DivX files

thejutt · #1 (**permalink**) 2nd April 2003

I have the nimo and xvid codecs installed and after that I installed the latest DivX player and codec (the adware free version). I can play all Xvid files just fine with Bs player but for some reason it will not play .avi and other DivX files saiyng that it is "an unknown file format". This used to happen even before i installed the latest Divx player and codec. BTW - I get the same message when I use WMP to play .avi or other DivX files. Those very files play fine in DivX's own player. I have a reasonable system (P4/512 megs/64 megs video ram) - what could be the problem.....?
Please Help - I love this player and want to use it for all my video files....
:?: :(

Marky · #2 (**permalink**) 2nd April 2003

Which DivX version did you use? A _LOT_ of people that use 5.02 or 5.03 are having problems similar to what you're describing. Version 5.01 seems to be the only version that works for most people.

Secondly, there has been a lot of alerts regarding some versons of the Nimo pak - I don't remember which ones though.

My suggestion is to uninstall the Nimo pak. Then uninstall DivX 5 _IF_ you're using 5.02 or 5.03, and install DivX5.01 (just to be safe). Then get ffdshow ver 20030103 and install it (and remember to copy the .dlls to the Windows/System32 directory). This combination has worked flawlessly on the 10 systems on my network (they are not all the same configuration by any means).

thejutt · #3 (**permalink**) 2nd April 2003

Thanks for the help!
I am using DivX codec version 5.03 - how do I get version 5.01. Also, for the technically challenged where do I get ffdshow? Is there a codec pack you recommend? Someone suggested SLD. Is that any good?
Thanks again!

scotty81 · #4 (**permalink**) 2nd April 2003

I use codec divx 5.0.3 Pro and I'm having no problem!!
I would uninstall nimo's codec pack ( I personnaly don't trust it ) and just keep xvid and divx 5.0.3 ( Pro? if not try to get it! ).

Marky · #5 (**permalink**) 2nd April 2003

thejutt:
ffdshow can be downloaded here:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...group_id=53761
The new (20030103ffdshow.exe) is the latest version and works quite well. ffdshow is a play back only codec. You don't need a DivX install to play back DivX videos, but you do need a DivX install to compress to the DivX standard - trouble is that DivX 5.03 won't play back DivX 5.02 or older files. ffdshow will.

scotty81:
I installed 5.03 on four of my systems with no problems. But the other systems had had so many problems that I went back to 5.01 on all systems. Also, any movies that you've compressed with 5.02 or older will not play back once you install 5.03. I don't understand why they went to this extreme. IMHO, the world needs a better DivX team then the current one - BADLY!!! They seem to be wandering all over the place now!! Probably why ffdshow has overtaken them.

Marky · #6 (**permalink**) 2nd April 2003

If you're going to use ffdshow:
The best approach, per a lot of users, is to download MSVCR70.dll and put it in the Widows/System folder (Windows ME or earlier) or Windows/System32 (NT, 2000, XP). I added this .dll after I did the ffdshow install and it worked OK, though.

scotty81 · #7 (**permalink**) 2nd April 2003

@ Marky

I didn't know the thing about the older films not working,
guess the divx team doesn't really think a lot before releasing the 5.0.3.
they should release add-ons and new codecs ( sothat users of the older versions can still watch their films and update their codecs to stay in touch)

HackerWerger · #8 (**permalink**) 3rd April 2003

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marky

Also, any movies that you've compressed with 5.02 or older will not play back once you install 5.03. I don't understand why they went to this extreme.

That isn't true!! I have compressed all my movies with the 5.02 version but there is absolutely no problem in playback using DivX v5.03 or higher at no system( I've tested that in 5 different machines).
I assure you that DivX Networks know what they are doing very well!!

Marky · #9 (**permalink**) 3rd April 2003

You're correct, I screwed up when typing. I inadventantly reversed the ".03" and ".02" numbers - my error. But that doesn't alter the compatibility problem that DivX brought on with 5.03!! I had 4 systems that were using 5.03. None of the 5.02 systems could play back any 5.03 files. On the DivX forum there has been literally hundreds of people who have found _EXACTLY_ the same problem. If your systems have compatibility between 5.02 and 5.03 it appears that you are the only person in the world who can do so. In an attempt to correct this flagrant problem, the DivX team has "rushed" out beta 5.04 that corrects part of the problem, but seems (from preliminary reports) to bring on other problems. Typically of the "thrash and burn" DivX team, it seems.

I'm not here to knock DivX as it is an important compression algorythm that benefits everyone. But to help a fellow user, he needs to be aware that there are pitfalls in some cases. A good example is right here on this forum. The BSPlayer is FAR superior to the DivX TEams player - by a hell of a distance. Another example: the ffdshow decompressor (it's not a codec, as such) is also far superior to the decompression that the DivX Team provides. IMHO, the DivX TEam did a great job in leading the charge for compression that got us out from under the grip of M$, but for the last 2 or 3 releases, they've been floundering.

Sonickydon · #10 (**permalink**) 3rd April 2003

" None of the 5.02 systems could play back any 5.03 files."
Excuse me, but are you serius?It would be a compatibility problem IF the 5.03 version could not playback files encoded with the 5.02 version.. according to that you should be able to playback divx 5.02 files with divx 3.11 installed? it's almost like installing Office XP on a windows 3.11 based machine and expect it to work right!
I installed 5.03 and removed it but not because i had any problems on playback.i guess you might get some problems if you do not unistall the 5.02 or whatever version you have,before you install the new one. that's your problem though..you can't blame the codec .
Actually i removed the new version because there's no option to control the data rate anymore and i prefear quality instead of file size ..the divx team promised to fix that soon and anyway i think that the future compatibility with stand alone devices worths the trouble.
And one more thing- the "divx team" does not exist anymore.. it's a company with trademarks and all.. if you are looking for open projects and "teams" you should switch to xvid or something

Marky · #11 (**permalink**) 3rd April 2003

You're talking Apples and Oranges!! A lot of people swap movies on CD's. Movies compressed with 5.03 then sent to a friend or relative that still has 5.02 will have a problem. And, NO, they don't have to update to 5.03 because if you've been watching the DivX forums, 5.03 has given a healthy percentage of people fits after the install.

And your wrong in a BIG way when you say the DivX team doesn't exist any more. The same same basic group of people are still running the DivX show. The difference is now they've formalized the company as a profit source. No surprise here as they stated that this was their intention from day one. If you knew what you were talking about you would have been aware of this little fact. You need to look into things before your rattle off garbage.

And, YES, it's very easy to "knock" the poor state that the DIvX codec has stalled at, there are a number of DivX decompressors that are far superior to the DIvX Teams output. ffdshow, for one!

Lastly, congratulations in getting smart and dumping 5.03 - try 5.04 it's a little bette. Almost as good as 5.01.

Sonickydon · #12 (**permalink**) 4th April 2003

i think you misunderstood something in my post ,perhaps it's because of my english..
i wasn't talking about the persons of the divx team, i was talking about their plans and tactics. It's absolutely normal for me to change their attitude since they became a profit organisation but that means that the spirit of the "team" is dead. it's a company which is trying to get a piece of the market and that's it.I hope you got my point now
however, i still can't understand why you insist on "forward compatibility" i've never heard of something like that.. i don't mean that i like 5.03 more than the previous versions - i allready said that i removed it- and i also beleive that most of the people out there don't like it that much. We agree that it's the worst 5.XX version that has been released so far but you can't blame the developers because you have to upgrade in order to use it.. blame them for releasing that version instead :))

scotty81 · #13 (**permalink**) 4th April 2003

divx 5.0.3 Pro is free of charge for people who use it just to decode films.
You have to pay it if you encode films ( using anysoft: easydivx, divxmachine,neodivx...) and if one installed ( or got installed ) divx 5.0.2 one can get divx 5.0.3!!!

I know that problem to a much bigger scale because I run XP and my friends 2000!! and F***!!! 2000 is real C***!!!!! It can hardly read the cds I burn ( and all XP computers can!! ).

I thonk that the codec choice is left ONLY to the guy who rips and encodes the films, the simple users just follow the rippers choice. if ripper wants 5.0.3 then it's 5.0.3 and he wants 5.0.2 it's 5.0.2 ( But it won't be both )

You just have to know were you are ( user or ripper ).

( Sorry if I'm being rude to someone, it's not the point!!

)