Can't get DVDs to play at all

[storm]

Just downloaded VLC a week or so ago to watch some Region 1 DVDs (computer set to Region 2) and some AVI files. I haven't been able to get the region 1 dvds to open at all, have tried redownloading from scratch, messing with settings, etc, have G4 OS X 10.3.6.9, VLC 0.8.2.

Sometimes the region 1 video tries to open for a second and then closes suddenly with the following error

access_file: read failed (Input/output error)

Other times, the video doesn't even flash open and the following error comes up

main: stream chained failed for 'std (access=file, mux+ts, url=-}'
main: cannot start stream output instance, aborting.

The AVI files have been problematic too but I'm not worrying about that for now, more of a priority to get my store-purchased region 1 dvds to play.

Any help/comments/suggestions most welcome!

[The DJ]

/me sometimes feels like a LP record with a scratch.

1: http://www.videolan.org/doc/faq/en/index.html#id239348
2: Your preferences are broken, since one of the errors indicates you are trying to stream.