep the menu and the original video files?
Thanks in advance!

[r0lZ]

Sorry, I don't understand. A DVD cannot switch from disc 1 to disc 2. By definition, a DVD is one disc, not two.

Also, you wrote that the solution is to copy and rename the VOBs. So, why do you need another solution?

[trdvd]

Sorry, I don't understand. A DVD cannot switch from disc 1 to disc 2. By definition, a DVD is one disc, not two.

Also, you wrote that the solution is to copy and rename the VOBs. So, why do you need another solution?

Thanks for the reply, and sorry if I wasn’t clear earlier. I don’t have physical discs, just DVD files on my PC. The structure includes two VTS sets: VTS_01_0.IFO and VTS_02_0.IFO, and everything needed to play is in there. The DVD plays correctly overall, but the second title doesn’t work through the menu unless I copy and rename the VOBs, which seems redundant.

I know that shortcut might works, but I was just wondering if there’s a proper way, maybe using PgcEdit, to move the titles from VTS_02 into VTS_01, or fix the IFO files so the menu works correctly without needing to duplicate the video files. I’m mostly trying to save space and keep the original menu functionality.

Thanks again!

[Alwyn]

The structure includes two VTS sets: VTS_01_0.IFO and VTS_02_0.IFO, and everything needed to play is in there. The DVD plays correctly overall, but the second title doesn’t work through the menu

Try right-clicking on the VIDEO_TS folder, then choosing "Play in VLC Media Player". The menus should work properly then. If they don't, then there's a problem with the whole DVD.

[trdvd]

The structure includes two VTS sets: VTS_01_0.IFO and VTS_02_0.IFO, and everything needed to play is in there. The DVD plays correctly overall, but the second title doesn’t work through the menu

Try right-clicking on the VIDEO_TS folder, then choosing "Play in VLC Media Player". The menus should work properly then. If they don't, then there's a problem with the whole DVD.

Thanks for the response. That’s actually what I’ve been doing, playing it in VLC by opening the VIDEO_TS folder. As I mentioned before, only part 1 works unless I duplicate the VOB files.
Since everything plays correctly when the VOBs are duplicated and renamed, it seems like all the cells and data are fine, they're just in the wrong VTS. I was really hoping there’s an easy way to move the entire title from VTS_02 into VTS_01 as is.

[Alwyn]

playing it in VLC by opening the VIDEO_TS folder

Were you right-clicking on the folder itself (ie not "opening" it) and choosing "Play with VLC Media Player"?

What happens if you open the folder and right-click on the VIDEO_TS.IFO file and choose the same (Play with VLC Media Player).

You should get the DVD Main menu, and from there, you should be able to select and play movie No 2. If you can't, it sounds like the disk structure is corrupted.

[r0lZ]

Obviously, if there is a VTS_02_0.IFO but not at least VTS_02_1.VOB, then the DVD structure is corrupted.

Just another question. When you explain that moving the VOBs to titleset 2,everything works well, can you confirm that the menu doesn't lead to identical parts of the movie? In other words, does it plays what it must play, and not a random part of the movie? If it's the case, then indeed it should be possible to fix the issue with PgcEdit. It's a bit complex and I have to check PgcEdit to remember what to do exactly, but if your answer to the question above is positive, I'll try to help (when I'll have a few time).

[trdvd]

playing it in VLC by opening the VIDEO_TS folder

Were you right-clicking on the folder itself (ie not "opening" it) and choosing "Play with VLC Media Player"?

What happens if you open the folder and right-click on the VIDEO_TS.IFO file and choose the same (Play with VLC Media Player).

You should get the DVD Main menu, and from there, you should be able to select and play movie No 2. If you can't, it sounds like the disk structure is corrupted.

When I right-click on the folder itself and choose "Play with VLC Media Player," it behaves exactly as I described earlier, only part 1 works unless I duplicate and rename the VOB files.
So it seems like the menu is trying to access something that’s there, but in the wrong place in the structure.

[trdvd]

Obviously, if there is a VTS_02_0.IFO but not at least VTS_02_1.VOB, then the DVD structure is corrupted.

Just another question. When you explain that moving the VOBs to titleset 2,everything works well, can you confirm that the menu doesn't lead to identical parts of the movie? In other words, does it plays what it must play, and not a random part of the movie? If it's the case, then indeed it should be possible to fix the issue with PgcEdit. It's a bit complex and I have to check to remember what to do exactly, but if your answer to the question above is positive, I'll try to help (when I'll have a few time).

Thanks for the reply!
Yes, exactly, it plays the correct part of the movie, not a random section. I can share a screenshot of the structure in PgcEdit if that helps.
I checked under Menu → Show/Edit Menu Buttons or BOVs, and from there I saw that part 1 links to title 2 and part 2 links to title 3. As shown in the picture, title 3 is currently in VTSM 2, but it seems like it should be in VTSM 1.
I tried copying or moving it using PgcEdit, but nothing I’ve tried has worked so far.

[Attachment 86857 - Click to enlarge]

[r0lZ]

OK, maybe there is a simple way to fix the problem, but honestly, I'm not sure it will work. Try it anyway.

Copy the VTS_01_*.VOB to VTS_02_*.VOB, as you did previously. Verify that everything works as expected.
Then, use FixVTS to process the whole DVD. It should remove the useless parts in VTS 1 and 2, so that you will end up with two titlesets with VOBs but using the same disc space as the original DVD.
Check again, and try with several DVD players. VLC is powerful, but very bad to check if a DVD is legit, as it is much more tolerant than most hardware players.

If that works, you will be lucky, but I think it's the easiest solution. Fixing the IFOs manually will be much more difficult.

[trdvd]

OK, maybe there is a simple way to fix the problem, but honestly, I'm not sure it will work. Try it anyway.

Copy the VTS_01_*.VOB to VTS_02_*.VOB, as you did previously. Verify that everything works as expected.
Then, use FixVTS to process the whole DVD. It should remove the useless parts in VTS 1 and 2, so that you will end up with two titlesets with VOBs but using the same disc space as the original DVD.
Check again, and try with several DVD players. VLC is powerful, but very bad to check if a DVD is legit, as it is much more tolerant than most hardware players.

If that works, you will be lucky, but I think it's the easiest solution. Fixing the IFOs manually will be much more difficult.

It worked! The total size is the same and there are no duplicates, but it did split the original VTS_01_3.VOB (which was 0.99 GB) into two files:
1. VTS_01_3.VOB – 234 MB
2. VTS_02_1.VOB – 788 MB

Thank you so much for the suggestion!
Do you think it would be impossible to fix the IFOs? I know this solution works, but:

• I’m curious about how it could be done
• I know it’s probably unnecessary, but I wanted to keep the original video files unchanged, just to preserve the structure exactly as it was 😅

Totally understand if it's not worth the trouble. I really appreciate your time and the solution you provided. Thanks again!

[r0lZ]

it did split the original VTS_01_3.VOB (which was 0.99 GB) into two files

That's normal. That means that Title 3 begins somewhere in the middle of the original VTS_01_3.VOB.

Do you think it would be impossible to fix the IFOs?

No, it's not totally impossible. But it would be necessary to use IfoEdit, and it's not my program. I don't know it much.

Totally understand if it's not worth the trouble.

Exactly.
And I don't have much time to explain how to do such a complex work.

I wanted to keep the original video files unchanged, just to preserve the structure exactly as it was

The structure of the IFOs is preserved but not the VOBs. Modifying the IFOs would end up with exactly the opposite. The DVD has to be modified anyway.

[cholla]

@ r0lZ,
A bit off topic but are you the main author of PGCEdit?
Several years ago a member on another forum said he was one of the team that helped with PGCEdit.
Maybe you remember him User name Wombler Real name Stephen from Northern Ireland.
He helped my put a DVD split with DVDFab back together into dvd 9 with the original menu working.
It took some other software but PGCEdit was the one that got this menu working.
However it was specific to the DVD I was working with, Not a "one size fits all" solution.
Some of the information could be used as an example but it would not be the exact way to do this for another DVD.

[r0lZ]

Yes, I'm the author of PgcEdit. But many peoples helped me in the past, and some parts were not written by me, like the preview, and FixVTS, written by Jeanl, necessary to clean the VOBs after modifications done with PgcEdit.

Also, a real team has evolved around PgcEdit to help the users. It was a great moment, as indeed, PgcEdit is not easy to use without knowing how a DVD works, and particularly the "language" used to program it.

I remember Wombler. He was one of those useful peoples. (I guess the "other forum" was doom9. Right?) And indeed, joining a split DVD back to DVD9 is not really easy. Importing the second DVD to the first is easy but restoring the navigation so that everything (and especially the menus) work as expected can be very difficult. Usually, I prefer to delete all VM commands and re-create them from scratch. It's often much easier, as many DVDs are extremely complex because they are generated automatically with badly written authoring programs !

[cholla]

I guess the "other forum" was doom9.
Usually, I prefer to delete all VM commands and re-create them from scratch.

The other forum was the now defunct cdfreaks.
Or the other renamed forum club.myce I always hated that name.
I believe the rename was one reason that forum failed.