Though this has been mentioned several times in the past by myself and others, its a point that is worth repeating for those who cannot get DXC to work at all no matter what they try.

I have helped over 40 users get DXC working on their computers. In every single case bar 2, the cause of their problems lay with their computer/hardware/software and nothing to do with DXC itself.

What follows are the most common causes of problems.

1) AMD and VIA chipsets - Overclocked buses, old VIA drivers (or in one case none at all!), Old Mother Board Bioses and misconfigured /conflicting IRQ/DMA settings.

2) Programs running in the background - Antivirus software, Drive Emulators, DLA's or similar Packet Writing software/drivers, Automatic updating in XP by MS or other software like NAV (without reports!), Screen Savers, Services for Servers and other related/similar issues.

3) Driver Conflicts - Other Burning software issues such as Roxio software and other DVD copy/backup programs that install their own drivers such as DVD2DVD etc..

4) Hardware config issues - Burner and reader on same IDE bus (slower machines suffer more from this especially if Burner is on Master oddly enough) Again, Drives/burner/reader set to PIO mode and not DMA (Though for some people it works better if the normal best settings are reversed so Burner and reader are both set to PIO modes!)

5) Media issues - Some DVD players / Burners are extremely picky as to the media typers/brands they will play/burn. What works for one person may not work for another. Trial and error is the only solution. Some players do not like any media burned at speeds faster than 1X.

6) User error - Normally during the install phase.. User doesn't install the driver pack or uninstalls and then reinstalls but forgets to uninstall drivers etc.. from earlier versions. Again, these types of problems do not affect everyone.. I have never uninstalled any version of DXC. I just over install every time and I have had zero issues with running DXC at all.. but the proper way to install is to uninstall everything first and then reinstall.

7) DVD Players - Some players simply do not like certain brands/types of media. Also, some players do not like the way Nero/Gear burns DVDs. The latter is an issue I'm sure 321 are working hard to resolve.. but the Player issue itself is something 321 have no control over at all. As I mentioned in an earlier post about Toshibas for example.. Toshiba themselves stated in a letter sent to me.. that the exact same models of their players may vary by a considerable margin, in their ability to playback certain media brands or types... depending on when,where,how they were built. This makes it very hard to track down problems when one user has a player which works perfectly but another user with the exact same model of player, cannot. As always, when buying a player.. the only true test of compatibility is to take a selection of disks with you and test before you buy.. and test on the actual machine you will leave the store with.

8) Finally, Old stuff on the computer - In 11 cases where I got DXC working the solution was simply to re-format and reinstall the OS from scratch. Then install DXC + Driver pack and test... and then install other programs one by one until any offending program/conflict was found. For some odd reason, Windows is very dependant on the *order* that things are installed.. especially drivers and other related subsystems.. For example, One user found that by installing DXC first and then instaling Roxio's Packet writing software it worked fine.. Install Roxio first and DXC would never work reliably because the Roxio stuff cuased conflicts during the burn phase.

The above list is not a definitive one.. It is just a list of the most common causes of problems I have found in helping other users get up and running.

Despite what any user who cannot get DXC to work on their machine..might think or say.. DXC does work for the majority... but I can understand their frustration when it won't work for them.. which is one of the reasons I try and help out here as much as I can.. because once you have DXC running reliably it works for the most part, very well indeed!

Yes, it can take a bit of trial and error to get it working reliabily and yes, DXC is not bug free so it has its own set of problems to be corrected in the future but many times the reason why DXC doesn't work is not actually DXC's fault at all but something else as I have listed above.

Anyhow.. its food for though for anyone who still cannot get DXC to work on a regular basis.. If anyone else would like to contribute solutions that are NON DXC related, to this thread.. they would be more than appreciated.

Regards..

Mag

Like I have always said, 2 people may have the same identical PC from hardware to software and still have various problems.

This software is very solid and I hope people actually read this thoroughly and think about it before putting DXC down.

One of the things, I remember to do,(or forgot to do in my case), was before the installation of DXC,,I shutdown my antivirus program. McAfee antivirus temporarily disconnects it's self before installation of any new updates for it's own software program. Shutdown any internet connections you have,especially broadband with firewalls,once the firewall has been triggered by unwanted hits to your computer,pixeling,and skipping can occur. Hope this helps too.

Good Luck,

Jaybo

Update:

Something I forgot to mention in my last post.

Power Supplies:

I had two users who recently added a DVD Burner to their systems, suffer from burning issues which turned out to be cuased by insufficient current from the power supplies.

Dell, HP, EMachines etc have traditionally always had small power supplies built into their machines. Dell for exmaple usually only provides PS's of 180,200 or 250 watts in total and if you add or replace certain components in your system when upgrading.. like adding a new burner, HD or even graphic card or sound card.. these can place a greater drain on the all important 12v line resulting in tiny gliches in operation which can stop or otherwise mess up a burn or read without the user even being aware of it occuring.

Please bear in mind too.. that the overall wattage of a Power Supply does not always truly indicate how much power it provides to any given line as a 400 watt PS can cause the same probs as a 250w PS if it only generates a low current (amps) on the 12v line for example.

Example:

One user bought an Audigy Two sound card and a new HD. Installed onto his Dell 4550 and everything seemed to be ok until he began to burn at 4X instead of his previous 1X or 2X with an A05. Initially he thought it was simply because he was burning faster and his P4 2Gig couldn't for some unexplained reason, keep up with the burn.. It was only after a lot of investigation and head scratching that someone suggested a change of PS.. (Not an easy thing to do given Dell's use of none standard fittings and components in their computers) but after a suitable 400w PS was found and literally jammed into his computer all errors ceased and now DXC burns perfectly without issue at 4X.

So, worth considering if you are having burn or read errors without a cause being found I feel.

Cheers..

Mag

Mag66 - I'll go you one even better as I've harped on this issue with my customers for a long, long, time. Ya know the low end Dell's being sold by our friend "The TV dude"? Well, most of those cheesy power supplies are a mere 85 watts!!!! Heck, the light bulb in the lamp by my chair is more than that. Right on about power supplies. I see the same thing you've noted day in and day out.

Stollery:

I hear ya!

:)

Ask ATI why the majority of their 9700 Pro / AIW cards are returned as non working... and its all down to cheap cheesy PS's in Dell's EMachines and HPs... that cannot provide enough current to run them stable.

Not ever seen a 85W PS.. but in no way do I doubt they are used.. given the history of Dell, HP , Emachines and any of the other cheapie Comp builders/sellers..

Cheers..

Mag

Hello, I know that dvdxcopy is written for windows machines and this thread is only for issues in windows software or hardware, but I have a Mac powerbook g4 and I can't get Dvdxcopy or windows to recognize my superdrive burner. I know that you have a thread for mac issues, but I wrote on that thread and nobody seams to be home. Does somebody from 321studios or one of the moderators know how to fix this problem?????? Or any sugestions??? I know it's not 321 studios fault if dvdxcopy doesn't work on a mac, but I wrote to them and they told me that there are some costumers that used dvdxcopy with virtual pc in a mac.
Thanks

I have installed close to 100 Dell systems.I stay away from the low end units,but have NEVER had any trouble with the 4500/4550 or the 8200/8250 systems.Yes the newest,I think use a 250 W. power supply,but read the report on Anandtechs site.There are 400 W. supplies that are really under 200 W.Also,you have to add HP/Compaq and Gateway to the mix.Their power supplies are under Dells specs.For most systems ALL of these newer systems will handle dvd burners.It may be otherwise for an older system.If you have not guessed,I have the DELL 8200/2.53ghz and the ATI 9700 Pro,2 hard drives,dvd,20" flat panel and a Sony 500a,which has no trouble at 4x. I do have a new system I am building,using an Antec Truepower 430 W. power supply.
I looked at a lowend "L" series,I have in for repair.It has a 145 W. supply.Not very huge,but for a P3 600mhz system with limited upgradeability,enough! Certainly larger than 85 W!As I said,I stay away from Dell 2350 systems as well as E'machines!Yes,you can have a bad power supply,but the example of the person with the 4550 that Mag gave,was not because the 4550s power supply is not large enough.It was probably defective.

Jeepers:

Actually the 4550 I have currently in my possession, (from work) has a 185W PS and it does not like having to handle a 9700 Pro/ Audigy 2 and extra drives etc... The 12v line just cannot handle the extra load according the the tech who worked on it for me.. Dell themselves accepted that it really isn't designed to handle such extra load and have offered to replace the PS with a 400w if I RMA it... (At no cost I might add) but, your point is well taken and very much agreed with here at least.. that the actual wattage of a PS really doesn't mean a lot at all .. Its what kind of loads it can take on the 12v line that makes all the difference..

Cheers..

Mag

jongz:

Sorry, but I have no idea about running DXC via VirtualPC except that I know of a couple of people who have done so with much success.. but I think DXC is not really designed to run on a Mac and you are probably on your own as far as any tech support is concerned.. (Bear in mind.. I don't work for 321 so I may well be wrong in this assumption)

The only other option is for one of the Max people who are running DXC.. to reply and help you out.. Maybe try starting a new thread with an appropriate header to attract their attention?

Good luck

Mag

Mag,you got my curiosity up,so I popped open my 8200.It does indeed have a 400w. power supply!According to my spec sheets,the last 4550s I installed have 250w supplies.These were installed Dec 17th,2002.Theses were p4/2.53s also.It looks as they either go by the cpu or just install what they have on hand.That said,I just wanted you to know I wasn't really disagreeing with you on the power supply problem.I aways tend to go for more power than I need.Hell,I just ordered a new Ram Hemi!Being single does have its advantages!

Most of us have roxio or nero installed on our computers for burning solfware.and 90% of all computers should have a power supply to run 2 hard drives and or to have a cd-rom and burner at the same time.Most computers should be able to get the power needs of all the above.I my self have not seen a computer with a power supply of 85watts,most power supplys that i worked with were between 200w to 450w.My hp computer has a 450w power supply.
As most computers b-4 dvdxcopy had no conflicks
with RECORDER drivers.As i see it the new man on board was nero which causer a conflict with roxio which in turn caused a conflict with dvdxcopy.Also those who had nero installed then dvdxcopy which had a diff ver of nero caused a conflict.DMA SHOULD BE SET TO BE ON FOR ALL DRIVES.Check your read speeds with dma off then on,rexio has a write speed test.select make a music cd then select music then select tools then system test.If dma is off for all drives the read speed will be much slower.
win 2000 it is hard to remove old drivers,but it can be done.A total reboot is crazy to get a program to work.A sure and best way to install dvdxcopy is to remove roxio or nero,remove all traces from thr registry,shut down all background programs,and virus programs.a total power shutdown,all a/c turned off.wait 20 min
power up,make sure all back ground and virus are stopped NOW install dvdxcopy after install normal shutdown,restart and install rexio or nero.

Jeepers:

"Hell,I just ordered a new Ram Hemi!Being single does have its advantages! "

ROFL! Isn't that the truth!

(Typed very quietly so my wife doesn't hear!)

..and yes, I have to agree that Dell just seem to stick in whatever they have to hand as I now have another user who contacted me and who has an identical 4550 (2.53g P4 bought late Nov 2002) to the one I have.. who found he had a 200w PS built into his..!

Now I remember why I build all mine from scratch myself :)

Cheers...!

ireland:

"DMA SHOULD BE SET TO BE ON FOR ALL DRIVES."

Oddly enough I used to fully agree with you until I saw, with my own eyes, how that is not always the best setting to have depending on config etc..

Yes, DMA can give the best speed but best speed does not always equate to best reliability.. as was proven to me by another local user who had all his drives set to DMA but kept getting read errors from his DVD-Rom drive. He then changed his DMA to PIO and 'lo and behold the read errors stopped and he has had no nproblems since.

Me? I have mine all set to DMA without issue.. but I have to now acknowledge that DMA settings on every drive may not be the best way to go in all circumstances and situations.

Cheers..

Mag

This tells me that the dvd-rom has a problem it needs a filmware update,or a diff dvd-rom or to reinstall the dvd-rom drivers.all computers with dma installed should be able to use all drives in dma.we have 5 diff computers with 5 diff dvd-roms brand names.All useing dma It sure makes a diff when dvdxcopys copys the dvd to the hard drive.As for DLA for get it,its not a good program.and its slow! I am now retired use to repair computers and do computer programing for over 30 years.Now i just set back and take it eazzzzy.I have a side job i am a president of a corporation.But i can not get computers out of my blood.

DMA should be enabled on all computers,but it just doesn't always work that way.I know when I installed my Plextor 1210a quite a while back,there were troubles with the Via chipsets and dma.

Mag66:

Thanks for your reply, could I copy the files dvdxcopy ripped to my mac, and then burn the dvd with roxio toast??? I tried to find some thread about this but I don´t know where dvdxcopy copied the files on my hard disk. Are there any other consideration when I use another burning program???
Thanks

jongz:

If you read the following thread...

http://dvdxcopy.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/18911

...you will see that any discussion about ways and means of burning the output of DXC without using DXC itself.. is outside the scope of this forum I'm afraid... and not appropriate. This is because of the legal position that 321 is taking in respect of "Fair Use".

There are many other forums on the web where such discussion may take place unhindered though.. so maybe a little careful use of "Google" may reap benefits for you.

Regards..

Mag

mag66,
i think this is a great thread to start. i'd like to make a suggestion and you could do what you wish with it. what if you were to start a thread that only the mods could post to stating varios issues that you resolved.(exactly like this one) that would keep alot of unnecessary posts and make it ALOT easier to scan through and see many more solutions without reading all the off subject posts.

my suggestion for the first one is have mr moore state his policy on the upgrades and refunds etc... i for one am really tired of people posting about upgrades and prices and all the other s**t people ask about because they dont spend the time to read before starting new threads and asking about this a million times a day.

thanks
puumba

puumba:

Actually we fdid have a thread, exactly as you described but for some unknown as yet reason.. it vanished into thin air. We are trying to establish it's whereabouts as we speak...

(I am being quite serious too.. believe it or not.. it did just disappear and we have no idea how or why as yet)

Cheers..

Mag

PIO is recommended for the HP DVD200i. For me PIO rather than DMA works for that burner.

Just a footnote to the power supply issue, the basic necessities are usually forgotten, FANS. The operating temperature of your harddrives and CPU are critical as well. Instability due to over temperature is not reported until critical temperature is reached, then your CPU slows down or shuts down. In the case of the harddrive it may idle or go into system checks. I have a LIAN LI case with 5 fans (two of which blow directly on the harddrive rack) and the 520W Vantech PS has 3 fans of its own. The case and PS are aluminium for better heat transfer. Perhaps I should have used bold type, if I knew how lol (please tell me if you do).

Food for thought 8-/

Previous post,
http://dvdxcopy.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2/14259

System:
P4 2.53 GHz 533 MHz FSB (ASUS - the best IMHO)
512 MB RDRAM 1066 MHz 32bit
RAID 2+0 160G Stripe (two WD 80G w/8MB buffer UDMA5)
ATI RADEON 7500 AIW
IDE WD 60G w/2MB buffer UDMA5 (system)
HP DVD200i firmware 1.36 RPC-1 (UDMA2)
Pioneer DVD-117 firmware 1.07 RPC-1 (UDMA4)
HP CDWP 9310i firmware 1.0b (UDMA2)
VANTECH 520W PS

Sotware:
Win XP Pro SP1, Win 2K Pro SP3 (dual boot)
Intel Application Accelerator v.2.3.0.2160
Nero 5.5.10.0
EasyCD Platinum 5.3.2.34
DVDXcopy 1.4.0
DVDx 2.0
Adobe Premier 6.5
Ulead Studio 6
CoolEdit Pro 2.0

All software running including Antivirus, Software Firewall and LAN. XP system restore is ALWAYS disabled.

Regards, HDH

Adding to above post, there are a few system monitors available, which tell you the voltage CPU + 3.3v + 5v + 12v and temperature MB + CPU. These are hardware devices and are very good for trouble-shooting.

ASUS,
http://usa.asus.com/mb/mb_accessories.htm

Vantec,
http://www.vantecusa.com/nxp101.html

http://www.coolerguys.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=001&Category_Code=AC-THRM

I will edit and add more addy's for universal hardware if I find them.

Mag:

What do you mean by "Packet Writing software/drivers"?

Can you explain and provide what programs, or whatever these are please?

Thank you,

S

mag or anyone else who could help:

since this thread started with you talking about helping get some users going, i got a question for you. i have a very simular setup to what i have read you saying you use. except, i was a 98 beta tester, so my os is 98. i have the pioneer a04 writer, using princo dvd-rw's. i'm not sure which firmware version (how do i check?). i'm not sure if firmware will change my results.

problem: if i write a nearly full disk - over maybe 4.2 gig, the end of the movie won't play on my set-top apex 3201. any ideas of why? will firmware change this, or do i possibly have a bad writer or bad media. some disks get funny polk-a-dots after being burned...one or two very small perfet circles.

<I'd look long and hard at the media you are using. Princo media.. is known to have issues towards the end of a disk's playback with several players... giving the exact same symptoms you are seeing>

<The A04 with v1.31 seems to burn flawlessly for me at least. No issues with Ritec 1X disks (90c each) burning at 2X with the official v1.31 firmware so I stick with that version myself.>

<Regards... Mag>

thanks in advance.

ann