Pioneer DVR-216 - W7 playback TERRIBLE!!!


  1. Posts : 12
    Windows 7 Beta 7068
       #1

    Pioneer DVR-216 - W7 playback TERRIBLE!!!


    Hi,

    Sorry to put this in "general" but it could possibly fit into Drivers, Media Centre or Sound/Audio and obviously I didn't want to cross-post.

    I'm running build 7068 on a S939 Asus A8N-Sli Premium with an ADM64 3200+, 2GB of Crosair Value DDR400 memory, an ATI HD4670, a Pioneer DVR-216 and plenty of HDD space. It doesn't have any trouble playing media over the network or from the HDD but if I play *any* DVD (ripped or commercial) in the DVR-216 the picture stutters quite badly about every 20-30 seconds and the sounds "clips" as well.... meaning DVD's are totally unwatchable under Windows 7.

    I have only recently put the new DVD drive in but AFAIK it doesn't happen with Vista Media Centre (which I have dual booted and will also test this with). I know it's not the gfx card as I just took an older XFX 7600GS out and put in the HD 4670 and I still get the same problem. The CPU is only around %10 - %25 when playing the DVD and memory utilisation is around %30 - %40 - so I don't think it's pushing the PC too hard.

    Could it be that the native driver in W7 is just not working well with my DVR-216? Or could it really be that my hardware is just too old to work well with W7? (Thing is, everything else runs really well so I can't see how it could be that.)

    Anyone out there got any clue as to the problem? I just got a load of new DVD's fresh from Amazon and I want to play them in my shiny new W7 Media Centre!!!
    Last edited by nzmike; 15 Apr 2009 at 18:14. Reason: typos
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 119
    Windows 7 Ultimate / Snow Leopard OS X 10.6.4
       #2

    Have you tried a different drive , or put that drive in another computer to see if it does the same thing ?

    You could try updating the firmware from pioneer : http://wwwbsc.pioneer.co.jp/product-...v00001r_e.html
    Last edited by ramoine; 15 Apr 2009 at 19:18. Reason: edit my answer
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 12
    Windows 7 Beta 7068
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Thanks for the reply ramoine - previously I had an older NEC 2500a in there and it seemed to work Ok. I hadn't tried the new firmware for the DVR-216 as I was assuming it's a Windows 7 driver issue... and also you can't go back from 1.09 so I was a bit nervous about that.

    Perhaps this weekend I'll try the older drive again and see how that goes and see if the DVR-216 works properly in my main PC that also runs 7068.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 119
    Windows 7 Ultimate / Snow Leopard OS X 10.6.4
       #4

    Please post back here to let us know if that works .

    Thanks , Bill
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 5,941
    Linux CENTOS 7 / various Windows OS'es and servers
       #5

    Hi there
    another issue might be the Codecs you are using for Video playback. How did you "Squeeze" or Rip the DVD.

    I can't see why updating the firmware would make ANY difference if this device worked perfectly on VISTA. Your symptoms seem more like a Software problem - especially if the device plays "Native" or "Commercial" DVD's OK.

    You might need to set various options on your video card such as en / disable hardware acceleration / muck about with frame rates etc etc -- combinations are usually too endless to specify here.

    One other point however -- this usually works even with the most stubborn DVD player is to enable DMA. This might need to be done in the BIOS as well .

    The only time I've ever needed to upgrade the firmware of a DVD player was in the old days to bypass the Region locking code most of these wretched devices had on them -- these days Software performsthat role quite nicely - especially if you've ripped the DVD in the first place.

    There are a load of "downloadable video codecs" for W7 -- I can't give you a link as there are too many to be numerous.

    Try also using a different RIP program -- maybe DIVX will work fine -- also download the latest version of DIRECT X (10 I think at least) and of course video drivers for your video cards.

    BTW for playing "Standard" DVD's why not download VLC - this is a great program -- usually much better than WinDVD or PowerDVD and its free.

    get it from here
    VLC media player - Overview

    note VLC doesn't (yet) do Blu Ray.

    Cheers
    jimbo
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 12
    Windows 7 Beta 7068
    Thread Starter
       #6

    jimbo, thanks for the long reply - but if you re-read my post I said it happens with*any* DVD, whether ripped or a commerical studio-produced DVD. It also happens in every media player that I've tried (i.e: W7MC, WMP and VLC).

    I tried to find where to set DMA on for the DVD player (in device manager) but there seems to be no option there and nothing in my BIOS.... any idea where that would be? (I'll google as well obviously.)

    I am actually wondering if it's because the DVD player is a SATA one and since my motherboard is quite old it could be something to do with the SATA driver not being good enough or perhaps not having enough bandwidth (though they are 1.5Gbps SATA ports so it would surprise me if it were that). This weekend I might try putting my old NEC2500a back in (which was IDE not SATA) and see if that makes a difference.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 5,941
    Linux CENTOS 7 / various Windows OS'es and servers
       #7

    Hi there

    For DMA setting go to device manager and check the IDT/ATAPI controllers as shown in the diagram.

    You could also try in the BIOS (yours might not have it) setting SATA to IDE emulation or equivalent.

    Try also swapping around the SATA connections. Of course another possibility is that the actual hardware itself is defective -- not usually the case as these devices will either Work or Not work.

    So suggest )

    1) Set DMA
    2) Bios -- see if you can set this device to IDE emulation or something like that
    3) Swap SATA connections around
    4) Check old device -- if that works send your new one back saying it's defective.


    Cheers
    jimbo
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Pioneer DVR-216 - W7 playback TERRIBLE!!!-dma.png  
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 189
    vista
       #8

    upgrade to 7077
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 12
    Windows 7 Beta 7068
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Jimbo, thanks for the suggestions.

    - Tried 1 and DMA was already switched on.
    - 2 is not an option in my BIOS
    - Switched SATA ports, no difference

    I finally uninstalled the DVD from Device Manager, rebooted and let W7 add it in (which it did) and iIt now seems a little better but only just... I might have to resort to trying to trying the NEC2500a again (which is a hassle as my HTPC is quite hard to work on).

    ollie007 - what's the difference in 7077 to 7068 that you think will solve this problem - do you know of problems with 7068 and DVD players? It's all very well saying "upgrade to 7077" but I'm interested in the reasoning behind that statement.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 5,941
    Linux CENTOS 7 / various Windows OS'es and servers
       #10

    Hi there
    Don't think upgrading to 7077 will make any difference in DVD performance -- if it did this would have been reported extensively -- a lot of people on these boards are serious gamers (not me BTW) and Video users.
    Problems in this area would have been immediately noticed (way before such "boring apps" like MS office which is what I use a lot).

    A final possibility -- does your DVD device have a Master / Slave function (jumper leads). These are present on IDE devices -- not sure about SATA CD / DVD device.

    Why not just send the device back saying it's defective as you've exhausted all the possibilities here.

    If playback is problematic from "Bog standard" DVD's then you've definitely got a defective piece of kit. DVD playing hasn't been a serious problem from as way back as Windows 98.

    Cheers
    jimbo
      My Computer


 

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