Direct Blu-ray playback with VLC stopped working after upgrading VLC to 3.0.5

[galbibob]

Hi,

I just would like to report that the direct blu-ray playback with VLC does not work any more after upgrading VLC to 3.0.5.
When I tried to play a blu-ray, VLC says

Blu-ray error
This Blu-ray Disc needs a library for AACS decoding, and your system does not have it.

It works with VLC 2.2.4. Also, handbrake still seems to work.

Thanks.


OS: Mac OS Mojave
Hardware: Mac Mini 2018 ( 3.2Ghz Intel Core i7, 8GB ram, Intel UHD Graphics 630 )

[Chetwood]

So... why not report this on the VLC forums where something can be done about it?

[galbibob]

I might be wrong but am guessing this is caused by changes in api of libaacs and libbdplus, which libmmbd emulates?

[Billycar11]

i dont like to be that guy and be like it works for me but i just tested with 3.0.6 and i had to replace the dlls in so may be that is the problem the update got rid of the dlls this is for windows but its probably something similar on a mac
1. Install VLC and MakeMKV
2. Go to the MakeMKV installation directory (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\MakeMKV) and copy libmmbd.dll to the VLC installation directory (usually C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC) twice
3. Rename one of these copies to libaacs.dll and the other to libbdplus.dll
4. Open MakeMKV and activate it.
5. You should be able to play BDs in VLC using the Media > Open Disc > Blu-Ray function.
if this is a 4k disk make sure to uncheck disk menus

[jkeener88]

I did all the steps, but what happens is I can see my blue light on my drive going constantly and I can hear the disc spinning/reading. I started at 3:10 pm today and as I am writing this post it is 3:17 pm and still doing the same thing and not playing the 4K UHD Venom movie. Also on VLC there is a yellow/orange bar (looks like the light from the Knight Rider Car) going from left to right, back and forth, over and over.

It is now 3:21 pm and still the same. I had to hit the Eject button on the drive for it to stop.

VLC 32-bit Vetinari 3.0.6 is the version. On Windows 10 64-bit (Version 1809) fwiw

I then tried the Blu-ray version of Venom and now getting...

Blu-ray error:
This Blu-ray Disc needs a library for AACS decoding, and your system does not have it.
Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL 'bluray:///E:/'. Check the log for details.

Any ideas??

[Billycar11]

I did all the steps, but what happens is I can see my blue light on my drive going constantly and I can hear the disc spinning/reading. I started at 3:10 pm today and as I am writing this post it is 3:17 pm and still doing the same thing and not playing the 4K UHD Venom movie. Also on VLC there is a yellow/orange bar (looks like the light from the Knight Rider Car) going from left to right, back and forth, over and over.

It is now 3:21 pm and still the same. I had to hit the Eject button on the drive for it to stop.

VLC 32-bit Vetinari 3.0.6 is the version. On Windows 10 64-bit (Version 1809) fwiw

I then tried the Blu-ray version of Venom and now getting...

Blu-ray error:
This Blu-ray Disc needs a library for AACS decoding, and your system does not have it.
Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL 'bluray:///E:/'. Check the log for details.

Any ideas??

did you put the 32bit libmmbd.dll since you have 32 bit vlc?
does your vlc directory look like this?

[jkeener88]

I did all the steps, but what happens is I can see my blue light on my drive going constantly and I can hear the disc spinning/reading. I started at 3:10 pm today and as I am writing this post it is 3:17 pm and still doing the same thing and not playing the 4K UHD Venom movie. Also on VLC there is a yellow/orange bar (looks like the light from the Knight Rider Car) going from left to right, back and forth, over and over.

It is now 3:21 pm and still the same. I had to hit the Eject button on the drive for it to stop.

VLC 32-bit Vetinari 3.0.6 is the version. On Windows 10 64-bit (Version 1809) fwiw

I then tried the Blu-ray version of Venom and now getting...

Blu-ray error:
This Blu-ray Disc needs a library for AACS decoding, and your system does not have it.
Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL 'bluray:///E:/'. Check the log for details.

Any ideas??

did you put the 32bit libmmbd.dll since you have 32 bit vlc?
does your vlc directory look like this?

Yep, looks exactly like that.

[Billycar11]

Yep, looks exactly like that.

idk maybe try 64 bit vlc i have that one and it works and also put the 64 bit dlls in the directory.

[jkeener88]

Did the VLC 64 bit v3.0.6, re-did the procedure, worked like a champ.

Only tested with Blu-ray, gonna try the UHD later today and report back. Thanks for the help and advice.

[jkeener88]

Did the VLC 64 bit v3.0.6, re-did the procedure, worked like a champ.

Only tested with Blu-ray, gonna try the UHD later today and report back. Thanks for the help and advice.

UHD 4K working too. Sweet!

[Billycar11]

UHD 4K working too. Sweet!

nice yeah its a pretty cool feature not many people know about. menus work too for regular blurays if you have java installed.

[MetalDave]

1. Install VLC and MakeMKV
2. Go to the MakeMKV installation directory (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\MakeMKV) and copy libmmbd.dll to the VLC installation directory (usually C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC) twice
3. Rename one of these copies to libaacs.dll and the other to libbdplus.dll
4. Open MakeMKV and activate it.
5. You should be able to play BDs in VLC using the Media > Open Disc > Blu-Ray function.
if this is a 4k disk make sure to uncheck disk menus

Okay, the Mac (and Linux) procedure are documented in the OS-specific Forums. You use a series of symbolic links to do this. The method you've documented with copying the *.dll a couple of times and renaming seems plausible for Windows. However, I didn't get direct Blu-Ray playback to work (VLC v3.0.6 64-bit and MakeMKV v1.14.3).

That said, I believe it does work with the appropriate method for Windows, but I'm confused why we don't have an OS-specific Forum for Windows and have this procedure as a sticky therein. It's entirely possible this is documented somewhere and I don't see it. (Please, someone, let me know if it is.)

I guess I've really got two questions: 1) Shouldn't we have a Window-specific Forum? and 2) What's the procedure to get VLC to work in Windows?

[MetalDave]

After reading my previous post, it seems clear that I was half-asleep when I wrote it. I figured it out, so please allow me to share my procedure.

I attempted to use the method written by @Billycar11 earlier in this thread to get VLC to play a Blu-ray disc. Unfortunately, this wasn't an automatic win. I think the disconnect is the 32-bit versus 64-bit libraries. Instead of copying "libmmbd.dll" from the MakeMKV directory, you nee to copy the "libmmbd64.dll" file (as detailed in the procedure below).

• Install VLC v3.0.6 (vlc-3.0.6-win64.exe) and MakeMKV v1.14.3 (Setup_MakeMKV_v1.4.3.exe).
• Activate MakeMKV with a temporary or purchased registration code.
• Copy the libmmbd64.dll file from the 'C:\Program Files (x86)\MakeMKV\' directory and made two duplicates in the 'C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC' directory.
• Move the 'libaacs.dll' and 'libbdplus.dll' files out of the 'C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC' directory. You can just create another subdirectory (e.g. "C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Archive") and drop them in there.
• Rename the two "libmmbd64.dll" duplicates to "libaacs.dll" and "libbdplus.dll" (respectively).
• Fire-up the VLC, load a Blu-ray, and enjoy!

MakeMKV v1.14.3 for Windows is both x86 and x64 compatible, so it has libraries for both architectures.

[Edworld]

I followed these steps with windows 7 and can't get it to work. Any ideas?

[marqtele]

After reading my previous post, it seems clear that I was half-asleep when I wrote it. I figured it out, so please allow me to share my procedure.

I attempted to use the method written by @Billycar11 earlier in this thread to get VLC to play a Blu-ray disc. Unfortunately, this wasn't an automatic win. I think the disconnect is the 32-bit versus 64-bit libraries. Instead of copying "libmmbd.dll" from the MakeMKV directory, you nee to copy the "libmmbd64.dll" file (as detailed in the procedure below).

• Install VLC v3.0.6 (vlc-3.0.6-win64.exe) and MakeMKV v1.14.3 (Setup_MakeMKV_v1.4.3.exe).
• Activate MakeMKV with a temporary or purchased registration code.
• Copy the libmmbd64.dll file from the 'C:\Program Files (x86)\MakeMKV\' directory and made two duplicates in the 'C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC' directory.
• Move the 'libaacs.dll' and 'libbdplus.dll' files out of the 'C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC' directory. You can just create another subdirectory (e.g. "C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Archive") and drop them in there.
• Rename the two "libmmbd64.dll" duplicates to "libaacs.dll" and "libbdplus.dll" (respectively).
• Fire-up the VLC, load a Blu-ray, and enjoy!

MakeMKV v1.14.3 for Windows is both x86 and x64 compatible, so it has libraries for both architectures.

Thank you! I've tried everything to get VLC to work with Blu-rays, and this FINALLY did the trick.