media player trouble...again!!!

[simoran1]

ok so a while ago i posted on a problem that im having with media player. basically at some random point it just stops working, by that i mean that any dvd playback is extremly stutered and jerky on the sound. all other media files that are not being read from the dvd drive are fine, any mp3's, video files stored on my hd are fine. we never really got to the end of the problem but a system restore did seem to fix it.
anyway the same problem has happened again but now ive figured out that it starts when for some reason media player crashes and i have to end the program without closing it properly.

im 100% positive that no other software/codecs have been installed between the time it is workiing and by the time it stops. gfx card drivers are updated and there seems to be no spy/adware/viruses on the pc. once media player crashes and i end the program and restart my pc, i get the message that 'media player has not been closed properly, as a precaution all plugins have been disabled.' or something like that. ive read the ms knowledge base on this problem and tried to enable whatever plugins i have and the only one is a nero cd burning plugin which when i re-enable it doesnt solve the problem. i have interwin dvd player installed and i expected to see some sort of plugin related to this as media player cannot play dvds natively without third party dvd software being installed (maybe im wrong here, its just something i thought of)

basically im all out of things to try and was wondering if you guys have any suggestions? im thinking it may be a driver issue with the dvd but because its a cheap ass dvd drive in a pre built pc, i dont know what make it is or where to download new drivers. does anyone know how i can find out what make my drive is?

thanks for reading this long thread guys (especially those who have tried to help in the past). any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[disco-tom]

Uninstall Media player and reinstall with the latest version?

[EvilBoris]

to find out the drive model you should be able go to system in the control panel and go to device manager, it should tell you under the dvd/cd rom bit.
Also if you look in the right places you can find an official MS dvd decoder plugin for WMp (its only like 600kb).

[Firsty]

Get a mac

[EvilBoris]

Get a mac

and play some lovely games on it like:

er

myst!

[MiG]

Try getting hold of media player classic, it is more stable, takes up less memory and cpu resources and is still free.

I always had problems with Media player especially versions 8 and 9 so i just stopped using them because they are bloatware to be honest...

here is a link

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Media_Player_Classic.htm

[wonderboy]

You could try VideoLan (http://www.videolan.org/) . It has all the codecs in it's own directory. So, they don't have to be installed in windows. So, it's good to see if something plays ok (mp4 etc).

Good luck..!

[Firsty]

People use computers for games?
That's dumb.


I always use VLC or MPlayer now. They're pretty fast. Much better on Linux though. I try to avoid media player as much as possible.

[simoran1]

thanks for your help so for guys. still having the problem. just to check something when im in media player (its version 10) and im looking under the plugins, should there be one for the dvd? all there seems to be is the nero cd burning plug in? also when i check to see who the dvd drive is made by under device manager it just says: - Standard CD-ROM drives. apparently my dvd drive is made by no one!

[wonderboy]

Media player needs a dvd plugin. It usually uses, the plugin/driver (splitter) from powerDVD, Nero etc. It doesn't do it out of the box, so to speak. That's why if you player a dvd, with media player as default, it will seem to freeze. Or try to connect to the net for info/codec etc. So, all you need to do is install a software-dvd player. Which kind of defeats the point of having media player playing dvds, eh.

In the device manager it should read, dvd/cd-rom. Windows should recognise it though. What version of windows are you using ? If it's not 2000/XP, then check in device manager that the drive (plus hard-disk(s)). Have all the extra setting ticked. Dma (i think, haven't had win 98 for a long time).

Still have a go at playing your dvd with VideoLan or something. To test. Hope this helps...

[simoran1]

Media player needs a dvd plugin. It usually uses, the plugin/driver (splitter) from powerDVD, Nero etc. It doesn't do it out of the box, so to speak. That's why if you player a dvd, with media player as default, it will seem to freeze. Or try to connect to the net for info/codec etc. So, all you need to do is install a software-dvd player. Which kind of defeats the point of having media player playing dvds, eh.

In the device manager it should read, dvd/cd-rom. Windows should recognise it though. What version of windows are you using ? If it's not 2000/XP, then check in device manager that the drive (plus hard-disk(s)). Have all the extra setting ticked. Dma (i think, haven't had win 98 for a long time).

Still have a go at playing your dvd with VideoLan or something. To test. Hope this helps...

thanks for the help. am using xp, it seems really strange that the device manager recognises my cd rw drives manufacturer but not my dvd's? anyway guys thanks again for the help

[wonderboy]

Try http://www.remoteselector.com/driveinfo.htm The only thing i can think of. It's used to see what region a drive is etc, but it gives you a small bit of info on the make. If the make is a code LG_4200bc (made up, can't remember mine) or such just run a search in google for info on it.

Good luck..

[Freddo]

check the properties of the ide controller your dvd drive is on in the device manager, it may have got itself set to PIO or some lame thing, wack it on something faster pronto.