Is it possible to play dvd on old hardware?

hyapadi · 06-14-2005, 09:25 PM

I tried to play dvd on my Pentium 3 800mhz and 512mb ram computer. It didn't played smoothly.

I tried with windows and linux, both on the same hardware. They both give the same results. Is there any way to make it smoother?

For information :

Windows I used Windows Media Player

Linux : Xine and Mplayer.

When I tried to play vcd, everything is ok. IN both platform.

THx

NetRAVEN5000 · 06-14-2005, 09:48 PM

As far as I know there is no way to do this, unless there is some way you can increase the DVD drive's buffer size.

mjrich · 06-14-2005, 09:51 PM

You will need to enable DMA on the drive, if possible. Try (as root)

Code:

hdparm -d1 /dev/cdrom

You may need to install hdparm first, and use whichever device points to your dvd reader.

Cheers,

mj

Tinkster · 06-14-2005, 10:12 PM

All I can add to the DMA tip is that I have it working
very well on an Athlon 600 (which is unlikely to be
any faster than the PIII 8000), and that it may help
to increase the -cache <kBytes> when using mplayer.

Another thing is to look at the various output options,
and bear in mind that the DVD doesn't require a high
screen resolution, 800x600 will be plenty fine.

You didn't mention what the results are, btw.

Cheers,
Tink

hyapadi · 06-15-2005, 12:37 AM

Is it really run on athlon 600 mhz? Well then I think it should work also in my computer.

I will try to enable the dma mode. However, how to check the current status of the dma?

And which is the most lightweight player?

Thx

mjrich · 06-15-2005, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hyapadi
how to check the current status of the dma?

As root, hdparm /dev/cdrom or wherever your cd/dvd drive is located. As for a lightweight player, my preference is for Xine, though a commandline version such as dxr3 may be more suitable -- http://dxr3player.sourceforge.net.

Cheers,

mj