PixInsight DVDs not working

NeilW · #1 19-10-2016, 05:30 PM

Hi all,

I have all three of Warren Keller's IP4AP Pixinsight DVDs, and I've just discovered that disks 1 and 2 no longer work. I've tried them in two different PC's, one with Windows 7, the other Windows 8, and I've also tried running them under three different browsers without success. (The disks are fine...not damaged in any way.)

I know that IP4AP have recently gone to a subscription service for their tutorial material, so I'm not sure if there's a time limit with the DVDs now as a result. But considering that they cost around $70 each from Bintel I'd be a bit peeved if this were the case.

Has anyone else experienced similar difficulties?

Cheers,

sil (Steve) · #2 20-10-2016, 03:17 PM

From memory they dont install anything so time limits not really possible. How do you access the discs? Been a while since I touched mine, they're just a bunch of files on a disc right? I copied the contents to my NAS when I got them so I could play them anytime from my network. I use VLC to play every video I have on my network, have you recently switched players? can you open the discs with Windows Explorer (not just double click on the discs which usually runs the autorun file).

when you open My Computer do you see the discs there? what happens when you right click and attempt to "open in a new window"? Does is say there is no disc in drive or similar? If the disc opens you can just browse the disc as usual I think and find the video files and opem them in a video player like VLC.

Failing that I'm sure if you contact Bintel they will replace the discs for you if you send them in, they are just regular burnt discs not mass produced fom gold/glass masters. So it may have been an inferior batch of blanks. Nothing to stress over. Try the above (I have no idea how you access them to determine they no longer work), if the disc is defective you should not get an icon in My Computer, if your drive is defective it should do the same to all discs, even if the discs are in DVD-VIDEO spec instead of DVD-ROM spec you should still be able to right on them and "open in a new window" to browse the disc in which case you'll find a VIDEO folder with a bunch of *.vob files, these just play as they are in VLC.

My guess is you are just double clicking the discs, which runs the autorun script on the disc running a launch program, so they may have changed launch programs along the way as they didnt work on Win7 or 8 or maybe your antivirus has blocked them. Try the above, then contact Bintel

peter_4059 (Peter) · #3 20-10-2016, 03:45 PM

I had trouble playing them off the dvd but they worked fine when i copied the files to the hard drive.

multiweb (Marc) · #4 21-10-2016, 08:11 AM

If they are flv or swf files then the reason is that the flash plugin is no longer supported in a variety of browsers. That's all. You still can download FLV players online.

GaryPlum (Gary) · #5 27-10-2016, 01:55 PM

Maybe that your player does not have a suitable codec. Download and install VLC from here, best player, not resource hungry and most codecs installed with the app:- http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html

NeilW · #6 31-10-2016, 04:11 PM

Thank guys, will give VLC a go.

RAJAH235 · #7 31-10-2016, 06:36 PM

Hi,
FWIW...

The built-in (WIN7 & up etc.,) Windows Media Player will play .FLV videos.
VLC will play just about anything you throw at it.

Warhen (Warren) · #8 07-12-2016, 02:14 AM

Hi Neil, Sorry for just seeing this- I've not visited the forums in over a year. I'm sorry for your troubles! Why, oh why however would you not contact IP4AP or me directly for help? We're confident that the issue is ever-changing browsers, and the exclusion of Java (and Flash), etc. It's become nearly impossible to have the files stay current. Of course, there's no preprogrammed 'self destruct mechanism' on the disks, the change is in the browser. So, several things here:

1. We're working to circumvent the issue

2. You should try one or two different browsers

3. You can try enabling Java in a browser

4. Although it's nicest to be able to navigate from the Table of Contents, please know that the material is always accessible to you. Navigate to the disk drive. In the tutorials folder (i.e. 'PixInsight_1'), find the folders for each movie. Open the .mp4 file. While it won't have the full features of the browser player, the movie will play fine in Windows Media Player, etc.

Thanks for your patience and understanding Neil.

NeilW · #9 07-12-2016, 04:16 PM

Hi Warren,

I did actually put a post on IP4AP Faceboook page, to which you responded. But I thought I'd just ask the question here as well in case someone had encountered the same thing.

I've overcome it by copying the MP4s to my hard drive and playing them directly via Windows Media Player as you suggested.

Regards,

Geoff45 (Geoff) · #10 09-12-2016, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilW

Hi Warren,

I did actually put a post on IP4AP Faceboook page, to which you responded. But I thought I'd just ask the question here as well in case someone had encountered the same thing.

I've overcome it by copying the MP4s to my hard drive and playing them directly via Windows Media Player as you suggested.

Regards,

I've had the same problems. I bought disk 1 from bintel. It no longer works. I downloaded disk2 from the IP4AP. It no longer works. I downloaded disk 3 from IP4AP. It works fine. I can run things with windows media player, but it's a bit of a pain.
Geoff