Re: DVD Help!

[Guest guest]

Well, to start with, Clay, how is the DVD player connected to the TV?

Z

At 12:24 AM 8/12/2005, Clay wrote:

>Jane wrote:

>

> > Clay wrote:

> > >Could someone please tell me how to operate a DVD? ...

> > >... Fooled with it for hours, hitting

> > >all the buttons, and Still couldn't figure it out.

>

> > I watch DVDs on my TV, but my method consists of hitting all the

> > buttons until something works. Because I now switch back and forth

> > between DVDs and videos, I have been reduced to hitting all the

> > buttons (and cursing) for both forms of " entertainment. " Whatever

> > makes the DVD play disables the video play and vice versa.

>

>Right, and I've ruined several tapes (and maybe the VCR) because

>they got stuck in there, and I couldn't pull them out without

>breaking the tapes. Have you done that?

>

> > My latest theory: There is a button labeled (in print very nearly

> > too small to see) " VCR/TV. " That button (which is hidden in a

> > forest of other identical buttons in a mass towards the bottom of

> > the clicker) has to be pushed at some point, either before or

> > after the " DVD " or " VCR " button is pushed.

>

>Yup, I pushed the " VCR/TV " button many times last night, to no

>avail. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. There must be someone

>here who knows how to operate a DVD. I also have a VCR, but need

>to be able to use the DVD, 'cause I signed up with NetFlix.

>

>Clay

>

> > Lots of help, aren't I? :-/

> > Jane

> > Techno-peasant

>

>Yeah, me too. :-p

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Clay wrote:

>Right, and I've ruined several tapes (and maybe the VCR) because

>they got stuck in there, and I couldn't pull them out without

>breaking the tapes. Have you done that?

No, but now that I know it's possible, I probably will. :-(

Jane

[Guest guest]

C B Bonham wrote:

> I found CD owner manuals online.

> Google: <DVD player instructions> to find yours

> Or Tell your make, model and I will search for you.

Okay, I tried googling that, found instructions for Avia 660,

and did NOT find basic instructions for getting the %# & ! thing

to play! What I know so far is to put the TV on channel 4,

insert DVD, - - - and then what? I can't get the DVD to start,

even though the counter thing says it's started. I got three

different remotes, for the TV, the VCR, and the DVD. I use the

TV remote to put it on channel 4, the VCR remote has VCR/TV

button and power button, but the DVD remote does not. When I

click the VCR/TV button, all I get is static with no picture.

Same with pushing the power button. Totally frustrated here.

Clay

[Guest guest]

> button and power button, but the DVD remote does not. When I

> click the VCR/TV button, all I get is static with no picture.

> Same with pushing the power button. Totally frustrated here.

For anyone to help, you need to look at the back of the DVD player and

follow the cables *other* then the power cable. For each cable, look at

what it is labeled as on the DVD player side and then look at what it is

labeled at wherever it plugs in. There are hundreds of ways this stuff

can be hooked up depending on your exact equipment, but if you could tell

us the labels (on both ends) for each cable that goes between the DVD

player and the other equipment, it would help. Also, while there, make

sure things are plugged in well if you are getting picture but no sound

(like you were in the past). There shouldn't be wires plugged into one

thing but not plugged into another.

--

[Guest guest]

Clay, if you have a vcr as well, it's possible that your friend installed a

switch OR ran the dvd player through the VCR.

You can check this with ease. Find your VCR remote first.

Start a DVD playing. Turn the VCR on and press the " input " button on the

VCR remote. You may also have to hit the TV/VCR button.

If this doesn't work, find out what the DVD player is actually connected to.

I realize that this may seem very alien, but the principle is simple, it

really is. You play the DVD and it sends out the sound and picture. That

sound and picture has to find it's way to your television. Since you want

to use your VCR too, I am betting your friend probably plugged the DVD into

the VCR. So the signal goes to the VCR and you hit input, which means " play

what's being sent into the VCR rather than a tape " , and then it sends the

signal on to the TV.

The other possibility is that you friend gave you a simple A/B switch. If

the first thing I described doesn't work, follow the cables coming out of

the DVD player to see if it goes to a small box with a switch marked A/B.

if it does, flip it to the opposite it is on and you should see your DVD stuff.

Z

At 10:48 PM 8/12/2005, Clay wrote:

>C B Bonham wrote:

>

> > I found CD owner manuals online.

> > Google: <DVD player instructions> to find yours

> > Or Tell your make, model and I will search for you.

>

>Okay, I tried googling that, found instructions for Avia 660,

>and did NOT find basic instructions for getting the %# & ! thing

>to play! What I know so far is to put the TV on channel 4,

>insert DVD, - - - and then what? I can't get the DVD to start,

>even though the counter thing says it's started. I got three

>different remotes, for the TV, the VCR, and the DVD. I use the

>TV remote to put it on channel 4, the VCR remote has VCR/TV

>button and power button, but the DVD remote does not. When I

>click the VCR/TV button, all I get is static with no picture.

>Same with pushing the power button. Totally frustrated here.

>

>Clay

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

wrote:

> For anyone to help, you need to look at the back of the DVD

> player and follow the cables *other* then the power cable. For

> each cable, look at what it is labeled as on the DVD player side

> and then look at what it is labeled at wherever it plugs in.

There is a cord with 3 wires, red, white, and yellow. At the DVD

end, the red is plugged into " FR " , the white into " FL " , and the

yellow into " Video " . At the VCR end these are, the white into

" Audio " , the yellow into " Video " , and the red wasn't plugged in

at all. It DID work perfectly this way, while my friend's son was here.

> There are hundreds of ways this stuff can be hooked up depending

> on your exact equipment, but if you could tell us the labels (on

> both ends) for each cable that goes between the DVD player and thE

> other equipment, it would help. Also, while there, make sure things

> are plugged in well if you are getting picture but no sound (like

> you were in the past). There shouldn't be wires plugged into one

> thing but not plugged into another.

With the plugs just the way they are now, I WAS getting sound, but

only background music and noises, not the dialogue track. For that,

I was getting subtitles. Now I can't even get the DVD to Start

playing, although the counter thing says it is. I've also checked

the batteries for the remotes. Didn't help.

I don't know what " FR " and " FL " stand for, not a clue. There are

also " SL " , " SR " , " SW " , and " CENT " there, and " Y " , " Pb/Cb " , " Pr/Cr " ,

" ML " , MR " , and " COAX " which are not being used.

Clay

[Guest guest]

Clay wrote:

> wrote:

>

>

>>For anyone to help, you need to look at the back of the DVD

>>player and follow the cables *other* then the power cable. For

>>each cable, look at what it is labeled as on the DVD player side

>>and then look at what it is labeled at wherever it plugs in.

>

>

> There is a cord with 3 wires, red, white, and yellow. At the DVD

> end, the red is plugged into " FR " , the white into " FL " , and the

> yellow into " Video " . At the VCR end these are, the white into

> " Audio " , the yellow into " Video " , and the red wasn't plugged in

> at all. It DID work perfectly this way, while my friend's son was here.

> I don't know what " FR " and " FL " stand for, not a clue. There are

> also " SL " , " SR " , " SW " , and " CENT " there, and " Y " , " Pb/Cb " , " Pr/Cr " ,

> " ML " , MR " , and " COAX " which are not being used.

The cord with three wires = FR is audio right (stereo sound)

FL is audio left (stereo sound)

Video is picture.

Your VCR is not stereo so the second audio wire is not connected.

An overview of what is going on. TVs run on RF signals. Some newer ones

also have AV inputs. RF is the round wire coming from an antenna or

cable. It carries both picture and sound. AV inputs are the separate

cables such as your DVD player has. The only output on the DVD is

usually AV so it is fed into the AV input on the VCR where it is

converted to RF and then fed to the TV.

What this means is that the VCR must be turned on and the AV input must

be selected. Most VCRs have two different selectors. One selects between

TV and VCR. This selector is marked VCR/TV. This must be on VCR. In

other words you should not be getting a TV picture. The other selector

selects which input is used. This is marked INPUT. It has to be on AV or

line. Try switching this and see what happens.

Red

[Guest guest]

Zola wrote:

> Clay, if you have a vcr as well, it's possible that your friend

> installed a switch OR ran the dvd player through the VCR.

Yeah, it's run through the VCR.

> You can check this with ease. Find your VCR remote first.

> Start a DVD playing. Turn the VCR on and press the " input " button

> on the VCR remote. You may also have to hit the TV/VCR button.

Except it doesn't have any " input " button. With a DVD in there,

the only buttons that work on the VCR remote are " power " and

" VCR/TV " , both of which, when pressed, deliver static and snow.

I tried using just the VCR, with a tape. The tape got stuck in

there, and I had to remove the top to remove it. So I tried yet

another tape, same thing. Maybe the VCR is broken, as far as

running tapes, but it should be able to handle sending the signal

from the DVD to the TV. My friend's son, or most of you, could

probably make it work, but he's back home now, out of state.

There is no way to remove the VCR from the equation, the TV doesn't

have the plug-in thingies to put the plugs from the DVD into. The

DVD doesn't have a receptacle for the cable terminal. Guess I'll

have to cancel my subscription to NetFlix, or toss these machines

and get a DVD/VCR combo. Not even sure that would work, as my 5 yr

old TV doesn't have any sort of fittings in the rear. I hate being

a techno-idiot. The only thing worse than this is losing internet

connection!

Clay

[Guest guest]

At 01:04 AM 8/13/2005, Clay wrote:

>Except it doesn't have any " input " button. With a DVD in there,

>the only buttons that work on the VCR remote are " power " and

> " VCR/TV " , both of which, when pressed, deliver static and snow.

There is an input button, see if there is one on the VCR housing. In fact,

what is the make and model of your VCR? I'll look it up.

>There is no way to remove the VCR from the equation, the TV doesn't

>have the plug-in thingies to put the plugs from the DVD into. The

>DVD doesn't have a receptacle for the cable terminal. Guess I'll

>have to cancel my subscription to NetFlix, or toss these machines

>and get a DVD/VCR combo. Not even sure that would work, as my 5 yr

>old TV doesn't have any sort of fittings in the rear. I hate being

>a techno-idiot. The only thing worse than this is losing internet

>connection!

I would stop wasting my time bemoaning being a techno idiot and talking

about cancelling your subscription. I am happy to explain and answer,

repeatedly if need be, and that's how you STOP being a techno idiot. It's

very simple if you aren't looking at it like it's going to grow fangs and

bite you. We have to find out how to tell the VCR to display the DVD

output. So what kind of VCR is it?

Z

http://www.livejournal.com/users/mszola/

" What are we going to do tonight, Brain? "

" The same thing we do every night, Pinky. We're going to try to take over

the world!! " ---Pinky and the Brain

[Guest guest]

Clay wrote:

> There is no way to remove the VCR from the equation, the TV doesn't

> have the plug-in thingies to put the plugs from the DVD into. The

> DVD doesn't have a receptacle for the cable terminal.

Actually there is. Radio Shack and most other electronics outlets sell a

device especially for this purpose. It is called an RF converter. You

plug the DVD cables into that and a coax cable from there to the TV.

This eliminates the need for the VCR. You should be able to buy it for

$30.00.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1 & catalog_name=CTLG & category\

_name=CTLG_003_010_009_000 & product_id=15-2526

Red

[Guest guest]

Zola wrote:

> There is an input button, see if there is one on the VCR housing.

> In fact, what is the make and model of your VCR? I'll look it up.

It's a Sylvania. Model KVS400, (found that on the back).

> I would stop wasting my time bemoaning being a techno idiot and

> talking about cancelling your subscription. I am happy to explain

> and answer, repeatedly if need be, and that's how you STOP being

> a techno idiot. It's very simple if you aren't looking at it like

> it's going to grow fangs and bite you. We have to find out how to

> tell the VCR to display the DVD output. So what kind of VCR is it?

Well, at least that made me laugh! All I know is that this thing

worked the way it's hooked up now, and now it won't. But there's

no button that says " input " . There's " Menu " and " Display " , but

clicking them doesn't do anything. Gettin' late here, I might have

to turn in soon. I'm off all day tomorrow.

Clay

[Guest guest]

At 02:29 AM 8/13/2005, Clay wrote:

>Zola wrote:

>

> > There is an input button, see if there is one on the VCR housing.

> > In fact, what is the make and model of your VCR? I'll look it up.

>

>It's a Sylvania. Model KVS400, (found that on the back).

It's old enough that I couldn't find a manual online, BUT... look on the

VCR itself and see if there is a switch or a button labelled input. I can't

remember on my older VCR if it was on the back. You might call your friend

who installed it and just ask, come back here, post what he said and I'll

interpret.

>Well, at least that made me laugh! All I know is that this thing

>worked the way it's hooked up now, and now it won't. But there's

>no button that says " input " . There's " Menu " and " Display " , but

>clicking them doesn't do anything. Gettin' late here, I might have

>to turn in soon. I'm off all day tomorrow.

About the tape-chewing--you may have to bring the unit in to be serviced.

If the heads get dirty, it can eat the tape, and if you rent a lot of

movies, the heads are dirty. So you might look into that.

A new VCR would be cheaper, probably... In fact, I may have an extra I

can send you. Let me know.

Z

http://www.livejournal.com/users/mszola/

" What are we going to do tonight, Brain? "

" The same thing we do every night, Pinky. We're going to try to take over

the world!! " ---Pinky and the Brain

[Guest guest]

Zola wrote:

> It's old enough that I couldn't find a manual online, BUT... look

> on the VCR itself and see if there is a switch or a button labelled

> input. I can't remember on my older VCR if it was on the back. You

> might call your friend who installed it and just ask, come back

> here, post what he said and I'll interpret.

Nope, no switch on the back. I thought about calling him about 5

hours ago, and it was already too late to call then.

> About the tape-chewing--you may have to bring the unit in to be

> serviced. If the heads get dirty, it can eat the tape, and if

> you rent a lot of movies, the heads are dirty. So you might look

> into that.

I have rented movies, so maybe that's it. Lately, I've bought

movies from eBay, so now that I have a nice collection of 30 or

40 favorite movies, I realize that VCR videos aren't worth a crap.

DVDs are much better, (if you can get them to work). I was the

same way with 8-tracks. ;-)

> A new VCR would be cheaper, probably... In fact, I may have

> an extra I can send you. Let me know.

I think it's time for a new TV, one with all the gadgets and

receptacles for plugs, except I think those new HDTVs are really

expensive right now. An " extra " VCR, are you selling it? Write

me offlist if you want to do that. Gotta turn in now.

Clay

[Guest guest]

Wow.

The more I read about CD players, the more I

understand your frustration: I feel your pain.

(I am so lucky my computer plays CD's for me)

My son mentioned two points:

(1)Old TV's (10 years old maybe) are not capable of

connecting with CD players.

(2)Make sure all the ports on the CD player are

plugged. My son's TV has only two ports so the third

port on his CD player is plugged into itself or it

would not operate.

~Bonnie

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Clay wrote:

>Except it doesn't have any " input " button. With a DVD in there,

>the only buttons that work on the VCR remote are " power " and

> " VCR/TV " , both of which, when pressed, deliver static and snow.

>

>

I would suggest putting the VCR on channel 2 and going down one or two

channels.

>Guess I'll

>have to cancel my subscription to NetFlix, or toss these machines

>and get a DVD/VCR combo.

>

That's what my technichally disinclined mom did -- get a combo unit --

and is why I now have a perfectly fine working VCR and DVD player hooked

up to my computer (I don't own a TV).

I don't know what high-def. TV is like but using the DVD player with my

computer yields a remarkably clear, realistic picture (I have a video

card with TV tuner and composite video inputs I got on e-bay).

I would suggest a course in computer math (boolean logic, truth tables,

venn diagrams, etc. all that good stuff). Then you will have an

underlying conceptual framework to understanding how modern digital

devices work (lotsa tiny switches that are either on or off and can be

set (or unset) electronically and that can represent numbers, machine

states, and so on.) so these digital devices maybe won't drive you nutz.

I also grew up in an analog world -- there were no electronic tuners on

radios/TVs, or video games, or personal computers, or PDA's. But I

learned to " think digitally " in college.

June

[Guest guest]

JuneLynn wrote:

> Clay wrote:

>

> > Except it doesn't have any " input " button. With a DVD in there,

> > the only buttons that work on the VCR remote are " power " and

> > " VCR/TV " , both of which, when pressed, deliver static and snow.

> >

> >

> I would suggest putting the VCR on channel 2 and going down one or

> two channels.

That was going to be my suggestion. On VCRs that do not have an input

button, the aux input is usually found where the channel input wraps

around. You know, when you reach the highest channel it goes to, and

you hit the channel-up button, it starts at the lowest channel again.

Conversely, when you go below the lowest channel, it starts at the

highest again.

On some, " aux " or " line " is between the highest and lowest channel. And

since we have no way of knowing what the highest channel on your VCR is,

it is easiest to go to channel 2 and hit the channel - button a few times.

Clay... yellow is the standard color for video, white is the standard

for left audio, and yellow is standard for right audio. Since your VCR

only has one audio input, you would only be getting the audio from

whichever side you hooked up.

Anyone... would a simple RCA Y-connector (2 female to one male) work for

that? It seems to me that I did this once before successfully to

convert stereo audio into mono.

> I don't know what

> high-def. TV is like but using the DVD player with my computer yields

> a remarkably clear, realistic picture (I have a video card with TV

> tuner and composite video inputs I got on e-bay).

My laptop has the same function, and I have used it to play a DVD on TV

as well. (Well, more specifically, my old laptop did-- the current one

has an S-video output, not a RCA out).

My TV is nothing special-- most of the plastic on both sides has been

smashed to bits from constant whacks from me... about every 20 minutes

or so, the picture quality turns poor, and it takes a whack to fix it.

I don't hit it hard, but apparently the thousands of small whacks I have

given it had a cumulative effect on the plastic. I will flog every bit

of life out of this TV as possible.

As an aside: IMO, laptops that lack a 4:3 aspect ratio for the screen

suck!

[Guest guest]

Klein wrote:

>Clay... yellow is the standard color for video, white is the standard

>for left audio, and yellow is standard for right audio. Since your VCR

>only has one audio input, you would only be getting the audio from

>whichever side you hooked up.

>

>

>

That should have read " yellow is the standard color for video, white is

the standard color for left audio, and red is the standard for right audio. "

[Guest guest]

> > I don't know what " FR " and " FL " stand for, not a clue. There are

> > also " SL " , " SR " , " SW " , and " CENT " there, and " Y " , " Pb/Cb " , " Pr/Cr " ,

> > " ML " , MR " , and " COAX " which are not being used.

>

> The cord with three wires = FR is audio right (stereo sound)

> FL is audio left (stereo sound)

> Video is picture.

> Your VCR is not stereo so the second audio wire is not connected.

FR is actually *FRONT* Right. The problem is that if the VCR is

configured in menus to use 5.1 sound there will be no dialog, only some

music coming out that and the FL (Front Left). The dialog will come out

the CENT.

To get the sound working, he needs to find the menu setting in the DVD to

select Dolbey Surround or something similar. (NOT 5.1)

--

[Guest guest]

> FR is actually *FRONT* Right. The problem is that if the VCR is

> configured in menus to use 5.1 sound there will be no dialog, only some

> music coming out that and the FL (Front Left). The dialog will come out

> the CENT.

>

> To get the sound working, he needs to find the menu setting in the DVD to

> select Dolbey Surround or something similar. (NOT 5.1)

I meant *DVD* in that first sentence, not VCR.

--

[Guest guest]

Kim wrote:

> redhottech@s... wrote:

> Radio shack>>>

> Clay the device from Radio shack, that's what Jeff was talking

> about. I remember now!

Red and Kim,

I clicked on that URL that Red gave and found these instructions:

" All you do is connect your A/V component to the Modulator's input

jacks, then connect the Modulator to your TV's antenna/cable input

and select channel 3 or 4 operation. "

What they don't realize is that there are about 4 or 5 terms in there

that I don't understand, and most importantly, I don't understand just

how to connect the Modulator to the TV cable input, when it's already

connected to the TV. Hmmmmm, may as well send away for it, and Try to

figure it out. I hope they give better instructions in the box.

I've tried putting other tapes in the VCR, they all got stuck, so I

guess that thing is toast.

Oh, and I lost Amy's email address when I crashed the other PC, on

New Year's Eve. I remember " unconventionalcreativity@????????????

You can send it offlist. And note that I have yet a new email

address myself. Finally got gmail hooked up. Nice! You should

have gotten a post from that address already.

Thanks, Red, I'm going to order one of those Modulator doodads now.

Clay

[Guest guest]

>If this doesn't work, find out what the DVD player is actually

connected to.

Its connected thrugh your VCR Clay. Please e-mail Amy offline, maybe she

can help since Jeff had

a hand in that, and she watched.

Kim

[Guest guest]

redhottech@... wrote:

Radio shack>>>

Clay the device from Radio shack, that's what Jeff was talking about. I

remember now!

Kim

[Guest guest]

Clay wrote:

> " All you do is connect your A/V component to the Modulator's input

> jacks, then connect the Modulator to your TV's antenna/cable input

> and select channel 3 or 4 operation. "

>

> What they don't realize is that there are about 4 or 5 terms in there

> that I don't understand, and most importantly, I don't understand just

> how to connect the Modulator to the TV cable input, when it's already

> connected to the TV.

Well it's very simple. You have an audio or two and a video cable

coming from the DVD (that's your A/V component). They connect to the

input jacks. Disconnect the cable that currently goes from the VCR to

the TV at the VCR end but leave it connected to the TV. Connect the end

that you removed from the VCR to the output on the Modulator (Thats the

thing you are purchasing from Radio Shack).

Red

[Guest guest]

AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse@...

e@... read about half of these and it seems so far

nobody got to the generic. Okay, here goes...

There are two or three parts to this:

1. the hardware connections

2. the switched and soft switched connections

3. compatibility.

Let's presume the systems are compatible. So that leaves the

connections. The hardware consists of:

1. RF connection -- That's the familiar antenna or coax (CATV)

connection. It's identified by a threaded coax connector. The

auxillary device (VCR, DVD player) transmits on channel 3 or 4

and the TV receives that signal. Apparently some or most DVD

players don't have these.

2. Standard video connection -- That's the yellow, white, red

set of RCA plugs (That's what they're called). Yellow is video,

white and red are left and right (red) audio channels. Most

devices are stereo, although some combination TV-VCRs have a

single output.

3. S-Video - SVHS. This is a round, multipin plug that looks

similar to the round computer PS-2 mouse/keyboard port. I

believe this requires a separate audio connection. One

advantage of S-video cables is that on a TV with one of these

ports, the signal is easy to find -- the menu says " S-video " .

4, 5. RGB (3 video plugs) and specialised camcorder inputs.

You're not likely to have this or in some cases would not even

notice it.

Then the software/switch connections. That's easy enough. The

DVD typically doesn't have a tuner, so it's either on or off.

The TV has a capability of switching between RF input or inputs,

and auxillary inputs.

So in all of this, RTFM (read the manual). It's typically

written for average consumers. It's not a Linux man page or

even a Linux " HOWTO " . I realize it does help to have someone

show how the connection works, but if there's a manual around,

it's better than taking hand notes.

Anyhow, back to chat. I find it a small miracle that this

little computer is still functioning after a catastropic battery

failure today. Fortunately a battery was already on order and

is arriving tomorrow. (Yes, this is the computer Clay was on

the floor learning HTML from in the Autreat photo.)

-s

[Guest guest]

> " All you do is connect your A/V component to the Modulator's

> input jacks, then connect the Modulator to your TV's

> antenna/cable input and select channel 3 or 4 operation. "

Running the VCR to the RF connection " channel 3 or 4 operation "

makes the connection *much* easier. Unless the TV is configured

for multiple auxillary inputs, that's the only way to avoid an

external control box. (Avoid the external control box if

possible).

The reason is that the RF connection doesn't require switching.

The VCR is either on or off. If it's on, it's either using

*its* tuner or playing a tape. The TV is on " channel 3 or 4 " .

If the VCR is off, then the TV tuner changes channels (or a set

top box does it).

The DVD goes in through " aux " with the plugs. To switch to VCR,

you switch to " aux " . No channel. No VCR. That's why it's best

to connect the VCR to the RF (cable/antenna) jack.

*If* you have two " aux " channels on your TV, that's a different

story.