[Batman]

Well, maybe not, but I actually opened up my computer and installed a component! (Specifically, a CD/DVD burner.)

I'm sure I was super-amusing to the computer store guy who had to walk me through getting the side-panel off.

[williamssl]

Did he tell you to tack a hacksaw to it?

And did you successfully weld it back on?

[The Canadian Content]

I recently took mine into Best Buy to get a memory upgrade and a DVD burner installed. I don't trust myself to figure that kind of stuff out.

[Batman]

williamssl said:

Did he tell you to tack a hacksaw to it?

And did you successfully weld it back on?

I'm sure he was tempted.

"What do you mean? It's riveted on!
:
:
Oh.
:
:
I see the part that isn't riveted on . . . never mind."

[salmonjunkie]

I just installed RAM in my PowerBook G4. These macs are the easiest things to add RAM to.


Which reminds me:

[Batman]

I am not teh haxor . . .

I can't figure out how to make the damn thing work. I've tried like 10 kinds of freeware, and everything either didn't work, or had some kind of major problem like an annoying watermark. Should I break down and pay for something? If so, what? Nero? Or is there a good free avi to dvd converter and burner?

Help me BFG, you are my only hope!

[BFG]

Buy a Mac...iMovie and iDVD are the shit.

But if you do have an machine...

So...are you looking to convert them to mpeg and then burn them to a data disc?

Or...do you want to make DVD menus?

As far as converting to mpeg, all of the legally free software I've used sucks ass with the exception of the VLC player. Oh that's right, the VLC player can transcode files to a different format. It just takes a long time. As in the lenght of the pr0n clip you want to burn to DVD. There are better options...but nothing I would recommend by name without providing a hack. And that would mean turning on my desktop. And that's too much effort.

If you want to make pretty DVD menus, I've always had good luck with DVDStyler. You can download that @ www.dvdstyler.de/index.html

Although you may have to convert the files first before you import them into DVD styler.

EDIT: If you have windows Vista Home Pro, it has a great DVD maker application as well. Really good with menus, and if you instll th DivX or VVid codes, it can convert your pr0n for you!

[Batman]

Thanks for the recommendation.

The last thing that I tried was the K-Lite Video conversion pack, which uses three little programs for each of the steps: Avidemux for converting, DVD Styler for formatting, and ImgBurn for burning.

I never got around to trying DVD Styler, 'cause I couldn't figure out Avidemux. If DVD Styler's a good program, though, I'm going to guess the other two are as well, and put a little more effort into figuring out Avidemux. (I hate programs that aren't intuitive.)

Someday, I will join t3h l33t!

[BFG]

The problem with a lot of the programs that convert video, is that they are SLLLLOOOOOOWWWW.

And you do need to know a little bit about the files and what settings you want for the new file. Even in VLC (which you should have installed to begin with due to it's ruling all) you need to know a liitle bit.

From the sounds of things, the best programs are the ones designed to format files for an iPod.

[Lucky]

Wait, VLC converts video? Does it convert into MP4? Because if a 1:1 speed is its rate that's about 100 times better that the 1:4 speed iSquint is working on me. Of course I also have an OOOOOOOOOOLD computer so I just need to sack up and buy a new one. That speed thing may be all my fault.

[Lucky]

Never mind, Goalie. I actually bothered to look. Look at that. "Transcode." And MP4. Cool. Gonna have to give this a try. Thanks, man.

You can record streams on VLC too? I can't say I've ever tried to watch a stream in VLC but that might be interesting.

[Batman]

Oh, fuck it!

I finally succesfully burned a show to DVD, and the sound is utter crap. I'm sure I just did something wrong, but this just isn't worth the effort. I'm just going to set them up with a second monitor in the living room, so they can watch their shows that are on AVI. I'm sure someone we know has a monitor they aren't using from a computer that crapped out, or they upgraded.


Which leads to a couple of questions: Has anybody here run a second monitor on their computer? Any words of wisdom?

If I'm just planning to use the DVD burner to make data DVD's what's the best freeware for that?

[BFG]

luckylopez said:

Wait, VLC converts video?

I know my g33k crush on VLC is big, but why would I fool around about stuff like that?

And honestly Sergei (can I call you Sergei?) if you look at your PC, you might have the option of running an s-video cable from the PC to the TV as a 2nd display. That's what I do since my TV only has one HDMI port and no DVI or VGA. Duo displays work OK in windows...the big thing is making sure you have installed actual drivers for the video card and are not using generic drivers from Microsoft.

OR...

Go to wal-mart...look for a 60 dollar Philips DVD player. The thing should have DivX support. Use CD Burner Pro from www.cdburnerxp.se to bur DATA DVDs and watch them on your TV using your new DivX certified DVD player.

Also, check out this post on the bOOards:

www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=14267

It might be of use to you!

[Batman]

bigfatgoalie said:

And honestly Sergei (can I call you Sergei?)

I'm pretty sure that would be just about the nicest thing anybody's called me around here. "Sir Gay" is a much more popular option.

if you look at your PC, you might have the option of running an s-video cable from the PC to the TV as a 2nd display.

Why didn't I think of that? It's seems so easy to forget that a TV and a monitor are practically the same thing. Hell, I'm old enough to remember having a computer where the TV was your monitor. (A TI99, I believe it was.)

[snip]
OR...

Go to wal-mart...look for a 60 dollar Philips DVD player. The thing should have DivX support. Use CD Burner Pro from www.cdburnerxp.se to bur DATA DVDs and watch them on your TV using your new DivX certified DVD player.

My first thought was that it's good to know that that's an option when we can afford a new DVD player sometime. But that sure would be a lot easier than figuring out the ins and outs of a second monitor. I think maybe we'll have to make room in the budget for it on payday.

Thanks again for the tips. 3X4L+!!!!!1!

[Batman]

Now I'm getting compatibility errors with both cdburnerxp and with burn4free. The help link that burn4free gave with the error says that most burners should be compatible and that it might be a problem with my ASPI (whatever that is) and suggested I upgrade my ASPI to "Force ASPI." I tried that and there was no change. Their other recommendation if that didn't work is that maybe I needed to update my firmware. I'm scared to do that though, since if it doesn't help, it will void my warrantee.

I have an Optiarc AD-7170A. Any recommendations?

[BFG]

Wait....a firmware update from the maker of your DVD burner will void your warranty? What the fuck?

To be honest, I had no ideal that Optiarc was a company, let alone somebody who made a drive. It could be driver issues, or you may just need to run a Microsoft update.

More on ASPI:

"The acronym ASPI stands for Advanced SCSI Programming Interface. ASPI layer, drivers, interface & file system are synonymous. System software and applications use ASPI not only to interface with SCSI devices but with IDE/ATAPI devices when ripping & burning CDs. The ASPI protocol is primarily based on one file, wnaspi32.dll. There are other files that support wnaspi32.dll, referred to as the ASPI layer. The Windows 95/98/Me install includes wnaspi32.dll & the ASPI layer. The 2K/ installs do not include neither wnaspi32.dll nor the ASPI layer and instead use the ‘SCSI Pass Through” interface."

The other thing that could muck up things is if you hve multile burner applications installed at once.

[Batman]

bigfatgoalie said:

Wait....a firmware update from the maker of your DVD burner will void your warranty? What the fuck?

Oh, no, I meant the hacked firmware upgrades that are floating around out there. But yeah, maybe I just need an official update.

Optiarc is new. It's a merger of Sony and NEC's optical drive depts.

The other thing that could muck up things is if you have multiple burner applications installed at once.

That could very well be the problem. I thought I took everything off before I installed CDBurnerXP, but I could very well have missed something with all of the burners I've tried lately.

[Batman]

Finally, I got the damn thing working. I upgraded the firmware and that didn't do shit. Then I tried ImgBurner and that's working great. A little confusing at first, because it doesn't support burning a lot of types of files, but once you figure out that you have to translate to .iso first, then it works fine.

I think it's just that ImgBurner is so persistent. I look at the log and I see a ton of similar error messages, followed by "retry, 1 of 20." It hasn't had to retry anything more than twice. Whereas when burn4free or CDBurner ran into a problem they would just give up.

I'll be happy to finally get all of those damn cartoons off my harddrive.

[salmonjunkie]

sergeial said:

I'll be happy to finally get all of that damn hentai off my harddrive.

Fixed for accuracy

[Batman]

Not only is my DVD drive a bitch, it's also a tease. It worked once, and then never again.

In the disk burning messageboards whenever anyone posts that they are getting an I/O error, people immediately say it's probably their brand of disk and that TDK and Memorex are crap and you need to use Verbatim disks instead.

Is that true? I never had a problem with these disks in my DVR (until it crapped out.) Does getting the l33t brand of DVDR disk really clear up this kind of problem?

[Batman]

Anybody? Douchebags?

[BFG]

I've ever had any issues with any one brand...but hve got a bad batch of DVDs. Found out about 55 disc in to the bundle, and after 10 bad discs the rest were good.

Is it worth a shot? Yes.

Will it resolve things? Not likely.

[Lucky]

Yeah, I think that's the thing. The cheap brands mean a higher chance for bad batches and duds.

[Byrntrigan]

Also Serg -

when was the last time you rebuilt your machine? If it's been longer then about 1 year then it is time to save your shit, and rebuild it.

, and hell, most OS's (past hardcore server OS's(operating systems)) aren't made to run past about 6 months to a year before the start getting slow and whatnot.

[BFG]

I've actually gone a year plus without formatting an machine. That being said, when you are having hardware issues, it's one of the steps to consider. Oh and I've been running OS X since August with no issues outside "questionable" sites locking up firefox a couple of times.