BluRay okay, but can't play DVDs

[Vidiot66]

I downloaded and installed the latest version of 64-bit VLC Player for Windows 10 yesterday, and found that it wouldn't play legitimate, purchased DVDs or BluRay disks. I found a procedure for installing libaacs.dll along with several other steps, after which BluRay began to work. I found some procedures requiring some other .dlls which seemed to be required for DVDs, but I was only able to find libdvdcss.dll. I see build releases for the others on the VideoLAN forum, but it looks like you need a Linux development environment to produce a .dll. I have one non-commercial DVD which plays fine, so it seems like it's an encryption problem.

This is the log after attempting to play a DVD with libdvdcss.dll installed:

Code: Select all

-- logger module started -- main: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface. main: playlist is empty dvdnav error: Unable to open device file E:. dvdnav: DVD disk reports itself with Region mask 0x00f60000. Regions: 01 04 dvdnav: Attempting to retrieve all CSS keys dvdnav: This can take a _long_ time, please be patient

The last four lines loop indefinitely.

I don't understand this. Why doesn't VLC play DVDs and BluRays out of the box? Is it a piracy issue? And how can I play DVDs? Do I need the .dlls, and where can I find them? I'm just a poor legitimate user trying to play his purchased disks.

EDIT: I just tried 5kPlayer, and it won't play DVDs either. I am using a new Chinese external disk player, could it be set to the wrong region or something?

Thanks for any help.

[Hitchhiker]

Although the file dates from 2012 the latest Windows version of libdvdcss is this one:
https://download.videolan.org/pub/libdv ... .12/win64/

[Vidiot66]

Thanks, @Hitchhiker, I had a different version. This doesn't help though -- same problem, same error log.

[Hitchhiker]

Your DVD might be region locked judging by your log file. The disc will play on drives locked to regions 01 and 04, but not outside of those locations. So it depends where you're located and where you purchased your hardware. See this Wikipedia article for more info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Playback_Control

Here's a pix of the region codes attributable to countries worldwide.


(click to enlarge).

This is just a guess on my part by the way and another contributor might have a different opinion as to the cause of the problem.

[Vidiot66]

Hmm, I wondered about that. The log says "DVD disk reports itself with Region mask 0x00f60000. Regions: 01 04", though, and region 1 is US (which all my disks are). Does the log mean that regions 1 and 4 are masked off?

[Vidiot66]

I'm making progress. My drive was indeed set to the wrong region, and it's very simple to change that. Go to Device Manager, select the drive, Properties, DVD Region, and pick your country. You can apparently do this four times with a given drive.

Device Manager told me my drive was set to region 2. Why did VLC Player say regions 1 and 4 in the error log?

I changed to my region (1) and I can now start DVDs, but the video and/or audio are choppy and broken up so that's the next problem.

[Hitchhiker]

Well, you didn't post a full log and it may well be the case that further along the line it'll read something like you see it in the answer to this post on the stack exchange forum where the same "Region mask 0x00f60000" appeared.

Anyway, the choppy playback can usually be fixed by changing the codec located in Preferences (Ctrl + P to open) and then click the Input /Codecs button. Where it reads "Hardware-accelerated decoding" change it from "Automatic" to "DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA) 2.0". Save, exit and restart vlc.

Why your DVD drive would be set to Region 2 (Europe, Japan) is a bit of a mystery in you live in the US. The log on the other hand was derived from the Region 1 or 4 (US, Canada) disc which you were trying to play in a drive set to Region 2. VLC merely reports the regions on the DVD not the drive itself.

[Vidiot66]

Well, you didn't post a full log

The log I posted was complete. The last four lines loop indefinitely.

the choppy playback can usually be fixed by changing the codec

Thanks, I have been experimenting there and it doesn't change the playback. I've been trying other suggestions like changing the buffer size too.

VLC merely reports the regions on the DVD not the drive itself.

OK, that makes sense, thanks.

My log now when trying to play an example DVD looks like this:

Code: Select all

-- logger module started -- main: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface. main: playlist is empty dvdnav error: Unable to open device file E:. dvdnav: DVD disk reports itself with Region mask 0x00fe0000. Regions: 01 dvdnav: Attempting to retrieve all CSS keys dvdnav: This can take a _long_ time, please be patient dvdnav: Menu Languages available: ÿÿ dvdnav: Menu Languages available: ÿÿ dvdnav: Menu Languages available: ÿÿ main error: Failed to set fullscreen avcodec: Using D3D11VA (Intel(R) HD Graphics 530, vendor 8086(Intel), device 191b, revision 6) for hardware decoding main error: buffer deadlock prevented direct3d11 error: SetThumbNailClip failed: 0x800706f4 -- logger module stopped --

I stopped VLC Player after a long period of a black screen here. I am seeing different failures on different DVDs, so the log may differ for them.

Do I need additional .dlls to play commercial DVDs? I have read that libdvdread, libdvdnav, and libdvddcss are required, but I have only been able to find the last one.

[Hitchhiker]

You can download the missing libraries from here: https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=176924
The post was written to address issues with Blu-Ray playback, but the same files are used by DVDs.

You could also try changing the Output module to "OpenGL video output for Windows" to see if it helps. Click the Video button in preferences to access the alternative modules.

[Vidiot66]

@HItchhiker -- thanks for all your help on this. I found that excellent post you link to some time ago and did everything shown under the "How To (Windows)" heading, using the most recent builds under "Builds". That was what allowed me to play BluRay discs, but it didn't enable DVDs. That procedure also did not provide the libdvdread and libdvdnav dlls.

Changing the video Output module doesn't change the problem.

Since BluRay disks play fine, it seems like my data path from disc to screen is fine and should certainly be fast enough for the slower data rate DVDs. I'm using a 64-bit i5-6300HQ CPU @ 2.30GHz CPU with 8 GB of RAM and a 3840 x 2160 display. I would guess that buffering, output modules, hardware decoding, etc are okay if BluRay is okay.

[Hitchhiker]

You mentioned in the beginning that you're using a new Chinese external DVD player. Could you post the make and model of it please. Also, how does it connect to your PC or laptop?

[Vidiot66]

It's a "NOLYTH" external player:
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07T9NSD5R? ... ct_details
plugged into a USB3 slot directly on the laptop using the short appx 40 cm cable which came with the drive.

[Hitchhiker]

It's a "NOLYTH" external player:
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07T9NSD5R? ... ct_details
plugged into a USB3 slot directly on the laptop using the short appx 40 cm cable which came with the drive.

No user manual by the looks of it. Sold by "Confoly Tech", but they don't have their own site and all purchases go through Amazon (which costs them 30% of the selling price).

I would be inclined to contact Amazon and explain the problem. I would imagine you're not the first customer with this problem and there may be a solution to it already.

[Vidiot66]

After about a week of screwing around, I now have the perfect solution: CyberLink PowerDVD21 software. It's a beautifully designed and written app which plays all DVDs and BluRays on my external drive flawlessly, right out of the box. VLC Player, 5kplayer, and two other commercial apps did not work, despite all the attempts listed above.

Thanks for your help, @Hitchhiker. Case closed.

[Hitchhiker]

PowerDVD21 is proprietary software for which you have put money on the table in order to use it while vlc is open source and free. The main difference between the two apart from the price is that the former contains the licensed libraries which enables it to play encrypted discs. Those kind of libraries are not free which is why they aren't included in vlc.

Anyway, thanks for letting us know you found a solution.