True DVD Media Emulation Question

[Crane]

Hi Gang,

I've used Daemon Tools for some basic creating and mounting of images etc. for several years but I have a question regarding "true" DVD simulation.

Here's why. I am a multimedia developer and I'm testing a DVD authored in Flash and it runs fine from the hard drive or a USB stick but when I burn an actual, physical DVD it behaves differently. Every time I have to test a fix I need to burn a new DVD which is naturally a pain.

So I thought I would just create an .iso image from NERO instead of actually burning the DVD, mount the image then test from the mounted image. Much faster right?

Well the program runs fine from the mounted image as it did from HD or USB stick.

The application ( which needs to run standalone from a DVD) only misbehaves when it runs from an actual physical DVD disk.

So the question is ...

1) Can Daemon Tools truly simulate a DVD disc?
2) Is there a special setting I need to use? (I looked at drive info for the mounted .iso ... what is Cooked Read Mode?)
3) Do I need a different app altogether to do what I want.

Thanks in advance,
Crane

[Terramex]

Hi Gangster

I'm testing a DVD authored in Flash and it runs fine from the hard drive or a USB stick

DAEMON Tools provides true DVD drive emulation - it takes what it's given and won't falsify your tests.
"True DVD simulation" primarily depends on your DVD software player.
For example, if you create a non-compliant (=not using the UDF bridge file system) DVD Video image
and mount it in DAEMON Tools' virtual drive Windows Media Player will still let you navigate and
use the menu whereas VLC Player mostly refuses to do so.
So what exactly runs fine from hard drive, using which tool/software DVD player ?

...but when I burn an actual, physical DVD it behaves differently.

What does "differently" mean ? How do you usually burn your DVDs ?

[Crane]

Hi Gangster,

Sorry for the slow reply, I was at a summer cottage for a few days

By "behaves differently" I mean this ...

I use Nero to burn data DVD's for multimedia projects with lots of video on them. I use to use CDs but now I need more room for the videos

Typically I would create an .iso image first to do the basic testing of making sure all the files were there and would run properly. Test an installer if needed etc. Then I would burn the project to a DVD and test again on other computers. In my program I have a menu and I link to video files in a sub directory dynamically. So ...

mainapp.exe
/video/movie1.mp4
/video/movie2.mp4
/pages/datapage1.html#anchor1
/pages/datapage2.html#anchor2

So when my app loads an html page it will build a path something like this ...
file:///F:/pages/biologicalprinciples.html (note my app embeds the users IE and feeds the file path to it, hence the "file:///")

This works fine from the local hard drive, a USB stick or a Nero created .iso image mounted with Daemon Tools.

It doesn't work properly when I run it from the DVD I burned. Specifically if my menu link navigates to an html anchor in a page that is already loaded then it does not work from the actual DVD.

So it would be nice if my Daemon Tools mounted .iso image behaved EXACTLY like the actual physical DVD and create the same errors. That way I wouldn't have to burn a DVD every time I want to test a tweak to the programming. From what you are saying this is possible, I just haven't figured it out yet.

Make sense? I'm thinking that maybe I need to create the DVD drive image itself with Daemon Tools instead of Nero?

Thanks for your time,
Crane

PS: My application is programmed with Flash and uses the Zinc wrapper which extends Flash's capabilities.

[Terramex]

The fact that english isn't my native tounge is no excuse for getting you that wrong.
Should have taken a closer look / slower read - sorry about that

In my false understanding i thought you are dealing with menues for DVD Video compliant material,
which (at least partly) will be used in standalone DVD Video players.
Something like Flash -> QuickTime -> After Effects - as you maybe notice i'm not really familar with that

Now back to the real topic.
Principally there should be no difference between mounted ISO and burned DVD - as long as nothing
is altered at the burning process.
To sort out a problem with nero i'd personally first try to pre-master & burn your ISO
with another app like e.g. ImgBurn: ImgBurn Build Mode - ImgBurn Support Forum
ImgBurn's default File System settings should be ok for your purpose.

Have you cross-checked behaviour of the burned DVD with another browser ?

[Crane]

Hi Terramex,

No worries, I could probably do a better job describing the problem in the first place

Unfortunately I can't use another browser. The Flash/Zinc Wrapper solutions adds embedded browser functionality to Flash and it has to be the IE. Now it probably seems backwards embedding the browser in Flash but this is "presentation ware" where it has to have a slick "Flash" design but also has tons of text to browse through. That's why we settled on using HTML for the text since the Flash/Zinc solution allowed for it.

So its just a matter of figuring out why the html#anchor links will work on a mounted .iso image of the DVD but not the actual DVD itself.

Cheers,
Crane