[mythtv-users] DVD copy protection issue?

jedi at mishnet.org jedi at mishnet.org
Thu Dec 27 14:57:06 UTC 2007


> Cymen Vig wrote:
>
>>
>> Have you tried a different DVD drive or updating the drive firmware
>> (or putting it on a Windows PC and trying to replicate the problem)?
>> If it is a dual-layer DVD the problem may be the drive not handling
>> the layer change gracefully. I'd either try to replicate it on a
>> Windows PC to confirm or buy another DVD drive for $30.
>
> Or try it in a standalone player to eliminate a bad disk, very possible
> with a rental.

     You can have a bad disk and the standalone player still won't
pick it up. Apparently, there manufacturing defects in recently stamped
disks that manage to pass muster with console DVD players but manage
to break with any DVD-ROM drive. I had a Harry Potter DVD with this
problem. I even stepped down my drive to 1x DVD speed and it still
didn't help.

     The defect was restricted to that copy as I was able to get another
copy and rip it without problem with both mplayer and vobcopy.

     If there's a particular defect, isolate it and complain about it
to whomever sold or rented you the disk.

>
> I've seen standalone players selling for $19.95 around here.

     OTOH, Arccos is something that I've had to revert to using AnyDVD
on Windows to rip. I've had a couple of disks with this. Attempting to
rip/play an arccos disk with mplayer tends to generate dire results
including kernel panics on some systems.

    Out of ~250 DVD movies acquired over the years, many from the Walmart
$5 bin, I have only had 2 that were confirmed Arccos problems and one
(recent disk) that was actually bad.

    Slysoft also has very good forums for discussing which protection
methods are on which disks. They helped me sort out the Harry Potter
problem. They are a good source for information on new releases.



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