Do you use DVDSpy under Windows XP?

[siwilson]

Mike,

I have XP Pro running on my HTPC with Radeon LE, 6037 drivers, TheaterTek and a Matrix Orbital VFD. No problems here running TheaterTek patch 80.

Girder 3.2.4 and DVDSpy 1.3.2 ad VFD 1.12

[MMcM]

If you use DVDSpy under Windows XP, could you let me know a few things?


What DVD player do you use?
Do you see freezes or other weird behavior, especially when changing domains (from menu to main title or back)?
Do you target an OSD or an LCD/VFD?


Some people are having problems and XP might be a common theme. I was pretty sure that someone was using DVDSpy successfully under XP or that I would have heard by now if no one was. But it will help to quickly confirm this one way or another.

Thanks.

[MMcM]

I took my old HTPC machine, which is in the process of becoming a file server, and put it back together enough to install XP Pro. I added nothing else other than TheaterTek + patch 83. Unfortunately, it cannot play at all. It freezes right away after loading the disc. No difference if I add XP SP1.

This machine has an nVidia GeForce 2 GTS video card, for which XP installed a driver. Most likely that is the issue, although I see there is a post in the TT forum suggesting it doesn't work with a newer driver, either.

I guess I will try again tomorrow with the real HTPC, after ghosting it. It has a Radeon 7500 and Audiophile 2496, and so should be just like the machines that are having problems.

[MMcM]

I ghosted up the working Win2K configuration on the HTPC and installed XP. Specifically, I installed the following:

Windows XP Pro, with defaults for everything.
Motherboard device drivers: INF, IAA, LAN, Audio (for system noises, not DVD audio).
Radeon driver 6025 (no uninstall, just ran the installer EXE, said no to Multimedia Drivers, whatever those are).
Delta driver 27 "final".
TheaterTek from CD.
TT patch 83.


Then I checked that DVD playback worked. It did. Video was of course washed out, but I didn't bother fooling with that.

Then I installed a minimum Girder:

Girder 3.2.5.
DVDSpy 1.40.
Logger 1.0.4 ("for 3.2").
Self-register MediaSpy.DLL and nothing else.
Enable DVDSpy and Logger.
Enable input devices.


Then I played a few discs again. Everything was still fine. The logger window filled up with domain change events from MENU to DVD, title and chapter change events, and lots of elapsed events.

Then I filled things out:

USB RS-232 serial hub that the VFD is connected to.
LCD 2.3.
Enabled LCD; disabled Logger.
Loaded DVD2LCD2.GML.
Enable input devices.


This could now be called a minimum HTPC. Played a few discs again. The VFD displayed just what it should. No pauses between domains or chapters or anything.

Then I installed Zoom Player 2.80 and repeated the tests with it. Still no problem.

So, even though it sounds like I should have the same setup as the number of people who are having troubles, I am not seeing any. Can anyone spot something that looks odd? Did you do something I didn't or vice versa? I'll try a few things more, but I'm running low on ideas.

Side note: Before I installed the USB hub device driver, the VFD was filling up with xpxpxpxpxpxpxp, a couple of characters every time it rebooted. Now that could just be garbage and some bizarre coincidence. But I think it more likely that XP is trying to Plug-and-Play announce itself to whatever's at the other end of the USB port. And whatever packet it sends looks like an output command to the hub and then character output to the display. Net effect is that my HTPC is being used for brand advertising while I install. :evil:

[rickd]

I am running 1.38.0.55 of spy plugin and have problems so perhaps it the version......

just tried 1.4 too no go

Rick

[Mastiff]

I tried it this summer with ZoomPlayer, and I remember that the DVDs got stuck on the FBI warning and similar menus. But when it got to the movie, it kept playing until the movie was over. This was with XP.

[Francois]

Funny you should ask...

I was about to post about some weird behavior with TT and XP, which I traced to DVDSpy: with DVDSpy enabled, TT only plays for a few seconds (sound and pictures) and then stops. It is sometimes possible to move to the next chapter, but the same behavior occurs again (This happens with menus, FBI warnings, as well as the feature movie).

After disabling DVDSpy, TT behaves normally.

This problem happens with both the latest Radeon video drivers (Catalyst 2.3) and the older 'good' drivers (6025). I have installed XP Pro SP1, but there are other people who experience the same issue with a barebone XP install (look at the TT forum for additional postings)

I am working on converting my VFD script (custom creation to control a SEE/BGMicro VFD via USB/Serial converter and proprietary protocol) to LUA, and would certainly like if DVDSpy could be fixed under XP :)

While I'm at it, it seems that the events that PowerDVD XP generates are not working properly on both WinME and XP... is this a known issue? (the payload is always 2 character long, and seems very strange).

I do hope that you'll be able to find an easy fix, as I do rely quite a lot on DVDSpy for my HTPC automation !

Thanks

Francois

Edit: HW acceleration or not, S/PDIF enabled or not, the issue remains...

[PGPfan@home]

Hi MMcM,

I use XP (both retail and SP1) with DVDSpy and have no problems.
DVD player is TheaterTek, and I feed a MatrixOrbital VFD.

Hope this helps.

-PGPfan@home

[Francois]

McMM,

I can't spot anything that looks odd in the XP tests you ran. In fact, what you installed is very close to my setup. The only differences (or potential differences) I can see are:
- I have also installed SP1 and PowerDVD XP (before TT)
- I have upgraded my radeon drivers to the new catalyst 2.3 (but had the same problem with 6025)
- My XP setup is a dual boot (on drive D), with NTFS formatting

Could the issue be due to hardware? (I have an ASUS CUSL2C with a PIII at 1 GHz, a radeon LE/7200, a delta 410, a regionless Toshiba DVD/CDRW, a network card, and a ADTV card)... FYI, I did disable the NIC and ADTV cards and still have the DVDSpy lockups.

One other thing I noticed, is that, one of the DLLs (MediaSPY, IIRC) was difficult to unregister (or register to upgrade to the latest DVDspy), even without running TT or Girder... is this normal?

Are there some debugging tools which could generate some useful information to fix the plug-in? I'd be glad to test things I than can help.

Francois

[Ron]

note: The catalist drivers came up in an unrelated bug report too ( about irman not initializing.... )

[MMcM]

I have not seen any difference with SP1 or Catalyst 2.3. So, let's focus on no SP1 and 6025 to start, since that's shorter to arrive at.

I am reluctant to blame CPU / motherboard, although I suppose that is possibility. Also, it might be that the problem is more prevalent on a slower CPU. I tested on a newish machine with a 2.26GHz P4. Perhaps there is some time critical operation whose timing has been altered outside of a working range. Or some timing problem for which the window of vulnerability is open longer on a slower machine.

Did you install Intel's INF driver? Under Win2K, playing DVD to a Radeon pretty much does not work if you do not. I have seen contradictory information on whether it is as crucial on XP. I have also seen that one must install it before installing the video driver, suggesting that one-time initialization decisions are made based on it, but not saying that explicitly. Could be they just meant do it now before you forget.

It's also possible that my testing methodology is faulty. Am I right that 100% of the discs fail 100% of the time in one of the transitions? If not, perhaps we can agree on a standard test that fails almost all the time. For instance, do Avia or Video Essentials fail following some certain sequence? I don't own many movies (cheaper to rent). But I did try on a variety of what I had around.

MediaSpy.dll does not register / unregister itself in a standard way, by adding or removing classes from the registry. Registering puts itself in place of the standard server and remembers that. Unregistering puts things back the way they were. That said, I have never heard of anything strange happening when installing or uninstalling.

There is a problem where DisplaySpyHook.dll is hard to overwrite if you have run DVDSpy in the current session. Some process keeps it loaded even though the spy hook has ended. Maybe that's what you remember? I've always assumed that this was some quirk in Windows.

Since I am not really sure what the hang is a symptom of, I cannot put together a focused diagnostic. But I have a few things that we can try. Do you have Visual Studio? If so, I can just give you some source conditionals to turn on and off. If not, I can put together several copies of the relevant DLL. Either way, PM me an email address where you can receive it. Likwise anyone else with reproducible problems willing to try a few things.

[rickd]

I followed the install instructuions in the readme perhaps that is the problem I registered everything in their and ran all the .reg files.

I will try to register and install spy as per your instructions on another patition I am beginning to think this is an install issue.

How do we replace displayhook.dll or is this require another clean install?

Thanks Rick

[Francois]

McMM,

Thanks for your quick response and suggestions. Here are my responses to your questions...

Did you install Intel's INF driver?
No, I did not install these drivers initially (I did try to do it per your suggestion, but during the install, I get a message indicating that these drivers are not needed: "The current OS support the intel chipset drivers on your system, no INF update is needed")

It's also possible that my testing methodology is faulty. Am I right that 100% of the discs fail 100% of the time in one of the transitions? For instance, do Avia or Video Essentials fail following some certain sequence? I don't own many movies (cheaper to rent).
I don't know for sure, but I've seen the problem on all the five DVDs I own (I rent too ;)). I do have the problem with Avia, so this could be the standard test.


MediaSpy.dll does not register / unregister itself in a standard way, by adding or removing classes from the registry. Registering puts itself in place of the standard server and remembers that. Unregistering puts things back the way they were. That said, I have never heard of anything strange happening when installing or uninstalling.

There is a problem where DisplaySpyHook.dll is hard to overwrite if you have run DVDSpy in the current session. Some process keeps it loaded even though the spy hook has ended. Maybe that's what you remember? I've always assumed that this was some quirk in Windows.
My bad, the problem I noticed was with DisplaySpyHook, not MediaSpy. When I try to register it (even after a fresh reboot, without girder running), I get an error message as follows:
D:\program files\girder32\displayspyhook.dll was loaded but the DllRegisterServer entry point was not found
This file cannot be registered
it is possible that it worked out fine during the first initialization, but I am not 100% sure.

Do you have Visual Studio? If so, I can just give you some source conditionals to turn on and off. If not, I can put together several copies of the relevant DLL. Either way, PM me an email address where you can receive it. Likwise anyone else with reproducible problems willing to try a few things.
Don't have Visual Studio, but will send you a PM right away...

[MMcM]

OK. Here is the test we have agreed upon. Please confirm that this does show the problem for you. If not, please suggest another.

Of course, I won't turn away information from anyone, but the closer the setup is to the one outlined, the easier it is to keep track.


Bare XP+6025+AP2496 as outlined above.
Bare Girder+Logger+DVDSpy as outlined above, input enabled.
Avia already loaded into drive. (If program launches on insert, it has been closed and quieted down.)
Launch TheaterTek.
Plays FBI warning for 10 seconds.
Plays program introduction for 18 seconds.
Plays presenters for a minute or more.




Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:47:00 Pld1:
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Chapter 09:47:00 Pld1:
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.TitleNo 09:47:00 Pld1:
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Domain 09:47:00 Pld1: STOP
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:47:00 Pld1: 00:01:13
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.State 09:47:00 Pld1: Stopped
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:59 Pld1: 00:01:12
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Duration 09:46:58 Pld1:
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:58 Pld1: 00:01:11
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.TitleNo 09:46:57 Pld1: 10
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Domain 09:46:57 Pld1: DVD
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.VideoPosition 09:46:57 Pld1: 800,600,0,0;800,600,0,0;720,540,0,0
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.State 09:46:57 Pld1: Playing
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:57 Pld1: 00:01:10
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:56 Pld1: 00:01:09
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:55 Pld1: 00:01:08
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:54 Pld1: 00:01:07
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:53 Pld1: 00:01:06
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Chapter 09:46:52 Pld1: 03
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:52 Pld1: 00:01:05
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:51 Pld1: 00:01:04
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:50 Pld1: 00:01:03
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:49 Pld1: 00:01:02
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:48 Pld1: 00:01:01
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Duration 09:46:47 Pld1:
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:47 Pld1: 00:01:00
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.TitleNo 09:46:46 Pld1: 10
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Domain 09:46:46 Pld1: DVD
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.VideoPosition 09:46:46 Pld1: 800,600,0,0;800,600,0,0;720,540,0,0
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.State 09:46:46 Pld1: Playing
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:46 Pld1: 00:00:59
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:45 Pld1: 00:00:58
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:44 Pld1: 00:00:57
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:43 Pld1: 00:00:56
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:42 Pld1: 00:00:55
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Chapter 09:46:41 Pld1: 03
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:41 Pld1: 00:00:54
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:40 Pld1: 00:00:53
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:39 Pld1: 00:00:52
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:38 Pld1: 00:00:51
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:37 Pld1: 00:00:50
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Duration 09:46:36 Pld1:
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:36 Pld1: 00:00:49
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.TitleNo 09:46:35 Pld1: 10
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Domain 09:46:35 Pld1: DVD
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.VideoPosition 09:46:35 Pld1: 800,600,0,0;800,600,0,0;720,540,0,0
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.State 09:46:35 Pld1: Playing
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:35 Pld1: 00:00:48
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:34 Pld1: 00:00:47
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:33 Pld1: 00:00:46
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:32 Pld1: 00:00:45
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:31 Pld1: 00:00:44
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Chapter 09:46:30 Pld1: 03
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:30 Pld1: 00:00:43
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:29 Pld1: 00:00:42
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:28 Pld1: 00:00:41
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:27 Pld1: 00:00:40
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:26 Pld1: 00:00:39
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Duration 09:46:25 Pld1:
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:25 Pld1: 00:00:38
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.TitleNo 09:46:24 Pld1: 10
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Domain 09:46:24 Pld1: DVD
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.VideoPosition 09:46:24 Pld1: 800,600,0,0;800,600,0,0;720,540,0,0
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.State 09:46:24 Pld1: Playing
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:24 Pld1: 00:00:37
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:23 Pld1: 00:00:36
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:22 Pld1: 00:00:35
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:21 Pld1: 00:00:34
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:20 Pld1: 00:00:33
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Chapter 09:46:19 Pld1: 03
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:19 Pld1: 00:00:32
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:18 Pld1: 00:00:31
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:17 Pld1: 00:00:30
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:16 Pld1: 00:00:29
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:15 Pld1: 00:00:28
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Duration 09:46:14 Pld1:
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:14 Pld1: 00:00:27
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.TitleNo 09:46:13 Pld1: 10
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Domain 09:46:13 Pld1: DVD
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.VideoPosition 09:46:13 Pld1: 800,600,0,0;800,600,0,0;720,540,0,0
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.State 09:46:13 Pld1: Playing
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:13 Pld1: 00:00:26
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:12 Pld1: 00:00:25
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:11 Pld1: 00:00:24
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:10 Pld1: 00:00:23
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:09 Pld1: 00:00:22
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Chapter 09:46:08 Pld1: 03
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:08 Pld1: 00:00:21
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:07 Pld1: 00:00:20
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:06 Pld1: 00:00:19
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:05 Pld1: 00:00:18
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:04 Pld1: 00:00:17
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Duration 09:46:03 Pld1:
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:03 Pld1: 00:00:16
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.TitleNo 09:46:02 Pld1: 10
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Domain 09:46:02 Pld1: DVD
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.VideoPosition 09:46:02 Pld1: 800,600,0,0;800,600,0,0;720,540,0,0
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.State 09:46:02 Pld1: Playing
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:02 Pld1: 00:00:15
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:01 Pld1: 00:00:14
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:46:00 Pld1: 00:00:13
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:59 Pld1: 00:00:12
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:58 Pld1: 00:00:11
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Chapter 09:45:57 Pld1: 03
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:57 Pld1: 00:00:10
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:56 Pld1: 00:00:09
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:55 Pld1: 00:00:08
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:54 Pld1: 00:00:07
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:53 Pld1: 00:00:06
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Duration 09:45:52 Pld1:
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:52 Pld1: 00:00:05
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.TitleNo 09:45:51 Pld1: 10
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Domain 09:45:51 Pld1: DVD
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.VideoPosition 09:45:51 Pld1: 800,600,0,0;800,600,0,0;720,540,0,0
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.State 09:45:51 Pld1: Playing
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:51 Pld1: 00:00:04
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:50 Pld1: 00:00:03
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:49 Pld1: 00:00:02
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:49 Pld1: 00:00:01
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:47 Pld1: 00:00:00
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Chapter 09:45:47 Pld1: 03
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:46 Pld1: 00:00:18
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:45 Pld1: 00:00:17
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:44 Pld1: 00:00:16
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:43 Pld1: 00:00:15
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:42 Pld1: 00:00:14
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Duration 09:45:41 Pld1:
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:41 Pld1: 00:00:13
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.TitleNo 09:45:40 Pld1: 10
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Domain 09:45:40 Pld1: DVD
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.VideoPosition 09:45:40 Pld1: 800,600,0,0;800,600,0,0;720,540,0,0
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.State 09:45:40 Pld1: Playing
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:40 Pld1: 00:00:12
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:39 Pld1: 00:00:11
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Chapter 09:45:38 Pld1: 02
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:38 Pld1: 00:00:10
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:37 Pld1: 00:00:09
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:36 Pld1: 00:00:08
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:35 Pld1: 00:00:07
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:34 Pld1: 00:00:06
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:33 Pld1: 00:00:05
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:32 Pld1: 00:00:04
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:31 Pld1: 00:00:03
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Duration 09:45:30 Pld1:
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:30 Pld1: 00:00:02
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.TitleNo 09:45:30 Pld1: 10
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Domain 09:45:30 Pld1: DVD
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.VideoPosition 09:45:30 Pld1: 800,600,0,0;800,600,0,0;720,540,0,0
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.State 09:45:30 Pld1: Playing
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:30 Pld1: 00:00:01
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:30 Pld1: 00:00:00
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Chapter 09:45:30 Pld1: 02
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:24 Pld1: 00:00:09
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:18 Pld1: 00:00:08
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:12 Pld1: 00:00:07
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:06 Pld1: 00:00:06
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:45:00 Pld1: 00:00:05
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:44:55 Pld1: 00:00:04
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:44:53 Pld1: 00:00:03
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Elapsed 09:44:52 Pld1: 00:00:00
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Duration 09:44:52 Pld1:
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Chapter 09:44:52 Pld1: 01
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.TitleNo 09:44:52 Pld1: 10
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.Domain 09:44:52 Pld1: DVD
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.VideoPosition 09:44:52 Pld1: 800,600,0,0;800,600,0,0;720,540,0,0
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.State 09:44:52 Pld1: Playing
Dev: 215 TheaterTek.VideoPosition 09:44:52 Pld1: 728,574,88,116;720,540,0,0;720,540,0,0

[MMcM]

I have sent testers three special versions of DisplaySpyHook.dll.

Each one can be copied over the original and tested.


To determine what exactly has happened when things are frozen. This removes the code that suppresses duplicate events. Therefore, you should see the same position information over and over again. If this flow stops when the program is stuck, then it means more has stopped than just playback. Let me know whether you still see events when it is stuck.
To determine whether the spy hook ever takes an exceptionally long time. Every time it takes longer than before, this is noted to the system debug log. You will need DbgView (or equivalent) running. Get it from here (http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/debugview.shtml). Let me know what the longest time reported is and whether it occurs close to when it gets stuck.
Remove part of what the hook does. Specifically, VideoPosition and State will not be valid. But Domain, Elapsed, and Duration should still be. Let me know whether events look different and whether it gets stuck.

[Mastiff]

This is not what you want to hear, but...suddenly my ZoomPlayer/DVDSpy integration works flawlessly! The only thing I know I have done since the last time I tried DVDSpy (on Sunday) is to upgrade to the latest Radeon drivers and repair the ATI DVD installation. My HTPC is filled to the rim with MP3 and HTPC software, as well as hardware (three soundcards, two CD two DVD, four big harddisks and so on), but I haven't changed anything else as far as I can remember since Sunday, so.. Sorry I couldn't help you with the mystery, but maybe the new drivers are connected to it? Still I'm not complaining on my own behalf, I have gotten what I wanted: a working setup! :wink:

[MMcM]

The FBI warning is ten seconds long, based on the elapsed time at the end. However, even though there is no hang per se, it takes about thirty seconds to play based on the Girder record above. If Girder is not running, it takes somewhat less time, but still more than ten seconds.

If you are having problems, do you find that this chapter takes longer than it ought to to play? Specifically, without Girder running, or even better with MediaSpy unregistered, is playback of the portions that get hung still sluggish? If you use Zoom Player, which can have a visible timeline, does the time shown agree with wallclock time?

My theory is that the DVD Navigator is broken in XP, and still broken, but in a slightly different way after SP1. In this special chapter, some basic operations take a very long time to complete. This can be seen with TheaterTek alone. The ten second chapter takes, say, fifteen or twenty seconds to play. With Girder running, the effect is amplified. How much depends in some way on the system. When it is large enough, it appears to be hung.

[MMcM]

Here is a more refined version of the experiment I suggested above.


Take as clean an XP setup as you can get. No Girder + DVDSpy installed, or at least unregister MediaSpy and don't run Girder.
Install some DirectShow DVD player. TheaterTek, WinDVD, PowerDVD, ATI Player, Cineplayer.
Load one of the problem discs. Avia seems to be good.
Start Windows Media Player ( :o ) in non-full screen mode.
Get a stopwatch or bring up the clock with seconds. (The Adjust Date/Time dialog has them.)
Start playback.
Watch the elapsed time in the lower right corner of the window.
Compare against the wallclock time in the window underneath.


I believe that you will find that the ten second FBI warning takes much much longer to play. Like on the order of twenty to thirty seconds.

As I said, I think that this is symptomatic of the same problem that people are having with DVDSpy. The DVD Navigator is slow, taking fractions of a second to answer simple status requests. Since DVDSpy increases the number of such requests, things run even slower. As a result, the player seems to have hung.

I think you will find that the effect is just as bad, if not worse, after SP1. I would appreciate confirmation of this from those with such systems, though.

I would also appreciate if those with decoder filters other than the Ravisent ones that come with TT who are having troubles could try this with theirs. I suspect that you will find the same thing, further indicating that the problem is in DirectShow.

[rickd]

Any update on this and also how do I unregister mediaspy.dll?

Thanks Rick

[vynce]

You can unregister mediaspy.dll like this:


regsvr32 /u mediaspy.dll

It's the same as registering except you have the /u to unregister.

[spearce]

Wow. I just thought this was a TT thing with some discs. AVIA is especially bad.

I'm definately seeing the freezup. TT takes entirely too long to show the FBI warning, entirely too long to play it, entirely took long to open the menu, entirely too long to leave the menu... my CPU/RAM load ain't the problem either, both are like zlich...

WinXP (no SP1), 1.8GHzP4, ATI Radeon 7500+6025 drivers, TT .83, Girder 3.2.5a, DVDSpy latest as of a few weeks ago.

Fortunately, its not so bad that I can't tolerate it right now...

[MMcM]

No one has submitted evidence that refutes the hypothesis that the DVD Navigator is the source of the problems, especially after XP SP1. Specifically, the problem segments are problems for Windows Media Player as well. The effect is just much more pronounced when DVDSpy is active. Not that this is much comfort or help, of course.

DVDSpy 1.45 is my current best attempt at working around this. It makes the spy much more careful about how often and where it runs. If you are having trouble, please try it and let me know whether it makes a difference one way or the other.

I could take a more drastic approach and have the spy shut itself off when it seems that things are getting sluggish. That is, when the playback time is not changing over several seconds even though the graph is not paused. The problem is knowing how to come back on. I am afraid that if it just waited some time period, then it would tend to come back at the worst possible time and mess up playback in the middle of a scene. I am concerned that would be even worse than now.

[siwilson]

Mike,

I think you're right about that DVD Navigator issue :(

I was preparing for TT 1.5 by loading a fresh version of CP on another drive and found issues.

My old setup has all the updates loaded except SP1 and a DVD navigator patch. The DVD navigator patch (Q320552) caused me problems. Removing it fixed the issues. I was running Girder 3.2.4 and DVDspy 1.2.6 with no problems.

My new setup is a fresh install of XP, fully patched with SP1, TT 1.2.0.83, Girder 3.2.5, DVDspy 1.37 and LCD 2.3. With MediaSPY.DLL registered I cannot run TT as it starts, but doesn't play. No crashes, just nothing playing. Windows Media Player starts, but only plays 3-4 seconds and then pauses. Skipping to the next chapter gets you another 3-4 seconds of play and then stops. Unregister MediaSPY.DLL and all is well.

Since the DVD Navigator patches are now part of SP1 I cannot remove then individually. I am about to upgrade to TT 1.5 with the new Sonic filters so we'll see what happens then.

BTW, great job on the new LCD plugin, what a nice surprise to see direct support instead of LCDriver it works much better now. Thanks :)

[MMcM]

So, you are seeing that Windows Media Player is affected by whether or not MediaSpy is registered? Even when Girder is not running? Because MediaSpy should not do anything unless requested by DVDSpy and DVDSpy does not do this for WMP.

All I have seen is that WMP (with or without DVDSpy) shows out the problem titles if you pay close attention to the playback time (it is distorted).

So, what you have is:

Windows Update to SP1.
Disable Girder from Windows startup.
Reboot.
Launch Windows Media Player.
Start DVD.
Stalls after a few seconds.
Unregister MediaSpy.dll.
Reboot.
Launch Windows Media Player.
Start DVD.
Plays normally, including taking ten seconds and not forty for ten second FBI warning chapters.

Right?

[Francois]

mmcm,

Thank you for all your efforts fixing DVDSpy so that it would work with TT and PowerDVD under XP.

I'm pleased to report that version 1.45 seems to have eliminated all the 'lockings' I had noticed with version 1.5 of TT on my XP SP1 machine (Even better, I noticed that the FBI screens go by very fast now: The 10 second warning at the beginning of Avia, is now down to ... 10 seconds!!!).

I also quickly tested the PowerDVD information, and it seems to work well (I'll still use TT as my main player, as the information is richer)

Awesome work!

Francois

[siwilson]

Actually I left Girder running, I just unregistered MediaSpy.DLL

I upgraded to TT 1.5 and while I wait for my new serial number I am using WMP which is no longer affected by MediaSpy.DLL being registered or not.

When I get my new serial number I will confirm what is happening.

It does look like something to do with the way DVD Navigator works with the older Ravicent decoders.

More later

Simon