The VideoLAN Forums

So I get this error when trying to play a menu-carrying Blu-Ray movie in 3.0.0:
I've installed Zulu, which is an OpenJDK port for Windows, as I'm not a great big fan of Java. I did see via ticket # 17713 that JRE 9 is not yet supported, so I also installed the JRE 8 version of Zulu. In addition, under Windows Environment Variables, I set JAVA_HOME to C:\Program Files\Zulu\zulu-8\bin

I still get the error in VLC. Is this the correct way to "set" the java executable path in Windows, or is there another way to do it in the Windows built for VLC?

Any information would be awesome (VLC 3.0 is super-amazing, btw. The sheer amount of stuff they've added is crazy).

Be careful, you need java 64bits, if you use VLC 64bits (and 32bits in the other case)

Thanks for responding!

I went ahead and checked, and then downloaded VLC 3.0.0 Win64. So now it looks like both Zulu and VLC are in the Program Files folder, and not the Program Files (x86) one.

I directly ran VLC from C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC, and the same error came up. My Java executable is in C:\Program Files\Zulu\zulu-8\bin ; is there any way to verify if VLC is aware of the path, or is there a settings to point to it?

Is there any update on this please? I.e. is there a setting to control how VLC finds the required Java installation?
Alternatively please let us know how VLC checks for local Java installation. I have 32bit VLC and 32bit Java 8, but VLC complains that it cannot find Java installed.

What version of Java8?

1.8.0_181-b13

Please let us know
1. Whether there is a setting that controls how VLC finds the Java installation; and
2. How VLC finds the Java installation (e.g. check for a reg key, check a particular env var, etc.).

Ideally this information would be reflected in user documentation.

1. there is not.
2. https://git.videolan.org/?p=libbluray.g ... .c;hb=HEAD

1. Thanks for confirming.
2. Thanks for the link. Referenced registry keys and JAVA_HOME are all set correctly yet VLC doesn't manage to locate JVM runtimes.

1. Thanks for confirming.
2. Thanks for the link. Referenced registry keys and JAVA_HOME are all set correctly yet VLC doesn't manage to locate JVM runtimes.

That requires advanced debugging then, with the command line.

Perhaps you would be good enough to let me know exactly what you'd like me to try.
I've checked the Messages window with verbosity set to 2 while testing but the debug messages listed in the code are not written to this window.
Command line seems to have the same verbosity options so it's not clear whether the debug messages would be listed in the command-line output with the same verbosity, nor why the debug messages are not shown in the Messages window.
So if there's a specific command + options that you'd like me to run please specify.

Also, the command-line help doesn't show the URL syntax for a Blu-ray disc:

vlc bluray:// for blurays

OK but the point is that it's missing from the command-line help for some reason.

Per previous message, if there's a specific command you would like me to run with particular options to generate the "advanced debugging" please let me know.

BD_DEBUG_MASK=0x02000 vlc.exe -vvv

No additional debug messages are logged. As soon as VLC opens, the usual window with the Java error is shown:
No additional messages in the Messages window:
And nothing at all output to the command-line window:

Try to set BD_DEBUG_FILE also

Sure. What is the required format for the path string for BD_DEBUG_FILE? E.g. should I use forwardslashes or backslashes? Double or single? Absolute or relative path to file?

I haven't tried but I think forward slashes and absolute path should always work on Windows in any case.

Well I was hoping, given that Jean-Baptiste is a VLC developer, for a definitive answer especially in light of VLC's rather unpredictable requirement for single, double or triple slashes.

I know but he may be busy and it is faster to try directly; forward slashes never need to be escaped, instead for backslashes depend from the context so forward slashes are always safer.

I have no idea. I would just use no slash and hope it creates the file locally

1. there is not.
2. https://git.videolan.org/?p=libbluray.g ... .c;hb=HEAD

NEW link:
https://code.videolan.org/videolan/libb ... /bdj/bdj.c

Is there a final resolution on this matter? Or is it that we should just not bother running Java-based menus on BR disks?

I also had trouble with bluray menus, but managed to found compatible vlc and java versions.

I wrote mini guide on how to troubleshoot java and libbluray:
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=160477
It shows how to get logs from libbluray, and how to interpret them.
Give it a go, maybe you will find it helpful.

Thank you for going to the trouble of figuring it out. At this point, my time doesn't permit me to undertake this debugging exercise, so I'll just declare myself content with watching Blu-Ray movies w/o the menus.

I wanted to post what worked for me in case it helps others.

I'm using Windows 11 22H2, VLC 3.0.20 Vetinari, and JDK jdk-17_windows-x64_bin.exe.

I'd already installed the keys and dll to be able to read a bluray disk, and installed the jdk at D:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk-17.

In Explorer, right click on 'This PC', select 'Properties'.
In the search box, type 'env', select 'Edit the System Variables'.
I created three new environment variables:
BD_DEBUG_FILE=c:\users\<myaccount>\vlc_debug.txt
BD_DEBUG_MASK=0x02000
JAVA_HOME=D:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk-17

Then, I prepended the bin directory of the jdk to BOTH my personal PATH, and the system PATH:
PATH=D:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk-17\bin;C:\<blah,blah,blah>

Terminate VLC, and start it again.

Ensure there's a Bluray disc in the drive.
From the menu select: Media->Open Disc...
Click on Blu-ray radio button
Click Play.

Hope that helps someone.