Recent Posts

1851

General Software Discussion / Re: corrupt index (I think): how to fix?

« Last post by superboyac on June 25, 2012, 07:20 PM »

Hey everyone, good news!  Everything is fine now (as far as I can tell).  Thanks to everyone here!

I backed up everything I could on my spare 3TB drive.  That went fine.
Then I read that updating the Intel Rapid Storage Technology drivers would fix my problem, and it sure seemed like it did!  So I installed the latest version of Intel RST.  Then, I ran chkdsk /r one more time and it looked like it recovered thousands upon thousands of orphan files and some other stuff.  Results are below:


I tried a couple of the problem files I remember, and everything is working flawlessly.  Doesn't seem like I had any bad sectors or anything like that.  I suspect a few things.  Like I said before, the power cable was loose at one point.  Then, I also reinstalled Windows 7 so maybe I didn't update all the drivers and stuff for the 3TB storage, which has different requirements than the smaller drives.  Also, at one point I was trying to recover some files from a mac drive for a friend, and the MacDrive software was extremely intrusive and probably caused some issues.  i don't recommend using macdrive or any virtual mac drivers, they are awful.  I've done it three times now and it has never been smooth.  I'd avoid at all costs.

1852

Living Room / Re: The Greatest Graphic Novel of All Time: Watchmen

« Last post by superboyac on June 23, 2012, 03:45 PM »

Tex...that is some badass artwork.

1853

General Software Discussion / Re: corrupt index (I think): how to fix?

« Last post by superboyac on June 22, 2012, 03:06 PM »

http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en

Mediainfo: want to hear some shady shit??  Check this out:
-- go download the mediainfo installer
--start installing, agree to the terms by pressing the "agree" button
--you'll notice there's a slight pause, and your instinct is to hit the "agree" button again because it felt like the first click didn't take
--TRICKED!!  The next screen is the AVG toolbar installer, which you can decline BUT because of the pause, you will get tricked to accepting the installation.

Folks, this is intentional.  I got tricked about this last year with some other askjeeves toolbar or something.  They put that pause there on purpose, and they are total assholes for doing so.

1854

General Software Discussion / Re: corrupt index (I think): how to fix?

« Last post by superboyac on June 22, 2012, 02:53 PM »

Windows 7 x64

So I just reinstalled Windows a couple of weeks ago.  One of my huge (3TB) external drives (connected esata) had some issues where I think the index got corrupted.  All the files are still there and I can move/copy them and do whatever I need to do.  But for some files, like a video file, I'll open it in the video player, but another file (an audio file) will start playing instead.  So instead of expecting to watch a astronomy documentary, I'll be listening to Wynonna Judd.  But the file is the video file in all the properties and everything, I don't get it.

So I figured I had a corrupt index.  I did a chkdsk twice, it found some stuff (not too sure what exactly), but the problem still remains.  Any clue how to deal with this?  Should I be worried and get rid of the drive?

-superboyac (June 20, 2012, 07:05 PM)

Why don't you try copy the video file (the problem maker) to another location with a different name and try play the latter then tells us what happen?

I would like to add this:
Bad sector only prevent you from reading or writing a file, it won't play you a song...

-tslim (June 22, 2012, 01:55 PM)

I did that.  The file won't play.  It might make the video player crash.  It gets copied over in a form that the video player doesn't recognize.  I guess it doesn't have the other music file that it's pointing to available, so the computer is just confused.

1855

General Software Discussion / Re: corrupt index (I think): how to fix?

« Last post by superboyac on June 22, 2012, 01:48 PM »

I'm with Justice on the 'Bin it' part. Here's why.

One should never play with the internal power plugs while the PC is running! The same is true with the SATA plugs even when it says that drives are 'hot-swappable'. Because it is more than likely that the drive is 'hot-swappable', either the controller on your mother-board or your power-supply isn't.

If you note something is loose, turn your PC off (not standby, but off). Now it is time for loosening the connector completely and reconnecting it. Do the same for other connectors, you have the PC open now anyway. When done, close up the PC and put it back in its location. Any other way will f..k up perfectly good hardware for no other reason than your own laziness. If you really have that much cash to burn, take family/friends to a dinner in decent restaurant or give it to good cause...or me.

Here's another tip that will work out great for you:
When a PC has been transported (even over a small distance like 10 cm.) it is possible that (a) connector(s) got loose. Each and every time! I can't warn people enough about that. If I got 1000 USD for each time I solved a (hairy) situation with the solution above I could have stopped working for a living 5 years ago. People underestimate this problem in so many ways that it baffles me.

-Shades (June 22, 2012, 01:21 PM)

You know Shades.  I think you're right, and I think that's exactly what happened.  I was moving that box every so often over a couple of years and didn't notice the power plug in the back loosening.  Then I pushed it back in without turning the computer off, and that's when some issues started.  It was strange because the granite digital plug is so tight, hard to imagine it getting loose...but gravity is a mysterious force!

1856

General Software Discussion / Re: corrupt index (I think): how to fix?

« Last post by superboyac on June 21, 2012, 08:54 PM »

Interesting barney, I have those same feelings.  You know, now that I think about it, before I noticed any problems, I swear I had about 200GB of space left.  Now, with each test I run, it seems to be shrinking, or at least changing.

4wd & Stoic: I do, thankfully, have the exact 3TB spare sitting here in its package.  I was saving it for a charity education project I wanted to work on, but I'll use it now for this problem.

1857

General Software Discussion / Re: corrupt index (I think): how to fix?

« Last post by superboyac on June 21, 2012, 08:23 PM »

OK!  chkdsk /f /r finished, here are the results:


First question: how much disk space do I need?  I have 89.2 GB left on a 2.72 TB drive.  I know that's not a lot percentage-wise, but it's a lot absolute-wise!

1858

General Software Discussion / Re: corrupt index (I think): how to fix?

« Last post by superboyac on June 21, 2012, 03:35 PM »

I couldn't find a similar tool from Hitachi

-superboyac (June 21, 2012, 03:18 PM)

(see attachment in previous post) 

-Stoic Joker (June 21, 2012, 03:31 PM)

Thanks stoic, but the warning there says:

NOTE: Currently the Drive Fitness Test does not support 3TB and greater internal drives.

Do you think it would be safe to give Seatools a try instead?  or is that not a good idea.  Other forums seem to think it's fine.

1859

General Software Discussion / Re: corrupt index (I think): how to fix?

« Last post by superboyac on June 21, 2012, 03:18 PM »

Thanks guys.  I'll do that.  Looks like my weekend is shot!

Regarding manufacturer tools, I've read that using Seatools (Seagate's offering) works on other manufacturer's drive and that it's the preferred diagnostic tool.  I couldn't find a similar tool from Hitachi, but they have what's called an alignment tool I'll try:
http://www.hgst.com/support/downloads/

I'm currently running the chkdsk /f /r right now on it, it's been going since yesterday night.

I think it was caused by a power supply problem on my granite digital external box.  I think what happened was I was moving the box around a lot and the power connector (which is pretty sturdy compared to most companies) got loose or something, and there were times with intermittent power.  So I shoved the connector back in place, but I think that's where the problems occurred.

1860

General Software Discussion / Re: corrupt index (I think): how to fix?

« Last post by superboyac on June 20, 2012, 11:26 PM »

i believe I've already tried both methods indicated by IainB.  I think it found stuff both times, I just didn't catch what.  i don't think any bad sectors were found, though, i was keeping an eye on that one.

here's the log:

One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency. You
may cancel the disk check, but it is strongly recommended
that you continue.
Windows will now check the disk.                        

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
  563712 file records processed.                                          File verification completed.
  8640 large file records processed.                                      0 bad file records processed.                                        0 EA records processed.                                              0 reparse records processed.                                       CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
  645710 index entries processed.                                         Index verification completed.
  0 unindexed files scanned.                                           0 unindexed files recovered.                                       CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)...
  563712 file SDs/SIDs processed.                                         Security descriptor verification completed.
  41000 data files processed.                                            CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
  35521720 USN bytes processed.                                             Usn Journal verification completed.
Correcting errors in the Volume Bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.

   2861458 MB total disk space.
   2755039 MB in 514017 files.
    228144 KB in 41001 indexes.
         0 KB in bad sectors.
    754295 KB in use by the system.
     65536 KB occupied by the log file.
 107991256 KB available on disk.

      4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
 732533503 total allocation units on disk.
  26997814 allocation units available on disk.

1861

General Software Discussion / corrupt index (I think): how to fix?

« Last post by superboyac on June 20, 2012, 07:05 PM »

Windows 7 x64

So I just reinstalled Windows a couple of weeks ago.  One of my huge (3TB) external drives (connected esata) had some issues where I think the index got corrupted.  All the files are still there and I can move/copy them and do whatever I need to do.  But for some files, like a video file, I'll open it in the video player, but another file (an audio file) will start playing instead.  So instead of expecting to watch a astronomy documentary, I'll be listening to Wynonna Judd.  But the file is the video file in all the properties and everything, I don't get it.

So I figured I had a corrupt index.  I did a chkdsk twice, it found some stuff (not too sure what exactly), but the problem still remains.  Any clue how to deal with this?  Should I be worried and get rid of the drive?

1862

General Software Discussion / Re: Video Editing software - Any recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on June 14, 2012, 10:08 PM »

because these programs have very limited output formats, they will never be able to do a simple lossless cut or joining of video.  That means when you're ready to output, there's going to be re-encoding and all that taking place, which means further degradation of video, longer output procedure (what should take seconds will take several minutes or hours), and it's very likely the output will be a larger file than the original file, with less quality and audio sync issues.

-superboyac (June 14, 2012, 03:05 PM)

Not true, (at least as far as Vegas), I've been able to output in whatever I like since v5, (if I had a VfW codec, it could handle it - and with ffdshow that's a lot of formats), and if Vegas didn't allow, then running it through a simple frameserver to a program that could added, at most, 2 minutes to the process.

-4wd (June 14, 2012, 09:29 PM)

You're telling me that you've been able to edit an mp4 file (standard avc+aac) in Vegas with both the audio and video working?  And you can chop it up and save the segments without re-encoding (lossless)?  xvid/divx avi?

1863

General Software Discussion / Re: Video Editing software - Any recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on June 14, 2012, 05:55 PM »

You will find that most of the common programs (Premeire, Power Director, Vegas) are extremely particular about what can be input into it.  Like to the point where it's ridiculous.  basically, if you're not pulling it straight off of the camera, it's a huge headache.

-superboyac (June 14, 2012, 03:05 PM)

Isn't that the point though -those three titles are very specific - they edit video from camera. That is what they are designed for and that is what they do best.

They were never designed to drag in YouTuibe clips or XviD files - and actually they are the better for it.

-Carol Haynes (June 14, 2012, 04:51 PM)

I'm sorry Carol, that doesn't seem to make sense to me.  How can they be better for it?  The program can stay exactly the same, just the formats you can pull in are different.  What's the difference between a format stored on a video camera and a format stored on a file?  Nothing needs to change, not even the buttons or interface of the program.

Let's say a program was able to process a mt2s file dragged into it.  OK.  Now, what if it also supported an mp4 file dragged into it?  What's the difference?  How can limiting it be better?  Would ACDSee be a better program if it only could open jpg files and not png files?

1864

General Software Discussion / Re: Video Editing software - Any recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on June 14, 2012, 03:05 PM »

IainB raises a good point.  After trying out dozens of programs, I've nailed the features I really want and it is lacking in MOST of the software out there:
1) Accept inputs from most formats and containers (avi, mp4, mkv, mt2s, etc.)
2) Be able to seek through (scrub?) the file easily without crashing the software

You will find that most of the common programs (Premeire, Power Director, Vegas) are extremely particular about what can be input into it.  Like to the point where it's ridiculous.  basically, if you're not pulling it straight off of the camera, it's a huge headache.  You will easily spend hours trying to figure out how to pull a normal web downloaded avi or mp4 into these programs.

And even when it does work, trying to navigate around the file with the seekbar is a pain and often will cause problems like crashes and memory issues.  So the explanation of that is usually "well, those are compressed files so it can't do it.  You need to use uncompressed video for smooth seeking." Hogwash!  That's a load of nonsense.  Firstly, uncompressed video is another pain in the ass, as it turns a 5 minute 10MB file into a gargantuan 2 GB affair.  Secondly, it's nonsense.  You're telling me we have the processing power to play Call of Duty 4, but we're going to struggle with editing a 1080p mp4 file?  Not true, i don't buy it for a second.

Another peeve of mine (even though I have a good solution for it) is lossless cutting and joining of video.  because these programs have very limited output formats, they will never be able to do a simple lossless cut or joining of video.  That means when you're ready to output, there's going to be re-encoding and all that taking place, which means further degradation of video, longer output procedure (what should take seconds will take several minutes or hours), and it's very likely the output will be a larger file than the original file, with less quality and audio sync issues.  Just a huge headache.

The solution to simple cutting/joing is SolveigMM.  It's a great piece of cheap software that does the job brilliantly.  Once in a while it will struggle with a particular format, but they keep getting better at it, and it's one of the few that is easy to use and actually works.  The other option is to turn to those funky videohelp tools like avidemux, virtualdub, etc. which tend to make a mountain out of a molehill, but at least they work.

That's a pretty good summary of my video editing experiences.

1865

General Software Discussion / Re: Video Editing software - Any recommendations?

« Last post by superboyac on June 13, 2012, 11:13 AM »

For Video editing, I would recommand:
a) TMepgEnc Video Mastering 5
b) AVS video editor

a) Pros: You may choose to edit in frame base mode or time-line mode, supports MKV format, intuitive and user-friendly user interface.
Cons: No support for mp3 audio, rather expansive

b) Pros: Is sold in 2 ways, you may buy AVS video editor with a limited period free upgrade. Another way (in the other website of AVS), you may even choose to subscribe for all their video utilities (you pay a relatively higher price once) and enjoy using them (and any future upgrade vers all free) for a lifetime.

Cons: Lifetime subscription is based on your PC hardware configuration. Changing or upgrading your PC, you risk losing the lifetime subscription license and AVS has no clear specification on how they determine your are no more using the same PC.

Just in case you may be interested too, for Video repairing tool, my latest finding is:
The greatest video repair tool up to date = KMPlayer + Fraps.

1) If there is this little chance a (partially corrupted) video can still be played, KMplayer will play it.
2) If a video is being played, Fraps is able to capture with very high quality (as close as how it is played) in AVI format.
Combining 1) and 2), if a video can't be recovered by them, no one else can.

-tslim (June 13, 2012, 07:46 AM)

Thanks for these recommendations!  I just recently tried out a whole bunch of video editors and was so frustrated with all of them for one reason: input formats.  None of them can deal with the end-delivery formats very well (avi, mp4)...they all want direct camera feeds or weird uncompressed formats.  But I want a video editor that can EASILY handle all the formats that we download, or convert, or compress, etc.  Looks like avs and tmpg can do that, I'll give it a shot this weekend.

1866

Mouser's Zone / Re: Feature Request: [easy] export/import settings for all apps

« Last post by superboyac on May 31, 2012, 01:13 AM »

On Win7 that's where the settings should be; so if you are moving from a winxp (or portable install) to win7 and want to preserve your settings, you would copy the settings ini files from the old program files directory to the new Documents\DonationCoder\APPNAME directory (and remove the old configdir.ini file if you manually copied it over and its trying to tell the app to save its settings in the win7 program files directory).

-mouser (May 30, 2012, 09:38 PM)

Ah!  Thank you.

1867

Mouser's Zone / Re: Feature Request: [easy] export/import settings for all apps

« Last post by superboyac on May 30, 2012, 08:08 PM »

Looks like there are more settings here?
\Documents\DonationCoder\FindAndRunRobot

Has your structure changed?

1868

Mouser's Zone / Re: Feature Request: [easy] export/import settings for all apps

« Last post by superboyac on May 30, 2012, 07:58 PM »

I just tried this on a reinstall of Windows 7 and it's not working.  Here is what I did:
1) copied original program (x86) directories over to the new install
2) ran the installer for the programs from dcupdater
3) ran the programs for the first time.  They all show default states.  None of my original settings were retained.
4) I manually copied the configdir.ini over again, even though I already copied the whole directory in step 1.  Still, nothing changed.

Is there anything else I can try?  i swear I've done this before and it worked.

1869

General Software Discussion / Re: HowTo save an entire google "20% preview" book?

« Last post by superboyac on May 30, 2012, 06:11 PM »

I've looked for this also in the past.  Found nothing.  Very frustrating for me.  Search and see if there are any pdf copies lying around anywhere.  I've also been able to buy rare books and take them to printer buddies of mine who have professional machines to scan this stuff.  The latest one I did was Animal bedtime Stories, which are awesome and a favorite of mine when I was a kid.  If anyone wants a copy, let me know.  Beautiful stories and beautiful illustrations.

1870

Living Room / Re: 9 Signs Self-Publishing Is out of Control

« Last post by superboyac on May 15, 2012, 02:55 PM »

From Coming Apart:

In the corporate and financial worlds, the CEOs and financial heavy hitters whose actions affect the national economy are limited to the very largest and most strategically placed institutions. And so it goes throughout the narrow elite. The number of influential players is surprisingly small even for a country as sprawling and decentralized as the United States.

1871

Living Room / Re: 9 Signs Self-Publishing Is out of Control

« Last post by superboyac on May 15, 2012, 02:51 PM »

I'm all for self-publishing. Not everyone will make it big, but so what. It chips away at the publishing establishment. And that, is a very good thing.

-Renegade (May 15, 2012, 10:56 AM)

Yes!
What's the complaint?  That people have to wade through the pile of nonsense to find the good stuff?  That's a pretty lame complaint.  Does Oprah HAVE to tell you something is good before you read it?  If that's the publishing house's attitudes, they can shove it.  I'm perfectly confident in my ability to decide whether I like something or not.
If having a formal institution approve of and filter the content is good, why are the movies Hollywood is churning out so remarkably bad and boring?

1872

General Software Discussion / Re: Superboyac is throwing in the towel: I'm going to transition to Linux

« Last post by superboyac on May 14, 2012, 08:51 AM »

o_O

How the hell did I manage to miss a "I'm switching to Linux" thread? 

So, superboyac, how's it going?
Need help?
I got your back, don't worry...
 (see attachment in previous post)

-Edvard (May 14, 2012, 01:02 AM)

Sorry guys, I'm still around, but I have a lot currently on my plate that I'm trying to deal with.

quick update:
I put linux mint on my laptop, and it was very nice and easy.  I got windows withdawl after about a month, and now I'm back to using windows on the laptop (dual boot).  What really did it for me was the mouse drivers on the toughbook I was using (circular trackpad).  The scrolling didn't work smoothly on the linux, and it was too frustrating.  Everything else was fine.

1873

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Review/Tips: "Scanning - VueScan and Associates" Pt.I: Intro & Bookscanning

« Last post by superboyac on April 28, 2012, 09:35 PM »

This is still one of the greatest reviews of all time.  I'm reading it again after setting up my Epson V600 for the first time.  Am I going to have to buy VueScan?  I like this Hamrick guy, too.

1874

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: IDimager Pro 50% off

« Last post by superboyac on April 27, 2012, 11:48 AM »

^^great post.  I found it helpful and informative.

1875

Living Room / Re: Ugliest Web Page Contest

« Last post by superboyac on April 10, 2012, 02:28 PM »

OH, I think I can be in the running for this one:
http://aram.dcmembers.com/