Macrovision for VT 2.04 W2K?

[Fred H]

Is there any Macrovision CP remover for VT 2.04 or 2.04 (leaked) and W2K/ Marvel G400 ?

Couldn’t find it, by searching this forum.

Fred H

[spankmeister7]

macrovision woes

You mean this one?

http://www.murc.ws/cgi-bin/dl.cgi?site=9&dl=MV-vtools-2.02.017-eng-2k.exe

It's funny that you bring this up now as I'm having difficulty getting this to work for me. Whenever I run the patch I get an error about rrapi.dll is already patched. But it isn't. I tried removing all the Matrox software from my computer (including the driver) and using the Matrox uninstall utility and re-installing everything from scratch and I still get the same error.

Coincidentally, I've also noticed that PC-VCR won't let me record anything as the little record button is missing. Doesn't matter as I'm using AVI_IO, but it would be nice to know why.

Has anyone else run into this?

[Fred H]

Spankmeister7,
Thanks for your reply.
The URL you gave me is for the macrovision patch 2.02 for W2K, not for VT 2.04, but never mind, it doesn’t help anyway.
I installed the VT 2.02 but this patch removes only the Macrovision copy protection from playing video tapes, not DVD.
Actually I tried to play a DVD movie from my Memorex DVD-ROM via VCR to TV.
The DVD movie plays fine on the TV, bypassing the VCR.
It was a new experience for me, to try to play DVD with the computers DVD-ROM.
The Macrovision patches work fine on my Marvel, using videotapes or with my Sony camcorder.

Whenever I run the patch I get an error about rrapi.dll is already patched.

Note the question marks. Probably the size/version of your
RRAPI.DLL doesn’t match the patch. Try the right VT with the right patch. It works for me.

If you want to copy to tape (it's illegal!) you can try http://www.dvddecrypter.com/guide.asp

Fred H

[Fred H]

It is an old story, this time not a capture issue, but a DVD display problem.
I tried to play DVD and get the video signal from the video output on the Marvel G400 to VCRs SCART and a RF signal from the VCR to TV.

My old TV hasn’t any video input connector. Therefore, I interlaced a VCR between the Marvel G400 and the TV. So, the G400 video out goes to the VCR SCART input and the VCR modulates the video over a RF signal, which is sent to the TVs RF (antenna) input.
This set-up allows me to record my own videos to tape, or capture and record at the same time analog videos from my camcorder.
When I (sometimes) captured a protected video from the VCR, the macrovision patch worked.
It doesn’t when I play DVD.

Finally I’ve got an explanation why (and maybe a solution), here:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/electronics/msg0605235730591.html

Fred H

[tabdelgawad]

Hi

I'm resurrecting this thread rather than starting a new one because the subject line is the correct one for my question/problem

I have a RR-G, Millenium G200 and Win2k on an AMD K6-2 550. I installed the recommended (final) powerdesk and vidtools (5.39.019 and 2.04.015), as well as the hardware MJpeg patch (which is great with my relatively slow hardware!). Capture works great through Virtualdub 1.4.10, except ...

The problem, as you may guess, is with the Macrovision patch. The closest one available was the one for the 2.02 vidtools, but it reports the same error reported in this thread (I tried applying the patch in Safe Mode, but it still doesn't work).

I need Macrovision disabled because it interferes with older VHS tapes I'm trying to digitize (why did they have to make the detection so sensitive?!). So the question is: Has anyone hacked a patch for the 2.04 vidtools? If not, does anyone have instructions on how to go about hacking RRAPI.DLL? I've never even used a hex editor, but I'm willing to give it a try if that's what it takes ...

Here's hoping I'm not running afoul of the DMCA

[Debbie]

Hi Fred,

How was your trip home? I hope you had a good holiday.

Hi tabdelgawad,

If you can't manage to suppres the copy protection on the Marvel, you can borrow a video mixer or if you use it often you can perhaps find one at a convenient price.

A video mixer will eliminate all sync. problems even with old "jumpy" VHS video recordings, since it will filter out the old sync. and produce new ones. This is far better than a mv patch. This is what I use all the time and is part of my setup.

Regards,

Debbie

[Fred H]

Hi Debbie
Thank you for asking.
Yes, it was fine, but it was a short time trip, especially for my wife.
My mother in law was very happy to get the videos (2 + 0.5 hours) about my grandchildren (her grand-grand children). I made the videos in a hurry.
And it was very funny to see how a 95 years old lady can handle a VHS with the remote, for the first time in her life.

Now I have some non-video projects. Actually some photo animations with my dog, a Tibetan terrier, Daizy. (with "z").

Finally, thanks for the tip over the video mixer.

Best regards,

Fred H

[tabdelgawad]

Thanks for the reply, Debbie

For the hardware route, you don't need anything as sophisticated as a video mixer. There are several 'black-box-type' converters/filters that you can buy to defeat MV. Since one of those (Sima Video Copy Master) is (was?) available at BestBuy (major electronics retailer chain in the US), I assume they're perfectly legal to purchase.

Those interested can take a look here for various ways to defeat MV on DVD and VHS sources:

http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/articles/macrovision.html

Also, since I mentioned the DMCA, I came across this article while searching for one of the black box converter thingies on Google

http://www.cybercrime.gov/mynafPlea.htm

I was really hoping to defeat this whole thing in software. Since patches exist for VidTools 2.02, it probably isn't difficult to create patches for 2.04 (when I say "isn't difficult", I mean for people who know what they're doing. I am *not* one of those people ). That really would be the preferable route.

[Debbie]

Hi Tamer,

Yes you are quite right about the "black boxes" I built one myself some time ago. It works fine on some media but it fails on others, depending on the strength of the MV or the weakness of the sync pulses. In each case a good mixer will do the job perfectly. Usually video copyers are just video amplifiers.

Fred, I'm glad your mothger-in-law liked the recordings. Whenever you wish, just drop me a line at my University e-mail address.

Regards to all,

Debbie