[3dAnimation]

I'm trying to get DVD Studio Pro to run on a Dual 533. It works with the EXCEPTION of the Preview button. When clicked it gives me a "no DVD hardware detected on your system."

Apple's DVD decoding is in the SOFTWARE. It turns out that Apple pays a license to someone for the right to use their decoding algorithm. They know exactly how many units they have to pay the fee for because they only give the access to decoding algorithm to CPUs with a DVD/DVD-Ram/DVD-R drive. All good and well, except I can't really use DVD Studio Pro without a Preview button!

So... I used TOME Viewer, extracted the DVD extensions from the original CD, and tried them. Now when I hit the Preview button, it looks as thought it is about to work... screen switches to black (for an instant), but then when it should load the video it switches back to the DSP interface. BUT! I don't get an error.

I think what happens, is when the DVD decoding software is called on, it CHECKS to see if you actually have a DVD drive or you tried to fool it (like I did) by just installing the extensions. It came back and said, "nope. I'm not going to decode this."

THE $10,000 question. How can you:
A. Fool your hardware into thinking your CDRW is a DVD (check it out in the System Profiler - it knows!) or
B. simply get the DVD decoding to work!

Thanks,
GregM.

[SmileyDude]

Well, I don't know about DVD Studio Pro, but the DVD player apparently works sans hardware. Another person on this forum, Steph, is using the software player to play DVDs on a iBook 366, no DVD. So, it should be able to be done...

------------------
dennis

[smic]

really i wasnt sure you could do that
i thought you would at least need a dvd rom
makes sense to me

[3dAnimation]

It was my understanding that the DVD drive was just the means to getting the data to the processor for decoding. In this scenario DVD drive, hard drive, zip drive, whatever is just the delivery method to the cpu.

Remember, when Apple first moved over to Software Decoding there were all those problems with frame rates and mis-synched Audio; all because the software (QT?) was not working right. I'm fairly certain it's ALL done in Software. So there MUST be a way to do it.

Thnx,
- GregM.

[COmie JOe]

yea that is correct after the B&W the docodeing went to software to drop price. the little decoder atached to the pins on the ATI card. I wish they made a hardware decodeing card for the mac so I could watch DVDs in the back ground.