Blu-ray region issue

[carlsefni]

A recent Blu-Ray rip seems to have run into some kind of region-blocking, as all I get is a very small rip that, when converted or played, gives me a screen from the menu system that says the disc can only be played on a Region A player. (The same region-warning menu screen is displayed if I use VLC to open the disc on my computer; VLC's own menu system can see there is other content on the disc, but it won't let me play anything but the region-warning menu screen.)

Most of the Blu-Rays I have are Region A, and I haven't run into this issue before. The same Blu-ray plays normally on the multi-region player attached to my actual TV.

I understand that Blu-ray region coding is enforced at the software level in the menu system, so I assume that when I use MakeMKV to rip the disc (or VLC to open it), it must be triggering something that sends it to the region-coding in the menu system with the assumption that I don't have a player for Region A. Any thoughts on how this might be worked around?

For what it's worth, here is the information from MakeMKV or the LG drive I use with my computer:

Code: Select all

Drive Information
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BP60NB10
Revision: 1.02
Serial number: SIM04L93G4416
Firmware date: 2120-05-07 09:35
Bus encryption flags: 17
Highest AACS version: 82

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
Firmware type: Patched (microcode access re-enabled)
Firmware version: 1.02
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

[Sayaka]

A recent Blu-Ray rip seems to have run into some kind of region-blocking, as all I get is a very small rip that, when converted or played, gives me a screen from the menu system that says the disc can only be played on a Region A player.

The "very small rip" part would *almost* make me think that for whatever reason MakeMKV ripped the region warning video instead of the actual movie.

If I am mistaken and you are using a full folder/ISO rip, what happens when you use Kodi and try every possible region setting ?

Could you please tell me which Blu-ray disc it is, if you don't mind disclosing that information ?

(The same region-warning menu screen is displayed if I use VLC to open the disc on my computer; VLC's own menu system can see there is other content on the disc, but it won't let me play anything but the region-warning menu screen.)

Now that is mighty odd, which is I would like you to please try "the Kodi way" on both the actual disc and the rip (if it's indeed a full folder/ISO rip).

EDIT : I assume you have Java and can play Blu-ray menus, yes ? What happens if you use VLC and disable the menus ?

[carlsefni]

The "very small rip" part would *almost* make me think that for whatever reason MakeMKV ripped the region warning video instead of the actual movie.

Yes, that seems to be exactly what was happening.

Could you please tell me which Blu-ray disc it is, if you don't mind disclosing that information ?

Sure. It's (Akira Kurosawa's) Samurai 7, a 3-disc set released by FUNimation in 2004 (according to the information on the packaging). For simplicity, my original post referred to a single disc, though the same problem occurred with all three discs in the set.

I would like you to please try "the Kodi way" on both the actual disc and the rip (if it's indeed a full folder/ISO rip).

I would be happy to give this a try, though I'm unfamiliar with "the Kodi way"! Are there instructions somewhere on this forum or elsewhere?

Nevertheless, this is probably no longer necessary! Read on ....

EDIT : I assume you have Java and can play Blu-ray menus, yes? What happens if you use VLC and disable the menus ?

This suggestion turned out to be the clue that solved the problem!

When I dived into Preferences > Input/Codecs > Blu-ray, I discovered that in addition to the Blu-ray menus option being checked (as expected), the Region code (drop-down menu) had (for whatever reason) Region B selected. (I do have some Region B Blu-rays ... had I at some point set this? I don't ever recall having dived into this part of the Preferences before. Oh well! Anyway ....) I changed this setting to Region A, and the disc(s) then opened normally in VLC, with the menu system available as expected and the content playing as expected.

I'm hazy on the interaction between MakeMKV and VLC, but I decided to try ripping with MakeMKV once again ... and now MakeMKV rips/backs up the disc(s) correctly (and I can turn things into MP4s for my Apple TV with Handbrake).

So, problem solved, basically! Thanks!

[Sayaka]

"the Kodi way" was merely my way to refer to this :

what happens when you use Kodi and try every possible region setting ?

As for Kodi itself, please see here : https://kodi.tv/download/

The program itself should actually have *less* advanced options than VLC, even if Kodi's interface may seem less user-friendly to some.

So, problem solved, basically! Thanks!

You're welcome !

And if you need further help on how to make an ISO backup after making a full disc backup with MakeMKV, I would be happy to help.

[Rojma]

I ran into this same exact issue with the Blu-ray Leap! (2016) trying to play an ISO copy made by MakeMKV. The region message was coming from something being triggered in the menu while using VLC, not from the drive. I actually tried figuring out where in the Microsoft Virtual ISO drive settings you could set the region (hint - there is no such setting ). After digging around all of the settings in VLC I finally found Preferences > Input/Codecs > Blu-ray where I also had the Region set to B. Once I changed it to A, it started to work.

[carlsefni]

And if you need further help on how to make an ISO backup after making a full disc backup with MakeMKV, I would be happy to help.

Actually, being able to make an ISO backup sounds useful! Are there instructions for this?

[Sayaka]

This tool is generally used to make ISO files of movie Blu-Rays : https://www.imgburn.com/

It is fairly user-friendly. You basically just choose to turn a folder's contents into an ISO file. You also need to use UDF 2.50 but this software should detect that automatically.

Using ISO files can make things easier if you use Kodi, and on Linux, VLC can like them better as well provided you mount them.

Linux users can use something such as WINE or Lutris to make it work. Also on Linux, if you switch to the SPTI interface in Tools -> Settings -> I/O, you should even be able to burn Blu-ray backups with this software onto actual physical discs as well (Windows users shouldn't need to switch the interface, theoretically). Burning optical discs is not recommended anymore, I am merely providing this information for special cases.

EDIT : Also, if you do make an actual physical disc backup of a decrypted ISO, do not include the MakeMKV folder that's inside the backup.