VLC 2.0 AND Blu Ray. What Do I need?

[laferrierejc]

http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name

I've followed these instructions about 3 times now. They seem pretty clear to me. Put the key file in the %appdata% folder (which defaults to Roaming subfolder), but just for good measure, I put the key file at the parent of Roaming (i.e. appdata) and in the vlc program files dir (which is a subfolder of videolan).

then I dl'd the 64 bit file for my 64 bit windows and placed the file inside "c:\program files (x86)\videolan\vlc\" folder (btw has to be done through saving to the desktop first, then from within explorer, copy the file over. That's okay, minor sacrifice made to ensure a proper working UAC).

the error I get when I try to open a blu ray inside vlc is:
This Blu-Ray Disc needs a library for AACS decoding, and your system does not have it.

when I try the 32 bit dll (windows is 64, but vlc is 32) I get a different message
Missing AACS configuration file!

So... I'm not sure what's going on. I do have uac enabled... I tried running the program in administrator mode which had no affect... I've tried regsvr32' the dll, (which doesn't do anything, nor is the right thing to do with this type of dll, since it's the app's (vlc) decoding dll.)

I also tried this on ubuntu... I was running v12 Ubuntu x64... finally got vlc installed after doing the package list updates, but only from bash...

I believe I pulled the key file, and the 64 bit file... but... after doing all that, I didn't have a blu-ray option inside my vlc... I was wondering if the x64 build was an older version (not 2.0 vlc)... I didn't check that yet...

but yeah, lots of crazy variables... and I still can't get it to play a range of blu ray discs I have...

[blucy]

Hi, did you notice this thread is in the Mac OS X section?

[laferrierejc]

I just read that a few posts up... now I see it...

yeah, when I do a google search for vlc blu ray, this forum thread is the second entry...

jumping into the thread, I read VLC 2.0 AND Blu Ray, check the website url, see it's videolan.org...

people giving advise on vlc 2.0 and that website (http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/) was the second post mentioned in this thread...

So I thought I was in the right place. I haven't read anywhere else (forum threads mainly) on the interwebs that gives much detail on this website
http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/

I guess I'll open a new thread.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=103101#p348439

[eno12]

Not sure if this is the best place to post this. I added support for OSX MultiMedia Commands (MMC) to libaacs. An alpha version for Mountain Lion is posted at http://www.cs.unm.edu/~hjelmn/libaacs_mac_10.8.tar.gz.

To install this version of libaacs (this is not for beginners) in VLC 2.0.3 (do not use the provided VLC binary with any other version of the app):

1) decompress the above tarball (.tar.gz) by double-clicking it. this will give you a directory containing two files: VLC (modified binary from VLC.app/Contents/MacOS), and lib/libaacs.dylib
2) right-click on VLC and choose Show Package Contents
3) navigate to Contents/MacOS
4) drag and drop VLC into this folder and replace the existing VLC binary
5) drag and drop lib/libaacs.dylib into the library directory
6) run VLC normally. You will need a KEYCFG.conf in ~/.config/aacs for this to work

Note: the VLC provided in this tarball is only modified in one way: an rpath to @executable_path/lib has been added using install_name_tool (part of Xcode). If you want to fix the VLC binary yourself run: install_name_tool -add_rpath @executable_path/lib VLC from the Contents/MacOS directory of VLC.app.

I will be submitting a patch to libaacs (and hopefully helping fix the loading issue) once I am satisfied with quality of my code.

[blucy]

eno12 wrote:
> To install this version of libaacs (this is not for beginners)...

Since I would call myself a beginner (but I'm very interested in blu ray on Mac)
I guess I will have to wait for a more "idiot-proof" solution...

But thanks for your efforts!

[atonaldenim]

I just wanted to update this thread to say that I've just tried for the first time to use VLC 2.0.3 in Mountain Lion 10.8.2 to watch a Blu-ray movie on my Mac, and it worked very well. I just got a 2x BD-ROM USB drive, and have a 2012 MacBook Air. I followed the instructions from http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name which gave me a version of libaacs dated August 20, 2012, started watching "The Hurt Locker", and found that the video would pause every 10-30 seconds while the drive spun up for a few seconds to buffer more video. Out of the box, it was unwatchable. But I did some searching and found the tip to go to Preferences > Show All > Input / Codecs > Demuxers > FFmpeg, scroll about 25% down and set Threads from 0 to 4. After that, playback was smooth with no pausing to buffer.

So as of October 2012 it looks like a lot of these issues have been fixed. Mac users can definitely use VLC to watch Blu-ray movies for free without having to pay for additional software. Hope that's helpful for anyone who comes across this thread later.

[andrman]

I just followed the directions on http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name today and am still getting the 'Missing keys?" error.

Can you describe the exact procedures you used, where you put each of the files?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

You should really look at the next release (2.0.4) because it will be way better for that.

[blucy]

You should really look at the next release (2.0.4) because it will be way better for that.

When will it be available?

[fkuehne]

Shortly

[gg74]

Not sure if this is the best place to post this. I added support for OSX MultiMedia Commands (MMC) to libaacs. An alpha version for Mountain Lion is posted at http://www.cs.unm.edu/~hjelmn/libaacs_mac_10.8.tar.gz.

I will be submitting a patch to libaacs (and hopefully helping fix the loading issue) once I am satisfied with quality of my code.

I've tried your libaacs but it seems to depend from gcrypt11, I followed the suggestion of previous posts about getting it from an old VLC dmg, but once I placed it in VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/lib (the same dir of libaacs) it seems libaacs fails anyway to open the gcrypt library since the one distributed with old vlcs are API version 17, while you linked libaacs against gcrypt11 API version 19.

I can see this in the shell output launching VLC from terminal (with -vvv to see more details).

I'm using your patched VLC executable to solve the rpath library problem, and "otool -L" on libaacs says all dependencies are there

Can you update your archive to include also the libgcrypt11.dylib you linked libaacs against?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Did you check on the other website?

[gg74]

Did you check on the other website?

Do you mean http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/?

The libaacs in that site is updated? I had the impression that the page was "static" from at least a few months, anyway just got the libaacs from there and I'll try it as soon as I'm at home

A rapid check with otool on my mac at work seems to confirm it does not depend from gcrypt:

Code: Select all

libaacs.dylib: libaacs.0.dylib (compatibility version 3.0.0, current version 3.1.0) /usr/lib/libobjc.A.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 228.0.0) /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 169.3.0) /System/Library/Frameworks/IOKit.framework/Versions/A/IOKit (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 275.0.0) /System/Library/Frameworks/Cocoa.framework/Versions/A/Cocoa (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 19.0.0) /System/Library/Frameworks/DiskArbitration.framework/Versions/A/DiskArbitration (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1.0.0) /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Versions/A/CoreFoundation (compatibility version 150.0.0, current version 744.0.0)

EDIT: Just tried with the libaacs.dylib mentioned in this last post and "Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind" blu-ray on my external blu-ray burner attached to my 2008 24" imac with 10.8.2 and it works perfectly

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

EDIT: Just tried with the libaacs.dylib mentioned in this last post and "Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind" blu-ray on my external blu-ray burner attached to my 2008 24" imac with 10.8.2 and it works perfectly

[eno12]

Did you check on the other website?

Do you mean http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/?

The libaacs in that site is updated? I had the impression that the page was "static" from at least a few months, anyway just got the libaacs from there and I'll try it as soon as I'm at home

A rapid check with otool on my mac at work seems to confirm it does not depend from gcrypt:

Code: Select all

libaacs.dylib: libaacs.0.dylib (compatibility version 3.0.0, current version 3.1.0) /usr/lib/libobjc.A.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 228.0.0) /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 169.3.0) /System/Library/Frameworks/IOKit.framework/Versions/A/IOKit (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 275.0.0) /System/Library/Frameworks/Cocoa.framework/Versions/A/Cocoa (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 19.0.0) /System/Library/Frameworks/DiskArbitration.framework/Versions/A/DiskArbitration (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 1.0.0) /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Versions/A/CoreFoundation (compatibility version 150.0.0, current version 744.0.0)

EDIT: Just tried with the libaacs.dylib mentioned in this last post and "Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind" blu-ray on my external blu-ray burner attached to my 2008 24" imac with 10.8.2 and it works perfectly

Yup. I pushed the changes upstream. All future builds on that site will support OSX!

[ppcguy]

VLC 2.0.4 can indeed play blu-ray discs! i bought a samsung usb blu-ray drive and it came today and i also bought the avengers on blu-ray/dvd. and i did as the previous posters did and downloaded the files from
http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/ and followed their instructions and blu-ray works on my intel mac! I don't even have to buy the shady macgo blu-ray player for a ripoff of $39.99.

Thank you to the Mac developers of the VLC project.

I am now watching The Avengers on Blu-Ray on my intel Mac.

thank you, thank you

here's how you play blu-ray discs on vlc:
1. launch VLC
2. Click File on Menu and select open Disc
3. click open BDMV folder and select the directory in the blu-ray with the BDMV file
4. click open
5. blu-ray movie should be playing at this point.
6. press cmd f for full screen
7. enjoy!

[ppcguy]

apparently, "the avengers" blu-ray work and "pride and prejudice" blu-ray work but "army of darkness" doesn't and "alien" doesn't, something to do with BD+ encryption, so i bought macgo bluray player and now all my blu-rays work.

I am a little disapointed in VLC

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

I am a little disapointed in VLC

Seriously? You understand the impact of the work involved by reverse engineering blurays?

[blucy]

>> You should really look at the next release (2.0.4) because it will be way better for that.

> When will it be available?

Shortly

Is this version (which version?) available in the meantime?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Yes. 2.0.4 is out.

[blucy]

Thanks!

[bob87]

I have just got this working on windows 7 and and now trying to get it working on my Mac (as I use Mac more), but I am getting errors. Can somebody let me know what I am doing wrong?

I am running VLC 2.0.5 64-bit

I have gone to ~/Library/Preferences and added a new folder called aacs and copied the KEYDB.cfg file (from http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/)

I have then gone to my applications folder, right clicked on VLC -> Show package contents, then gone into Contents/MacOS/lib and copied in libaacs.dylib

When I try and run a blu ray I get the error "This Blu-Ray Disc needs a library for AACS decoding, and your system does not have it."

Any one know where I am going wrong?

[ppcguy]

you go to : http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name
You'll need two files: keys database and AACS dynamic library.
1. Keys database
Mac OS: put it in ~/Library/Preferences/aacs/ (create it if it does not exist)

2. AACS dynamic library
Mac OS: put that file in ~/lib directory (create it, if it does not exist)

You DO NOT get the libaacs.dylib file from teh VLC show packages, but do the steps above and it will work

You will then be able to decode BLU-Ray discs with aacs encryption but NOT BD+.

[bob87]

Thanks for you reply but all you have done is copied off the instructions from the website.

I did not get the libaacs.dylib file from the VLC packages but from the http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/ website.

What exactly do you mean by:

"2. AACS dynamic library
Mac OS: put that file in ~/lib directory (create it, if it does not exist)"

I interpreted that as to go to the applications folder, right click on VLC and show package content, then go into Contents/MacOS/lib and copy in the libaacs.dylib file that I downloaded from the website.

I have done that and it is still not working. What am I doing wrong?

[ppcguy]

Thanks for you reply but all you have done is copied off the instructions from the website.

I did not get the libaacs.dylib file from the VLC packages but from the http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/ website.

What exactly do you mean by:

"2. AACS dynamic library
Mac OS: put that file in ~/lib directory (create it, if it does not exist)"

I interpreted that as to go to the applications folder, right click on VLC and show package content, then go into Contents/MacOS/lib and copy in the libaacs.dylib file that I downloaded from the website.

I have done that and it is still not working. What am I doing wrong?

what it means is create a folder named "lib" in your user directory and download "libaacs.dylib" file from http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/ and put "lilacs.dylib" in the "lib" folder