Explain simply how to get Java menus to work

[Niggi Biggi]

Hello, Linux noob here.

I have installed MakeMKV via Flatpak using Kubuntu's "Discover" software manager, as well as two Flatpak extensions being "MakeMKV plugin for VLC" for Blu-ray playback in VLC, as well as "Blu-ray Java menus (BDJ) plugin for VLC" to enable Java menus in VLC.

vlc_makemkv_plugin.png (71.12 KiB) Viewed 1838 times

vlc_java_plugin.png (66.04 KiB) Viewed 1838 times

Unfortunately, although I am able to play my discs, discs using Java menus still show no menus in VLC in spite of the plugin being installed on my system.

vlc_java_plugin_error.png (14.49 KiB) Viewed 1838 times

I have seen some of the other posts on here regarding the Java menus, but I honestly feel there should be an easier way of getting this to work, since it is comparatively easy to get it working on Windows.

Would love to hear from you, thanks!

[georgesgiralt]

Hello Sir,
I know nothing about Flatpax, but if I'm not mistaken nothing outside the container created by the flatpack app will run, including Java. So you have to either find a way to allow Java execution from Malemkv and VLC or install MakeMkv from source by compiling it yourself...
Just my 2 ¢

[librelibre]

The answer is it's not simple. Makemkv is buggy on linux to begin with. If makemkv or vlc are a flatpak they'll be isolated from being able to "talk" to each other. Also not familiar with the devs on flathub who are maintaining it (it's not a verified flatpak on flathub). I'm new to linux and realized this is going to take time to figure out, especially if I want to find a way to restrict app permissions in a way that I feel comfortable. Some of the thread discussions here have been over my head. It's really frustrating to work with linux.

When not flatpaked it can still take a bit of mucking around as well to get it to work.

It's a lot easier in windows, if you have windows.

[Sayaka]

I just download the latest Linux x64 jre from here : https://www.java.com/en/download/ and decompress it inside my Downloads folder.

Then I use the environment variables JAVA_HOME and JRE_HOME as needed.

I also use Kodi rather than VLC, since I personally think it's better for Blu-ray playback, especially 4K Blu-ray playback with HDR.

On my "Ubuntu Noble-based" distro, I install a somewhat outdated non-flatpak build of Kodi with a simple

Code: Select all

sudo apt install kodi

then I open a terminal and type something like (username, jre name and path provided as examples) :

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JAVA_HOME=/home/sayaka/Downloads/jre1.8.0_491/ JRE_HOME=/home/sayaka/Downloads/jre1.8.0_491/ kodi

(Setting the environment variables in a menu or desktop shortcut would also work.)

I then set "Adjust display refresh rate" to "Always" (click on the Settings icon -> Player -> Videos to find it).

So far, I've managed to get every single Blu-ray menu to work using this method. ISO/M2TS playback remains somewhat flawed at times, doing "seeks" while watching may result in playback issues. The same is true even if one uses VLC. Oddly enough, there might be something a little off with the version of Kodi I'm using and my Pioneer drive, as while Kodi has no issues reading discs straight from an LG drive, so far it has stubbornly refused to even attempt opening a disc that's inside my Pioneer drive. I know most people won't care due to preferring ripping over playing straight from the disc, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

EDIT : I also had to make sure that libbluray-bdj was installed.