converting avi files to ntsc dvd with ffmpeg core dumps

[Dave]

Hello,
    I've got some .avi files i believe they are either divx or xvid and i am 
trying to convert them to ntsc dvd video so i can play them on a standard 
dvd player. I'm running FreeBSD 6.2-p3 or 4, and an up to date ports tree, 
My ffmpeg is version 2007.07.12_3. During the process of conversion ffmpeg 
core dumps, being not a programmer i do not know what to do about it and 
would appreciate any suggestions. The specific cmdline i'm using is:

ffmpeg \
-i ${VIDEO}.avi \
-pass 2 \
-target ntsc-dvd \
-aspect 4:3 \
${VIDEO}.mpg

The first time i ran this i got the msg:

ffmpeg2pass-0.log: No such file or directory

googling revealed to run first pass 1 then rerun with pass 2, this seemed 
like a  long way, but i did it. When running with pass 1 that's when it core 
dumped. The log file created is empty. Output during the conversion process 
seems to indicate that this avi has no frames, audio, or video, but i know 
this to be incorrect, i ran a transcode on it for over a day got output and 
finally decided it was going to slow. I am open to suggestions, any 
additional information needed, i do have a copy of the .core file, and a 
typescript of the entire conversion process, anything else  let me know.
Thanks.
Dave.