Liqourice

Ok. Here's how it is.

I used the trial version of PowerDVD10 with 3D and BD support. I tweaked and got everything working, 3D and all.

Hence, I bought the full version (Ultra 3D MarkII).

Now NOTHING works. I can view 3D but it's EXTREMELY choppy, picture and audio freezes up.. audio more than video so the audio goes out of sync at once.

It won't accept the Avatar BD (non-3D), something the trial version did perfectly. All other BD discs work just fine.

I have tried EVERYTHING but I can't make things work properly.. and this tells me it's the software that's the problem since I made everything work with the trial version.

Contacting Cyberlink for support is pointless, they don't understand my problem and start on about something completely different and when I write again to explain everything they want me to do this and that and that third thing, all things that I've already done and mentioned in my first mail that I had... it's like talking to a dog or something.

I paid for pure and utter crap... and I'm pretty sure that money is forever lost.

mkk

I haven't used it much but colleagues who run bigger home cinema systems than most share the experience that it's often best to stick with a particular version of PowerDVD if you find one than does all you need it to do. The next build might well break some basic feature.

Veridian3

Hey, not seeing the problems you are... I use the latest build in all of our gfx reviews.

Paste what you have tried in here and I will see if i can spot anything.

Liqourice

I have solved most of my issues.

I checked and saw that there was an update avaliable. Strange really, that was released before I bought it. But anyway, I downloaded and installed that and now my 3D problems are gone. It now plays beautifully with no interruptions.

The only problem that remains is that Avatar still doesn't play. I have about 15 BD movies and I've tried 6-7 of them so far and they all work and play without no issues whatsoever. Only problem is Avatar, it just doesn't start, I only get a cut off introduction animation "20 century fox blu-ray disc" and after that it's stuck. Nada.

It worked just fine in the trial version that I used before I bought the full version.

Mr cairo

someone fixed this issue by installing slysoft anydvd HD apparently that allowed avatar to play

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Liqourice

That's just the thing. It worked in the trial version... and I don't want 10 different programs to be be able to view 10 different movies. I know, I'm exhaggerating a bit but that's the whole point with having a HTPC. All I should need is one program that does it all or it will automatically spawn another one for the things it can't handle. If I need 2-3 different programs for different BD's then this won't work.

Ideally I should only need Windows media center and a remote control. When I put a BD in it spawns PowerDVD to take care of BD's. If I need to start another program for this movie I have to exit all of it and it defies the purpose completely.

But mostly... it worked in the trial version.. which means they have the data they need to make it work in the full version as well.. so why isn't it?

Mr cairo

i know its not ideal but anydvd HD is one of those programs that runs in the background all the time

i use it to region free my PC its a very low impact program

as for why the Demo of Power DVD works and the full does not ... no idea

Is there possibly a firmware update for your Bluray player ?

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Liqourice

Well, if it were the BD player (A Lite-On iHBS112 Blu-Ray burner btw) it wouldn't have worked with the trial version of PowerDVD10 either. There is no firmware update for it either, just checked.

I'm gonna try out anydvd but I prefer that cyberlink fixes so all movies work in powerdvd so I don't need to switch.

I did send a new support request to cyberlink and I hope they read it properly this time.


Edited to add: I see, anydvd just makes it possible for powerdvd to play it... so it kind of "works" like that. Still not satisfied though, I paid for a program that I thought worked.. so it should!

Mr cairo

from what i understand though Avatar has some of the strongest (cracked in 2 days regardless) copy protection around and thats whats causing problems for software players (power Dvd etc) and bluray players across the board

i figure it should work the other way round instead of expecting software companies to sort out fixes after the film has been released the film company should look at the players and ask

"will this play for people if we release it now and if not will we let companies know how to fix it ?"

google "My Avatar BluRay wont play" and there are dozens of PC configrations and Standalone players having the same issue as yourself

Is it really down to Cyberlink to make sure Avatar works on their software or down to the Avatar manufacturers to make sure it works on Cyberlinks software , i mean lets be honest as good as the films antipiracy software was the day it was released .... 2 days later it was cracked

its a joke that someone can download and burn a 10 gig avatar rip and play it with no issues but the people that BUY it have nothing but trouble
makes all the hoohaa and problems a bit of a joke

and yes its a joke that you have to use a 3rd party prog to make a film you purchased work on legitimate software you purchased

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Judas

this is bizarre because i have power DVD 7.3 installed under vista x64 on a intel i3 IGPU solution and it's playing back avatar just fine.. so is powerdvd 8 and 9 that i have..

the extended directors cut is due to be available november 16th i think...

i would check for more updates....

i haven't moved to the newest 10 eddition simply because 3D is indeed a new tech and frankly i was expecting issues.

and do not worry... the set top boxes are running into the same problems... toshiba/samsung/sony/pioneer etc... they all are having random issues sometimes repeatable issues with blu-rays...

one case a sony blu-ray player.. fairly new.. i had to wait nearly a month for a new firmware to be able to play a disc that was 3 months older then the player itself..

Blu-ray is a pain in the ass.. but i find it works generally 90% of the time better on computers with blu-ray drives.... and usually there is alternative solution to resolve the issue before a new update comes around too....

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Liqourice

It also annoys me that when I bought the full version and downloaded it I didn't get the latest version. I found that out yesterday. I bought it in mid october, about 10 days ago, but the latest update was released 14th of september.

I honestly never thought about checking for an update on their website since the internal updating handler in PDVD said "No patch avaliable".

Bad support in my view.

Not to speak of when I had problems with the trial version having stutters when I played a movie. The reply I got was "we understand you have problems viewing 3D" while there wasn't one word about 3D in my support request... and this is about how every reply has been from them so far. They just don't read what I write in my problem description, unless they have people who know absolutely nothing and just pasting standard replies.. which is even worse as a first-line support.

Perhaps they didn't want to waste time on trial version requests but if that's so then they should say so.

Judas

well personally it's better then windvd lol...

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RoyBatty

I have the Avatar SE pre-ordered from Amazon UK, so I'm looking forward to the DRM adventures I had to download two 100MB updates for the Power DVD 8 to get the U2 Rattle and Hum blu-ray playing...

Liqourice

Well.. we'll see when the 3D version is released if I get it or not... I didn't check when I bought my copy if it was or not, I just assumed it was the same as on the big screen.. Don't really know if I want two copies. on the other hand I can always give away the one I have now if I do so.. Who knows.

Liqourice

I'm actually surprised, they read what I wrote and wanted more information on what happened..

Not that I had much info to give them since I don't get any error message, it just sits there and does nothing...

Liqourice

Well.. the problems never ends it seems...

Got my new 6850 today. Uninstalled all drivers, cleaned them out, changed the cards, installed newest drivers and started testing. Now PowerDVD detects my TV and all looks dandy but when I start the movie it just CTD's... Don't know if there's something with the driver or PowerDVD not liking the card...

It works well with checkerboard like before but had I been satisfied with that I wouldn't have gotten the new card!

Judas

other then "display cloning" or spanning ..... i cannot comprehend why you are having so much problems..

i know cloning is for the most part.. against the copy protection of blu-ray .. and either you get it to work on a single display.. or you end up with bizarre issues.. usually a message almost emediately stating that you've done something wrong.. but sometimes i've managed to get blu-ray to play in clone or spanned mode with very terrible results..

your trying to feed only one display correct.. just the tv.

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Liqourice

I only have one display connected to my HTPC and that's the TV.

Well, to be fair I guess Cyberlink needs to be able to update their software to recognise the new ATI cards and perhaps that's just the problem with the CTD'ing. Gonna check and ask around on their forum and see if others have experienced the same thing. Don't think I'm the first to try it.. or?

Veridian3

I used the latest version in our 6800 review without issue (10.10a it was at that time I think for the drivers)

Maybe with the new card its time for an OS wipe and install?

Liqourice

Did you try to play a BD movie on a "standard" 3D Ready TV that uses active shutters? (I have a Samsung UE40C8705 btw)

I've thought about starting all over from scratch but it's only a month since I built the thing so the os shouldn't be to messy.

Though, I just found this and it might explain why it CTD's...

HEXUS.net - Press Release :: CyberLink PowerDVD 10 Supports Full Blu-ray 3D MVC Decoding on New AMD Radeon? HD 6800 Graphics Cards : Page - 1/1

I'll wait for the new update and see what happens.

Veridian3

Asus 120Hz screens with active glasses and a Zalman Trimon with passive. Both worked fine but i guess the version I have access to on the press site could be newer than the publically available one.

I'd still try the reinstall to be sure

Liqourice

And you got the 120Hz one picture per eye to work?

Hmm, I can only make it work with checkerboard, otherwise it crashes with no error message. Though, I installed 10.10 directly, didn't install the driver that came with the card, perhaps I should try that out first and see. I guess it's 10.9 but there might be some additional software that gets installed with it.

RoyBatty

It arrived today, and guess what... it's not working. I'll try to download PowerDVD 10 and if that fails the only hope is to wait if Samsung makes a new firmware for my drive. Until then I can look at the nice box on the shelf. Great...

edit: Power DVD 10 trial was expired from the last time on my system, so I tried the ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre 5 trial and it works! Before the first play it dowloaded some data and the loading time was quite long, but now I can watch it at last

Liqourice

I'm still waiting for the promised update to PowerDVD 10.. but I guess "november" means 30th.

Since I paid for the friggin program I expect them to fix it. Though, I still find it strange that it worked in the trial version but not in the full version.

Judas

i'm awaiting my avatar SE version as well..

but i'm using power DVD 9 and i STILL haven't had a single hitch glitch or anything with any of my blu-rays.. and trust me.. i'm not shy on the numberof blu-rays i've pumped through.

Liqourice, you may want to try updating your blu-ray drives firmware again if you haven't..

and it may actually be your blu-ray player itself causing your problems.. NOT the software specifically.


I recently received an LG blu-ray drive and installed it, and i couldn't get "specific" movies to play, it just wouldn't work...

Another computer i had a different blu-ray drive.. i beleive it was lite-on.... the sucker would stutter occasionally.

Recently one of the first blu-ray drives released.... the LG HD-DVD/Blu-ray combo drive, would drop Digital audio randomly on specific disks...

Surfice it to say, the latest Asus Blu-ray drive i have gotten has been problem free and has resolved ALL the other computers problems too.

so you may have a hardware problem.. not a software problem.... a defective blu-ray drive or one that just isn't meeting the DRM standards.

I guess you could find out damn fast with a trial version of ANYDVD HD installed, IF that program doesn't resolve your playback issues, i'd say the drive is faulty... because anydvd will remove all and any protection emediately and playback will be possible reguardless of the setup.

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Liqourice

Problem is that there is no firmware update for my BD player.

It works with Anydvd HD as well which should indicate that it is PowerDVD and not the player. I don't want to use that though, not unless I absolutely have to.

And, had it been the drive, howcome it worked with the trial version of PowerDVD?

Judas

It doesn't necessarily indicate that it's a software problem... i could be that powerdvd is not receiving the encrypted data from the blu-ray drive due to a malfuction of sorts...

And while it initially worked with the trial version is a good question.. but then may i pose another..

why did my trusted LG HD-DVD/Blu-ray drive that has worked flawlessly with powerdvd 7/8/9/10 start malfuctioning shortly after trying the trial version...... even a fresh install wouldn't resolve it...... a firmware update helped but hasn't completely... Sometimes things just "happen"... and being blu-ray, as new as it is..... it's not outside the realm of impossible that the drive could be faulty...

Granted just up and getting a new one isn't an easy task for most.. BUT in a situation such as yours.... Where i have personally never had a problem with powerdvd really..... it's strange you would be having so much problems with it....

So while i'm not saying it's not cyberlinks powerdvd being a cause.. it could be a symptom.... but it also COULD be a cause too..

I wouldn't fully point my finger at powerdvd just yet.....

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Liqourice

Well, I'm waiting for the update that makes it compatible with the new 68x0 series cards, perhaps it will be fixed by then.

I don't want to spend money on a new BD drive either, at least not yet.

Judas

I just received the new Avatar Blu-ray CE...

PowerDVD 7 (no surprise) wouldn't load anything.... powerdvd 7 hasn't really been reliable and doesn't even work under windows 7 at all in the first place..

PowerDVD 8 i didn't bother trying..

PowerDVD 9 works flawlessly out of the box... even with cyberlink recommending me to upgrade to powerDVD 10..

I can test the trial.. it expired.. for powerdvd 10... but i MAY upgrade to it just to try....

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Liqourice

I'm gonna do those tests that cyberlink wanted me to when I reported that the movie stopped working after I paid for the software. Just haven't quite had the time before.

Though, I do hope the next update will fix it and I guess I kinda have waited for that as well. Still no joy there though.