Bluray playback troubleshooting information

[Jason_25]

I have finally come to understand at the most basic level how Bluray playback is supposed to work. Both of these methods, of course, use VLC for playback. Smart people can stop reading here because you have long since known this.

1. KEYDB/LibAACS
This will work if the exact disk key you are using is in the KEYDB.cfg file. This uses completely open source components and should continue to work indefinitely. For example, my "Airwolf" complete collection can work this way.

2. MakeMKV
This will work always with a proper license and does not use the KEYDB.cfg or LibAACS at all. This is partly proprietary software and will quit working after a while without a valid license for the software. New versions are released often and need to be kept up to date for the latest discs. Currently, the license can be refreshed from within the graphical "makemkv" program by choosing "register" and entering the beta key from the website. For example, my copy of the movie "Logan" can only work this way despite there being several entries for the movie in the KEYDB.cfg.

Extra info: I have never updated LibAACS and it still works for most if not all discs listed in the KEYDB.cfg. Logan may not work because of this or because of an incorrect key. I also found that if a movie can be backed up it can be played also by MakeMKV so there is not much reason for making those huge backups.

Exact method for playback and troubleshooting:
1. Insert disc
2. sudo fdisk -l (Bluray discs are not automatically discovered on my system)
3. Mount disc (Bluray discs must be mounted first before the player will see them)
4. Open VLC and choose to play Bluray without menus
5a. If there are errors, update KEYDB.cfg to latest
5b. If there are still errors, update the MakeMKV software and the license key
6. If still not working consider suicide or a computer engineering degree

I really wish VLC had more helpful error messages because it takes me hours and having to relearn all of this every time I want to play a disc.

I hope this helps me and everyone else in the future.

[Jason_25]

I could not figure out how to edit the thread so I will add new information here.

If you get an error message pertaining to the bluray disc being corrupt then this can be caused by having an invalid makemkv license key.

There are 2 or 3 ways to view your bluray disc with makemkv.
1. You can rip the disc and view it as a video file
2. You can playback directly with VLC by removing libaacs0 and linking /usr/lib/libmmbd.so.0 to libaacs.so.0
3. With version 1.12.2 or earlier you can use the makemkv streaming feature