Blu-Ray Support

[uncreativeusername]

Ah. Thanks. I had tried 2.2.4 from here (https://sourceforge.net/projects/dvdx/f ... 20Blu-ray/), and I thought i was going crazy. I hope it's reimplemented, because I want to make sure I have the newest version for security reasons.

One thing that I have noticed though is that the movies like to sort of "smear" across the screen and the video is very screwed up. I figure that has to do with decryption, but I'm wondering how this can be fixed without buying some other player software.

[Mr Wolf]

Welcome! So, you confirm VLC 2.2.4 works with blu-ray? I have to try when I'll have a little time.
As I said, the AACS updater project, which provided the necessary files and keys, seems dead. So, it's hard to say if someone will make a new version compatible with VLC latest version.

[uncreativeusername]

Thanks, and yeah, I can confirm it works, it's just the issue of the video smearing all over the screen. I'll see if I can fix this with some things that were recommended earlier in the thread, but overall, it will play the main movie, unless you want it to play a different title. I only have an issue with this as I'd like to just play it on the disc and not have to rip it, as bluray streams are huge. I also think that if I'm going to buy software to play movies, I might as well have just bought a bluray player instead.

Edit: That seems to be BD+ movies, I don't know why though, as I have the libbdplus.dll in the VLC directory already.

[Mr Wolf]

Ok, I've just tried, and I can also say VLC 2.2.4 can play blu-rays. I think I'll keep it, for now.
Sorry, what do you mean by "video smearing all over the screen"? Do you see artifacts or other things? There are so many settings, and, for my experience, many depends on the hardware. For example, blu-rays played "choppy" when I tried with a netbook of mine, because of the poor cpu performance.
Perhaps, one setting you could try is enabling/disabling hardware acceleration, in "Input & Codecs Settings".

I think VLC has always had problems playing blu-rays menu, in special way BD+. I've just tried with my "Godfather" blu-ray and I can't access the menu, it just freezes.
However, you can easily change title with mouse right click -> Playback -> Title.

[p4nts]

I finally got it to work.

I am using windows 10 home 64 bit system
downloaded and installed VLC 2.2.6 64 bit software

placed the 64 bit libaacs.dll in C:\windows\system32 (left it also in
C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC which was the first place I put it)

placed the KEYDB.cfg in C:\ProgramData\aacs (had to create aacs directory)
I commented out all other locations I had put this file, so I know it is using this location.
see if this works for others

I know that I'm late to the party, but I've been working on this for about 5 days or so, and I can't get the aacs decoding to work at all.

I've been to http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/ and gotten the keys, dlls, and whatnot. I have 32-bit Windows 7 Professional, and no matter what I try, I keep getting the same error message.

"Blu-ray error:
This Blu-ray Disc needs a library for AACS decoding, and your system does not have it.
Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL 'bluray:///E:/'. Check the log for details."

I have libaacs.dll and libbdplus.dll in C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\, and however I try it, I get the same error. I have KEYDB.cfg in %appdata%/aacs, and I've tried putting it other places. No matter where I put the files or I modify, I can never get it to work. I've even gotten the keys updated. That doesn't change anything, but then again, it probably shouldn't change anything, as it's the keys database and not the library. My drive is an Asus BW-16D1X-U, and I can't get VLC to play any blurays at all, no matter how early the AACS is, whether it be v4 or v57, and I can never get VLC to recognize the plugins.

So 2.2.6 is working for me and Ron.Eyer:

Try copying KEYDB.cfg to C:\ProgramData\aacs\ (You'll need to create the folder)
Copy the 32bit libaacs.dll to C:\Windows\System32 (or the 64bit DLL if you're running 64 bit Windows)

[Mr Wolf]

What's your operating system? Windows 10?
I have just tried in a virtual machine (Windows 10, indeed) and... nothing. I think I did exactly what you wrote.
I always get the damn message:


Perhaps, I'll give another try tomorrow, if I have time, or I'll stay with 2.2.4.

[uncreativeusername]

So, I have tried 2.2.6, and it finds the keys, it finds libaacs, but it doesn't find libbdplus, even though the last one is in system32. I'll see what I can do about that.

I'll work on trying to get that to work, but oddly enough, I set it to "no disc menus". I also have tried some movies that were in the latest version of keydb.cfg (the last capture from the wayback machine was 9/2/2017), yet they still give me the same error, even though they're in the file. If anyone has tips on how to modify the file to make it that VLC recognizes it, that would be appreciated.


That's what I mean by the video "smears" across the screen, and the only movies I've noticed with the BD+ problem are Fox movies, at least later movies, as early ones like Speed don't have it after looking in keydb.cfg, and even Sony ones don't have it as far as I know.

[candela]

So, I have tried 2.2.6, and it finds the keys, it finds libaacs, but it doesn't find libbdplus, even though the last one is in system32. I'll see what I can do about that.

You can stop wasting your time with libbdplus. Even if you can get it to work, it only supports a few very old BD+ discs (only Fox uses this crap btw). The only way we could get VLC to play BD+ titles (without menu) is if someone implements this request in combination with a public database of repair tables (similar to a public database of keys keydb.cfg )

[ghowriter]

Same issue here. Seems to me after reading this forum that BluRay support is at minimum a hundred years away for VLC, assuming it will ever be supported. I used to refer VLC to my customers as the ultimate video player but, really, BluRay is an OLD technology and it still isn't working? Time to find a new player.

[AustmanBob]

I have 2 PCs both running VLC 2.2.6.
Computer 1 is Windows 10 / Intel Core i5 6400T CPU @ 2300Ghz
I have a number of Blu-ray files on a portable hard drive and this machine will run them simply double clicking the file. This opens up Film and TV. If I go to Open With it will open in Windows Media Player or VLC directly. I don't have to go into VLC/media/Open Disc and choose Blu-ray etc - it just works. I have the VideoLan/VLC in Program Files(x86) directory. The LIBVLC.DLL is in this directory I don't have LIBAACS.DLL or Keydb.cfg on the system to be seen.
Computer 2 is Windows 7 Pro / Intel Core 2 6600 CPU @ 2400Ghz
Files on the same portable hard drive will not play. Classic Media Player and Windows Media Player give audio only. VLC gives stuttering or smudged video and audio.
Both computers are basically the same except for the CPU and Windows 10 vs 7Pro. Both have 32 bit VLC 2.2.6. Both have the LIBVLC in the same directory. I do not comprehend what could be the issue.
I have recently tried putting LIBAACS.DLL and KEYDB.CFG in the recommended directories by no go. At a loss now.

[Mr Wolf]

libaacs.dll and keydb.cfg are used to decrypt blu-rays. If you have them on hard drive, I guess you ripped them and they are already all decrypted.
So, you can open them with VLC with Open -> Open folder, or you can open directly the m2ts video files. Usually, they are under BDMV\STREAM.
Perhaps, in your second computer one setting you could try is enabling/disabling hardware acceleration, in "Input & Codecs Settings", or other video settings. Or perhaps the CPU is not powerful enough to play blu-rays.
I have a similar problem with a netbook.

By the way, I tried again the above method to play blu-rays with VLC 2.2.6 (KEYDB.cfg in C:\ProgramData\aacs\ and libaacs.dll in C:\Windows\System32), and, I don't know why, it doesn't work with me (Windows 10 64 bit).
I'll keep VLC 2.2.4.

[AustmanBob]

Keep getting "VLC is unable to open the MRL" ?????????????

[Mr Wolf]

You get this error opening the folder or the m2ts video file?
What program you used to rip blu-rays?

[LMIlmi]

I just got a Bluray disk playing. The VLC gave me the same error message as it did for others about missing bluray library. (Where is that log?) But I did what is told in http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/ so they were not missing. I copied the library to other folders just in case. That did not help.
Finally someone said here that you have to copy the libaacs.dll to the Windows/system32 folder. And that did it, I can see my BR disk now.

[onland]

I have been successfully using VLC player to play BDs under Win-XP SP3 (32-bit) since VLC version 2.04, gradually upgrading through to 2.21. However, when I installed VLC 2.24 and 2.26, all BD playback functions became completely broken. I also noticed that in the latest working version of VLC 2.21 that works with BD playback, when I go to PREFERENCES - INPUT/CODECS / ACCESS MODULES, I can see that there's a region code selector menu there, which was subsequently removed in 2.24 and 2.26. I even had LIBBDPLUS.DLL working to some degree even though as it it well known, LIBBDPLUS is a lost cause and does not fully decode the video properly, but LIBACCS.DLL has worked well. I did not have to copy the two DLL files into the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 folder, but I did try doing so for VLC 2.24 and 2.26 and there was no BD playback success at all. Eventually I had to revert to VLC 2.21 to get full functionality back.

I also had one other user under Win-XP SP-3 that had a virtually identical working set up but after upgrading to VLC 2.26, had the infamous audio stuttering problem playing local video files from HDD and also from streaming. BD playback was completely broken under VLC 2.26 in that case as well. But if earlier posts in this thread is true, it appears that VLC 2.26 won't play BDs at all and 2.24 will work in some cases and may be the last VLC version that works with BD playback with the existing LIBAACS.DLL binaries available. Is there any particular reason why new DLLs won't be recompiled for later VLC versions compatibility? I'm not really in on the latest news on this.

[uncreativeusername]

So, I have tried 2.2.6, and it finds the keys, it finds libaacs, but it doesn't find libbdplus, even though the last one is in system32. I'll see what I can do about that.

You can stop wasting your time with libbdplus. Even if you can get it to work, it only supports a few very old BD+ discs (only Fox uses this crap btw). The only way we could get VLC to play BD+ titles (without menu) is if someone implements this request in combination with a public database of repair tables (similar to a public database of keys keydb.cfg )

Yeah, I figured it was only fox that did this. The only ones that work for me that actually have it are Live Free or Die Hard (the initial release, any later release (the unrated cut) has been updated), Die Hard, and With a Vengeance, but I think that's because with their original master of Vengeance, it didn't have it, and fortunately for us, they didn't bother with updating it in any of their movies, just Live Free or Die Hard, because the unrated cut is a relatively new disc.

I seem to be having a new issue now, it's that whenever I put in a key pair with FindVUK into KEYDB.cfg, VLC spins up the disc, and every so often, other than it having had loaded the little clip art for the movie in the metadata directory, I will hear the laser of my drive go back and forth. I have no idea why it can't access it yet, as this has happened with 3 blurays now, as I've had to put in keys for Pixels, Porco Rosso, and Live Free or Die Hard (This movie seems to be a recurring theme in this post). If anybody wants me to upload the KEYDB.cfg I have, I'd be fine with that, but I have them inputted properly as far as I know.

[djanrd]

I finally got VLC to work on my old Windows 7 pc. I had to downgrade to version 2.2.4 and place the libaacs.dll in windows\system32. It's plays very choppily but that's probably due to my old pc cpu/video card not having enough power. I find that when I make the window smaller it can reduce the chopping effect.

I would like to play my star trek next generation season discs, but since there is no menu support, I can't play beyond the first two episodes. Does anyone know how I might be able to do this with the player controls?

[Mr Wolf]

Hi, you can try right click (or Menu) -> Playback -> Title.

[djanrd]

Thanks for the reply, Mr. Wolf. I was actually able to get the disc menus by removing the no menu checkmark and then I was able to select the episode I wanted. Since I have a fairly low powered computer, I was wondering if there was a setting tutorial that would help me obtain the best performance. Some Blu-rays play better than others so I guess alot will depend on how the blu-ray was recorded.

[uncreativeusername]

Good news for everyone running 3.0.0, and that is that if you copy libmmbd(64).dll (depends on what version of VLC you're running, if it's 32-bit, it doesn't have the 64 before the extension) to your VLC folder with the plugins (libbdplus.dll and libaacs.dll) that are there, *then* and only then VLC 3.0.0 will work with Blurays and find the plugins required. This is quite useful, as 3.0.0 added support for Dolby Atmos, and movies have already come out with that as the primary audio track, so you can actually hear the movie audio.

[Mr Wolf]

I've just updated to VLC 3.0.0 both on Windows 7 e Windows 10. I've tried both 32 and 64 bit versions, and I can confirm blu-rays now plays, even with menus!!!
To me, it works with files installed with AACS Updater in the VLC folder (libaacs.dll, libbdplus.dll, libgcrypt-20.dll, libgpg-error6-0.dll) that you can still find here:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/dvdx/f ... 20Updater/
Install the 32 bit version if you're using VLC 32 bit and the 64 bit version if you're using VLC 64 bit.
The AACS Updater project seems dead, anyway, and you still need an updated KEYDB.cfg file with the keys to decrypt blu-rays.

[uncreativeusername]

This is even weirder. Thanks to Mr Wolf for giving me the idea to put the libgcrypt-20.dll and libgpg-error6-0.dll in my VLC folder, but (and I've been working on this since I got VLC 3.0 running with blurays again) now colors are appearing all weird. Things like the whole screen being covered with colors, even where the black bars are for for 2.35/4:1 movies. It's also got an issue with just dropping buffers for some movies (I only noticed this with Red 2, but it can't just be DTS-HD MA as a whole), and the colors weirdly don't appear on some other newer movies. As previously stated, I got FindVUK to work again, and the keys are all proper, and these moies aren't BD+ encrypted, but 3.0 did add support for BD+v2008. This also can't just be some movie decryption error, as these work with 2.2.4 without error, even without decryption plugins and just an on-the-fly decryptor. I'm wondering if this is an issue with libbluray, though, but I have no clue.




the first picture is form WarGames, and the second one is from Red 2, as that color bar issue is rampant throughout the movie.

[Mr Wolf]

Well, if you have that problem only with certains blu-rays, the problem could be just in the enconding of those discs. I don't know or at least can't remember now a tool to check disc encoding.
Perhaps, you can try some options in VLC, as hardware acceleration, but I'm not an expert in this and I can't understand many settings.
I have tried only a few blu-rays of mine for now and they all seem to play well.

However, here:
http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/
there's an updated version of KEYDB.cfg.
Oddly enough, the number of the keys (24010) is the same of my file, which I updated several month ago.

[uncreativeusername]

After some fiddling with the advanced settings, I disabled "Hardware Decoding" in FFmpeg, which was what 2.2.4 had it set as, and that was the trick. Unfortunately, now it hogs system resources, but I never found it to be that much of an issue in the first place with the old versions. I've never used something that requires most of the CPU alongside VLC, unless I'm doing an HandBrake encode or compressing something with 7-Zip.

[Mr Wolf]

Oh, that's a great catch! I checked, and mine was set to "automatic". Actually, as far I can remember, I never saw VLC stress CPU in my two main notebooks (one with Windows 7 (five years old) and the other with Windows 10, both Intel Core i7 and dedicated graphic card), even playing blu-rays.
HandBrake stresses a lot the CPU - I made many, many mkvs from DVDs.