Recent Posts

4526

General Software Discussion / Re: Why is it so hard to create a video cd/dvd on a windows machine?

« Last post by 4wd on December 09, 2010, 06:26 AM »

so what is the safest format to have if you want it to play on a dvd player connected to a tv?  A good dvd program like VLC, KMPlayer or the like can play just about any format with ease.  Can those set top boxes play ISO's also?

I know the newer players have a wider range of formats but what about the older ones?  Maybe there isn't a standard format yet?

-techidave (December 09, 2010, 05:54 AM)

The only real standard formats are those specified by ISO, IEEE, etc.  Not AVI, MPG, MKV, ISO or any other container format.

Your best bet for maximum compatibility across the majority of players is a bog standard DVD format compliant disc using good quality DVD blanks.

4527

Living Room / Re: A NAS server for my home

« Last post by 4wd on December 09, 2010, 03:58 AM »

I saw that hack but since it's going to be retired in favour of a FreeNAS solution I haven't bothered doing it.

-4wd (December 08, 2010, 08:43 PM)

Mind you, it wasn't a hack. I've implemented my own nice (though not very cheap) solution involving a PICAXE I actually had to put everything into an external casing because it didn't fit into the NAS case . But at least I now have a nice blinking LED telling me that everything is ok and that the NAS will actually power on  

-phitsc (December 09, 2010, 01:16 AM)

I was going to implement this one - 3 components, all internal.

Here's a selection for the DNS-323, if you were fortunate to have Rev.B1 hardware all you needed was a single capacitor - how easy would it have been for D-Link to include it as standard?

4528

General Software Discussion / Re: Why is it so hard to create a video cd/dvd on a windows machine?

« Last post by 4wd on December 09, 2010, 03:45 AM »

Personally, I use Scenalyzer Live for transferring DV to the computer - nothing comes close to the ease with which this program works.  If you use MiniDV at a consumer level then quite frankly, I don't know how you can not use this program.  It makes the first step of choosing what to keep/remove so much easier.

-4wd (December 09, 2010, 01:00 AM)

Do you use the free or shareware version. I note that even the paid version is five years old & pre Vista & 7.

-Dormouse (December 09, 2010, 03:03 AM)

I bought it more than 5 years ago, (IIRC about 8 years ago - so long ago I no longer have the original email purchase), I used the free version for all of an hour or two before deciding it really was worth the money.

It works fine on Win7 - probably the greatest disadvantage it has is that these days there are very few consumer level MiniDV camcorders available compared to a few years ago.  Everything has or is going to H.264 on flash or HDD and accessed via USB.

Still, I'll use it for as long as my MiniDV camcorder hangs together - although I do eye off the flash based HD camcorders occasionally, especially considering the difference in weight between them and my old Sony TRV-10E.

If anyone has a flash based camcorder I'd be interested to know whether Scenalyzer works with it.  I'm hoping that it's not tied to IEEE1394 and it can just use whatever codecs are installed for it's display.

and for once with perfect timing: http://www.giveawayo...poo-myautoplay-menu/
but be sure to remember to disable MyAshampoo Toolbar during installation!  

-Curt (December 09, 2010, 02:34 AM)

I believe that's for program disc menus, (eg. Installer menus when you insert a CD/DVD), not much good for video DVDs.

EDIT: DOH! I get your point about the Burning Studio - still there's plenty of free programs that will do the same, author and burn.

4529

Living Room / Re: I figured something out about Apple's device restrictions: file management.

« Last post by 4wd on December 09, 2010, 01:43 AM »

And on a Mac all roads lead no where and are unidirectional ... and that's the "wave-of-the-FUture".

-Stoic Joker (December 08, 2010, 06:00 PM)

Freudian typo slip?

4530

General Software Discussion / Re: Why is it so hard to create a video cd/dvd on a windows machine?

« Last post by 4wd on December 09, 2010, 01:00 AM »

MiniDV has a data cost of approximately 1GB per 4 minutes of footage.

So 10GB will be approximately 40-50 minutes of footage - this is an AVI in raw DV format.

The DV codec is pretty standard on Windows machines so you should be able to use any All-in-one type video to DVD converter, check the thread here.

If you want to do a bit of editing first, then AVIDemux is free and will let you do it - you can then output to a DVD compliant MPG stream, (Auto->Optical Disc->DVD), which can be written directly to a DVD and any decent standard DVD player will be able to read it directly.

If you want to turn the output MPG into a properly formatted DVD then one of the converters in the thread above should do it without re-encoding.

Personally, I use Scenalyzer Live for transferring DV to the computer - nothing comes close to the ease with which this program works.  If you use MiniDV at a consumer level then quite frankly, I don't know how you can not use this program.  It makes the first step of choosing what to keep/remove so much easier.

For editing and encoding, AVIDemux, and for authoring DVDLab Pro - if you're not interested in menus or want simple menus only then the basic All-in-one converters will suffice.

4531

Living Room / Re: A NAS server for my home

« Last post by 4wd on December 08, 2010, 08:43 PM »

The DNS-321 can be configured to sleep the hard drives when unused for a given timespan. However, they take a long time to wake up, so my client software would frequently timeout, so I disabled the sleep feature.

-CWuestefeld (December 08, 2010, 01:54 PM)

Believe or not, but that feature actually worked OK on DNS-313 and SyncBack waited long enough for the drive to spin up, (~10s), when doing a backup.  Mind you, it took 2 firmware upgrades to get it to work reliably, (most of the time).

I've actually modified the HW for it to auto-power on when mains comes back.

-phitsc (December 08, 2010, 06:06 AM)

I saw that hack but since it's going to be retired in favour of a FreeNAS solution I haven't bothered doing it.

4532

Living Room / Re: A NAS server for my home

« Last post by 4wd on December 08, 2010, 05:39 AM »

I have the D-Link DNS-321 as well, but was very disappointed about the reliability and frequency of SW updates.

-phitsc (December 08, 2010, 04:44 AM)

I concur with this, I have the DNS-313 and frankly it's put me off buying D-Link hardware.

Frequency of firmware updates is non-existent and introduce more bugs - they also depend on what version of the hardware you have but don't have the courtesy to tell you in the firmware notes which version it's for.
Emails to D-Link unanswered.

Also little things like not being able to power on to standby at power restoration after a power failure - it's a NAS for heavens sake.  One of a NAS' main functions is backups and the damn thing can't recover from a power failure to continue it's main function.

4533

General Software Discussion / Re: slock - anyone using it still?

« Last post by 4wd on December 07, 2010, 07:00 PM »

No, it's by "crypto central" and it seems they went down the lav some time ago without doing the decent thing and making their code available to registered users.

-timns (December 07, 2010, 06:27 PM)

Same thing I believe, www.crypto-central.com was the homepage of TMS TSM Inc - as shown here.

The problem is that when you install their software, you then have to send a certificate which contains all sorts of PC-specific information, and get an activation back. And of course now, we're simply screaming into the void.

Sounds like it might be tied to hardware IDs then.  You'll have to pray to the Gods of Hardware that the pc never dies

Otherwise, from the simple explanation given here, (second post from end), would it not be easier to remove it from your software, (substituting something other if necessary), and push it out as an upgrade?

Or am I getting this wrong and you just provide support/licensing for third party software?

4534

General Software Discussion / Re: slock - anyone using it still?

« Last post by 4wd on December 07, 2010, 05:59 PM »

Forgot to mention that the key generator itself must be 'registered' to run. And of course, there's no-one left any more to create the key for the key generator! 

-timns (December 07, 2010, 12:11 PM)

Unless the software validates itself over the net or, (as f0dder said), is tied to machine identifiers I would have thought you'd be able to pull the registration info from wherever it's hiding, eg. registry, file, (AD is also a possibility), etc.

However, the very first thing you should be doing is creating a raw drive image of the machine for backup.  I say raw because you don't know what kind of registration magic is used and it's better to be safe.

Is that the one by TSM Inc and does no one keep registration info/emails where you work?

4535

Living Room / Re: Connections problem has me stumped ...

« Last post by 4wd on December 07, 2010, 05:24 PM »

Silly question but.....if it's a desktop computer that is only 3m from the hub why not just use a wired connection?

The BT Hub seems to include 4 LAN ports, (from info on the web), it'd be faster and more reliable.   Or are all the ports in use?

Someone's not microwaving popcorn when the transfers die are they?

4536

Living Room / Re: A NAS server for my home

« Last post by 4wd on December 07, 2010, 04:43 PM »

Another alternative in this scenario is NASLite, which I've used for years. It will run on more or less any old kit you have lying around.

-johnk (December 07, 2010, 11:57 AM)

I had a quick look at NASLite2 when I was wondering what to play with for my own NAS, (which will hopefully work out to be a silent sub-60W w/ 4TB unit), but it didn't seem to support DLNA which a large number of media players support, (plus it costs money and I'm a cheapskate   ).

FreeNAS also had a BT client and I can install SABnzbd on it for Usenet so that kind of pushed me in that direction also.

4537

Living Room / Re: Connections problem has me stumped ...

« Last post by 4wd on December 07, 2010, 04:13 PM »

It's unlikely to be nvidia network drivers since the problem is on a computer that's connected via a DLink WiFi dongle is it not?

I've had a problem similar, Zyxel router/modem to a computer with a Netgear W111v2 - small transfers OK, large transfers just stop.  Even though signal is max the transfer rate was sub-500kB/s.

I can download the offending files wirelessly on my laptop no problem but the Desktop just stops downloading and never completes. This seems to eliminate the connection which seems rock steady and fast on the laptop.

-Carol Haynes (December 07, 2010, 10:57 AM)

But it doesn't eliminate the WiFi segment of the connection unless you are using the same DLink dongle for it as well.

There could be incompatibilities between the DLink dongle and the router - I would try the DLink dongle on the laptop to eliminate the WiFi segment and even then you can only eliminate it if the laptop is also running XP-SP3 so you can run the exact same driver.

Try another WiFi dongle also if you can.

Does transferring a large file over WiFi from laptop -> desktop, (and vv.), suffer the same problem?

4538

General Software Discussion / Re: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for 99 cents

« Last post by 4wd on December 07, 2010, 02:48 AM »

Ouch!  Can you hold off until I get my bomb shelter ready?

-mwb1100 (December 07, 2010, 12:34 AM)

Nope, you've been tarred with the same brush.

Parcel's in the post.....Mr B's gonna have an early Christmas present  






Bet I just set off a few NSA alarm bells 

4539

General Software Discussion / Re: Fastest Audio Converter

« Last post by 4wd on December 07, 2010, 12:04 AM »

Is there any where I can download such a 3½ hours long speech, you're using, for testing?

-Curt (December 06, 2010, 03:43 AM)

If you want to try some voice audio files, just do a search for sermons

eg. Catholic Church Archived Radio Programs - They're in MP3 format but you can always transcode to WMA to get a test file.  Here's a 3 hour debate, (161MB), from the same page.

4540

General Software Discussion / Re: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for 99 cents

« Last post by 4wd on December 06, 2010, 11:51 PM »

<rant mode=no where near Renegades' efforts>

I would have grabbed it except for Microsoft's $#^@$% up website.    

For some reason I had to go through the LiveID signup twice, entering the exact same information before it would acknowledge it and send the verification email.
Then when I've verified myself, I click on the link to buy the game and proceed to checkout - only to be told I should sign up for XBOX Live, even though I'm trying to log in with my newly acquired LiveID - and indeed have not logged out from when I verified myself.
When I try to log in it tells me there is a problem with logging me out!

Cleared the caches, run CCleaner, try IE on both the PC and in a VM - same sh!t.  Clear everything again, reboot and try for one last time.

An hour after I started this fiasco it finally acknowledges that I can log in, so off I go to the checkout to pay for it........only to find their #%$@&^%@%^ website now doesn't like the country I'm in!  ie. Marketplace doesn't like Australia even though it's in the list of countries that can use the download client.

How F***ING hard would it have been to announce it's not available for download in my country right on the F***ING first web page?

I really, really hope that someone drops a tactical nuke on Redmond - collateral damage be damned!
</rant>

4541

Living Room / Re: A NAS server for my home

« Last post by 4wd on December 06, 2010, 06:29 PM »

I just started playing with FreeNAS, (mainly for data backup - I don't have anything to stream to....yet), and I have to say that it was exceptionally easy to get going.

An unused EPIA SP8000EG with 1GB DDR, booting off of a old 1GB Flash drive with, (currently), an old 160GB SATA HDD as storage, (encrypted UFS for which it's using the dedicated AES hardware on the motherboard).  About the only time I had to refer to the docs was to find out what the default user/password was  

EDIT: Oh yeah, it's also equipped with a Gb LAN card so it actually gets 40MB/s transfer rate as opposed to my DLink DNS-313 Gb interface which gets 3MB/s and a friends QNAP Dual Bay NAS whose Gb interface manages to get 10MB/s.

4542

General Software Discussion / Re: SyncBack with Dummy Profiles

« Last post by 4wd on December 06, 2010, 06:28 PM »

I'm not interested in backing up to optical media, e-mail, or SFTP, and not sure BZip2 compression really makes that much of a difference.
The drive failure detection and scripting might be nice and $20 to upgrade isn't bad. Hmmm...

-TheQwerty (December 06, 2010, 11:37 AM)

I was thinking exactly the same thing last night and I'm glad you reminded me this morning

I thought the backup to/from email server looked especially interesting and the scripting sounds great..........time to log into PayPal

4543

General Software Discussion / Re: Fastest Audio Converter

« Last post by 4wd on December 06, 2010, 01:35 AM »

If it's only a voice recording and stereo isn't necessary, perhaps use --preset voice when using LAME might be better?

You need to do it from CLI, (AFAIK - not usually a normal option in GUIs), so:

lame --preset voice xxx.wma xxx.mp3


--preset voice is equivalent to ABR 56kbps/mono.

Adding -s 22.05 should change it to 22050Hz sample frequency.  EDIT: Sample rate conversion is also time intensive, try without first.

You could also tweak the Noise and Psycho Acoustic parameters - try a -q value between say 5 and 9, (the higher the number the lower the quality but the faster the encode), eg. -q 7

4544

Living Room / Re: iPod - tell me why I should buy one

« Last post by 4wd on December 01, 2010, 10:03 PM »

While wandering around DX looking for more pointless stuff to buy, (actually I've been slowly replacing the MR16 halogens with LED versions), I stumbled upon this if you're still in the market for a PMP.

Zune 3" LCD 30GB Wifi Portable Digital Media Player with FM Tuner (Black) - US$58.01



Cheap enough if you want to try something a little more than a MP3 playing memory stick.

4545

Living Room / Re: December has arrived...Are YOU Prepared for Christmas?!

« Last post by 4wd on November 30, 2010, 11:45 PM »

Yay, another person who doesnt care much for christmas.  I hate people askin me what I want, cause they don't like my "I dont really care about presents" reply - I prefar to give, than receive xD

-Stephen66515 (November 30, 2010, 09:05 PM)

I prefer to spend the money on presents for other people, (that they really don't want), on presents for me....at least that way I know I'll get something I like/want¹.  

(My wife and I opted out of the over commercialised Christmas time and Easter.....I'd also opt out of birthdays if I could....damn families   )

So yes, I can say we're as prepared as always - take drink, nibbles, turn up for dinner.



1. Even if I have to sneak it into the house past the missus.

4546

General Software Discussion / Re: Outpost Security Suite Free

« Last post by 4wd on November 30, 2010, 03:15 AM »

Ahem...

I have this hanging on my wall beside my desk:

-Renegade (November 29, 2010, 11:55 PM)

Wouldn't it be better hanging on the wall beside their desks?

I sent my parents, (courtesy of xkcd):
Tech Support Cheat Sheet
Flow Charts

4547

General Software Discussion / Re: Outpost Security Suite Free

« Last post by 4wd on November 29, 2010, 11:23 PM »

I also use OSS Pro, (I am really glad I got their deal 2 years ago - lifetime updates for 3 computers ), so no need for me to be installing the free version at home.

But as I visit the relatives whose computers I'm the defacto technician on, then the strange mixes of ZA, Avast!, Avira and AVG will quietly be replaced - it will be so much easier when they ring up and ask a question about, "Got this requester from Outpost, what does it mean?"

Rather than, "Got this requester from [ZA|Avast!|AVG|<insert other firewall/anti-something>], what does it mean?" or "How do I do <insert operation> in ZA?"

4548

Living Room / Re: I have a problem buying software abroad

« Last post by 4wd on November 28, 2010, 06:52 PM »

I wonder if its possible to setup a post office box in the USA, and have all your mail forwarded to Holland (or any other country) - Might be the safest route, and possibly the simplest.

-Stephen66515 (November 28, 2010, 01:28 PM)

There's all sorts of crazy regulations, trade agreements, treaties, and licensing issues surrounding international software sales.

-40hz (November 28, 2010, 03:36 PM)

There are commercial services that provide the means to do it already, (MyUS is one example - although forwarding postage is a little steep), here in Australia we have Price USA, (more reasonable, %5 + at cost postage), who I believe, will also ship to other countries.

I believe the number one reason for companies not shipping outside of the USA, (or North America), is credit card fraud rather than regulations/agreements.

4549

Living Room / Re: Still holding out, won't join Facebook

« Last post by 4wd on November 27, 2010, 10:15 PM »

Margaret and Helen might have something to say about that. Here's their take on the holidays:

-zridling (November 26, 2010, 11:36 AM)

I have to say, after reading some of her posts, you people over in the US of A really do have the wrong person running as President

4550

Living Room / Re: Homeland Security Shutting Down Web Copyright Violators

« Last post by 4wd on November 27, 2010, 07:11 PM »

Oh great, all this is going to add more fuel to our government's, (Australian), need for Internet filtering in the supposed interest of stopping "child pornography".