Which Linux + Blu-Ray combo?

Hey.

I am just about to throw out my HTPC!! That damn thing keeps doing things which annoys me....The latest was freezing in the middle of a film I watched with the kids...

Well thing is...

I got a spare HD of 500GB. So can´t I just throw on some sort of Linux? And can one play Blu-Ray movies in Linux? I use the optical drive, so no compressed files from HD. And do I need to buy Nividia videocard, to getter optimal performance in Linux? (ati drivers used to suck last time I played around)

The specs:

Asus M3N78-HTPC
AMD X2 240e (2.8 Ghz@45W)
2*2 GB PC-6400
Samsung F3 320 GB
Samsung 12x BR/DVD-R
Club 3D Ati 5450 passive cooled
Silverstone Grandia 05

This little thingy is not crunching.

Edit: I may wanna say that it´s currently running Windows Vista x64 and XMBC. But after the install of BR optical, I now use that included program Cyberlink PowerDVD, since XBMC cannot run BR discs...

Well. After turning this upside down all afternoon, I think I found the sinner....It´s Cyberlink PowerDVD software....DAMN! No I can´t play BR discs!


Anyone know a program that can do this?

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Originally Posted by Beerdrinker

Well. After turning this upside down all afternoon, I think I found the sinner....It´s Cyberlink PowerDVD software....DAMN! No I can´t play BR discs!


Anyone know a program that can do this?

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VideoLan Client a.k.a. VLC. It is platform independent, will play anything and works with any codec, and is Licensed under GPL so it is FREE. There is a catch but it has nothing to do with VLC but Linux. Since Linux is GPL, codecs for DVD and Blu-Ray are NOT included in the distros. You can add the codec libraries after install but in some contries that act is illegal. Check your legal statutes before adding any copyrighted libraries.

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Originally Posted by Fire$torm

VideoLan Client a.k.a. VLC. It is platform independent, will play anything and works with any codec, and is Licensed under GPL so it is FREE. There is a catch but it has nothing to do with VLC but Linux. Since Linux is GPL, codecs for DVD and Blu-Ray are NOT included in the distros. You can add the codec libraries after install but in some contries that act is illegal. Check your legal statutes before adding any copyrighted libraries.

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Is there some way to make VLC play BluRay under Windows Vista? I can understand that people are afraid of loosing money....But Hell.....I paid for my copy of Vista Home Premium, and I bougth the disc´s I am viewing....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Beerdrinker

Is there some way to make VLC play BluRay under Windows Vista? I can understand that people are afraid of loosing money....But Hell.....I paid for my copy of Vista Home Premium, and I bougth the disc´s I am viewing....

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Yeppers. VLC will play anything on any platform.

Does Denmark have any laws against adding copyrighted libraries in terms of Linux?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fire$torm

Yeppers. VLC will play anything on any platform.

Does Denmark have any laws against adding copyrighted libraries in terms of Linux?

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Probably. Will have to look into that.

Well, before entering the world of linux and BR restraints, I took another route...I registred at the CyberLink HP...

(my PowerDVD 9 is a OEM software bundle)

I figured that maybe there has been some updates to the software, that solves the problem.

I wanna explore every oppourtunity before format C: and move 300 musicalbums along with more than 4000 photos..:)

I will keep you posted.

PowerDVD "Should" work.

BTW: The deal with copyrighted codec libraries only applies to Linux as M$ has paid the powers that be for the libraries in Windows. This means that VLC can legally play all copyrighted media on any version of Windows. I will also look into other Multi Media players that can decode Blu-Ray.

Note: I have run VLC on Win2K, WinXP Home/Pro/Pro x64, Vista and Win7. Never had any serious issues with any of those.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fire$torm

PowerDVD "Should" work.

BTW: The deal with copyrighted codec libraries only applies to Linux as M$ has paid the powers that be for the libraries in Windows. This means that VLC can legally play all copyrighted media on any version of Windows. I will also look into other Multi Media players that can decode Blu-Ray.

Note: I have run VLC on Win2K, WinXP Home/Pro/Pro x64, Vista and Win7. Never had any serious issues with any of those.

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Well, I can´t play bluray with VLC on Windows Vista Home Premium x64. I just tried.

And Cyberlink PowerDVD froze my HTPC while installing lastest patch from Cyberlink themselves....I am getting FRUSTRATED!!

VLC play all my DVDs just fine. But it will not take the BR....How to fix this?

OK, It looks like I got ahead of myself. VLC can play the codec used for Blu-Ray Disc (BD) but it cannot as of yet get past the copy protection but they are working on it. Since I do not have a BD drive, I have gotten my DB movies in ISO format and mounted them to a virtual drive. So I was wrong about BD on Windows. M$ instead passed on the financial burden of BD playback to the end user. You have to Buy a BD enabled media player.

I think your issue with PowerDVD is a version issue. If your version is 7 or earlier it will not play DB's. There are two versions currently available from CyberLink, 10 and 11. Each version comes in three flavors - Ultra, Deluxe and Standard. Unfortunately only the Ultra version plays DB's. Version 10 is $59.00 US and version 11 is $99.00 US. One more thing. It seems that PowerDVD needs an HDCP enabled monitor before it will play BDs.

There is a commercial program called AnyDVD that will "Unlock" any copyrighted disc. It is legal in the US because of a law called "The Fair Use Act" which entitles the user to make backups or convert media to an alternate form (example - ISO). This law exempts the the authors of AnyDVD (Slysoft Corp.) from lawsuits and places the burden of law on the end user. Like PowerDVD, AnyDVD is expensive. They want 63.00 EUR for a one year license.

This should interest you. It is from Slysofts website.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Slysoft

Legal issues

Advertising, sale, and lending of AnyDVD is outlawed in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...

(but possession and use on personally owned media is not), as it removes copy prevention from DVDs. The Heise news portal
Heinz Heise
Heinz Heise is a German publishing house. It was created in Hanover in 1949 as an address and telephone directory publisher, then later expanded to include magazines and loose leaf collections. In 2001, the company was divided into separate enterprises, all of which came under the umbrella of their...

was sued by the record industry for linking to SlySoft's website in a news report. The publisher subsequently counter sued with claims of violation of their constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press and has as of April 2007 lost two appeal proceedings. The German Federal Constitutional Court
Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
The Federal Constitutional Court is a special court established by the Grundgesetz, the German basic law...

has decided not to rule on Heise's appeal for the time being because remedies in the ordinary courts had not been exhausted.
The legal status of AnyDVD in other countries is unclear.

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OK. As I read this, I only have a problem if I use opensource OS and player..Correct?

My version of PowerDVD is 9. I can´t tell which version though, as Cyberlink HP just says "OEM" under members section.

I find it kinda "f....king annoying" that when you purchase a rather exspensive BR optical drive, the embedded software aint worth shit. And even if you register at the vendors HP it still messes with the computer...

If I remove PowerDVD from my computer it will run without a hickup for hours and hours...But if I install it, I can´t even watch a movie...And there is no alternative for seeing by legally paid movies :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
How in the world can you be in business on the basis of that????

I am not going to spend 99$ for the PowerDVD 11 Ultra just to play my movies...I would rather just sell all the movies and be done with it. I am not going to support such madness! I migth even go all the way, and just install Linux anyway. DVD movies, photos and music should play rather nice on that - and I would have a good stabil system......

Maybe I just gave myself the answer :p

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Originally Posted by Beerdrinker

...

Maybe I just gave myself the answer :p

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This would be part of the reason I don't particularly watch many movies. I hate supporting that industry and all their crap. Of course, I do watch a few every now and then, but not often.

I would call up Cyberlink and give them a little idea that they need to help you get that thing working. If it came bundled with your Blueray drive, then they are obligated to make it work. HP is paying them $$$ to bundle their software. You are the end user and should get support from them.
It may even mean that they have to comp you on an upgrade to a newer version - whatever it takes, but don't let them get away with it. If the physical drive works, then it's not HP's fault...it is Cyberlink's. And they need to get that software running as advertised, because they were already paid for it.

This is why I steal everything. ;)

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Originally Posted by joker

This is why I steal everything. ;)

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Is that what you call "Forced Shareware"?