# Annoying blup every 20(ish) seconds when playing DVDs on my computer **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 26, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-blup-every-20-ish-seconds-when-playing-dvds-on-my-computer/184422 "2003-06-26T01:55:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-blup-every-20-ish-seconds-when-playing-dvds-on-my-computer/184422/1 "2003-06-26T01:55:11Z")
‘blup’ is a word I invented because it isn’t a click, it isn’t a scratch or a fizzle or a blip, it is a sort of, well, ‘sound’. During this sound, which lasts a split second, the soundtrack goes silent. This only happens when I have the player set on digital 5.1 mode. When I set it on analogue 5.1 it is ok, but the soundtrack is vastly inferior on analogue 5.1. It happens on every dvd I play. I have an AMD Athlon 1000 (MHz). 1GB of ram, windows XP, Sound Blaster Live, Nvidia Geforce 4. Do I need a better processor? (well I know I do, but would having a better CPU solve the problem?) Could I solve it without getting a new CPU? (my local vendor is reluctant to sell one to me unless I can garauntee that my board can take it, and I don’t relish the prospect of unsticking my QuietPC™ fan/heatsink and re-applying it to a new CPU) Could it be due to some regular system process? (every 20 seconds) Anyone else experienced this? BTW I could be mistaken but I don’t remember this happening when I had Windows ME (on the same system, but with only 25MB of RAM) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-blup-every-20-ish-seconds-when-playing-dvds-on-my-computer/184422/2 "2003-06-26T01:57:52Z")
whoopsy - I meant 256MB of ram, not 25MB ---
**Author:** ![jmizzou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/edb3f5/32.png) [@jmizzou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmizzou)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-blup-every-20-ish-seconds-when-playing-dvds-on-my-computer/184422/3 "2003-06-26T02:55:34Z")
What are you using to play your DVD’s? I’ve found Windows Media Player has some problems playing DVDs, although that tends to be more video-related (skips, slurred picture, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-blup-every-20-ish-seconds-when-playing-dvds-on-my-computer/184422/4 "2003-06-26T03:08:25Z")
That was kind of an important bit to forget :smack: I am using (if I remember correctly - I am not at my home comp) WinDVD 4. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-blup-every-20-ish-seconds-when-playing-dvds-on-my-computer/184422/5 "2003-06-26T03:56:15Z")
I think your CPU should be fast enough for what you want to do, and it’s more likely a problem with the DVD-ROM drive setup. 1. Are you sure that DMA is enabled for the DVD-ROM drive? [I don’t remember offhand where WinXP shows this setting, but in Win2000 it’s under: Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager > IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers > xx IDE Channel > Properties > Advanced Settings > Transfer Mode (xx in the above = Primary or Secondary depending on which channel the DVD-ROM drive is connected to)]. 2. Are you using the newer-style 80-conductor ribbon cable for the drive rather than the older 40-conductor type? 3. Is the DVD-ROM set up as a slave device on the same (primary) IDE channel as the hard drive, or is it on the secondary channel? The latter is usually faster. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-blup-every-20-ish-seconds-when-playing-dvds-on-my-computer/184422/6 "2003-06-26T04:03:23Z")
My DVD shares a channel with a CDR/W drive. I bet that’s the cause. Trouble is I make use of my CDRW drive and I’ve heard that sharing _anything_ with the HD (on the same channel) is a bad idea. I could be wrong about my CDRW being the cause, but it seems likely. I am pretty sure DMA is enabled for the DVD drive. I think I may have tried setting it off in the past (by way of eliminating it as a factor), and being unable to do so in XP ---
**Author:** ![jmizzou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/edb3f5/32.png) [@jmizzou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmizzou)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-blup-every-20-ish-seconds-when-playing-dvds-on-my-computer/184422/7 "2003-06-26T04:05:35Z")
WinDVD is fairly reliable. Try closing all other running programs, especially any firewall or virus scans. You might try updating your audio drivers, and defragmenting your hard drive wouldn’t hurt. You could also try different DVD software. [PowerDVD](http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3000-2139-10183954.html?tag=lst-0-1) is a good one, and you can try it for free (for a few minutes at a time). That will tell you if it’s something with your software. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-blup-every-20-ish-seconds-when-playing-dvds-on-my-computer/184422/8 "2003-06-26T04:12:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lobsang \* > **My DVD shares a channel with a CDR/W drive. I bet that’s the cause. Trouble is I make use of my CDRW drive and I’ve heard that sharing _anything_ with the HD (on the same channel) is a bad idea.** Having the DVD and the CDR/W on the same channel shouldn’t be a problem as long as you’re not trying to use them both at the same time (even if you are, it’ll just slow the systm down a bit). Of course, one has to be set as Master and the other as Slave, but if that weren’t the case now you wouldn’t be able to do _anything_! However, you could try disconnecting the CDR/W temporarily, then trying DVD playback. If the problem persists, you know it’s probably nothing to do with the CDR/W. I’d still say it’s worth making **sure** that DMA is enabled. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-blup-every-20-ish-seconds-when-playing-dvds-on-my-computer/184422/9 "2003-06-26T04:13:18Z")
Just to clarify - (I don’t mean to sound fussy) I am obsessive about not having unnecesary processes running (so I have closed all other running programs). I do not use anti-virus software or firewalls. I recently defragged (for the first time ever in XP actually). Will WinDVD mind if I put PowerDVD on? (probably a really dumb question, especially coming from a ‘Software Engineer’, but you never know) I paid for WinDVD, the copy of PowerDVD I have is an old, free version - one of the restrictions being that I can’t play using digital 5.1, so that would be pointless. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-blup-every-20-ish-seconds-when-playing-dvds-on-my-computer/184422/10 "2003-06-26T04:16:05Z")
(Simulpost) I will check DMA is on. Thanks for all the support so far by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-blup-every-20-ish-seconds-when-playing-dvds-on-my-computer/184422/11 "2003-06-27T01:11:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Thanks for all the support so far by the way. That was not a ‘this problem has been resolved now’ kind of statement. Just so y’all know. I checked my settings. Every device is set on “DMA when available”. ---
**Author:** ![kannushi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e495f1/32.png) [@kannushi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kannushi)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-blup-every-20-ish-seconds-when-playing-dvds-on-my-computer/184422/12 "2003-06-27T02:06:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lobsang \* > **I have an AMD Athlon 1000 (MHz). 1GB of ram, windows XP, Sound Blaster Live, Nvidia Geforce 4.** I have just resolved (what sounds like) the same problem on my own system. I was suffering from sound problems on all types of audio playback - PowerDVD with the dropping you describe, WinAMP and WMP “stuttering” on startup. Do you have a VIA chipset motherboard? If you do, a search on Usenet about “sblive” and “stuttering” is quite enlightening. In the end, I replaced my SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 OEM with a generic 5.1 card (C-Media). Had to go and download updated drivers, but as soon as I did, the problem went away. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-blup-every-20-ish-seconds-when-playing-dvds-on-my-computer/184422/13 "2003-06-27T15:17:57Z")
Some dvds skip due to the layer switch. But not every 20 seconds. On the back of some dvd boxes, they say in tiny print that they skip during a layer switch. That’s for dual layer dvds,did you try a one layer dvd?