No Audio on DVD

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?

"Bob" wrote in message
...

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.

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

"M.I.5¾" wrote in message
...

"Bob" wrote in message
...

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" wrote in message
...
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

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


"M.I.5¾" wrote in message
...

"Bob" wrote in message
...
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

You don't say if you tried gspot, as I suggested previously. But that should
tell you which codecs are used, and you can then check whether you have it.
"Bob" wrote in message
...
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


"M.I.5¾" wrote in message
...

"Bob" wrote in message
...
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

I tried GSpot; it brings up all the files in the Video_TS folder of the DVD.
For the several VOB type files, GSpot says the Codec should be MPEG2 and
that the status is "Installed". For the BUP and IFO type files, GSpot
doesn't do anything, but perhaps these files don't need a Codec. I assume
that if the status is installed, it means I have it.

"Jean Rosenfeld" wrote in message
...
You don't say if you tried gspot, as I suggested previously. But that
should tell you which codecs are used, and you can then check whether you
have it.
"Bob" wrote in message
...
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


"M.I.5¾" wrote in message
...

"Bob" wrote in message
...
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

MPEG2 is the video codec (shown top right). You should look for the audio
codec info, towards bottom left, under Audio
"Bob" wrote in message
...
I tried GSpot; it brings up all the files in the Video_TS folder of the
DVD. For the several VOB type files, GSpot says the Codec should be MPEG2
and that the status is "Installed". For the BUP and IFO type files, GSpot
doesn't do anything, but perhaps these files don't need a Codec. I assume
that if the status is installed, it means I have it.

"Jean Rosenfeld" wrote in message
...
You don't say if you tried gspot, as I suggested previously. But that
should tell you which codecs are used, and you can then check whether you
have it.
"Bob" wrote in message
...
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


"M.I.5¾" wrote in message
...

"Bob" wrote in message
...
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

Ah; sorry. I see it now. For the VOB file types, the audio codec is
DVD_LPCM_AUDIO. Is that OK?

Bob

"Jean Rosenfeld" wrote in message
...
MPEG2 is the video codec (shown top right). You should look for the audio
codec info, towards bottom left, under Audio
"Bob" wrote in message
...
I tried GSpot; it brings up all the files in the Video_TS folder of the
DVD. For the several VOB type files, GSpot says the Codec should be MPEG2
and that the status is "Installed". For the BUP and IFO type files, GSpot
doesn't do anything, but perhaps these files don't need a Codec. I assume
that if the status is installed, it means I have it.

"Jean Rosenfeld" wrote in message
...
You don't say if you tried gspot, as I suggested previously. But that
should tell you which codecs are used, and you can then check whether
you have it.
"Bob" wrote in message
...
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


"M.I.5¾" wrote in message
...

"Bob" wrote in message
...
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

That is certainly one (uncompressed) audio codec used in DVDs, though not
too often (AC3 is more common now, as it uses compression). Personally I
don't have any DVDs that were encoded to DVD_LPCM_AUDIO so I can't test
whether they play sound here (WMP 11 on XP pro SP3)

In the stat. box in the Audio section, does it show 'codec installed'
highlighted in green?

You could also use GSpot to see if it will produce the Audio: With the vob
file fully loaded into Gspot (in the video section, wait until it has
stopped scanning), at the bottom of the Gspot pane (proposed codec solutions
and tests), click on 1 in the MS/A/V column, then click on 2. Check whether
you hear sound when you play the file in the little popup box. If GSpot can
play the Audio, WMP should generally also be able to do so.

Third diagnosis, in Gspot, system menu, click 'List media types' (which
lists the media types found in your registry). In the window that opens
scroll through looking for DVD_LPCM_AUDIO in the Designation column (left
most column). There may be several entries (I have 4, corresponding to
different media types). Right click on them in turn, click 'list all filters
accepting this format' to see whether you have any appropriate filter
installed (highlighted in blue) for each.

On my system AC3 filter is shown as a match for 3 of the 4 media types, but
you already tried that and it didn't work.
The fourth media type (MPEG2_PACK) shows ffdshow to be a match, but not AC3.
So maybe that is the media type (audio) of your vob file.

If you haven't tried ffdshow, you can download it from

http://www.free-codecs.com/FFDShow_download.htm
(the topmost link or either of the two mirror sites listed).

When installed, click start. programs, ffdshow and open the audio decoder
configuration. Check that LPCM is enabled. If not click on its decoder entry
and select enabled.

If all else fails you could convert the audio stream to, say, AC3, using,
for example (free) Super coverter.
Its main page is

http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

Unfortunately you have to go through three pages of bumf and user
instructions before you get to the place for the download; persevere :-).

BTW if not already done, I would uninstall the K- Lite codec pack.

That's about the limit of my knowledge I'm afraid, so if none of the above
helps I can't think of anything else you could try.

"Bob" wrote in message
...
Ah; sorry. I see it now. For the VOB file types, the audio codec is
DVD_LPCM_AUDIO. Is that OK?

Bob

"Jean Rosenfeld" wrote in message
...
MPEG2 is the video codec (shown top right). You should look for the audio
codec info, towards bottom left, under Audio
"Bob" wrote in message
...
I tried GSpot; it brings up all the files in the Video_TS folder of the
DVD. For the several VOB type files, GSpot says the Codec should be MPEG2
and that the status is "Installed". For the BUP and IFO type files,
GSpot doesn't do anything, but perhaps these files don't need a Codec. I
assume that if the status is installed, it means I have it.

"Jean Rosenfeld" wrote in message
...
You don't say if you tried gspot, as I suggested previously. But that
should tell you which codecs are used, and you can then check whether
you have it.
"Bob" wrote in message
...
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


"M.I.5¾" wrote in message
...

"Bob" wrote in message
...
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

Sounds like it's time for a "new" drive!
--
Cordially yours,

Young Snodgrass

See comments below. I haven't done the ffshow part yet, but I appreciate
your help! Thanks so much. I'll keep working on it.

Bob

"Jean Rosenfeld" wrote in message
...
That is certainly one (uncompressed) audio codec used in DVDs, though not
too often (AC3 is more common now, as it uses compression). Personally I
don't have any DVDs that were encoded to DVD_LPCM_AUDIO so I can't test
whether they play sound here (WMP 11 on XP pro SP3)

In the stat. box in the Audio section, does it show 'codec installed'
highlighted in green?

YES


You could also use GSpot to see if it will produce the Audio: With the vob
file fully loaded into Gspot (in the video section, wait until it has
stopped scanning), at the bottom of the Gspot pane (proposed codec
solutions and tests), click on 1 in the MS/A/V column, then click on 2.
Check whether you hear sound when you play the file in the little popup
box. If GSpot can play the Audio, WMP should generally also be able to do
so.

I DO HEAR SOUND, BUT IT IS FAINT AND THERE IS A LOT OF STATIC AS WELL


Third diagnosis, in Gspot, system menu, click 'List media types' (which
lists the media types found in your registry). In the window that opens
scroll through looking for DVD_LPCM_AUDIO in the Designation column (left
most column). There may be several entries (I have 4, corresponding to
different media types). Right click on them in turn, click 'list all
filters accepting this format' to see whether you have any appropriate
filter installed (highlighted in blue) for each.

I
On my system AC3 filter is shown as a match for 3 of the 4 media types,
but you already tried that and it didn't work.
The fourth media type (MPEG2_PACK) shows ffdshow to be a match, but not
AC3. So maybe that is the media type (audio) of your vob file.


ALSO HAVE FOUR. EACH HAS A FILTER, THOUGH NOT ALWAYS THE SAME ONES. AC3
FILTER IS SHOWN FOR 3 OF THE 4. AND LIKE YOU, THE FOURTH ONE SHOWS FFDSHOW
BUT NOT AC3.


If you haven't tried ffdshow, you can download it from

http://www.free-codecs.com/FFDShow_download.htm
(the topmost link or either of the two mirror sites listed).

When installed, click start. programs, ffdshow and open the audio decoder
configuration. Check that LPCM is enabled. If not click on its decoder
entry and select enabled.

If all else fails you could convert the audio stream to, say, AC3, using,
for example (free) Super coverter.
Its main page is

http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

Unfortunately you have to go through three pages of bumf and user
instructions before you get to the place for the download; persevere :-).

BTW if not already done, I would uninstall the K- Lite codec pack.

That's about the limit of my knowledge I'm afraid, so if none of the above
helps I can't think of anything else you could try.

Good luck. BTW when I searched for DVD_LPCM_AUDIO on the internet, there
were lots of posts with the same issue as you have. Maybe one of those might
offer a solution.

"Bob" wrote in message
...
See comments below. I haven't done the ffshow part yet, but I appreciate
your help! Thanks so much. I'll keep working on it.

Bob

"Jean Rosenfeld" wrote in message
...
That is certainly one (uncompressed) audio codec used in DVDs, though not
too often (AC3 is more common now, as it uses compression). Personally I
don't have any DVDs that were encoded to DVD_LPCM_AUDIO so I can't test
whether they play sound here (WMP 11 on XP pro SP3)

In the stat. box in the Audio section, does it show 'codec installed'
highlighted in green?

YES


You could also use GSpot to see if it will produce the Audio: With the
vob file fully loaded into Gspot (in the video section, wait until it has
stopped scanning), at the bottom of the Gspot pane (proposed codec
solutions and tests), click on 1 in the MS/A/V column, then click on 2.
Check whether you hear sound when you play the file in the little popup
box. If GSpot can play the Audio, WMP should generally also be able to do
so.

I DO HEAR SOUND, BUT IT IS FAINT AND THERE IS A LOT OF STATIC AS WELL


Third diagnosis, in Gspot, system menu, click 'List media types' (which
lists the media types found in your registry). In the window that opens
scroll through looking for DVD_LPCM_AUDIO in the Designation column (left
most column). There may be several entries (I have 4, corresponding to
different media types). Right click on them in turn, click 'list all
filters accepting this format' to see whether you have any appropriate
filter installed (highlighted in blue) for each.

I
On my system AC3 filter is shown as a match for 3 of the 4 media types,
but you already tried that and it didn't work.
The fourth media type (MPEG2_PACK) shows ffdshow to be a match, but not
AC3. So maybe that is the media type (audio) of your vob file.


ALSO HAVE FOUR. EACH HAS A FILTER, THOUGH NOT ALWAYS THE SAME ONES. AC3
FILTER IS SHOWN FOR 3 OF THE 4. AND LIKE YOU, THE FOURTH ONE SHOWS
FFDSHOW BUT NOT AC3.


If you haven't tried ffdshow, you can download it from

http://www.free-codecs.com/FFDShow_download.htm
(the topmost link or either of the two mirror sites listed).

When installed, click start. programs, ffdshow and open the audio decoder
configuration. Check that LPCM is enabled. If not click on its decoder
entry and select enabled.

If all else fails you could convert the audio stream to, say, AC3, using,
for example (free) Super coverter.
Its main page is

http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

Unfortunately you have to go through three pages of bumf and user
instructions before you get to the place for the download; persevere :-).

BTW if not already done, I would uninstall the K- Lite codec pack.

That's about the limit of my knowledge I'm afraid, so if none of the
above helps I can't think of anything else you could try.

Well I got it to work, but not quite sure why! If I play the DVD with VLC
Media Player and then under Audio/Audio Device I change stereo to mono, it
works just fine. Still doesn't work with other players and I haven't
figured out how to save the mono setting. I have to change it each time,
but at least it does work!

"Jean Rosenfeld" wrote in message
...
Good luck. BTW when I searched for DVD_LPCM_AUDIO on the internet, there
were lots of posts with the same issue as you have. Maybe one of those
might offer a solution.

"Bob" wrote in message
...
See comments below. I haven't done the ffshow part yet, but I appreciate
your help! Thanks so much. I'll keep working on it.

Bob

"Jean Rosenfeld" wrote in message
...
That is certainly one (uncompressed) audio codec used in DVDs, though
not too often (AC3 is more common now, as it uses compression).
Personally I don't have any DVDs that were encoded to DVD_LPCM_AUDIO so
I can't test whether they play sound here (WMP 11 on XP pro SP3)

In the stat. box in the Audio section, does it show 'codec installed'
highlighted in green?

YES


You could also use GSpot to see if it will produce the Audio: With the
vob file fully loaded into Gspot (in the video section, wait until it
has stopped scanning), at the bottom of the Gspot pane (proposed codec
solutions and tests), click on 1 in the MS/A/V column, then click on 2.
Check whether you hear sound when you play the file in the little popup
box. If GSpot can play the Audio, WMP should generally also be able to
do so.

I DO HEAR SOUND, BUT IT IS FAINT AND THERE IS A LOT OF STATIC AS WELL


Third diagnosis, in Gspot, system menu, click 'List media types' (which
lists the media types found in your registry). In the window that opens
scroll through looking for DVD_LPCM_AUDIO in the Designation column
(left most column). There may be several entries (I have 4,
corresponding to different media types). Right click on them in turn,
click 'list all filters accepting this format' to see whether you have
any appropriate filter installed (highlighted in blue) for each.

I
On my system AC3 filter is shown as a match for 3 of the 4 media types,
but you already tried that and it didn't work.
The fourth media type (MPEG2_PACK) shows ffdshow to be a match, but not
AC3. So maybe that is the media type (audio) of your vob file.


ALSO HAVE FOUR. EACH HAS A FILTER, THOUGH NOT ALWAYS THE SAME ONES. AC3
FILTER IS SHOWN FOR 3 OF THE 4. AND LIKE YOU, THE FOURTH ONE SHOWS
FFDSHOW BUT NOT AC3.


If you haven't tried ffdshow, you can download it from

http://www.free-codecs.com/FFDShow_download.htm
(the topmost link or either of the two mirror sites listed).

When installed, click start. programs, ffdshow and open the audio
decoder configuration. Check that LPCM is enabled. If not click on its
decoder entry and select enabled.

If all else fails you could convert the audio stream to, say, AC3,
using, for example (free) Super coverter.
Its main page is

http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

Unfortunately you have to go through three pages of bumf and user
instructions before you get to the place for the download; persevere
:-).

BTW if not already done, I would uninstall the K- Lite codec pack.

That's about the limit of my knowledge I'm afraid, so if none of the
above helps I can't think of anything else you could try.