Are You SURE PD5.25 won't work with the DVD Module? Haig?

[MultimediaMan]

BTW, the region code problem really does exist with 4.x drivers, and did in fact zero me out when I went from motherboard to motherboard. Three motherboard upgrades is all you get... Weird. :-)

[Zwisch]

Hi,

I am surprized to see that you lost your region code by changing motheboards since the information is stored in the video card BIOS, not on the motherboard... but at least you now have the tools to fix it

[JAZZ]

Hi,

All in all I don`t think they have to specify all the possible consequences of why a driver will not work. It`s like your car manufacturer telling you to put unleaded fuel in your car and that diesel won`t work... They don`t have to tell you why???

J

[cods]

I don't suppose there is any chance anyone out there could send me a copy of their backed up BIOS with region changes left. I would really appreciate the chance to be able to use my DVD again, no thanks to Matrox.

I'll try a BIOS from anything....

MillG200 16MSGRAM, DVDModule, TVOUT, RRG200
IWILLBD100 256MPC100, P2450, SBLIVE, DiamondMonster2x2

[Zwisch]

I wouldn't agree with your "no thanks to matrox".... this is there because of the macrovision laws and Matrox need to comply with these settings in order to be legal... it's like that with all software. Zoran puts the infomraiton in the card's BIOS, other in the registry, but all, will have these limits. Furthermore, that are some DVD-ROM with the settings in them! You would then need to exchange your hardware to get your DVD region back!!

[MultimediaMan]

Update:

PD v5.30.007 will not work with the DVD hardware module at all. It will install, and open, but will not play or otherwise function.

Of course, Matrox doesn't recommend or condone doing this, but i did it just to see.

Hopefully, sometime (by Y2K?) it would be nice to get a new version of PD and Matrox/Zoran DVD software that might truly give us "The Swiss Army Knife of Video Cards".



------------------
My (Current) Primary system:

Abit BE6 (PL BIOS)
P3 450
384MB PC-100 SDRAM (Non-ECC)
Matrox Marvel G200-TV AGP (NTSC) v2.6 BIOS
3Com 905B-TX NIC
SBlive (W/ OD I/O Card, Liveware 3.0)
Creative Modemblaster 5601 Data/Voice/Fax Modem (ISA)
ADS Cadet Radio Data AM/FM Card (8 Bit ISA)
3x WD AC28400 EIDE HDDs (ATA66 Enabled)
Creative DVD5241E EIDE 5x DVD-ROM
M/S Windows 98SE (English)
DirectX 7

My (Current) Secondary system

Data General/ ALR 2650 Mobo (v6.004 BIOS)
2x P2 266 (SMP)
256 MB PC-100 SDRAM (ECC)
2x Number9 Revolution 3D 8 MB PCI Adapters
3Com 905B-TX NIC
Onboard Adaptec 2940 U2W
Onboard Intel 82558 NIC
Onboard Cirrus Logic SVGA adapter (Disabled)
Creative AWE64 Gold
2x WD 9.1 GB Enterprise SCSI3 HDDs
WD 4.5 GB Enterprise SCSI3 HDD
Nakamichi MJ-5 CD-Changer SCSI2
Panasonic LK-MW602 CDR
Window NT Server w/SP-6

[AlgoRhythm]

Slightly off topic, but have you ever compared the DVD from the module with other hardware DVD solutions? Like the Hollywood Plus? I've seen a lot of DVD cards in action, and the Hollywood Plus looks fabulous to me.
How does the G200 module compare to a Hollywood Plus?

AlgoRhythm

[MultimediaMan]

Yes, I've seen the Hollywood in action and it is very good, image-wise, it's hard to tell the difference between the two.

However, using Matrox' DVD card with the Marvel or RR-G gives the user quite a bit more flexibility as far as screenshots and screen sizing are concerned.

Of course, the Hollywood video card uses an extra PCI slot and IRQ. And it also uses a pass-through connection that slightly degrades image quality. The upside of the Hollywood unit is the minimal system resource usage, and DTS audio capability.

IRQs and PCI Slots are scarce on my system, which is why I bought the Marvel in the first place.

[AlgoRhythm]

When you say 'minimal system resources' from the Hollywood card, what do you mean exactly? Less CPU usage?

AlgoRhythm

[MultimediaMan]

Yeah, about 5% resources for the Hollywood, compared to 10%-15% with the Matrox (Horrid software I suspect), and about 40%-50% with a software-only DVD solutions.

[griffithj]

Would one of you really smart guys help out a newbie like me. I have almost the same set up you have: Matrox Marvel G-200TV with 16MB and the hardware DVD module. I have a SB Live card and am connecting to a Toshiba SCSI-2 DVD player. Right now the TV picture works fine but I have no sound at all. What internal connections do I need to make? What drivers and bioses work best? Please help.