Autostarting AVI files in W2K...Help?

[EchoWars]

Asked this on the Ars Forums and struck out...perhaps there might be someone here more knowledgeable...

Have started a collection of DVD movies ripped to CD-ROM with the DIVX;-) codec. Along with the movie, I usually add a autorun.inf file to the CD so it will start up simply by placing the CD-ROM in the drive. Notepad file looks like-

[autorun]
open=start mplayer2.exe /fullscreen /play /close \myvideo.avi

For WinME and Win98 it works like a charm. However, in W2K it errors out, saying that it cannot find the device or path. If I substitute the full path to the CD-ROM file in the line-

[autorun]
open=start mplayer2.exe /fullscreen /play /close E:\myvideo.avi

-it works. However, specifying exact path is not good, as this will of course err out on a system where I put the CD into, say, the 'D' drive instead. Bottom line...what would be a command line to autostart in W2K without having to specify a full path??? The best suggestion from the Ars gang was to use one of the autostart programs, which gives a fancy splash screen and even a menu. I feel these programs are too large, and like the simplicity of a autorun file...

Any ideas??



[This message has been edited by EchoWars (edited 19 April 2001).]

[KRSESQ]

never tried this so don't know if it will work:

Try adding a path statement to the autorun, something like

path=d:\;e:\;

etc until you think you have enough drives listed to cover all possibilities (last drive will be Z).

Kevin

[EchoWars]

Problem with that is that it will replace the current path statement. I could enter the full path, including the CD-ROM drive, but this would be specific to an OS, and I would like to find a command like that would work in either W2k or W9x.

Edit- Tried to add the path statement to WinNT, still errors out with a "Access to the specified path, device, or file is Denied". So the path statement simply works for commands, not the AVI file. Win2k seems to want the specific drive letter and file name. There has got to be a way around this...

[This message has been edited by EchoWars (edited 19 April 2001).]

[dZeus]

what happens if you try:
open=start mplayer2.exe /fullscreen /play /close .\myvideo.avi

[This message has been edited by dZeus (edited 19 April 2001).]

[KRSESQ]

How about replacing the drive letter in your open= statement with a * wild card?

open=start mplayer2.exe /fullscreen /play /close *:\myvideo.avi

Kevin

[EchoWars]

With both of the above attempts, W2k errors out and asks you to double-check the path to the AVI file...***sigh***

[fds]

I replied in your <a href="http://forums.murc.ws/ubb/Forum3/HTML/003738.html">GHWSW topic</a> because this isn't exactly a Desktop Video problem. Besides, I do not read this forum.

[wkulecz]

An autorun.inf file in the CD's root directory containing:

[autorun]

open=C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\mplayer2.exe /Play playlist.m3u

Has worked for me on W2K and win98 if autoinsert is enabled on the CDROM drive.

where playlist.m3u is an ASCII text file containing the paths and names of the MPEG or AVI files you wish to play relative to the root of the CD.

for example from my Battlebots editing:

Lightweights.m3u contains:

Lightweight\QuarterFinalLightweight.mpg
Lightweight\Backlash-Sallad.VCD.mpg
Lightweight\ToeCrusher-EvilFishTank.VCD.mpg
Lightweight\BetaRaptor-Crusher.VCD.mpg
...

You can create the m3u file with Winamp or Musicmatch etc. or by typing in notepad. I use Winamp so I can choose the files instead of typing as I make too many typos.

If you have an earlier version of media player that is installed somewhere else, It won't work, but then I don't thing those versions will play mpegs anyways.

--wally.


[This message has been edited by wkulecz (edited 21 April 2001).]

[EchoWars]

Nice solution, but part of what I was trying to do was to show off the Divx;-) codec to buddies by simply popping in my ripped movie and letting it autostart. Your solution would most likely work fine for my own system, though...

[wkulecz]

Media player won't play Divx;-) unless you've instead a codec. I think you are SOL unless you have a stand-alone divx playback applaction. If you do, simply put it in the root directory of the CD and make your autorun be:

open=StandAloneDivxPlayer.exe /Play divxFile.avi