Face Palm

[Raybo58]

I had been buying UHD 4k disks for some time in anticipation of eventually buying an internal drive capable of playing them. After researching specs for a good while, I picked the, apparently, "unfriendly" LG WH16NS60 thinking that it's being an "official" UHD drive was a good thing. I keep forgetting to check on user issues before I buy things. And, of course, the first thing I did was upgrade the firmware which, I later discovered, imposes even more hurdles and intentionally made the device un-downgradable.

I've spent about 30 hours now trying to simply watch any of my collection. I've read all about the KEYDB.cfg and libaacs.dll files and dozens of workarounds for playing or ripping them, but everything I try results in some error that some condition is not met. I'm still a little confused about what is required vs what is recommended.

Earlier in this thread, I read that in order to play a disk, a certificate for the disk you are inserting must be presented to the hardware and software involved and that those certificates are not publically available. But when I look at the file structure of these disks, they have directories named CERTIFICATE in them that contain a bunch of certificates. It just seems silly that a 4k UHD drive refuses to play 4k UHD disks.

I suppose I should list my build...

• Windows 10 x64 1607 (Build 16299.309)
  MSI X99A SLI Krait Edition (MS-7885)
  Intel Core i7-6800K Processor (4.2 Mhz OC)
  EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FOUNDERS EDITION Video Card with EVGA Hybrid addon.
  Corsair Dominator Platinum Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3333MHz (currently clocked at 2933mhz)
  Corsair H110i GT Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
  Samsung 950 PRO 512GB NVMe SSD
  4 x Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6Gbs Internal Hard Drive
  ENERMAX REVOLUTION87+ 1000W Power Supply
  Panasonic 55" Class TC-55CX400U Smart 4K UHD LED TV
  NAXA HDMI 1.4 compliant cables

I can't imagine that the GTX 1080 suffers from any shortcomings that would get in the way. It has HDMI 2.0b and HDCP 2.2. I'm using the TV exclusively as a monitor. The specs say it supports HDCP 2.2 and the status page in the Nvidia Control Panel tells me that the card and the TV are properly communicating in this standard. The card and the TV both have HDMI 2.0 ports. The cable specs say it can handle 4k AND high-speed internet.
http://lcdchart.com/panasonic/panasonic ... 5cx400u-76
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/bes ... 725-3.html

On the disk that came with the drive, there was a utility to check for UHD readiness. It says I'm failing on the following fronts...

• Intel SGX technology. [ Says this is a minimum requirement? So, does not having it prevent me from even ripping 4k and watching it from the HD?]
  It says that HDCP 2.2 is not available between the GPU and the display, but the Nvidia CP says it is.
  Also says that "Advanced Protective Audio/Video path (GPU)" is not available. I don't even know what that is.

I've put the KEYDB.cfg file in its own directory under AppData and when I try to rip one with MakeMKV it tells me "The volume key is unknown for this disc - video can't be decrypted". The one I'm using, "Blade Runner - The Final Cut", appears in the list of keys several times, but I don't know if any of them are specifically for the version I bought at Wal-Mart.

I tried to use my copy of DVDfab Passkey with it's Blu-Ray subscription. It has an experimental option to load a .txt version of the KEYDB.cfg file, but when I try to use it I get an error that says "Disc is inserted in drive that requires AACS 2 Authentication. Please use another drive that is UHD-friendly". It's an official UHD drive, so that's a bit confusing.

When I try to use the "Open Disc" item from the file menu of VLC, it tells me the disc is corrupted, but it says that about ANY UHD disc I put in it. If I try the same with MPC-HC or 5Kplayer, it just doesn't respond at all.

After putzing around a bit, I discovered I could get them to play if I used the "Open Directory" option and pointed them at the BDMV or BDMV->STREAM dirs, but the players report that the res I'm getting is only 1920x1080 (although everything looks a good deal crisper than most of my standard Blu-Rays) and that there's only one video stream available.

I looked around and DVDfab has some UHD copiers, rippers, and creators that support 4k (no players), but they specify that they only work on unprotected content. From my reading, people using AnyDVD and the other decoders aren't having much greater success, although, I read somewhere that DVDfab people are working on it.

So, I'm just trying to figure out how screwed I am and what the path of least resistance will be to get where I want to go. Can I get away with not replacing my MB and CPU by exchanging my drive for a "friendlier" one? Would I at least be able to rip discs with MakeMKV without SGX, or is it required to even recognize the content? What constitutes an "Advanced Protective Audio/Video path"? Is it a hardware, software, or a both condition? What other ways might be possible to verify the HDCP chain in my system? Are the chances good enough to make waiting for DVDfab or some clever individual to come up with a product or workaround for decoding? If I dump this "official" UHD drive, will I regret it later?

Thanks in advance for any wisdom.

EDIT: Well, the Cyberlink readiness tester now says I pass on the HDCP test. I'm not sure what changed, except I added HEVC support. Maybe it's because I'm using a HDMI to RCA adapter to use another TV as a second monitor, but the Nvidia CP has been telling me both monitors comply since I set them up. *shrug*

[preserve]

KEYDB.cfg method is old now.

Suggest to start with the FAQ from the UHD discs forum, and then feel free to post in this thread again with any further questions!

http://makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=16883

[st4evr]

Wow. You are a bit all over the place here attempting things that will NOT work or are completely unrelated.

I know what you are going through is frustrating, but the whole process is far simpler. Look before you leap.

1. Do as preserve pointed out and read that FAQ.

2. Yes, you need to meet the minimum requirements for official PC UHD playback with official drives (if you wish NOT to use ripping software) as set by the industry. No point in trying to jump over unecessary hoops in trying to bypass this cause you are not going to get anywhere. Period. That is why software like MakeMKV exists with UHD support now a days. Otherwise we wouldn’t need such software and we would all have official drives and playback support in all hardware configurations.

There are literally hundreds of dicussions that can be found on Google regarding these requirements and subject.

3. Buy friendly drives as Mike himself advised in his sticky post in this forum. Can’t be more crystal clear than that. The LGs with the correct firmware for playback/ripping are harder to get now, but the Asus are still out there. Better be quick about it.

4. When #3 above has been succesfully completed. Look into playback software like MPC-BE with MadVR and LAVfilters. Do your research! And you will get what you want.