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Handbrake Slow Scanning on new i7

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Wheeler

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 29, 2007
94
0
Just got a new i7 2.93, and HandBrake takes forever to scan DVD's prior to starting the rip/encode. I am aware of the riplock issue and do unfortunately have the GA32N Hitachi drive, but all the riplock posts I have seen relate to ripping/encoding times and I am having trouble finding any info on slow "Scanning new source" performance.

When I add a DVD source in 0.9.4 64 bit handbrake (with 64bit VLC) it hangs on "Scanning new source" for a long time, then slooooowly scans each title- taking 20-30 min till I can start. My 3,1 Mini takes less than minute do to the same thing.

Encoding speeds are prob slower than should be but still faster than the mini, getting about 40-50 fps when ripping from DVD.

So anyone with the GA32N drive experience the same thing, or is this unrelated to the riplock? Only other thing I can think of is I shut down DVD Player when it first opened and never set a region code, but apparently you do not have to do that anymore.

Just trying to figure out if I need to replace the drive or not, as I can stand the mediocre encoding times, but not the ridiculous scanning times.

I can post Activity Window info if needed, but I get a lot of "hb_demux_ps: not a PS packet (00000000)" and "scan: audio channel is not active"

Cheers for the help.
 
TMRaven

TMRaven

macrumors 68020
Nov 5, 2009
2,099
1
Have you tried ripping a dvd using a dedicated dvd ripper, and then encoding using handbrake? Handbrake developers themselves had said time and time again that it's not meant to be used as a dvd ripper.
 
W

Wheeler

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 29, 2007
94
0
Thanks for the reply, but I prefer the one-step method in HB that I always use. This isn't a HB issue so much as an iMac issue, and despite what the HB developers says, HB can and does rip very well, even if it technically isn't ripping by using VLC in the background.

I am fine using other methods to rip or just use HB on my mini, but I do think it is stupid that an i7 imac many more times powerful than my mini takes infinitely longer to scan DVD titles in HB, and would like to figure out why.
 
ACKRITE

ACKRITE

macrumors member
May 11, 2008
97
1
West Hartford, CT
I have the exact same setup as you (i.e., iMac i7 2.93 (8gb RAM), Hitachi drive), and I am not experiencing what you are describing. At times, depending on the disc (especially banged-up Netflix discs) the "Scanning New Source" will take upwards of 2-3 minutes - whereas typical for me is about 30 seconds for this step. Also, once scanned, the encoding (Apple Universal setting) take approx. 15 minutes for a full movie - with an average FPS of about 115.
 
D

dh2005

macrumors 6502a
Jan 25, 2010
907
0
I've had to type this message twice. Dunno what the Hell's wrong with the forum, today...



Firstly, for the OP;

The internal DVD drive in the iMac stinks. If you're ripping a large number of discs, buy a half-decent external one. Won't cost much, and it'll be tons better than the crap-slot in your iMac.

Using the internal drive of my iMac, it takes about 25 minutes to rip a 7GB DVD. The same disc will take less than 15 minutes using my external. So, since December 2008, having ripped approximately 1,500 discs in that period, at that rate I would've saved more than 250 hours of computing time for a £50 investment.


Secondly, if nobody minds me sneaking in a quick question of my own...

... I'm gonna transcode a few of my movies to run on my iPod Touch, but I figure while I'm doing it I might as well use a standard that means they can be watched on my 13" netbook, also - for when I have to travel light, and I can't truck 12TB of media around with me!

Which preset should I use, for an excellent aesthetic effect on a 13"-ish screen? Would Apple Universal do it, or should I use High Profile? And what does the 'large file size' option do...?
 
TMRaven

TMRaven

macrumors 68020
Nov 5, 2009
2,099
1
Depends on how powerful your computer is. Going x264/h264 with a bitrate of around 3-6mbps should be good enough to power anything that's 1280x720 resolution and lower with enough compression to ensure smaller file sizes.
 
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dh2005

macrumors 6502a
Jan 25, 2010
907
0
Not very powerful, mate. I mean, it runs DVDs perfectly fine but anything hi-def is a no-no. I think it has a 1.6GHz VIA CPU... kinda like the Intel Atom, only a bit quicker.
 
W

Wheeler

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 29, 2007
94
0
ACKRITE said:
I have the exact same setup as you (i.e., iMac i7 2.93 (8gb RAM), Hitachi drive), and I am not experiencing what you are describing. At times, depending on the disc (especially banged-up Netflix discs) the "Scanning New Source" will take upwards of 2-3 minutes - whereas typical for me is about 30 seconds for this step. Also, once scanned, the encoding (Apple Universal setting) take approx. 15 minutes for a full movie - with an average FPS of about 115.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info- helps to know you have same setup but do not have this problem, I guess it's not rip lock.

dh2005 said:
The internal DVD drive in the iMac stinks. If you're ripping a large number of discs, buy a half-decent external one. Won't cost much, and it'll be tons better than the crap-slot in your iMac..
Click to expand...

I will probably go this route, I like having a monitor to the right anyways which blocks imac superdrive- thanks for the help!
 
BornAgainMac

BornAgainMac

macrumors 604
Feb 4, 2004
7,281
5,250
Florida Resident
Having the DVD drive in the iMacs at that vertical was even acknowledged by Steve Jobs with the original iMac G4 (Looks like a lamp) during a keynote. A better design for performance was to have the DVD drive flat (like the Mini) and keep the flat part of the Mac (Monitor) flat with the computer at the base of the monitor.

Here is the clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds5LnXF4E0Q
 
B

billynicol

macrumors newbie
Apr 7, 2009
6
0
use an old Handbrake results in fast/normal scanning times

I had the same issue on my new iMac 2.93 quad core, but when I installed the 9.0.3 version it was back to normal fast scanning speed

http://mac.oldapps.com/handbrake.php

I wonder if it is something to do with 9.04 and 9.05 using VLC library files?
 
W

widphoto

macrumors newbie
Jul 18, 2007
2
0
In ref to vertical orientation of dvd, cant say this would be the exclusive reason, because my Mac Pro (horz dvd) is doing the insanely slow title scanning that is mentioned above. Handbrake just crashed in the background while attempting another scan.

Version 0.9.5 x86_64 (2011010300), VLC-Version 1.1.3 The Luggage (Intel 64bit), Mac OS 10.6.6

So not sure what is going on... hold on, VLC wants a newer version will try that. No luck, same issue... insanely long scans, but rips are about normal. Any help here, was not having this issue a couple of weeks ago.

Update: I tried the revert to 0.9.3, and no relief for me here, still long scan times.

Russ
 
Last edited:
Frosticus

Frosticus

macrumors 6502a
Oct 4, 2010
528
2
Bristol, UK
I'm having the exact same problem on my new 27" 2.7GHz i5 bought yesterday.. I think it's a Riplock problem, in which case I might look at flashing the drive, but am a bit wary of doing this on a brand new machine.

Can anyone recommend any external DVD drives which do not have the Riplock "feature" and work well with Handbrake etc??
 
D

DCOHEN

macrumors newbie
May 5, 2011
1
0
Bought New iMac Yesterday Also

Frosticus said:
I'm having the exact same problem on my new 27" 2.7GHz i5 bought yesterday.. I think it's a Riplock problem, in which case I might look at flashing the drive, but am a bit wary of doing this on a brand new machine.

Can anyone recommend any external DVD drives which do not have the Riplock "feature" and work well with Handbrake etc??
Click to expand...

I also bought a new 27" iMac i5, 3.1GHz, (Latest). With my old iMac (5 years old) it took 2 hours to ripe a DVD. With a 2 month old iMac i5, 2.8GHz, it took 15 minutes. Now with the latest iMac it takes 15 minutes just to load the source and another 1.5 hrs to burn. That seems like there is a problem with Computer. I look forward to some insight.
 
xkmxkmxlmx

xkmxkmxlmx

macrumors 6502a
Apr 28, 2011
885
113
I know you said you prefer an all in one process, but nothing beats the mactheripper/handbrake combo.

You can even encode while ripping another disc! (if you have more than one disc to do, obviously).
 
R

rickdollar

macrumors 6502
Mar 12, 2007
473
24
I, too, just bought the new iMac i7 3.4GHz and it is taking FOREVER for HB to scan a DVD. What used to take 30 or 40 seconds to scan on my Mac Pro now takes 10-15 minutes on this iMac. That's just to scan the disk. I wonder if Apple did this on purpose?
 
S

spacepower7

macrumors 68000
May 6, 2004
1,509
1
rickdollar said:
I, too, just bought the new iMac i7 3.4GHz and it is taking FOREVER for HB to scan a DVD. What used to take 30 or 40 seconds to scan on my Mac Pro now takes 10-15 minutes on this iMac. That's just to scan the disk. I wonder if Apple did this on purpose?
Click to expand...

This can be from rip lock or the form of copy protection on the DVD. Disney was notorious for putting 99 titles all faking 2 hours long, which caused major problems.
 
J

jscherbel

macrumors newbie
May 28, 2008
6
0
I'm having this same problem on a new iMac 2011. My 2008 ran just fine. The initial scanning takes a VERY long time (30 minutes). I've tried 5 DVDs and they're all the same.
 
Frosticus

Frosticus

macrumors 6502a
Oct 4, 2010
528
2
Bristol, UK
jscherbel said:
I'm having this same problem on a new iMac 2011. My 2008 ran just fine. The initial scanning takes a VERY long time (30 minutes). I've tried 5 DVDs and they're all the same.
Click to expand...

Sounds like riplock. Plug in an external drive (favour an older one) and you'll see dramatically faster scans.
 
Frosticus

Frosticus

macrumors 6502a
Oct 4, 2010
528
2
Bristol, UK
aliensporebomb said:
The real question is there any way to disable the riplock?
Click to expand...

Yes. You can flash the drive, replacing the firmware with one which doesn't include Rip Lock. Although there are obvious risks associated with this if it goes wrong, and you might well void the warranty on the drive, if not your whole Mac.

Also, Rip Lock isn't just there to hamper backing up of DVDs, it actually helps prolong the life of your drive. So if you disable it and your drive burns out a lot sooner than you expected - it could be a lot harder and more expensive to replace than an external one.

I went for the easier/safer/cheaper option of getting the external BD-ROM drive mentioned a few posts earlier. DVD rips are fast and I can do BD rips too - try doing that with your internal Superdrive ;)
 
aliensporebomb

aliensporebomb

macrumors 68000
Jun 19, 2005
1,907
332
Minneapolis, MN, USA, Urth
Ah!

Frosticus said:
Yes. You can flash the drive, replacing the firmware with one which doesn't include Rip Lock. Although there are obvious risks associated with this if it goes wrong, and you might well void the warranty on the drive, if not your whole Mac.

Also, Rip Lock isn't just there to hamper backing up of DVDs, it actually helps prolong the life of your drive. So if you disable it and your drive burns out a lot sooner than you expected - it could be a lot harder and more expensive to replace than an external one.

I went for the easier/safer/cheaper option of getting the external BD-ROM drive mentioned a few posts earlier. DVD rips are fast and I can do BD rips too - try doing that with your internal Superdrive ;)
Click to expand...

What brand and model of external?
 
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