Playing DVDs

[mpoulin]

Before I start, I just want to say that GBPVR is awesome! Keep up the great work!

Now to my problems...
I've scoured the forums and found several posts about DVD playback, none of which totally describe the general weirdness happening when I try to play DVDs on my GBPVR box. This wouldn't be a big issue for me but my main DVD player died recently, and rather than replace it (or worse, pay to repair it!) I would like to use my PVR as an all-in-one box.

So, here are some of the issues that I've seen so far:

#1: DVD menus that don't appear.
Most of the time, I insert a DVD, watch the FBI warnings etc., and then I get a nice black screen. I can hear the music for the menu playing, but no menu actually appears. If it's a disc that I'm familiar with, I can press the navigation buttons and start playing the movie, but it's very difficult if not impossible to navigate a disc I've never played before.

#2: DVD menus appear, but the navigation icons don't.
I actually got a menu once, on one disc, but couldn't see the navigation icons (i.e. nothing would light up when I hit the various buttons on the remote). By guessing, I was able to figure out how to select the right menu item, but still, I shouldn't have to guess, should I?

#3: Aspect ratio is screwy (1:2 or something?)
I can't confirm this happens on all discs, and I'd have to confirm the actual aspect ratio of the disc where I noticed it, but should this not be auto-detected?

#4: Disc navigation
I know there's another thread about this, but I would like to see the buttons behave as expected when watching a DVD, to avoid confusing houseguests etc. FWIW, some of the navigation workarounds (blue button / esc to return to disc menu) don't work for me at all.

What else can I do to help resolve these issues? Unfortunately I don't have easy access to my log files right now, but I can try duplicating the problems above and attach them later.

My setup:
Hauppage WinPVR 250 with 34-button remote
NVidia GeForce 4 with s-video out
GBPVR version 0.98.13
Intervideo "XPack" DVD decoders
I have tried both the "Intervideo navigation" and the generic "DVD navigation" options in the config. No difference.

Any help is much appreciated!

[sub]

#1: DVD menus that don't appear.
Most of the time, I insert a DVD, watch the FBI warnings etc., and then I get a nice black screen. I can hear the music for the menu playing, but no menu actually appears. If it's a disc that I'm familiar with, I can press the navigation buttons and start playing the movie, but it's very difficult if not impossible to navigate a disc I've never played before.

Can you try playing a DVD then zip and attach the gbpvr.exe-native.log?

Generally I recommend sticking with either the Microsoft 'DVD Navigator' or the Cyberlink Navigator. I've not had much luck with the Intervideo one.

#2: DVD menus appear, but the navigation icons don't.
I actually got a menu once, on one disc, but couldn't see the navigation icons (i.e. nothing would light up when I hit the various buttons on the remote). By guessing, I was able to figure out how to select the right menu item, but still, I shouldn't have to guess, should I?

You should just be able to press the left/right/up/down/enter keys to navigate.

I seem to remember there was something screwy about the Intervideo navigator which could cause the highlighting to be a no show.

#4: Disc navigation
I know there's another thread about this, but I would like to see the buttons behave as expected when watching a DVD, to avoid confusing houseguests etc. FWIW, some of the navigation workarounds (blue button / esc to return to disc menu) don't work for me at all

There is only so many buttons on the remote, and I was trying to be consistant through out the app, so didnt want buttons to behave differently in the DVD player. That said, if you set <DVDAllowVideoInset>false</DVDAllowVideoInset> in config.xml, then the home/menu key will take you to the DVD menu.

[mpoulin]

Ok - the log file is attached.

Just so you know what I was seeing during this session: I selected "DVD" from the menu, saw the FBI-type warning, then a splash screen for the disc's distributor, then a black screen with the background music for the menu.

I tried to navigate through and find the main film, but wasn't successful the first time, so I cancelled out (hit the "back" button) and did it over again.

The 2nd try got the movie playing but in that wierd fullscreen aspect ratio where everyone is tall and skinny.

[mpoulin]

BTW - forgot to mention that this was all done using the default "DVD Navigator"

[sub]

Do you have any other non Intervideo decoders you can try?

[mpoulin]

Sorry, I don't (aside from the NonCSS decoder). I suppose I can shell out for another one - they aren't too expensive.

I don't suppose there's an open source deCSS decoder for Windows that works? Otherwise, which one would you recommend?

[Mysteryman]

I haven't tried this myself, but I'm guessing the trial version of Powerdvd (Cyberlink) would work well enough for the test. Its a free download of the trial so it won't cost anything to try it.

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/products/main_1_ENU.html

[mpoulin]

All right, I'm getting somewhere. Thanks Sub & Mysteryman... so far I can say that #1 and #2 are no longer an issue. I found an old CD for Cyberlink PowerDVD XP, and after installing it I can now see & browse menus. And I'm happy enough knowing there's a workaround where I can get back to the main menu that I'll say #4 is solved.

However, #3 (the aspect ratio) is still screwy, and another problem has crept up (although honestly I can't say whether it was always there):

#5: ffwd, rew, skip forward, skip back buttons do not work
When I press the buttons, I get the onscreen display showing my position in the video, but it doesn't skip or fast forward or anything.

My latest log is attached.

Again, thanks for all your help so far!

[sub]

#5: ffwd, rew, skip forward, skip back buttons do not work
When I press the buttons, I get the onscreen display showing my position in the video, but it doesn't skip or fast forward or anything.

By default the Cyberlink decoders arnt compatible with VMR, which causes can cause loss of OSD or no response to key/remote presses. If you try switching the renderer to OSD, does it work? Alternatively there is a Cyberlink EnableVMR9=1 setting that can be added to let it work correctly with VMR9.

[mpoulin]

Ech. I tried the overlay manager, it didn't fix the ffwd / rewind problem nor the aspect ratio problem, and it also played all my other widescreen videos in the wrong aspect ratio. Unfortunately I didn't find any registry key for "EnableVMR9" (assuming that's where it's supposed to be).

How about this: which decoder and which version have you specifically tested that works properly?