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Topic: movie DVDs don't pay or only partly pllay (Read 2352 times) previous topic - next topic
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movie DVDs don't pay or only partly pllay

Are some movie DVDs made to be unable to be played on a computer DVD drive?

Why can I not find a forum search function to look for previous versions of this question (or anything else). Search used to be a standard part of the interface.

Re: movie DVDs don't pay or only partly pllay

Reply #1 –
Top right-hand corner of the screen?  ;)
 

Re: movie DVDs don't pay or only partly pllay

Reply #2 –
Quote
Top right-hand corner of the screen?

I assume that refers to the secondary topic of my post. There is nothing there, or anywhere else I can see, relevant to searching. Is it non-functional in Firefox?

I hope someone will address the DVD movie question.  I've borrowed some for entertainment. I can see no defects on their surfaces but about half of them don't work properly. I'm using VideoLAN, VLC media player

Re: movie DVDs don't pay or only partly pllay

Reply #3 –
This is what I see on my monitor: no search

Re: movie DVDs don't pay or only partly pllay

Reply #4 –
2nd issue: Click the blue box with the caret (arrow) upper right.
That should reveal the HA logo and search box.
korth

Re: movie DVDs don't pay or only partly pllay

Reply #5 –
...And if clicking the blue button appears to do nothing except flip the caret, refresh the page.

As for your question about DVDs: what software are you using to play your DVDs? Some DVDs have compatibility issues with licensed player software and may require an update (or unlicensed software) to play correctly.

Re: movie DVDs don't pay or only partly pllay

Reply #6 –
Quote
I'm using VideoLAN, VLC media player

Most of the problem DVDs play part way, perhaps the first half of the movie, then will not go any further. Only one wold not start at all. Some play without problems.

When I had access to a component DVD player, connected directly to a TV, I watched some thrift store purchased DVD movies without any playback problems even though the disk surface was way more scratched up than some audio CDs that could not play or be extracted from properly. I see essentially nothing on the surface of these borrowed DVDs.

Re: movie DVDs don't pay or only partly pllay

Reply #7 –
Quote from: AndyH-ha on
Most of the problem DVDs play part way, perhaps the first half of the movie, then will not go any further. Only one wold not start at all. Some play without problems.
It sounds like libdvdcss may have cached some bad decryption keys for these discs. Try deleting the libdvdcss cache. (On Windows, this is a folder named "dvdcss" in the %appdata% directory.)

Re: movie DVDs don't pay or only partly pllay

Reply #8 –
Try deleting the libdvdcss cache

Thanks. I deleted that folder contents. Ii appeared to have something for every DVD I put into the drive. I'll see what happens tonight or some day soon when I'm in the mood to try again.

Re: movie DVDs don't pay or only partly pllay

Reply #9 –
Quote
Most of the problem DVDs play part way, perhaps the first half of the movie, then will not go any further. Only one wold not start at all. Some play without problems.
It might be a combination of flaky DVDs and a flaky DVD player.   I assume you don't have another computer you can try?

I haven't had any trouble with VLC.

Burned/homemade DVDs are more likely to exhibit problems (and it doesn't have to be a scratch...  Sometimes the blank disc is bad or sometimes something just goes-wrong with the burn).

Quote
even though the disk surface was way more scratched up than some audio CDs.
DVDs are more "rugged" than CDs because the data-layer is in the middle of a polycarbonate sandwich, and that's where the laser focuses.  The data-layer on a CD is actually on the top (label side) and it's read through the full thickness so it's easier to damage a CD from the top than from the shiny side.     The data layer on a Blu-Ray is on the shiny side so it's more vulnerable but there is a "hard coating" that's supposed to protect it.

Re: movie DVDs don't pay or only partly pllay

Reply #11 –
I did take two of the worst offending DVDs to a friend’s where I could test compare on another computer. One DVD didn’t have the problems there. The other, which on my computer just continuously cycled, with noise from the drive, as if trying, over and over, to read, played but continued to make similar mechanical drive noises while playing the movie – very annoying.

Back home, I washed one DVD, tried playing several times, then reinstalled the latest VLC media player . This time things went much better. It did hang up in two or three places but this time I was able to get past those stops by using the ‘skip to specific time’ command by setting it to one minute past the stop point. Originally that did not work; playback just failed totally when trying to bypass the stop.

I have extracted many audio books from older, used CDs. Washing the disk has frequently led to better results, often when I could see nothing to wash off. Maybe the washing was helpful, maybe just reinstalling the software was the ticket. Soon, perhaps tonight, I will wash two other problem DVDs and see what happens.