I couldn't quite remember how to add a new folder to the DVD directory in Vista MCE, but soon found the proper instructions (its not Settings/DVD, but rather DVD library/[Info button on remote]/Add movies). All the movies were then shown in Vista MCE with their corrects covers. I had placed folder.jpg files in all directories with the corresponding cover art. Beautiful.
But when I tried to show the kids how to play a movie, I got an error message saying that the file format wasn't supported. Strange. I tried playing the .ifo-file in media player classic (not a MS-product). Worked like a charm.
My daughter said that this was far too many steps for her to remember.
Tried Media Center again. No dice. Restarted Media Center. Nothing. Then I tried Media Player 11 (MS) and I couldn't open the file. This time I got an error message saying that the DVD had the wrong region. Strange. I didn't know that files on my HD had a region code.
Since I already had some DVD folders on my C: drive I copied one to my external USB drive after which I no longer could play the movie. Interesting. Now I copied another movie from my external USB drive to my C: drive and voila! The movie played as it should through both Media Player 11 and Media Center. Great. Isn't DRM the best?*
Does this mean my shining new external drive is useless?
One option would be to encode all my DVD folders into Divx or something. At least I wouldn't have any problems with regional codes. But then my kids can't use the shiny DVD library interface in MCE to play movies. Which was one of the main drivers for this project to begin with.
Enter Google. I found a couple of interesting pieces of information, many relating to issues with permissions, how deep the folders where nested and spaces in folder names. I tried everything and nothing worked. During the process also noticed that if you have tried to open a file in Media Player 11 and then move that folder with Windows Explorer you get an error saying you don't have proper permissions. You do. You just need to quit Media Player before moving the folder.
Anyway, after some more searching I finally found this particular comment from jmtasu on Matt Goyer's blog:
well looks like it’s a bug in Vista, it can’t read DVD’s off of USB Hard Drives… If you mount the drive into a folder, it overlooks this and you no longer get the error.
More searching revealed the exact steps to mount the external drive as a folder and, to borrow Steve Jobs's catch phrase, Boom! Everything is up and running and it is beautiful. Permissions, folder nestedness or spaces do not matter.
That's two hours of my life I never get back. Seriously considering a Mac for my next computer.
But now, at last, all the kids' movies are available through the DVD library in Vista MCE. I'll add my own movies when needed.
*Regional coding is not DRM per se, but its in the same ballpark. I doubt a free operating system would have the problems described in this post.
3 comments:
I have a new Sony running Windows Vista Home Premium-32 bit I get a wrong region message every time I try to play a ripped DVD off my WD external e-book USB drive. I read your post and looked at the "mounting in a folder" solution. But, I'm not very technical and I didn't really understand it. It seemed geared for Windows XP. I would be very grateful if you could help me in simple terms. Eternally grateful for any help you can give me!
Thanks, Candy
Hi! This is Candy and I think I managed to do it by going slowly step by step. It seems to be working! So, a BIG THANKS!
You legend! I had the exact same problem and would never have thought of that!
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