Fixing VOBs

Question

Level 3

696 points

Fixing VOBs

Sorry, not sure where to post this issue. I was given a dvd, created in iDVD, by a client. The dvd was made for him by another designer. When he tries to play the dvd it, it would give him error messages, saying the VOB data is damaged. But after a few tries he has managed to play the dvd without an issue.

He's asked me if I can fix this, I said I'd give it a shot. But when I tried copying the files form the dvd to my drive, I keep getting the VOB data error message (-36). My question is, is there a way for me to copy the VOB files to my hard drive (without getting the error message) so I can attempt to fix the damage to them?

Thanks.

Mac Pro Intel Xeon Quad 2.8, 6GB ram, Superdrive (internal), Mac OS X (10.6.2), 2x500GB, 1x320GB, 1x1TB SATA (int) HDDs, Radeon HD2600 256MB, LaCie FW burner

Posted on Dec 3, 2009 10:46 AM

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Answer 1

baltwo

Level 9

62,396 points

Dec 3, 2009 10:50 AM in response to Eric Shawn2

Try the iDVD forum at http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=128

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Answer 2

K T

Level 7

23,895 points

Dec 3, 2009 10:50 AM in response to Eric Shawn2

-36 is a permissions error - you need to ask for a copy of the DVD that doesn't have DRM protection schemes, etc.

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Answer 3

Eric Shawn2 Author

Level 3

696 points

Dec 3, 2009 10:55 AM in response to K T

Really, I didn't realize that iDVD puts in DMR protection on created discs? I've never had any issues with it when I copy a created disc on to my desktop, until now. Unfortunately, the original creator of the disc cannot be contacted. So I'm stuck with what I have.

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Answer 4

Eric Shawn2 Author

Level 3

696 points

Dec 3, 2009 10:56 AM in response to baltwo

Thanks. I'll repost it there.

Cheers.

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Answer 5

a brody

Level 10

85,382 points

Dec 3, 2009 10:56 AM in response to Eric Shawn2

That's known as an input/output error. Usually this is the result of something wrong with the interface to the drive, or the drive, or the disc itself causing errors in transfer of information.

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Answer 6

Eric Shawn2 Author

Level 3

696 points

Dec 3, 2009 11:01 AM in response to a brody

I'm thinking it's probably the disc itself. Wondering if there is a way of by passing this. Like I said it's the only source we have.

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Answer 7

a brody

Level 10

85,382 points

Dec 3, 2009 11:04 AM in response to Eric Shawn2

There are ways of cleaning DVDs, though I don't know which are more reliable than others, or if I'd recommend doing it. Sometimes if you hold the writable surface to lite, you can see faint scratches. If they are there, that may be a sure sign the disc is damaged. There may be some data recovery tools that can overcome this issue if you can license to remove information from it*:

http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html

- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

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Answer 8

Kurt Lang

Level 9

70,583 points

Dec 3, 2009 11:10 AM in response to Eric Shawn2

Apple's note for error code 36 is here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2433

As a brody noted, it's an input/output error. In your case, meaning it can't read some of the data on the disk. Drive Genius has a function to copy such data. Rather than hanging on the irretrievable data, it will skip over it and continue to gather what it can. You will of course though have a visible data error while viewing what does get copied. Could present itself as a brief scramble of random pixels through the video, or a few dropped frames that will just blank out to black.

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Answer 9

Eric Shawn2 Author

Level 3

696 points

Dec 3, 2009 11:17 AM in response to Eric Shawn2

Thanks guys. I'll give Drive Genius a go. Not looking to salvage the whole dvd, just retrieve whatever video I can get from it. Some content is better than no content.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

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Answer 10

Kurt Lang

Level 9

70,583 points

Dec 3, 2009 11:44 AM in response to Eric Shawn2

If you don't already own Drive Genius, hold up a sec'. The Duplicate function only works on OS X formatted drives. So it's not likely to work on a DVD video disk. I know I have something that will retrieve damaged files as I mentioned, but I can't remember which one it is. Probably Data Rescue 3 or FileSalvage 6.x.

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Answer 11

Dec 3, 2009 12:03 PM in response to Eric Shawn2

As has been mentioned, the -36 error is a read error. This could mean the disc is damaged and you won't be able to copy it, but it won't hurt anything to try. Since disc is 'homemade', it won't have any copy protection. You can simply double-click the disc's icon in the finder and try copying the VIDEO_TS folder you'll find there to a different drive.

If that doesn't work, try copying the individual VOB files from within the VIDEO_TS folder and use MPEG Streamclip (a shareware tool) to salvage the video in those VOBs which you could copy. (note that if it's a short disc it may only have one VOB file.)

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Answer 12

Eric Shawn2 Author

Level 3

696 points

Dec 3, 2009 12:08 PM in response to Mike Evangelist1

Tried copying each individual VOB, but kept getting the error message. Currently, I'm using VLC to see if I can actually read any of the VOB files (to see if they are damaged or not). Turns out I can, with some lags though (not sure if it's the disc or the file causing it). But regardless, I can see picture and hear audio. I'm using the VLC to extract each viewable VOB as ASF. I'll see how that works. If I can get a good ASF file, I'll be able to convert it to a MOV file. I'll post back results.

Cheers.

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Answer 13

Eric Shawn2 Author

Level 3

696 points

Dec 4, 2009 2:09 PM in response to Eric Shawn2

So I managed to pull most of the content from the iDVD created DVD. I used an older version of MacTheRipper (surprised it was able to decrypt the content, assuming it was encrypted in the first place). This was the only way for me to copy the VOB files on to my drive. One VOB was completely corrupted and unsalvageable, the rest were intact. I then used Handbrake to convert each VOB as an avi file. There was some compression, but all things considering, it did the job.

Thanks for everyone's input.

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