DVD playback problem (a codec issue?)

  • Thread starter Thread starter VijayS
  • Start date Start date
V

VijayS

Hi guys,

My STB is almost ready for alpha release, but I can't get a DVD to play
in either Windows Media Player 9 or my DirectShow DVD player or any
sample DVD application I could find on the internet - even though I
have powerDVD installed and playback works fine in that.

Is PowerDVD not sharing the DVD codec?

How could I register the codec so other apps can use it?
Thanks guys,

-V
 
Go to Sysinternals and grab their filemon and regmon utilities. They track
all file and registry access attempts. Run 'em in the background while you
try to play a DVD. Check the logs for attempts to access registry keys that
don't exist or DLL's that aren't there.
 
Thanks William.

I did what you said and carefully searched the filemon and regmon logs
for failed file-opens and there are was one that stood out,
powerdvd.sim. My application was only searching for it in it's start-up
directory. I copied the powerdvd.sim file into my apps folder and my
dvd played.

However, if I try a mass-produced DVD (the movie Lantana or Fight Club)
, my application doesn't play. PowerDVD plays these DVDs fine. WMP 6.4
and 9 fail with this error message:

"WMP cannot play this DVD because a problem occured with digital
copyright protection."

The sample C++ DVD player Microsoft provides gives the following
error,

"Key exchange for DVD copy protection failed. Can't playback this
DVD-video disc.
Failed to read video attributes. hr=0x80040277"

I've used filemon and regmon, but I'm not seeing anything helpful.
Every file that fails to be found is always found straight after in
another location.
 
I don't think the error message necessarily indicates what's wrong,
because PowerDVD plays the Lantana DVD perfectly. My player, the sample
DX9 players and WMP show similar errors.

In Device Manager, the Region is set to 4 (which is correct). So it
should work on every player.

The fact that it works in PowerDVD and not in anything else makes me
think there is a registry setting or a file that is not being found as
earlier suggested, but I've found nothing suspicious.

I'm not sure where to look now. Is it okay to assume that PowerDVD is
not installing correctly?
 
VijayS,
I don't think the error message necessarily indicates what's wrong,
because PowerDVD plays the Lantana DVD perfectly. My player, the sample
DX9 players and WMP show similar errors.
Click to expand...

I don't think we can trust any 'XP Pro error' description under XPe :-)
Anyway, that still could be the right message.
In Device Manager, the Region is set to 4 (which is correct). So it
should work on every player.
Click to expand...

Not necesasrily. I don't know how PowerDVD works internally and can't guess whether it reas the region value from somewhere.
The fact that it works in PowerDVD and not in anything else makes me
think there is a registry setting or a file that is not being found as
Click to expand...

Very possible.
earlier suggested, but I've found nothing suspicious.
Click to expand...

What did you use? Did you try Filemon and Regmon tools?
I'm not sure where to look now. Is it okay to assume that PowerDVD is
not installing correctly?
Click to expand...

Depending how you installed the app, whether you got any errors, if you checked SetupApi.log for errors.

I recall that PowerDVD installs MPEG-2 decoders that Windows Media Player can use.
I think you can try Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...ac-0ab6-4990-943d-627e6ade9fcb&displaylang=en.
it should help you to determine if the MPEG-2 video decoder was install properly.

KM
 
Hi KM,

I used Filemon and Regmon and found nothing strange.

There is no PowerDVD install log :(

I used that Video Decoder Checkup Utility tool and it says CLVSD.ax was
installed correctly, but is not compatible for some features of WMP10.

I used GSpot Codec Information Appliance also and it says the MPEG-2
codec was installed correctly. GSpot allows me to do test renders on
video files and view video and audio rendering paths (through the right
filters).

After finding this out, I searched the logs for that file and all file
access were successful. All programs find this executable first time.

Now, a closer look at the two dvds ("Lantana" only works in PowerDVD,
and "Lockout" works in everything) shows that "Lockout" doesn't have
CSS protection, while Lantana does. So, does that strengthen what you
suggested earlier?

WHen I render vobs files from both discs I see the same video and audio
rendering paths (unsurprisingly). So,which DirectShow node is
responsible for de-css'ing the VOB file? The DVD Navigator? PowerDVD
has a file called NavFilter/CLNAVX.ax which is not used by any
application to play dvds except PowerDVD.

So the filter/node/code/dll/thing responsible for copy protection isn't
working correctly?

I am clueless as to what to try next.
 
Hi KM,

I used Filemon and Regmon and found nothing strange.

There is no PowerDVD install log :(

I used that Video Decoder Checkup Utility tool and it says CLVSD.ax was
installed correctly, but is not compatible for some features of WMP10.

I used GSpot Codec Information Appliance also and it says the MPEG-2
codec was installed correctly. GSpot allows me to do test renders on
video files and view video and audio rendering paths (through the right
filters).

After finding this out, I searched the logs for that file and all file
access were successful. All programs find this executable first time.

Now, a closer look at the two dvds ("Lantana" only works in PowerDVD,
and "Lockout" works in everything) shows that "Lockout" doesn't have
CSS protection, while Lantana does. So, does that strengthen what you
suggested earlier?

WHen I render vobs files from both discs I see the same video and audio
rendering paths (unsurprisingly). So,which DirectShow node is
responsible for de-css'ing the VOB file? The DVD Navigator? PowerDVD
has a file called NavFilter/CLNAVX.ax which is not used by any
application to play dvds except PowerDVD.

So the filter/node/code/dll/thing responsible for copy protection isn't
working correctly?

I am clueless as to what to try next.
 
I tried installing trial version of WinDVD, BlazeDVD but I'm getting
the same issues.
 
VijayS,

IIRC, WinDVD is very similar to PowerDVD and they installed the same MPEG-2 decoder. I may be wrong, though.

In case you want to know if this is a dependency issue, try XPeProEmulation image (SP1, SP2 version) from www.xpefiles.com
(Development Utilities).
This way you can get closer to the answer whether it is the Copy protection issue or not.

Or you can try out a DVD Region+CSS Free software for testing purposes. Something like this:
http://www.dvdidle.com/dvd-region-free.htm

You may want to post your DirectShow questions to more appropriate NG where you can get better reply quicker.

KM
 
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