Need codecs

jpChris · Post by **jpChris** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:23 pm

Hi all,

I have a Pioneer 16X, dual layer DVD-RW drive, but it won't work. I can burn a disk using "imgburn", but that's it: It won't 'read' it, nor does it show anything in Properties.

I found out I need a codecs for Windows XP to be able to use my DVD drive.

It came with the ULEAD disk, but I have no use for anything on it. The only reason I want to use it is to backup my System\Data. Period.

Can anyone direct me to where I can locate the codecs I need on the ULEAD disk and how to install it? Or, direct me to where I can get the driver\codecs I need so WinXP will "see" the disk?

TIA.
jpChris

Post by **Ron P.** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:40 pm

What Ulead program came bundled with your DVD burner? Is it DVD MovieFactory, or VideoStudio? Either one is going to be an SE (Simple Edition), and not a full version.

In any case, if you are just interested in creating back-ups, then look for a program/utility on the disk called Burn.now. That is the utility used to burn DVDs and CDs. You may have to install the whole program in order to get Burn.now installed.

Have your tried going to the manufacturer of your DVD drive to obtain updates? Are you running XP or Vista? If XP, then the manufacturer should have the latest drivers for your DVD drive, available for downloading. Vista however, manufacturers may not have drivers available yet.

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:41 pm

I think you are barking up the wrong tree. Nothing that Ulead could do would make your XP see the drive it doesn't see otherwise, not to my knowledge at least. Your DVD drive has to function in XP before Ulead can do anything with it.

I suggest to remove the drive via the System >Hardware manager approach in Control Panel. Restart your system and it will detect the hardware and install any generic drivers it has for your particular drive. You should also have a driver disk which came with your drive which you can use for the installation after Windows has detected your drive.

If Windows doesn't detect your drive as new hardware after you removed it via the hardware manager, there is something wrong with your drive, not with Ulead.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 1:00 am

Its nothing to do with CODECs either - this is a system of video COmpression DECompression and nothing to do with burning to a disc.
Please view DVD burning/playback issues

jpChris · Post by **jpChris** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 5:14 am

Hi all,

Thanks for responding. I'll try to answer each.

vidoman: The drive came bundled with the ULEAD DVD Movie Factory, Video Studio, Photo Explorer, Burn Now, DVD Player and NovaBACKUP disk. All these programs I have no use for. I just want to burn a disk and have WXP "see" the disk as having stuff on it. As it is now, when I insert *any* DVD, in Windows Explorer, the drive changes from DVD-RW Drive to CD Drive and when I click Properties, it shows it as blank ¡X no info on the disk.

heinz-oz: You wrote: "Your DVD drive has to function in XP before Ulead can do anything with it." It does "function" in that I can put a CD-R & RW disk in and it shows properly. Also, I've uninstalled the drive and let Windows "detect" it and there's the same drivers as before, just for the CD, not DVD. Even Microsoft told me they have no drivers for DVD's and I have to obtain them from somewhere else.

sjj1805: I read the article before I posted and it appears not to apply. I have no problem burning with imgburn, the problem is that there's a driver, codecs or something that's missing from the driver list in Device Mgr. The same drivers are also in the Memorex CD-RW driver list.

And, that's why I'm writing, Pioneer told me they have no driver downloads and the driveres\codecs\MPEG2 stuff I need to make the drive operable is on the bundled software disk. They even told me that if I install the whole disk, then uninstall, the drivers will also be uninstalled, leaving the drive exactly as it was before. They also told me they've had thousands of complaints exactly like mine and they haven't done anything about it.

Pioneer told me that the drivers I need for WXP are on the ULEAD disk. Hence my query as to where they are.

If one of you would be so kind as to click Properties in Device Manager for your DVD Drive and Drivers, post what you have? Mine shows:
cdrom.sys; imapi.sys; redbook.sys; storprop.dll. These are the same exact driver listings for my CD-RW Drive, too.

Thanks.
jpChris

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 5:28 am

There are no special drivers for a DVD drive, they are the same drivers you have for a CD drive and are built into the Windows Operating system.

You might have a faulty DVD drive. Will it read anything - perhaps a commercially produced DVD disc?

Have you made sure the drive is installed OK, perhaps the IDE cable isn't seated properly, try removing the IDE cable from the DVD drive AND the motherboard and re-installing. Perhaps the IDE cable is faulty, try another.
Are the drives jumper settings correct. (Master / Slave).
has the drive been disabled in your system BIOS.

jpChris · Post by **jpChris** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 10:10 pm

Hi sjj1805,

OK, now I'm *really* confused. You say there are no special drivers for a DVD drive, they are the same drivers you have for a CD drive and are built into the Windows Operating system.

From what I've read for the past 3 days (even on the Microsoft site) is that a MPEG-2 Decoder\Driver IS needed to play a DVD with Windows Media Player 10.

The drive is not faulty. And before I came here, I did everything you suggested (I even got a new cable). When I click Windows Explorer, it shows the drive as: DVD-RW. So, it is being recognized, but I can't play a DVD.

That's why I'm here; to find out where on the ULEAD disk the Decoder\codecs\driver or whatever the heck it is I need, to be able to play a DVD on my computer.

I know I need a decoder; *everyone* has told me so. Where on the ULEAD disk is it?

Thanks.
jpChris

[/i]

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:14 pm

jpChris wrote:Hi sjj1805,...
From what I've read for the past 3 days (even on the Microsoft site) is that a MPEG-2 Decoder\Driver IS needed to play a DVD with Windows Media Player 10.

That's why I'm here; to find out where on the ULEAD disk the Decoder\codecs\driver or whatever the heck it is I need, to be able to play a DVD on my computer.

I know I need a decoder; *everyone* has told me so. Where on the ULEAD disk is it?

Thanks.
jpChris[/i]

Now we are talking. yes, Win MediaPlayer needs a codec to play DVD's. That is a problem of the Media Player, not your drive's nor Ulead's.

In order to get a codec to play your DVD's you need what is called a "Software DVD Player" like WIN DVD for instance.

If you don't have a use for the "stuff" on the installation DVD, wher do you expect to get this? Install the software and we will see.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 2:07 am

Now we know what your problem is, you gave the impression that your DVD drive would not work. In fact the DVD drive does work, what doesn't is the software you are using to view your DVD Video contained on that DVD disc.

Yes you need a codec. You will get the necessary codec by installing a software DVD player such as PowerDVD, WinDVD, Nero Showtime or one of many other available software DVD players.

As soon as one is installed you will find that Windows Media Player will 'steal' that codec and allow you to use windows Media Player to watch your DVD Videos. However... once you have installed one of theses purpose built players it is unlikely you would bother with windows Media Player.

jpChris · Post by **jpChris** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 4:50 am

Hi all,

Thank you. I appreciate all your help and responses. I can see where I made a mistake in one of my posts as to the problem.

The thing is, what *was* confusing for me was the whole codecs\encoder\decoder\driver thing. When I started computing, my first one was an ATARI 64 with a membrane keyboard and my "hard drive" was a cassette player. Things have changed and I'm used to using the term "drivers" for getting stuff to work. That's where my education is lacking.

And, sjj1805, you're absolutely correct that I'll have no use for WMP: I don't now, anyway. It's a resource hog and jumps the temperature of my CPU by 30 to 40 degrees even playing midi or wave files. I still have WMP 6.4 as the default player for .wav and .mid files.

I did download a codecs and can now play DVDs and I used imgburn to write to the disk, all with no problems. Although, watching a DVD on a 19" CRT is not appealing since I have a 38" WS HDTV not 20 feet from me and a comfy couch,

Again, I wish to thank you all for taking the time to respond and helping me.

Sincerely,
jpChris