what can you tell me about dummy files? (DVD discs)

gemini2010 · 28 Nov 2012

Hi,

I have spent several days trying to figure out why my DVD Copy/RIP software (DVDFab) couldnt copy a DVD I have paid au$40 for. I want to back it up to my HDD and to also allow play through my media player in the lounge room. It is a copy of my childrens concert and I really want to back it up as it is something I want to show them when they are older.

I have tried several different tools such as DVDFab, Handbrake, PGCEdit, RipIt4Me and currently trying to copy using roadkill unstoppable copier on a different machine. I'm not familiar with PGCEdit or RipIt4Me, and found these two in particular quite confusing. The documentation states you should also use DVD Shrink and DVD decrypter with RipIt4Me however I couldnt get DVD Shrink to work for some reason. I will try it again if roadkill failes (I have another 20 minutes or so before it gets to the section which fails).

I done a scan with VSO Inspecter which showed several errors along the way. I will post this at the end here.

I came across this information about dummy files.. Should non Standard Copy Protected DVDs use the "DVD Video Logo? very interesting reading.
My concern is, how do I work out if this is dummy files causing this problem of copying (I think PGCEdit confirmed this but again, I am not familiar with this program)

The copying process starts to have trouble about 2/3 of the way through which is where the errors were found in the scan. I also noticed while watching the concert that dances were cut short and many times throughout the concert the audio has an echo. The article above states that dummy files can cause more damage than we think because it can render the DVD useless from the tiniest scratch.
If anyone can help me with this I would really appreciate your input.
I'm not sure if I have put this or my other thread in the correct location (here or programs)

Thanks so much in advance!

Inspector Scan Log
2012-11-28 14:17:56 Info File test complete
2012-11-28 14:17:56 Info Average read speed: 1.89x
2012-11-28 14:17:56 Info Maximum read speed: 2.65x
2012-11-28 14:17:56 Info Minimum read speed: 0.70x
2012-11-28 14:17:56 Info Good: 13, Problem: 0, Error: 1
2012-11-28 14:17:56 Info 14 files scanned
2012-11-28 13:56:21 Error Reading of "D:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_4.VOB" failed after 10 tries
2012-11-28 13:27:41 Info File Test started
2012-11-28 13:27:41 Info Surface scan complete
2012-11-28 13:27:41 Info Average read speed: 1.89x
2012-11-28 13:27:41 Info Maximum read speed: 2.58x
2012-11-28 13:27:41 Info Minimum read speed: 0.06x
2012-11-28 13:27:41 Info Good: 99.98%, Problem: 0.00%, Error: 0.01%
2012-11-28 13:05:59 Warning Reading of sector 2084576 to 2084592 required 2 tries
2012-11-28 13:05:59 Error Reading of sector 2084560 to 2084576 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 13:05:34 Warning Reading of sector 2084544 to 2084560 required 4 tries
2012-11-28 13:05:19 Error Reading of sector 2084528 to 2084544 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 13:04:26 Error Reading of sector 2084512 to 2084528 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 13:03:50 Error Reading of sector 2084496 to 2084512 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 13:02:58 Error Reading of sector 2084480 to 2084496 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 13:02:11 Error Reading of sector 2084464 to 2084480 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 13:01:44 Error Reading of sector 2084448 to 2084464 failed: Code 03 10 00 [Read error, ID CRC or ECC error]
2012-11-28 13:01:22 Error Reading of sector 2084432 to 2084448 failed: Code 03 11 00 [Read error, unrecovered read error]
2012-11-28 13:00:41 Error Reading of sector 2084416 to 2084432 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 13:00:06 Error Reading of sector 2084400 to 2084416 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 12:59:34 Error Reading of sector 2084384 to 2084400 failed: Code 03 02 00 [Medium error, Unable to seek the requested position]
2012-11-28 12:58:32 Error Reading of sector 2084368 to 2084384 failed: Code 03 02 00 [Medium error, Unable to seek the requested position]
2012-11-28 12:57:37 Error Reading of sector 2084352 to 2084368 failed: Code 03 02 00 [Medium error, Unable to seek the requested position]
2012-11-28 12:56:45 Error Reading of sector 2084336 to 2084352 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 12:56:07 Error Reading of sector 2084320 to 2084336 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 12:55:47 Error Reading of sector 2084304 to 2084320 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 12:55:00 Error Reading of sector 2084288 to 2084304 failed: Code 03 02 00 [Medium error, Unable to seek the requested position]
2012-11-28 12:54:06 Error Reading of sector 2084272 to 2084288 failed: Code 03 02 00 [Medium error, Unable to seek the requested position]
2012-11-28 12:53:26 Error Reading of sector 2084256 to 2084272 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 12:52:41 Error Reading of sector 2084240 to 2084256 failed: Code 03 10 00 [Read error, ID CRC or ECC error]
2012-11-28 12:52:06 Error Reading of sector 2084224 to 2084240 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 12:51:53 Error Reading of sector 2084208 to 2084224 failed: Code 03 02 00 [Medium error, Unable to seek the requested position]
2012-11-28 12:51:00 Error Reading of sector 2084192 to 2084208 failed: Code 03 10 00 [Read error, ID CRC or ECC error]
2012-11-28 12:50:24 Error Reading of sector 2084176 to 2084192 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 12:49:33 Error Reading of sector 2084160 to 2084176 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 12:49:01 Error Reading of sector 2084144 to 2084160 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 12:48:17 Error Reading of sector 2084128 to 2084144 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 12:47:37 Error Reading of sector 2084112 to 2084128 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 12:47:16 Error Reading of sector 2084096 to 2084112 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 12:46:28 Error Reading of sector 2084080 to 2084096 failed: Code 03 02 00 [Medium error, Unable to seek the requested position]
2012-11-28 12:45:20 Error Reading of sector 2084064 to 2084080 failed: Code 03 02 00 [Medium error, Unable to seek the requested position]
2012-11-28 12:44:21 Error Reading of sector 2084048 to 2084064 failed: Code 03 10 00 [Read error, ID CRC or ECC error]
2012-11-28 12:43:29 Warning Reading of sector 2084032 to 2084048 required 6 tries
2012-11-28 12:43:09 Error Reading of sector 2084016 to 2084032 failed: Code 03 02 00 [Medium error, Unable to seek the requested position]
2012-11-28 12:42:01 Error Reading of sector 2084000 to 2084016 failed: Code 04 09 00 [HW error, Track following failure]
2012-11-28 12:41:31 Error Reading of sector 2083984 to 2084000 failed: Code 03 10 00 [Read error, ID CRC or ECC error]
2012-11-28 12:12:38 Info Scanning DVD from sector 0 to 3839631
2012-11-28 12:12:38 Info Total sector count: 3839631
2012-11-28 12:12:38 Info Surface Scan started
2012-11-28 12:12:37 Info Layers: 2
2012-11-28 12:12:37 Info Capacity: 7.32 GB (3839632 Sectors)
2012-11-28 12:12:37 Info Media ID: RITEK-S04-42
2012-11-28 12:12:37 Info Volume Label: NANNY
2012-11-28 12:12:37 Info Media Type: DVD
2012-11-28 12:10:29 ---- ******************** Log session start 28-Nov 12:10:29.524 PID 1204********************

MilesAhead · 28 Nov 2012

Sounds like a defective disc. If you don't get a good play go to whoever you gave the $40 to and deal with it there.

gemini2010 · 28 Nov 2012

Thanks for your response MilesAhead, I will have to go back to the class teacher as I ordered it through her.
All I know is that the class teacher said it would be encrypted and that he wanted a certain amount of orders because he wouldnt do the job for under $2000.00.
Roadkill has encountered the read errors, but it looks like it is marching on through them anyway, hoping I can get it to copy and then figure out how to use pgcedit to fix it up.. !! So far we have 27 read errors and 13.50KB of cuorrupted files copied.
Something like this, such an important piece to add to the memories album, and it is corrupted, makes me so mad, and to pay such premium price for it.

MilesAhead · 28 Nov 2012

It sounds like the individual developed his own encryption technique or bought a library to do the encoding. If it really does have problems with playback I would discuss it with the author. Also perhaps you can get a discount on the second copy. Trying to copy it yourself will likely be an exercise in frustration. The disc ripping software you find online expects the disc to be a movie from one of the large producers. Not Harry Houdini's home made copy protection.

As the old stand-up comics used to say, "Pay the $2." :)

edit: one other suggestion. I would talk to the author and say something to the effect "I understand you want to be paid for your work. But these copy protected discs have playback problems. Now that we have all ordered the media and you have received compensation, may we have clean copies of the movie?"

If the man is reasonable you may get some satisfaction.

gemini2010 · 02 Dec 2012

Thanks MilesAhead, I will chase it up further, others have not had so much trouble backing theirs up.
I managed to copy it to my hard drive using roadkills unstoppable copier. It took 28 hours to copy it over because I lowered the speed down to 4x, and I guess each read error had to be tried many times. It had approximately 3500 read errors and approximately 1.75MB corrupted data in vts_01_04, which was in the very last bit of that file. Most of that copy time, approximately 26 hours, was taken up by that part of the disc.
It does appear to be done deliberately with some sort of dummy file library software, I couldnt believe how many products are on the net for this purpose, how annoying, and very few topics on how to overcome it.