[SOLVED] Can't figure out how to play DVDs

Ron · 2023-05-21 20:28:54

As the subject line states, I can't figure out how to play DVDs. I am trying it using SMPlayer (I don't want to install another app if I can help it). The first thing I did was try every option under SMPlayer Preferences >> Drives >> Select your DVD device. None of them worked. Then I read on another forum to download libdvd-pkg, but that didn't help either. Is it impossible to play commercial DVDs on a Linux machine? I'm pretty sure I've done it before (maybe).

Last edited by Ron (2023-05-23 08:58:24)

alexkemp · 2023-05-22 01:08:10

I'm using updated Chimaera & VLC Media Player gives me the best results. The one thing that I need to settle to is very little in terms of the interactive DVD menu.

(there are a staggering number of VLC-Plugins; perhaps one of those will fix the bad dvd-menu):

$ apt search vlc
Sorting... Done
Full Text Search... Done
…
vlc/stable,stable-security,now 3.0.18-0+deb11u1 amd64 [installed]
  multimedia player and streamer

vlc-bin/stable,stable-security,now 3.0.18-0+deb11u1 amd64 [installed]
  binaries from VLC

vlc-data/stable,stable-security,now 3.0.18-0+deb11u1 all [installed,automatic]
  common data for VLC

GlennW · 2023-05-22 02:18:07

SMPlayer is a front-end for MPlayer and mpv, so look for those plugins if required.

make sure you have permission to use the device by being in the same group ... 'games' group, for xample.

I only use cd s in my laptop.

I hope that helps

wdq · 2023-05-22 04:33:02

As far as I remember .....

Support for DVD menus has been removed in mpv. So disable the option to use DVD menus in Preferences -> Drives.

If it still doesn't work, select mplayer as multimedia engine in Preferences -> General.

Give that a GO ....

delgado · 2023-05-22 12:43:57

Ron wrote:

Is it impossible to play commercial DVDs on a Linux machine?

Most commercial DVDs are encrypted with "css" and decryption libraries are needed to play them.
I remember remarks on the vlc web site (dvdcss or decss). The DVD-player-software loads the library(s), if present. css is broken since years and some keys are public, even printed on T-shirts. Not sure about the current legal state, but I don't think this will ever make it into debian officially.

Kelsoo · 2023-05-22 13:44:22

libdvdread is required as well as libdvd iirc

alexkemp · 2023-05-22 13:48:26

Note Before:

DVD & Blu-Ray discs are problematic under Linux for many reasons, and special steps need to be taken before Linux apps can play them.

I thought that it might be useful to expand this post to serve as a reference, since at first I could not remember myself all the steps I took.

delgado wrote:

encrypted with "css" and decryption libraries are needed to play them … don't think this will ever make it into debian officially.

References:

Wiki: libdvdcss: Content Scramble System (CSS) software decryption library for accessing DVDs
VLC: Videolan (VLC): help on installing libdvdcss
HowTo Geek: Play DVDs and Blu-rays on Linux

Narrative:

CDs were first issued in 1982 and mostly held music files. The digital files on the media were NOT scrambled & quickly everyone learned to ‘rip’ the music from the disc and load it onto other electronic players. That became a nightmare for the Music Industry when the Internet got going in the 1990s.

DVDs were first released in 1996 and were designed to store larger files than Music required. The industry was determined NOT to make the same mistake as with CDs, and introduced both Regions (to try to restrict distribution regionally) and encryption (CSS) to restrict playing to officially-endorsed machines. The media became popular for both entertainment- (films, games) and software-distribution. CSS was brain-dead and easy to decrypt, but the combo of both endemic disc-players that contained zero hardware-decryption + industry-sponsored law (DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act)), threatening fines and/or incarceration, was a nightmare for Linux users.

Blu-Ray was originated in 2002 & became a standard in 2008. It was designed to store very much larger digital files (required by larger domestic TV screens). In every way it is DVDs with knobs-on.

DVDs:

The modern advice from both Windows & Linux is “Install VLC”.

VLC states “VLC media player binaries are distributed with the libdvdcss library included” (that library is the one that decrypts the DVD-stream). That should mean that, once VLC is installed under Devuan, that other apps in the system should also be able to access the same library & decrypt the same streams. However, life is often not perfect, so here is what to do if glitches appear (it looks like the libdvdcss binary may be pre-installed under Windows but not Linux):–

With more ancient Debian/Ubuntu 15.04 it was sudo apt-get install libdvdread4 then sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh. My Chimaera still has /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/README.css within it. However, the current advice is a little different:–

sudo apt install libdvd-pkg
sudo dpkg-reconfigure libdvd-pkg

The second step will download, build and install the latest libdvdcss source on your machine. At that point *all* libdvdcss-aware apps in your system — such as MPlayer, MPV + Handbrake — will be able to play DVDs.

$ apt search libdvd-pkg
Sorting... Done
Full Text Search... Done
libdvd-pkg/stable,now 1.4.2-1-1 all [installed]
  DVD-Video playing library - installer

$ apt search libdvdcss
Sorting... Done
Full Text Search... Done
…
libdvdcss-dev/now 1.4.2-1~local amd64 [installed,local]
  library for accessing encrypted DVDs - development files

libdvdcss2/now 1.4.2-1~local amd64 [installed,local]
  library for accessing encrypted DVDs

libdvdcss2-dbgsym/now 1.4.2-1~local amd64 [installed,local]
  debug symbols for libdvdcss2

libdvdread4/now 6.0.1-1 amd64 [installed,local]
  library for reading DVDs

libdvdread8/stable,now 6.1.1-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
  library for reading DVDs

Blu-Ray

Blue-Ray presents yet more problems. Once again, refer to How to Play DVDs and Blu-rays on Linux:

sudo apt-get install vlc libaacs0 libbluray-bdj libbluray1
mkdir -p ~/.config/aacs/
cd ~/.config/aacs/ && wget http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/files/KEYDB.cfg

$ apt search libbluray
Sorting... Done
Full Text Search... Done
libbluray-bdj/stable,now 1:1.2.1-4+deb11u2 all [installed]
  Blu-ray Disc Java support library (BD-J library)

libbluray-bin/stable 1:1.2.1-4+deb11u2 amd64
  Blu-ray disc playback support library (tools)

libbluray-dev/stable 1:1.2.1-4+deb11u2 amd64
  Blu-ray disc playback support library (development files)

libbluray-doc/stable 1:1.2.1-4+deb11u2 all
  Blu-ray disc playback support library (documentation)

libbluray2/stable,now 1:1.2.1-4+deb11u2 amd64 [installed]
  Blu-ray disc playback support library (shared library)

All the above works fine in my Chimaera system.

Updated:
May 23: Added a fuller narrative on installing libdvdcss.
Added info on the command (libdvd-pkg) to install libdvdcss in order to be able to play DVDs.

Last edited by alexkemp (2023-05-23 15:11:24)

Andre4freedom · 2023-05-22 16:59:38

Excellent comment, alexkemp.
To play DVDs, vlc and libdvdcss2 did the trick for quite some time already, in most Linux distros.

Bluray is a completely different story! Thank you for your hints!

Ron · 2023-05-22 22:55:18

So I installed VLC but it still didn't work. I found this page, and ran the two commands below "Get libdvdcss." Now it works. Thanks everyone for pointing me in the right direction.

Last edited by Ron (2023-05-22 23:25:04)

swanson · 2023-10-23 14:33:17

Thanks for the solution @alexkemp! Works on Daedalus too. For VLC at least.

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#1 2023-05-21 20:28:54