I need help playing DVDs on my system

[Skava]

Hello,

I need help with playing DVDs. My Cd drive says it can play DVDs. It used to work when I was on Windows. The disk drive I have is a TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-222AL. The DVD I'm using does work on my PS3, the only other DVD capable device. I followed a guide that installed a bunch of DVD related packages (libdvd-pkg) and gone through the dpkg-reconfigure libdvd-pkg process but I am unable to play with VLC. I tried using mpv but it still unable to play DVD.

I tried playing through VLC using the "Open disc" option under the media tab. I also changed disk device dropdown option from cdrom and sr0 but neither is able to play. There's an sg0 and sg1 option but using any of those would "freeze" the player; the seekbar has a yellow bar that bounces between the sides of the seekbar. I get the following in the VLC log file:

-- logger module started --
main: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
main: playlist is empty
dvdnav error: Could not open /dev/cdrom with libdvdcss.
dvdnav error: Can't open /dev/cdrom for reading
dvdnav error: vm: failed to open/read the DVD
dvdread error: Could not open /dev/cdrom with libdvdcss.
dvdread error: Can't open /dev/cdrom for reading
dvdread error: DVDRead cannot open source: /dev/cdrom
dvdread error: Could not open /dev/cdrom with libdvdcss.
dvdread error: Can't open /dev/cdrom for reading
dvdread error: DVDRead cannot open source: /dev/cdrom
dvdnav error: Could not open /dev/sr0 with libdvdcss.
dvdnav error: Can't open /dev/sr0 for reading
dvdnav error: vm: failed to open/read the DVD
dvdread error: Could not open /dev/sr0 with libdvdcss.
dvdread error: Can't open /dev/sr0 for reading
dvdread error: DVDRead cannot open source: /dev/sr0

I've tried adding cdrom to user group, as suggested by another user from another website, via "adduser $USER cdrom" but it says that it's already a member of 'cdrom'.

When I put in an audio cd, the system automatically loads this and I am able to browse its contents through the file manager. Same thing with a cd-rom that I have lying around, I can see the setup files in the cd. When I put in a DVD however, my disk drive sounds like its trying to load its contents but it never quite completes it and the filemanager does not detect anything like it would do when a audio disc or CD-ROM is inserted.

Has anyone else gone through a similar problem? I would appreciate any advice and suggestions with this issue.


Thanks

[Snowhog]

(Google search)

AI Overview

To play DVDs in Ubuntu, you'll likely need to install additional software, as Ubuntu's default setup doesn't include all the necessary codecs for playing commercial DVDs due to licensing restrictions. Here's a breakdown of the steps involved:

1. Install Required Software:

VLC Media Player:
This is a popular, versatile player that can handle many media formats, including DVDs. You can install it from the Ubuntu Software Center or using the command: sudo apt install vlc.

libdvdcss:
This library is needed to decrypt and play most commercial DVDs. You'll need to add a repository and install it. The process may vary slightly depending on your Ubuntu version. A common method involves using the command:

sudo apt install libdvd-pkg followed by sudo dpkg-reconfigure libdvd-pkg.

[Skava]

I've done exactly that Snowhog but it did not work. My discs are not being picked up by either VLC or mpd.

[bengtang]

If VLC does not find your DVD player, click on Media->Open Disc, and specify '/dev/sr0' as the disc device.

[Skava]

That is what I have already done. I've tried swapping between cdrom, sr0, sg0 and sg1 and it does not work:

I tried playing through VLC using the "Open disc" option under the media tab. I also changed disk device dropdown option from cdrom and sr0 but neither is able to play. There's an sg0 and sg1 option but using any of those would "freeze" the player; the seekbar has a yellow bar that bounces between the sides of the seekbar. I get the following in the VLC log file: