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DVD Assist - VIDEO_TS playback for Front Row - Page 17

post #481 of 499
3/15/08 at 11:19am
Hi there, as far as I know, and forgive me if I'm wrong, DVD assist is designed to run under Tiger and not Leopard, the main reason there isn't Leopard compatibility with DVD Assist is because Leopard plays Video_TS files in Front Row.

ISO files as far as I know aren't compatible with Front Row in Leopard, so I'm thinking you'll need to turn them into folders containing the Video_TS file in order to play them back.

Like I say I could be wrong, but I don't think you'll see DVD Assist getting any updates. There is a plugin for the new Front Row called Sapphire (http://appletv.nanopi.net/), I don't know much about it but it might help with your problem if you don't fancy converting your files.
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post #482 of 499
3/18/08 at 6:59pm
Jordy15675, thanks for the quick reply and info. I'll try the Sapphire plug. It seems to do something else that I was looking to do.

I was wrong in one respect, Front Row is still part of "CoreServices".

DVDAssist works or should I say, it almost does everything: it mounts the iso, opens DVD Player, starts playing in DVD Player. It's just that the DVD Player app stays in the background behind Front Row, meaning, Front Row is the "front most app", commandeering the screen/Mac. I can quit Front Row and navigate to DVD Player to play the "iso", but it defeats the purpose of what I was trying to do.

My guess is that the part of the script that supposed to quit Front Row is broken. I looked at the script, but I'm not "fluent" in scripting and couldn't figure it out. It seems like it would be a simple fix, but not being a scripter I don't know, I'm just speculating.

Thanks again for your advice.

B
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post #483 of 499
5/11/08 at 2:41am
The following will mount all iso files found in /Volumes/share/Movies/iso. The show will be available in Front Row under the disc name.

for f in /Volumes/share/Movies/iso/*.iso ; do hdiutil mount -readonly - mountroot ~/Movies "$f" ; done

Add a capital letter in front of the first asterisk to limit the scope for testing.
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post #484 of 499
5/26/08 at 11:26pm
Dear all:

I tried to set up a Media Center environment out of my MacBook before I will buy a MacMini, did a lot of testing. I have a few test dvd's (video_ts files) on my external ethernet HDD and tried to pplat them with Frontrow, but when playing the files there were al lot of "hick-ups" and the picture and sound were not smooth. I tried playing the files directly with VLC and the dvd-player in Apple and then they played very good and smooth! So I went on the internet looking for some kind of plugin in Frontrow and came across "DVD Assist" and this site. 1st I did all the things explained in the tutural with the extra .mov folder and the aliasses but that didn't work out, then I started reading this whole topic (that lasted some time, my English isn't perfect because I'm Dutch!) and now I know that because I have Leopard and Frontrow 2.0 DVD Assist won't work at all...That's a pity.
Still have my problem: when ripping a dvd to external ethernet HDD in video_ts and playing them with VLC and Apple dvd-player picture and sound are ok, but playing them in Frontrow (aliasses of the movies) the picture and sound "hicks" and isn't smooth at all, how come?
For your knowledge:
I'm using a MacBook 2.2Ghz Santa Rosa with 120 Gb HDD and 2 Gb memory and Leopard and Frontrow 2.0
The rips are made in Windows with DVD Fab Platinum.

Paul.
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post #485 of 499
5/27/08 at 3:53am
Quote:


I have a few test dvd's (video_ts files) on my external ethernet HDD and tried to play them with Frontrow, but when playing the files there were a lot of "hick-ups" and the picture and sound were not smooth. I tried playing the files directly with VLC and the dvd-player in Apple and then they played very good and smooth!

Paul--first remove your ethernet network from the equation: move a VIDEO_TS file over to your Macbook hard drive and play that back with Front Row instead of the alias. Is it as smooth as with VLC & Apple dvd player or do you still get the hiccups?

How do you have your external ethernet hard drive hooked up?
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post #486 of 499
5/27/08 at 7:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post

Paul--first remove your ethernet network from the equation: move a VIDEO_TS file over to your Macbook hard drive and play that back with Front Row instead of the alias. Is it as smooth as with VLC & Apple dvd player or do you still get the hiccups?

How do you have your external ethernet hard drive hooked up?

Forget to tell you that: everything (dvd-rips/video_ts) in Frontrow play with hickups! Even from the internal MacBook HDD!!!
So video_ts ripped dvd's play well from the internal HDD or external ethernet HDD with VLC or standard Apple dvd-player software, it is just that Frontrow won't plat them properly....I've tried to convert them to mpeg-4 with Handbrake and after a couple of hours (!) (that's the reason I won't it that way!? those files play ok in Frontrow...
Is that the only way?
I hoped for a Frontrow kind of playback of all my dvd's/files.

Gr. Paul.
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post #487 of 499
5/27/08 at 8:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post

How do you have your external ethernet hard drive hooked up?

Well, I do have a ADSL2+ modem with two CAT5/ethernet ports. One goes to my Western Digital Netcenter 250 Gb HDD and the other is plugged into my MacBook, I thought that would be OK?

Paul.
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post #488 of 499
5/28/08 at 5:56am
Pity no one can help me anymore....

Paul.
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post #489 of 499
5/28/08 at 7:10am
well, your situation is strange, Paul, and we do have lives. What I can tell you is this: Front Row in Leopard (10.5.2) plays back VIDEO_TS just fine. Your network and external drive could have been a problem--so instead of trying to play back a file over your network, you've put a VIDEO_TS in the Movies folder of your Mac's internal hard drive--that removes those variables--then you verified Apple dvd player handles it just fine--that means the rip likely is good--and that Front Row still hiccups. OK, the next most likely candidate is that you've installed some hack or plug-in that is still interfering with Front Row. So, now boot your Mac up off of a "clean" Leopard install (from a USB or firewire drive) and try to play that VIDEO_TS with Front Row.
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post #490 of 499
5/28/08 at 7:11am
Don't give up so soon. Chefklc is one of our experts and he is probably just busy with his work.

I have one question: were all these rips done in Windows? If so, you should try ripping on the Mac and see if it has the same results.

Good luck.
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post #491 of 499
5/28/08 at 7:12am
Whoops, I spoke too soon!
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post #492 of 499
5/28/08 at 7:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post

well, your situation is strange, Paul, and we do have lives. What I can tell you is this: Front Row in Leopard (10.5.2) plays back VIDEO_TS just fine. Your network and external drive could have been a problem--so instead of trying to play back a file over your network, you've put a VIDEO_TS in the Movies folder of your Mac's internal hard drive--that removes those variables--then you verified Apple dvd player handles it just fine--that means the rip likely is good--and that Front Row still hiccups. OK, the next most likely candidate is that you've installed some hack or plug-in that is still interfering with Front Row. So, now boot your Mac up off of a "clean" Leopard install and try to play that VIDEO_TS with Front Row.

Like I said: the external HDD isn't the problem: from the internal HDD the problem in Frontrow is the same: hickups!
I was thinking: maybe it is the way my rips (video_ts) is on the External HDD: it is made in Windows with DVD Fab platinum, does Windows make some kind of other video_ts then a Mac ripping program or what ripprogram do you advice for me to play my dvd's smooth in Frontrow?
Still strange: with the present files on the external HDD made with a Windows machine they play smooth and WITHOUT hickups with the standard Apple dvd-playet and VLC: it is always that Frontrow plays them awfull...
Strange isn't it???

Paul.
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post #493 of 499
5/28/08 at 7:30am
Paul--at this point we've removed your external hard drive, ethernet network, Windows, ripping software, etc from the equation. So before you expand your range of questions about Windows software and ripping programs in OS X, back up.

Fact: you have a VIDEO_TS that opens and plays just fine in Apple dvd player when on your internal hard drive.

Fact: such a VIDEO_TS should ALSO play fine in Front Row.

Suspicion: you've screwed up your current OS install by installing/uninstalling various other stuff.

Solution: boot up from a clean Leopard install and test that VIDEO_TS.

Why? Apple dvd player.app is pretty picky--it doesn't just open and play everything. So the fact that it IS playing your VIDEO_TS--even though you got it from Windows ripping software--makes me think that VIDEO_TS is fine and it still leads me to believe that Front Row should be able to handle it.

Another thing you can do is stick a dvd in the drive, then open FR, and try to play it back. Hiccups?
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post #494 of 499
5/28/08 at 9:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post

Paul--at this point we've removed your external hard drive, ethernet network, Windows, ripping software, etc from the equation. So before you expand your range of questions about Windows software and ripping programs in OS X, back up.

First of all I want to thank you chefkic for your help and time so far!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post

Fact: you have a VIDEO_TS that opens and plays just fine in Apple dvd player when on your internal hard drive.

yes, even from the external HDD.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post

Fact: such a VIDEO_TS should ALSO play fine in Front Row.

OK

Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post

Suspicion: you've screwed up your current OS install by installing/uninstalling various other stuff.

can that be caused by "Perian" or "Flip4Mac"?

Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post

Solution: boot up from a clean Leopard install and test that VIDEO_TS.

WOW, that is too risky for me, I cannot do that I'm afraid.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post

Why? Apple dvd player.app is pretty picky--it doesn't just open and play everything. So the fact that it IS playing your VIDEO_TS--even though you got it from Windows ripping software--makes me think that VIDEO_TS is fine and it still leads me to believe that Front Row should be able to handle it.

OK

Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post

Another thing you can do is stick a dvd in the drive, then open FR, and try to play it back. Hiccups?

I will test that right now!

THX!

Paul.
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post #495 of 499
5/28/08 at 9:39am
Paul, I don't mean erase and reinstall your Macbook drive--I mean boot the Macbook off of a separate clean install of Leopard that's on an external drive. All you need is a spare drive--any size, 2.5 or 3.5, IDE or SATA--it's good practice to have a bootable backup of your Macbook on an external drive anyway. For troubleshooting like this--it's wise to have an external drive, it can be firewire or USB, partitioned with one volume that's a bootable clone (a perfect copy of your Macbook drive, I use SuperDuper) and a second volume that has a "clean" Leopard install on it. (Leopard installed right to that drive.) It's painless to create--and it's useful just for this strange situation. What you want is to boot off the clean install that hasn't ever had any version of Perian or Divx or Flip4Mac or DVDAssist or remote/keyboard drivers installed or uninstalled--just such things can muck up Front Row and Quicktime.

You actually need both of these--the SuperDuper clone protects you if you ever install something that really screws up your Macbook, even an official Apple software update can break something--and the only way to fix it is to revert to what your system was before the upgrade. With that clone, you just copy that back to the Macbook drive and you're back where you were pre-update. For your current Front Row troubleshooting--something that should work inherently without any third party stuff--that second "clean" volume with an install of Leopard on it but with no third party stuff is what you need. If that VIDEO_TS plays in FR, booted off of that clean install, then you know you did muck things up...
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post #496 of 499
5/28/08 at 9:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post

Paul, I don't mean erase and reinstall your Macbook drive--I mean boot the Macbook off of a separate clean install of Leopard that's on an external drive. All you need is a spare drive--any size, 2.5 or 3.5, IDE or SATA--it's good practice to have a bootable backup of your Macbook on an external drive anyway. For troubleshooting like this--it's wise to have an external drive, it can be firewire or USB, partitioned with one volume that's a bootable clone (a perfect copy of your Macbook drive, I use SuperDuper) and a second volume that has a "clean" Leopard install on it. (Leopard installed right to that drive.) It's painless to create--and it's useful just for this strange situation. What you want is to boot off the clean install that hasn't ever had any version of Perian or Divx or Flip4Mac or DVDAssist or remote/keyboard drivers installed or uninstalled--just such things can muck up Front Row and Quicktime.

You actually need both of these--the SuperDuper clone protects you if you ever install something that really screws up your Macbook, even an official Apple software update can break something--and the only way to fix it is to revert to what your system was before the upgrade. With that clone, you just copy that back to the Macbook drive and you're back where you were pre-update. For your current Front Row troubleshooting--something that should work inherently without any third party stuff--that second "clean" volume with an install of Leopard on it but with no third party stuff is what you need. If that VIDEO_TS plays in FR, booted off of that clean install, then you know you did muck things up...

OK, I did the testing: a DVD in the drive plays without hickups in Frontrow! I must say with some slow horizontal and vertical pans it sometimes isn't as smooth as with the "normal" dvd-player, but it is FAR better then a video_ts file...
How come a video_ts file (dvd-rip) won't play properly in Frontrow and a dvd is? Strange isn't it?

Isn't it just possible to throw away the old Frontrow in the bin (uninstall it) and download Frontrow again and reinstall it?

BTW: I see Flip4Mac and Perian are not in my programs-folder but somewhere else in a system-folder where I cannot drag and drop it in the bin, how come?

Paul.
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post #497 of 499
5/28/08 at 10:46am
If a DVD plays normally, then I think there is a problem with your rips. I would recommend ripping one DVD on the Mac and trying that.

I would try that before removing or uninstalling anything.
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post #498 of 499
5/28/08 at 11:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Further View Post

If a DVD plays normally, then I think there is a problem with your rips. I would recommend ripping one DVD on the Mac and trying that.

I would try that before removing or uninstalling anything.

Yeah, I've tried that too with OSEx, I believe Mac The Ripper too, but I guess I need some tweaked settings? Because the rips with those programs on my MB still hicked in Frontrow...
Do you have the best advice for a good program and settings?
Does handbrake make good video_ts or just converting into mp4/mpeg4?

Paul.
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post #499 of 499
5/29/08 at 1:28am
Unfortunately, you're asking one of the few people here who does not rip DVDs. I play the DVDs themselves. I don't think Handbrake will rip to a normal VIDEO_TS format.

I think your next step should be what Chefklc recommended to boot up from a clean install of Leopard.
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