No Audio on DVD

[Bob]

I have a dvd of a lecture. When I play it, the boilerplate music created by
the software used (I don't know what it was) plays just fine. I then click
on "Play" and then on an image of the lecturer. The video is just fine, but
there is no audio. I am running XP and have tried several different video
players. I tried the dvd on my laptop with Vista, and it works fine. I
even tried it on my TV's DVD player and it works fine. But not on my XP
desktop. Since I can hear the intro music (which is not part of the
recorded lecture) I assume it has nothing to do with my speakers, mute
button, etc. This is very strange. Anyone know why?

 

[John Inzer]

I have a dvd of a lecture. When I play it, the boilerplate music
created by the software used (I don't know what it was) plays just
fine. I then click on "Play" and then on an image of the lecturer. The
video is just fine, but there is no audio. I am running XP and
have tried several different video players. I tried the dvd on my
laptop with Vista, and it works fine. I even tried it on my TV's DVD
player and it works fine. But not on my XP desktop. Since I can
hear the intro music (which is not part of the recorded lecture) I
assume it has nothing to do with my speakers, mute button, etc. This
is very strange. Anyone know why?

===================================
Maybe it would be worth a try to download and
install the following filter on your XP machine:

(FWIW...it's always a good idea to create a System
Restore point before installing software or updates)

AC3Filter
http://ac3filter.net/projects/ac3filter

I think the AC3Filter 1.63b Lite might be all you need.

Good luck...

--

J. Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

 

[Bob]

Unfortunately it didn't work; I also tried the full version with no result
either. Any other suggestions?

Thanks

 

[John Inzer]

Unfortunately it didn't work; I also tried the full version with no
result either. Any other suggestions?

Thanks

=============================
Sorry...I thought that would do it.

I wonder if it would help to update your audio drivers.

Have you tried VLC Media Player?

--

J. Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

 

[M.I.5¾]

I have a dvd of a lecture. When I play it, the boilerplate music created
by the software used (I don't know what it was) plays just fine. I then
click on "Play" and then on an image of the lecturer. The video is just
fine, but there is no audio. I am running XP and have tried several
different video players. I tried the dvd on my laptop with Vista, and it
works fine. I even tried it on my TV's DVD player and it works fine. But
not on my XP desktop. Since I can hear the intro music (which is not part
of the recorded lecture) I assume it has nothing to do with my speakers,
mute button, etc. This is very strange. Anyone know why?

Almost certainly your PC doesn't have the required codec to play the audio
from the DVD.

You neglected to state what application you are trying to play the DVD with,
but if it is Windows Media Player, then problems like this are not uncommon
as WMP doesn't come with any of the codecs required to play DVD video discs
as standard.

 

[Bob]

I've tried Windows Media Player, WinDVD, Quicktime, and now (at John Inzer's
suggestion) VLC Media Player, all with the same result (sound with the intro
that comes with the software, but no sound with the lecture). I've played
lots of other DVDs without a problem. Perhaps I don't have the required
codec, but I'm not sure what that means or how I got about getting it.
Thanks,
Bob

 

[John Inzer]

I've tried Windows Media Player, WinDVD, Quicktime, and now (at John
Inzer's suggestion) VLC Media Player, all with the same result (sound
with the intro that comes with the software, but no sound with the
lecture). I've played lots of other DVDs without a problem. Perhaps
I don't have the required codec, but I'm not sure what that means or
how I got about getting it. Thanks,
Bob

======================================
One last thought....

It may be worth a try to download and install the
following codec pack.

*Proceed At Your Own Risk*

K-Lite Codec Pack (Full)
http://www.filehippo.com/download_klite_codec_pack/
FWIW...it's always best if you create a System Restore
point before installing any software or updates.

Good luck.

--

J. Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

 

[Bob]

Tried that; still no sound. Very strange since it's OK on my laptop and a
friend who used the same DVD on her PC had no problems. After downloading
the codec pack, I tried it on Windows Media, Intervideo WinDVD player, and
VLC. No luck. But thanks for trying.

Bob

 

[John Inzer]

Tried that; still no sound. Very strange since it's OK on my laptop
and a friend who used the same DVD on her PC had no problems. After
downloading the codec pack, I tried it on Windows Media, Intervideo
WinDVD player, and VLC. No luck. But thanks for trying.

Bob

==========================================
This is unusual.

Could you insert the DVD and go to...My Computer...
right click the DVD Drive and choose...Explore...

What are the file names and extensions? Do you see a
VIDEO_TS folder?

Do your other DVDs play correctly on the same system?

--

J. Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

 

[Bob]

Well I'm glad it's unusual

I do have both a Video_TS and an Audio_TS folder. The Video_TS folder has
14 files, 3 with BUP extensions, 3 IFO, and 8 VOB. Other DVDs play just
fine on this computer; and THIS DVD plays correctly both on my laptop and on
my TV's DVD player. And the intro music that brings up the menu also plays
just fine. It's just the lecture itself that doesn't work. The lecture was
filmed and then transferred to the DVD, though I'm not clear on the exact
process or software used.

 

[Jean Rosenfeld]

You could try gspot to see what audio codec is needed.

http://www.headbands.com/gspot/

It could also be that the voice was recorded at too low a bit rate, thogh
then I would not have expected it to play elsewhere either.

 

[John Inzer]

Well I'm glad it's unusual

I do have both a Video_TS and an Audio_TS folder. The Video_TS
folder has 14 files, 3 with BUP extensions, 3 IFO, and 8 VOB. Other
DVDs play just fine on this computer; and THIS DVD plays correctly
both on my laptop and on my TV's DVD player. And the intro music
that brings up the menu also plays just fine. It's just the lecture
itself that doesn't work. The lecture was filmed and then
transferred to the DVD, though I'm not clear on the exact process or
software used.

=========================================
OK...I just wanted to verify that your DVD was actually
a Video DVD and not a Data DVD and it is in fact a
Video DVD and I can think of no reason that the audio
is not playing.

There may be a simple fix but I certainly do not have a
clue what it is.

If you find the fix...please update this thread with the solution.

Thanks,

--

J. Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

 

[M.I.5¾]

Tried that; still no sound. Very strange since it's OK on my laptop and a
friend who used the same DVD on her PC had no problems. After downloading
the codec pack, I tried it on Windows Media, Intervideo WinDVD player, and
VLC. No luck. But thanks for trying.

You also don't say where you are on the planet, but in Europe one of the
permissible codecs for audio on a DVD is MPEG. No commercially produced DVD
actually uses it because of issues with it. Is it possible that your DVD
has been mastered with this particular codec and this is why it is the only
DVD that doesn't play sound on your PC. If you are in the US, MPEG is not a
valid codec and US specific DVD video players won't recognise it. I am
advised that some DVD players and some PC based DVD playing utilities won't
recognise MPEG sound on any NTSC format DVD. However, I note that you can
get it to play on other platforms so I believe this is still down to a
missing codec.

Maybe this might help with finding out what codecs you have

<http://www.updatexp.com/sherlock-codec-detective.html>

Or try this codec manager

<http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/mmview.html>

 

[Bob]

I'm in San Francisco. I ran both these programs and have a lot of codecs
(too many to copy and paste here). Are there some that I should
specifically be looking for?

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Young Snodgrass]

John,

I wonder if the BIOS on his DVD drive could be the issue? It may be that he
has an older drive?

Seems to me that you folks have looked at almost everything else!
--
Cordially yours,

Young Snodgrass
(e-mail address removed)

 

[John Inzer]

John,

I wonder if the BIOS on his DVD drive could be the issue? It may be
that he has an older drive?

Seems to me that you folks have looked at almost everything else!

=================================
Maybe a firmware update for the DVD drive
would be worth a try but since all other DVDs
play correctly it doesn't seem hopeful.

--

J. Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

 

[Bob]

Not only do other DVDs play fine on this drive, part of this particular DVD
plays fine: the intro section that is apparently built into the software
that converts the digital video into a DVA. I hear music for the main menu;
I click on play movie, which brings up two little windows, each for half of
the lecture. It's only when I select one of those windows that the sound is
not there. My drives are probably 5 or 6 years old; don't exactly remember
when I bought the PC. Also, I have two different DVD drives; same issue
with both of them.

 

[PapaJohn]

try a disc copy and see if the new DVD acts the same way....

 

[Bob]

That's one of the first thinks I tried; same result

 

[John Inzer]

Not only do other DVDs play fine on this drive, part of this
particular DVD plays fine: the intro section that is apparently built
into the software that converts the digital video into a DVA. I hear
music for the main menu; I click on play movie, which brings up two
little windows, each for half of the lecture. It's only when I
select one of those windows that the sound is not there. My drives
are probably 5 or 6 years old; don't exactly remember when I bought
the PC. Also, I have two different DVD drives; same issue with both
of them.

==================================
Since your optical drives are 5 or 6 years old...
maybe a firmware update would be worth pursuing.

Check the support website of the optical drive's
manufacturer.

--

J. Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk