VLC is unable to open the MRL 'dvd:///E:\'.

[kozemchuk]

I searched the forums for half an hour and found some similar threads, but none with solutions. If I missed something, please let me know!

VLC media player just stopped playing DVDs for me. I don't remember if it coincided with installing the latest version or not, unfortunately. I've tried 5 different DVDs and it's been the same for all of them. They work on other computers.

I am running VLC 2.1.2 in Windows 8 and I can play CDs fine in the drive, as well as explore the contents of the disc in Windows. I tried playing the "Video_TS" folder in VLC but it skipped a lot. I don't have any other DVD players installed on my computer.

This is the error message:

Playback failure:
DVDRead could not open the disc "E:".
Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL 'dvd:///E:/'. Check the log for details.

And here is the log:

main debug: adding item `dvd:///E:/' ( dvd:///E:/ )
qt4 debug: Adding a new MRL to recent ones: dvd:///E:/
main debug: no fetch required for (null) (art currently (null))
main debug: processing request item: dvd:///E:/, node: null, skip: 0
main debug: rebuilding array of current - root Playlist
main debug: rebuild done - 1 items, index 0
main debug: starting playback of the new playlist item
main debug: resyncing on dvd:///E:/
main debug: dvd:///E:/ is at 0
main debug: creating new input thread
main debug: Creating an input for 'dvd:///E:/'
main debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB, in path 'C:\Users\P\AppData\Local\Temp'
main debug: `dvd:///E:/' gives access `dvd' demux `' path `/E:/'
main debug: creating demux: access='dvd' demux='' location='/E:/' file='E:\'
main debug: looking for access_demux module matching "dvd": 12 candidates
dvdnav warning: cannot open DVD (E:)
dvdread error: DVDRead cannot open source: E:
main debug: no access_demux modules matched
main debug: creating access 'dvd' location='/E:/', path='E:\'
main debug: looking for access module matching "dvd": 20 candidates
main debug: no access modules matched
main error: open of `dvd:///E:/' failed
main debug: finished input
main debug: dead input
main debug: changing item without a request (current 0/1)
main debug: nothing to play

Can you help me out? Thanks!

[wiggy97]

Exactly the same problem but how did you find the log. It's taken me half an hour to get nowhere.
Since vlc last worked I have added mkvmake, handbrake and had a new version of nightly, so I will try removing these
Regards
wiggy

[kozemchuk]

The log is under the Tools menu, then go to Messages and select Verbosity to debug (2).

[wiggy97]

Thank you. I would not have found this in a month of Sundays.
Maybe the problem is the same as on this posting

VLC won't play DVD's, even with the newest version. ?

[kozemchuk]

hey, check this thread out:

https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.ph ... 83#p396083

found it using some different search terms. just switch to the 32 bit version, i did and DVDs are playing again.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Update to 2.1.3

[jmike47]

I get the exact same error message! Attempting to play DVD through HDMI on Samsung TV. I have HDMI cable connected to my PC (notebook) and to the HDMI 1 slot on the TV and I have selected HDMI setting in my Samsung TV menu.

I have Windows 8.1 64 bit. Has anyone found a solution to this problem? Is it Windows 8.1? What?

[legofan3159]

Another possible solution I stumbled upon.
If the optical drive is external, the drive might not be receiving enough power to read the disc(this also causes the drive to appear/disappear) whenever you click play. To fix this, you need to use a powered USB cable(cable with 2 USB plugs) for the drive. Hope this helped