DVD burning mod (7/14/06 - v1.4.2)

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by gand

Would be really grateful if anyone had any ideas - let me know if you need any more info.

First of all, can you do me a favor and rename the .log file to .log.txt and post it on the forum for me to look at, it should be in your work directory. That should give me a good idea of what we are dealing with.

Secondly, could you try burning the DVD and playing it in a standalone DVD player to see if it has the same problems?

[Tim M]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Nope, burning still has to be started manually from the Other Programs menu. The burning process is still to intrusive to just happen in the background so I make sure you have the option to run it when you are ready. Glad you got it working, enjoy!

Just wanted to make sure I had it working the way it's intended to work

Thanks for the reply and for the mod. For me, DVD burning is the "killer app" for HTPC in terms of WAF. We are making the full-time switch from Tivo later this week

Tim

[gand]

Three log files are attached (I switched on extra debugging).

I've tried playing in a standalone dvd player, in sagetv and in powerdvd and get the same problem in all.

Cheers,
Gand

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by gand

Three log files are attached (I switched on extra debugging).

I've tried playing in a standalone dvd player, in sagetv and in powerdvd and get the same problem in all.

Cheers,
Gand

There should be one more log file one level up from the folder you got those. Something like...

Futurama - Parasites Lost.dvdList.0.qdvd.dvd.log

Can you post that also?

However, just from reading what you posted though I can see you're in a PAL country which is probably where the issue is coming from. I've never had any PAL material to test with so more than likely i'm just setting something up wrong. How quickly does the DVD lose audio/video sync? If its relativly quickly, perhaps I could get you to upload a minute or so of video somewhere so that I could download it and do some testing. Send me a PM if that's possible.

[gand]

evil penguin,

Yep, I'm in UK which is PAL.

attached is the other log file.

It takes at least 10 mins to lose sync, so probably not possible to upload video...

[evilpenguin]

Well, first of all, i'd start by trying to burn a different video if you haven't already. It looks like yours hits some errors at about 8:47 that could possibly account for the sync. Then, if even after you try another video it still loses sync you can try opening up your advanced.pref file and changing the line

Regular switches for ffmpeg=-acodec mp2 -ab 224 -ac 2 -mbd 2 -qmin 2 -async 1 -y -deinterlace

to

Regular switches for ffmpeg=-async 1 -y -deinterlace

and if that still doesn't work try

Regular switches for ffmpeg=-async 50

and if that STILL doesn't work try it with nothing

Regular switches for ffmpeg=

Then we'll see where we are after that.

Oh, btw, do the menu's look alright in PAL?

[Bryann]

OK, I'm completely stumped and cannot find the problem, so maybe you guys can help get this thing working. I tried getting it set up on a client and couldn't so I thought I'd try to server instead, but no joy.

When I click on Burn to DVD > Single DVD, 2 files are generated in my work folder: dvdList and Moral Orel - God-Fearing.dvdList.0.qdvd. Dirmon finds it and starts up two instances of perl2dvd.exe, one doing nothing and the other running 100% on one core. After a second or two, the queued picture shows up in the sageOthers folder and shows up in Sage, then a blank text file Moral Orel - God-Fearing.dvdList.0.qdvd.dvd is created. At this point, nothing else happens and one of the two perl2dvd.exe just churns away at 100% on one core.

DirMon2 is running as a service logged on as an administrator.

Here's the files...

dvdList

------------------Advanced Preferences--------------------
non-MPEG file info regEX = \d{1,2}x\d{1,2} -
Optional Path to wake up SageTV = 
Extention to use for other Programs = 
Create runable batch file in add2dvdq = 0
Disable creating readable file names = 0 
RegEX for stripping out illigal charactors in readable filename = '|"|\\|/|\||<|>|:|\*|\?|\& 

gm  = P:\SageTV\SageTV\perl2DVD\gm.exe
Full Path = R:\New\MoralOrel-GodFearing-63337-0.mpg
Extention = R:\New\MoralOrel-GodFearing-63337-0(.mpg)
Filename = R:\New\(MoralOrel-GodFearing-63337-0.mpg)
File      = (MoralOrel-GodFearing-63337-0).mpg
Full file = (R:\New\MoralOrel-GodFearing-63337-0).mpg
showTitle = (Moral Orel)###God-Fearing$$$%%%
episodeName= (God-Fearing)$$$%%%
episodeDesc= ()%%%
Creating qdvd file for R:\New\MoralOrel-GodFearing-63337-0.mpg!!!54@@@Moral Orel###God-Fearing$$$%%%
Creating qdvd file from R:\New\DVD\Moral Orel - God-Fearing.dvdList.0
Executing- "P:\SageTV\SageTV\perl2DVD\gm.exe" composite -resize 150x150 "P:\SageTV\SageTV\perl2dvd\queued.png" "P:\SageTV\SageTV\perl2DVD\burnImage.jpg" "P:\sageOthers\Moral Orel - God-Fearing.dvdList.0.burn_i.jpg"

Moral Orel - God-Fearing.dvdList.0.qdvd

1 900000
R:\New\MoralOrel-GodFearing-63337-0.mpg!!!54@@@Moral Orel###God-Fearing$$$%%%

Moral Orel - God-Fearing.dvdList.0.qdvd.dvd is empty.

[gand]

Thanks I'll try your suggestions and let you know how I get on.

Oh, btw, do the menu's look alright in PAL?

And the menus look fine in PAL.

Cheers,
Gand

[evilpenguin]

Bryann -

When you create select “Burn Single-Video DVD” two files should be created that look something like this

1) SpongeBob SquarePants - Jellyfishing Pla.dvdList.3.qdvd
2) dvdList.log (If it already exists, it will have new data appended to it)

Then once dirmon starts processing the job two new files and one new folder should be created

1) SpongeBob SquarePants - Jellyfishing Pla.dvdList.3.qdvd.dvd.log
2) SpongeBob SquarePants - Jellyfishing Pla.dvdList.3.work
3) SpongeBob SquarePants - Jellyfishing Pla.dvdList.3.WorkFolder

At the very least, before anything fancy is done, the script should print out the preferences to the qdvd.log file which will look something like this

------------------Basic Preferences--------------------
Sage Directory = C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV
imgBurn = C:\Program Files\ImgBurn\ImgBurn.exe
burnImage = C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\perl2DVD\burnImage.jpg
sageOthers = \\Chivo\sageothers
localSageOthers = C:\sageOthers
burnerDrive = Z:
DVD Menu theme = Images_bt
scratchPath = J:\DVD
qdvd folder = J:\DVD
------------------Advanced Preferences--------------------
ffmpeg = C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\SageTVTranscoder.exe
ffmpegSwitchesHDTV = -y -acodec copy -intra_matrix 08,08,09,11,13,13,14,17,08,08,11,12,13,14,17,18,09,11,13,13,14,17,17,19,11,11,13,13,14,17,18,20,11,13,13,14,16,17,20,24,13,13,14,16,17,20,24,29,13,13,14,17,19,23,28,34,13,14,17,19,23,28,34,41 -inter_matrix 08,08,08,09,09,09,09,10,08,08,09,09,09,09,10,10,08,09,09,09,09,10,10,10,09,09,09,09,10,10,10,10,09,09,09,10,10,10,10,11,09,09,10,10,10,10,11,11,09,10,10,10,10,11,11,11,10,10,10,10,11,11,11,11 -r 30000/1001 -bf 2 -mbd 2 -qmin 1 -mblmin 1 -lmin 1 -qsquish 1 -rc_init_cplx 500 -padtop 0 -padbottom 0 -async 50 -flags2 +sgop -deinterlace
ffmpegSwitches = -acodec mp2 -ab 224 -ac 2 -mbd 2 -qmin 2 -async 1 -y -deinterlace
maxBitrate = 7800
DVD Res = NTSC
imgBurnSwitches = /START /VERIFY NO /CLOSE /ERASE /SPEED MAX /WAITFORMEDIA /DELETEIMAGE YES
TargetSize = 4.7 Billion Bytes 
HDTV comskipOffset = 3 Seconds 
SDTV comskipOffset = 0 Seconds 
Defualt Chapter Length = 5
MPEG Bitrate Adjustment coefs = 550 
non-MPEG Bitrate Adjustment coefs = 250 
non-MPEG file info regEX = \d{1,2}x\d{1,2} -
Transcode Priority = belownormal
Minute Difference threshold between estimate and reported = 0
Bitrate EQ coefs= 0.0666666667,712
Estimated Filesize coefs= 1.0718,-93.901
Optional UNC version of work folder to use for burning .bat file = \\Secretivo\Data4 (J)\DVD
Optional path to SageTV or SageClient executable relative burning computer for .bat file = C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\SageTVClient.exe
Enable Updating Status Pictures in Other Programs menu = 1
Use old meathod for SDTV transcode check = 0
New demux check correction = 1.42
Optional other programs special extention = _m
ImgBurn error detect mode (0 disable) = 2
Change Image permissions = 1
MPEG preprocess CMD = 
Conditional extention to preprocess video = 
Create runable batch file in add2dvdq = 0
Disable creating readable file names = 0 
RegEX for stripping out illigal charactors in readable filename = '|"|\\|/|\||<|>|:|\*|\?|\&|\; 
RegEX for stripping out illigal charactors in menuGen = '|\&|\; 
Disable work folder saftey check = 0
Debug Mode = !
dvdAuthor = C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\perl2DVD\dvdauthor.exe
mkisofs   = C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\perl2DVD\mkisofs.exe
grMagic   = C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\perl2DVD\gm.exe
png2yuv   = C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\perl2DVD\png2yuv.exe
mpeg2enc  = C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\perl2DVD\mpeg2enc.exe
mplex     = C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\perl2DVD\mplex.exe
spumux    = C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\perl2DVD\spumux.exe
bbdmux    = C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\perl2DVD\bbdmux.exe 
SageTV drive letter = C:

Transcoder Program = SageTVTranscoder.exe

So if your qdvd.log file is empty then something is breaking even before my script does anything. Do me a favor and open up a command prompt and run the command (make sure to use the correct paths and file names)

”C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\perl2dvd.exe”  “R:\New\DVD\Moral Orel – God-Fearing.dvdList.0.qdvd” "C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\perl2dvd.pref"

It should manually kick off the DVD burning process so see if that even works. Let me know what happens.

[Bryann]

Now that sorta worked. It ran through the whole process, transcoded the file, etc. but the DVD reads as 4.37Gb now and there's apparently nothing on it.

EDIT* I ejected it and put it back in and now it shows up. So no problem there.

[Bryann]

Still having those problems on the server but the client is at least getting into perl2dvd OK. The problem with the client is that it keeps looking for the video in the regular path (R:\New\blahblah.mpg on the server) instead of the UNC path (\\xxxxxx\pvrNewRecordings) which the server has for it's recordings location. I noticed the mod did this on the server as well. Is there something I need to do to get the mod to use the UNC path, and if so, what?

If I could just get it working on the client I'd be happy lol.

Thanks

[rsagetv99]

Hey evil, hope you're settled into your new crib.

Can you explain more about the Dirmonless option in the advanced prefs. Specifically, what color icon should you see in the Other Programs directory when using this option? Does it just create a batch file that launches your Perl2DVD script?

What about the pre and post command stuff you added a while back for video redo, is that still there? I couldn't find it in the advanced prefs file. I would like to switch to the DirMonless method, but if the pre/post command isn't there I won't be able to.

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by rsagetv99

Hey evil, hope you're settled into your new crib.

Can you explain more about the Dirmonless option in the advanced prefs. Specifically, what color icon should you see in the Other Programs directory when using this option? Does it just create a batch file that launches your Perl2DVD script?

What about the pre and post command stuff you added a while back for video redo, is that still there? I couldn't find it in the advanced prefs file. I would like to switch to the DirMonless method, but if the pre/post command isn't there I won't be able to.

Yep, all settled in and ready to write some more code.

With dirmonless operation, when you select Send To... -> Single File DVD, right away you should see a green icon in Other Programs. Clicking that will manually kick off a batch fill that just runs perl2dvd just like dirmon does.

As for the pre and post stuff, it's all still in there. Look in the advanced.pref file items...

MPEG preprocess command (%FULL_ORIGINAL_PATH%, %FULL_OUTPUT_PATH%) =
Only preprocess mpegs if it has an accompaning file with the following extention =

Ignore what it says in the pref file though, the real supported substitustion strings are...

%FULLFILESPEC% = Full path including file w/ ext
%FULLFILENOEXT% = Full path including file w/o ext
%DRIVE% = Drive letter of file
%PATH% = Path to file w/o file
%BASENAME% = Name of file w/o extention
%EXTENSION% = Extention of file
%FULL_OUTPUT_PATH% = Full path including file that the script is expecting the outputed video to be at. If you don't use this substituion string, I assume you work on the file in its original place w/ its original name.

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by Bryann

Still having those problems on the server but the client is at least getting into perl2dvd OK. The problem with the client is that it keeps looking for the video in the regular path (R:\New\blahblah.mpg on the server) instead of the UNC path (\\xxxxxx\pvrNewRecordings) which the server has for it's recordings location. I noticed the mod did this on the server as well. Is there something I need to do to get the mod to use the UNC path, and if so, what?

If I could just get it working on the client I'd be happy lol.

Thanks

Well, the script only uses what SageTV reports as the file's location so there's really nothing I can do in the current version. However, if you let me know exactly how you want your setup to work, I should be able to help you with the configuration. So answer me these questions 3 and I should be able to get you going...

1) Which computer do you want to do the transcoding?
2) Which computer do you want to do the burning?
3) Which computer has the recordings stored on them?

[Bryann]

1. The client.
2. The client.
3. The server.

The full path name on the server is R:\New and that folder is shared as \\xxxxxx\pvrNewRecordings. That's also how I have the entry for the recordings folder (the UNC path) but when perl2dvd goes looking for it, it's searching under the full path name rather than the UNC path.

I assume from what I've read I've read in other posts that there's an issue with the wiz.bin files since that would tell it where it is. It's saying that it's in R:\New rather than \\xxxxxx\pvrNewRecordings. Fixing that would presumably fix the problem that my client is having.

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by Bryann

1. The client.
2. The client.
3. The server.

The full path name on the server is R:\New and that folder is shared as \\xxxxxx\pvrNewRecordings. That's also how I have the entry for the recordings folder (the UNC path) but when perl2dvd goes looking for it, it's searching under the full path name rather than the UNC path.

I assume from what I've read I've read in other posts that there's an issue with the wiz.bin files since that would tell it where it is. It's saying that it's in R:\New rather than \\xxxxxx\pvrNewRecordings. Fixing that would presumably fix the problem that my client is having.

Well it sounds like a nice quick fix is, if possible, map network drives on your client so that they can access the recordings using the same, local, path as the server. Other than that, I can add a property in the next version that you can setup to translate actual paths to UNC paths.

Update: UNC translation was easier to add than I thought so if the first ways not possible or doesn't fix it I can post a new build for you this afternoon.

[Bryann]

Well, that didn't work either. Mapped the drive and the path names are the exact same but no go. I always end up with this in the work folder no matter which file I try even though I can copy and paste the path right from the error file into explorer and it pops up.

R:\New\RobotChicken-AdoptionsanOption-63222-0.mpg: I/O error occured
Usually that means that input file is truncated and/or corrupted.

I'd be happy to give that new build a whirl.

And here's something odd that I noticed on the server (yeah, back to that), when perl2dvd gets called by dirmon and it starts churning away, it's making over 1 million reads per second but zero writes. But when called from a command prompt, it's a total of 390 reads and 11 writes.

[nyplayer]

Bryann,

That is the exact same error I get when I use map drives on my client. That will be doing the encoding. I have also ran Dirmon2 as a USER and System

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by Bryann

Well, that didn't work either. Mapped the drive and the path names are the exact same but no go. I always end up with this in the work folder no matter which file I try even though I can copy and paste the path right from the error file into explorer and it pops up.

R:\New\RobotChicken-AdoptionsanOption-63222-0.mpg: I/O error occured
Usually that means that input file is truncated and/or corrupted.

I'd be happy to give that new build a whirl.

And here's something odd that I noticed on the server (yeah, back to that), when perl2dvd gets called by dirmon and it starts churning away, it's making over 1 million reads per second but zero writes. But when called from a command prompt, it's a total of 390 reads and 11 writes.

Hmm... it still sounds like some sort of networking permission issue. Do you have dirmon logging on as you or another user?

[nyplayer]

Evilpenguin,

The problems seems to be with Dirmon. It appears that Dirmon2 has a problem accessing mapped drives. See Below I tried my transcoding jobs on my Client that I normally run on the server and get this error.


2006-Sep-22 08:45:02 - boost::filesystem::directory_iterator constructor: "M:\": The system cannot find the path specified.
2006-Sep-22 08:45:02 - Starting overseer