DVD performance issues....

[Sequel]

Hello there.

I'm having a few problems with running DVDs
on my PC (Pioneer DVD 10x), i.e. getting
some 'stutter' on playback, which is worse on
some than on others.

So, just wondering, what people recommend
for decent playback (and i'm using G400 DVDMax BTW), in terms of RAM etc. (i've only
got 64MB ATM).

Thanks in advance

------------------
AMD K6-3 450MHz
Chaintech 5AGM-2 MB
(VIA MVP3 chipset)
64MB RAM
G400 AGPx1 32MB

[Wombat]

How do you like that drive? I'm just about to order one from HiVal.

Sorry, no real advice on the problem, I only have a G200, and no DVD.

No interrupt conflicts? Is bus-mastering on?
What is your color depth? 16bpp I hope...

[thecurse]

i have the 6x pioneer one (scsi tho) that was a brown box special labled as a hi-val one on buy.com

99.8% of the time it plays back just fine with no stutter.

oh yea and also i play back at 24bit colour with the dualhead clone to the tv
====================================
intel pIII 450/384 megs memory
abit bh6 motherboard
8 gig maxtor/8 gig maxtor
12 gig quantum bigfoot/18 gig 7200 rpm western digital
scsi 24x cdrom/scsi zip drive
scsi cdr/pioneer scsi dvd-rom dvd-303
4.3 gig scsi western digital enterprise
matrox g400 max/rainbow runner g-series
sb live value/3com etherlink III
adaptec 2940u/SIIG internal usb hub
logitech wingman warrior/ms freestyle pro
ms natural keyboard/ms intellimouse explorer
17inch primary display/15 inch secondary display
no floppy drive
American-Media Q452-ATX Case/external 2 bay scsi case



[This message has been edited by thecurse (edited 02 January 2000).]

[Wombat]

<quote>
oh yea and also i play back at 24bit colour with the dualhead clone to the tv
</quote>

Yes, but you have the CPU and the RAM to do it. Sequel really doesn't. Well, he may, but it's borderline.

[Brian R.]

Sequel - I may have had a similar problem. My stutter was only cured by using WinDVD instead of Cinemaster. Nothing else solved the problem and I went through a lot of possible solutions.

[agallag]

I've got the same drive (pioneer 104s slot load ide 10x) and I don't have any stuttering on my machine. I've got the same amount of ram and a slower cpu, so that's not the problem. Is dma enabled in device manager? Is there something running in the background stealing cpu cycles? Other than that, I dunno...

------------------
Andrew Gallagher - andrew@agallagher.com
Asus P2B-S (1011), PII-350@350), 64MB PC100, 12.7GB Quantum Fireball EX ATA-33, 2x2.1GB Quantum Atlas I UWSCSI, Toshiba 6201 SCSI CD, Yamaha CRW4416S SCSI CD-RW, WangDAT SCSI, Pioneer DVD-104S 10x Slot Load IDE, MillG400 32MB DH w/ 5ns RAM(5.41 Divers/1.5 Bios/Fo=300MHz), SBLive! Retail (LiveWare3), JVC RX884V Dolby Digital Receiver@500W, Dell D1728D-LS 17" Monitor (first head), ProScan 27" NTSC TV (second head), Win98SE, BeOS 4.5.2, RedHat 6.1, NT4SP6a

[Sequel]

Thanks for the response.

Just to keep you informed i've recently downloaded the VIA IDE busmaster driver
(newest ones 4-in-1 1.6) and this seems to
have made the films a lot smoother (it does
say in the FAQ that it sorts out a few probs
with DMA transfers from CD / DVD drives,
oh the problems of having a VIA chipset! ;-))

However, i am using Xing DVD play ATM, but
I see most people recommend WinDVD, is it
really that much better?

Thanks in advance


------------------
AMD K6-3 450MHz
Chaintech 5AGM-2 MB
(VIA MVP3 chipset)
64MB RAM
G400 AGPx1 32MB

[Sequel]

Hello there, thanks for the responses.

I installed the VIA 4-in-1 4.1.6. drivers and
although they've made a little difference,
it still stutters sometimes, which made me
wonder if DMA transfer on the DVD drive is the problem. Checking Device Manager showed NO DMA checkbox, BUT the VIA DMA tool shows
the DVD drive in UDMA mode. Which do I believe?

Just a little tech info, on my system, which I think may be important, I have the Pioneer
DVD drive as a master on a seperate MB IDE
channel, and a CD-Writer as a slave off it.
HDD is on a seperate channel. Could this be
the reason why the drive is underperforming?

Thanks in advance


------------------
AMD K6-3 450MHz
Chaintech 5AGM-2 MB
(VIA MVP3 chipset)
64MB RAM
G400 AGPx1 32MB

[Bixler]

it still stutters sometimes, which made me wonder if DMA transfer on the DVD drive is the problem. Checking Device Manager showed NO DMA checkbox, BUT the VIA DMA tool shows the DVD drive in UDMA mode. Which do I believe?

Believe the VIA DMA Tool, and try turning it OFF and see if you still get a stutter. Some drives don't like DMA. Also, check those background programs. Do a Ctrl+Alt+Del and write down the names of any programs running when your DVD is in use.

------------------
AMD K63 400 Running @ 428
on SOYO SY5EMA
128M 8ns PC100 SDRAM
Marvel G-200 TV
w/DVD HW Card
Promise Ultra 66 HDD Controller
Win 98--running 98 Lite
(A GREAT program)

[Sequel]

Hi.

Managed to sort it out at last. It WAS
due to the CD-Writer (which is a Mode 3 device) as a slave of the DVD drive.
When I reorganised it so it was a slave of the HDD only, and the DVD drive had an IDE channel on its own, it works superbly.

Thanks for all your help.

------------------
AMD K6-3 450MHz
Chaintech 5AGM-2 MB
(VIA MVP3 chipset)
64MB RAM
G400 AGPx1 32MB

[Bixler]

Glad you sorted it out!

Have you tested the performance of your burner now that it's a slave to your HDD? I've read of some troubles with this config, especially when doing a high speed burn.

I ended up having to buy an outboard controller to solve the problem. Some drives coexist on IDE channels better than others, so you may be ok, but I'd test if I were you before pushing your burner too hard.

Good Luck.

------------------
AMD K63 400 Running @ 428
on SOYO SY5EMA
128M 8ns PC100 SDRAM
Marvel G-200 TV
w/DVD HW Card
Promise Ultra 66 HDD Controller
Win 98--running 98 Lite
(A GREAT program)