Strange interaction: tsMuxeR and AnyDVD

[JimSa]

Last night I used tsMuxeR to create a movie-only rip of The Nightmare Before Christmas. With AnyDVD running, I received an error when loading the mpls file from disc. "Some tracks not recognized". Sure enough there was no audio track (which is HD) listed after ignoring the error.

Here's where it gets strange. If I use AnyDVD to create a full ISO, mount it with VCD, and then read the same .mpls file, I receive no errors and the track shows up in the list. I can then proceed making my movie-only ISO.

I don't know why there is a difference with the ripped/mounted ISO vs the disc structure that AnyDVD presents when running. It doesn't make a lot os sense to me. Still, I'd really like to avoid the extra rip step and save 20-40 mins.

Anyone else encountered this before? Any ideas on how to fix? This doesn't happen with every BD movie. It seems to be related to HD audio and perhaps the number or audio tracks.

[SamuriHL]

I've seen this issue, as well, and have no idea what causes it. It does seem weird. Do a binary compare on the mpls from your mounted ISO to the one on the original disc with AnyDVD enabled. If they show up fine, do the same on the m2ts(') that are in the playlist. See if there are any binary differences.

[JimSa]

I don't think it's the .mpls because I get the same error if I load the m2ts file directly in tsMuxeR. I will compare the two m2ts files tonight. Wierd...

[SamuriHL]

Yea, I didn't think it'd end up being the mpls either. ;) No, it's definitely some weird thing with the m2ts files but as you said, it only happens on certain discs. I know I've seen it before myself but I don't remember on which title hence why I can't really help track it down. But, do a hash or a binary comparison and see if they are the same. Report the results here. If there is some weird difference, then Slysoft may have to look into what's causing it. Also, posting the logs from the mounted image and the original disc might be helpful, but, I doubt it. And what OS are you running? Sorry for all the questions, but, if you want to troubleshoot it in hopes of maybe finding a bug and getting it fixed, it'll be necessary.

[JimSa]

Ran some tests tonight with 2 discs that were giving me problems. It's like something needs to force an initial disc unlock (if that makes any sense). Here's what happened:

21 - When I read from full mounted ISO, tsMuxeR read all streams without problem. When I read from the inserted disc with AnyDVD running it failed to read stream 6 (AC3 Lang=tha). So I compared the .mpls and movie .m2ts streams between both sources. They were identical. For chuckles I once again tried to load the .mpls and m2ts from for disc. And guess what? Now it works fine! Almost like some cache needed to be filled, the reads needed to be quicker, or some sort of initial unlock needs to happen with the disc.

So I move back to the The Nightmare Before Christmas (TNBC), which was giving me problems last night.

TNBC - So now I insert TNBC amd I have tsMuxeR load the .m2ts file that was giving problems. Even though tsMuxer just worked with 21, it failed to load stream 2 (True-HD audio lang=eng) on this title. Trying to force some cache load I started a hex dump of the of the .m2ts file and killed it after a few seconds. I reloaded TNBC and it still failed to load that stream. So I launched PDVD and played the disc to the main menu and exited. I once again tried to load the title from disc with tsMuxeR. This time it worked!

Next I ejected the disc and reinsert. Once again tsMuxeR fails to read stream 2 of TNBC. This time even playing PDVD didn't help me... I was starting to think that this was some sort of race condition, or buffering problem with async I/O in tsMuxeR. However, I noticed that when tsMuxerR is working "eac3to f:\ 1)" shows me the streams. When tsMuxeR isn't working, neither is eac3to with the disc media. eac3to gives the following error.

This TS/M2TS file seems to be damaged (sync byte missing).
This TS/M2TS file seems to be damaged (sync byte missing).
The format of the source file could not be detected.

The fact that two different programs are having trouble reading from the drive with AnyDVD running is a bit suspicious. The movies plays jus fine and rips just fine though... I'd suspect my machine, but I have no other problems... I attached the log for TNBC. I don't *think* there's anything unusual about it. Puzzled... Ideas?

[JimSa]

Adding on... I ran through TNBC scenario again. I was able to repeat this many times:

1.) insert disc
2.) tsMuxeR fails to read stream 2 of 00001.m2ts. Eac3to fails to read from drive.
3.) Remove input file in tsMuxeR
4.) Dbl-click MyComputer\DiscIcon to launch PDVD.
5.) Skip tracks until Mayor's spinning head, just prior to main menu
6.) Close PDVD
7.) tsMuxeR succeeds reading 00001.m2ts. Eac3to can also read the streams.
8.) Eject Disc. GoTo 1

As comical as this may sound, if I don't wait to see the mayor on step 5, step 7 will also fail... For some reason, I need to get into the disc a bit. Bizarre.. It's like getting through the BDLive spinner load (is that what's going on there?) un-jams things for disc media.

[sol radiation]

Hello. I came across this thread as I'm having problems getting the TrueHD sound stream to play after doing a movie only muxing of 21 on Blu-Ray. I even tried making the movie from a 21iso mounted on VCD. The AC3 audio streams playback fine after muxing but I cant get any sound when choosing the TrueHD audio stream. Any help or suggestions with this....I'm using Arcsoft TMT as my player in Vista (i've followed SamuriHL's guides completely and looked in all the FAQs) thanks

[SamuriHL]

It's a known problem. See my thread in about Arcsoft TMT and you'll see I have the same problem with TMT. IMO, that software sucks. They play fine in PowerDVD.

[sol radiation]

Thanks so much for the reply SamuriHL. So its a problem with TMT......thats great info, as I was testing it before I bought it. Can PowerDVD play movies back from folders, as I really like this feature....I dont want to make ISOs that I have to mount. The reason I was interested in Arcsoft was the intergration into Vista Media Center. I can use Arcsoft to launch a movie directly out of VMC shell which is nice. Can you post that link you referred to about TMT. Thanks

[SamuriHL]

PowerDVD can't play from a folder and it doesn't integrate with VMC. You'll get TrueHD so long as you don't remux the movie. IOW, a straight rip should work fine, but, if you do a movie only, it won't. So you have to decide what's more important to you...saving space or play from folder/VMC integration.

I'm hopeful that a new program Slysoft is working on will fix these issues, but, we're a LONG ways away from a full CloneBD utility. They're working on some basic functionality that should get released in the next couple weeks/months/whatever. Maybe sooner. But it will be beta and meant as a testing ground for CloneBD features. And it may not fix the issues that TMT has with TrueHD movie only rips.

Here's my thread about TMT. I have a bunch of issues with it.

http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=20829

[sol radiation]

I read your post on TMT. It too bad this thing has audio problems.....but that is somewhat confusing to me as its actually recommended by a bunch of folks over at AVS forums who use it on their HTPCs and prefer it b/c of its VMC intergration. It seems like the guys who were using it werent having any audio issues, and they were muxing a movie only version from BD. Maybe they were downconverting the TrueHD to AC3.....not sure. But it is also very confusing b/c ASUS chose the TMT software to be bundled with its XONAR HDAV 1.3 card just recently released and that is supposed to be the definitive hookup between HTPC and receivers (like my onkyo 876).......strange. Yeah, I guess, i'll have to decide: save space and mux away or use the TMT and buy some more TB drives.

[SamuriHL]

If I could get the audio problem fixed I might use it more myself as I DO like the interface. It's also lighter on the system than PowerDVD. But I've yet to find a solution to my audio issues. Yes, HDMI to our Onkyo's is definitely the way to go. PowerDVD was supposed to have a versoin that supported this with the new auzentech card, but, um, I haven't seen anything on that in a while. I will be upgrading to HDMI on my HTPC as soon as the option is available. For now I'm using 6 channel analog out.

[208000693]

Count me in as one of those having issues with sound in movie only rips using TMT. I bought TMT since I'm running VMC and really like the integration. I haven't had any issues playing any discs but this no sound issue on movie only rips is really a pain. I'd prefer not to rip the complete movie since I don't care about all the extra stuff. How do I downconvert to AC3? Will this solve the no audio issue on movie only rips? I've been following the SamuriHL guide. It's fantastic!

[SamuriHL]

TSMuxer should allow you to downconvert TrueHD to AC3. TrueHD is the only type of sound I've seen this issue on and I truly believe it's more to do with TSMuxer than TMT, but, since it plays in PowerDVD I find it difficult to give TMT a pass on this one. Check the options in TSMuxer when you have a TrueHD movie open in it. If you click on the TrueHD stream you should see the option to downconvert it to AC3.

[Bigrick]

TSMuxer should allow you to downconvert TrueHD to AC3. TrueHD is the only type of sound I've seen this issue on and I truly believe it's more to do with TSMuxer than TMT, but, since it plays in PowerDVD I find it difficult to give TMT a pass on this one. Check the options in TSMuxer when you have a TrueHD movie open in it. If you click on the TrueHD stream you should see the option to downconvert it to AC3.

i myslef have done this and have had nothing but good results on the downconverted truehd ecept for one movie and that was dont mess with the zohan at the end of every chapter i get a little stutter but not enough to bother me besides this movie wasnt that good to need a back up, it wasnt a Sandler classic like happy gilmore

[SamuriHL]

i myslef have done this and have had nothing but good results on the downconverted truehd ecept for one movie and that was dont mess with the zohan at the end of every chapter i get a little stutter but not enough to bother me besides this movie wasnt that good to need a back up, it wasnt a Sandler classic like happy gilmore

I'm guessing that's a seamless branching title. In which case, use eac3to to rip the streams first (it will join the branches) and then load the streams into TSMuxer. No more stuttering. Man I can't wait for Slysoft to release iteration 1 of CloneBD. I know it'll be basic and beta, but, seriously, we REALLY TRULY need it.