Solved VLC wont play DVD's

[FatDroid]

Ive downloaded VLC to play DVDs on this old laptop running Arch KDE, but it wont play video at all. Ive gone through the setup after installing, making sure /dev/sr0 is selected and also tried with /dev/cdrom - but all I get is the timestamp at the bottom flashing up at 00:00 for a second, the scrub bar thing moving left to right and then it reverts back to as it is when opened.
Ive uninstalled & reinstalled multiple times, downloaded the addon/plugins for encrypted DVDs and the one for media with menus, but still I'm having no luck.

Ive tried multiple DVD's and even MPV player I think it was called, which is making me think it may be an issue with something else that is missing rather than VLC or MPV themselves but I'm really new to Arch, so I don't know if its user error or not, but any help would be appreciated.

I don't know what other information would be needed in this post sorry, but if it helps I'm installing through Konsole, not VLC's website or some other weird way of doing it.
Thanks

 

[KGIII]

I'm not an Arch user, but you usually need things like codecs and software to play DVDs on your computer. In some cases, these are included by default - like Mint I believe does so, but it's considered non-free and some distros won't have it installed by default.

This being Arch, I'm going to guess that this is the case for you. So, I did a quick Google search and came away with this link:

[SOLVED] Unable to read and play DVD's / Newbie Corner / Arch Linux Forums

bbs.archlinux.org

That may be of assistance. As the moderator over there suggests, read the links.

 

[FatDroid]

I've read all that twice now, but I followed it again anyway and it solved the problem.
It seems, rather stupidly, that when I have been installing the things it needed, such as 'libdvdcss' this was reinstalling them. 'libdvdnav' on the other hand, didn't reinstall at all. I think the problem was DVD nav wasnt installed but I thought it was.

Apologies, going over that guide again should have been the first thing I tried.

 

[KGIII]

Apologies, going over that guide again should have been the first thing I tried.

It's all good. Sometimes we need reminders. Sometimes we miss things. It happens to all of us.

Glad it's sorted.

 

[f33dm3bits]

Dvd's are still a thing? I haven't seen a dvd in years and none of my last few desktops or laptops have had dvd players in them!

 

[KGIII]

my last few desktops

My last desktops still had an optical drive. I do not recall using one in a while, as in quite a few years, but they certainly have an optical drive installed.

Actually, I think I may have spun up a disk long enough to check an article I was writing. Yeah, now that I think of it, it was something to do with turning an optical disk's content into an ISO. At least I think I wrote that article and tested it.

So, other than that I don't recall using one. I have a stack of spare thumb drives from Team Group that I consider disposable items. I use those for things like installing the OS.

 

[osprey]

Dvd's are still a thing? I haven't seen a dvd in years and none of my last few desktops or laptops have had dvd players in them!

For film buffs, dvds can still be a thing. Not every film is available online, for a price or for free, but are still about on dvd. There are a few small country cinemas in my country that run their films from dvds. As for data back-ups to dvd, the usb and external drives of one sort or another have supplanted that in my case.

 

[FatDroid]

Dvd's are still a thing? I haven't seen a dvd in years and none of my last few desktops or laptops have had dvd players in them!

This laptop is really old, its from way back in 2010 when a lot of them were still getting optical drives fitted. I dont watch movies a lot but on the odd occasion I do, its good to have that drive there to be able to throw a disc in and watch something that I'm not paying a subsciption fee to watch!

 

[darry1966]

Dr Who still comes out on DVD and Blueray - In fact season 20 just released so yes DVDs still exist,

 

[camtaf]

When I was playing DVDs, libdvdcss was needed, a lot of distros don't install it automatically because of its uncertain legal status, but it should be in your repos, for you to download & install it.

* Oops, my mistake, I see you sorted it in post #3 *

 

[FatDroid]

When I was playing DVDs, libdvdcss was needed, a lot of distros don't install it automatically because of its uncertain legal status, but it should be in your repos, for you to download & install it.

* Oops, my mistake, I see you sorted it in post #3 *

Yeah I got it all in the end, thanks for the reply anyway.

 

[FatDroid]

Dr Who still comes out on DVD and Blueray - In fact season 20 just released so yes DVDs still exist,

Thats interesting to know, I never gave it much thought whether DVDs were still made

 

[sphen]

Thats interesting to know, I never gave it much thought whether DVDs were still made

We just purchased a Blu-Ray disc of a live musical. We were surprised to find that the DVD version was very expensive, but the Blu-Ray version was a reasonable price. Our hypothesis is that it is in current production as a Blu-Ray and the DVD version is hard-to-find old stock of the original production run. Because the DVD is "out of stock", it is much more expensive for those who cannot watch the Blu-Ray format.

 

[The Duck]

We don't have problem finding movies
We get movies from thrift stores and pawn shops.
$1.00 a movie at the thrift stores.
$1.00 to $3.00 a movie at the pawn shop depends on what it is.
We have a local movie store that sells DVD and Blue Ray movies usually $2.00 to $5.00 or you can trade two movies for one movie.
Not first run movies but we don't have to have first run movies.
We like the old movies so it works for us.

 

[FatDroid]

We don't have problem finding movies
We get movies from thrift stores and pawn shops.
$1.00 a movie at the thrift stores.
$1.00 to $3.00 a movie at the pawn shop depends on what it is.
We have a local movie store that sells DVD and Blue Ray movies usually $2.00 to $5.00 or you can trade two movies for one movie.
Not first run movies but we don't have to have first run movies.
We like the old movies so it works for us.

Those shops that have a wall of films or a bargain bin, they're great for cheap DVDs or 2-for-1 deals

 

[The Duck]

Those shops that have a wall of films or a bargain bin, they're great for cheap DVDs or 2-for-1 deals

Yes they are great because I can find movies I never got to see.
The 2-for-1 deal keeps me from the clutter of having to many DVDs.