Asus DVD+/-RW player - CSS decryption problem

[maxiboy]

Not sure if this should be in the DVD hardware or software forum but:
I have just attempted to upgrade an aging office pc for home use. I installed and re-formatted a HDD and loaded XP Home from disc and then udated to SP2. It already had an Asus DRW 0402p/d DVD+/-RW installed. I installed various drivers for graphics card, sound, LAN etc., but have not attempted to do anything for the Asus because it played various audio and video formats without a problem. However, when I try to play purchased DVD content (Traffic & Spider-man) the software player states that my DVD player cannot handle CSS decryption. I've tried using Inter Actual DVD software player, WMP9 and Media Player Classic with the same results. I've checked the properties of the DVD+/-RW in Device Manager and it is set for Region 2 (I'm in the UK) with 4 attempts left to change it but there is nothing that relates to CSS decryption. Will a firmware update solve this? How did it lose its ability to decrypt CSS DVDs?

[Baldrick]

Tried play with VLC Media Player? Because both wmp9 and mpc probably uses same decoder and vlc has built decoders.

[maxiboy]

Thanks for quick response. I'll download VLC Player this evening and let you know the results.

But even if I'm successful with VLC, have you any idea why this DVD drive fails to play purchased movies? The drive is about 4 years old and, although it's been a long time since it was used for DVD playback, it did not have this problem before.

I've just been browsing this site: "http://www.edocpublish.com/dvd-copy-protection.htm" to learn more about CSS. It states that "All DVD-ROM drives have extra firmware to exchange authentication and decryption keys with the CSS module in the computer. "

Will a firmware update solve the problem?

[maxiboy]

Baldrick, VLC Player sorted out the problem. Even plays some avi files that MPC could not play. Thanks for the help.