VLC Blu-ray plugin - Watch encrypted Blu-rays directly in VLC 2.0+

[Baldrick]

Wonder how to get your VLC 2.0 to play encrypted blu-ray discs? Here's how.

You'll need two files: keys database and AACS dynamic library.

Keys database: get the file
Windows: put it in %APPDATA%/aacs/ . How to find where %appdata% dir is?
Mac OS: put it in ~/.config/aacs/
Linux: put it in ~/.config/aacs/


AACS dynamic library
Windows 32bit: put that file in your VLC directory
Mac OS: right-click on VLC, choose "Show package contents" and put that file in Contents/MacOS/lib directory
Linux 32bit: put that file in VLC folder (or in LD_LIBRARY_PATH, usually /usr/lib/)
Linux 64bit: put that file in VLC folder (or in LD_LIBRARY_PATH, usually /usr/lib64/)

Download from http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/ or http://vlc-aacs.whoknowsmy.name/


NOTE!
This is not any official VLC release.
VLC does not yet support blu-ray menus so you must manually select title to play.
Not all Blu-ray movies are supported.


(Or buy AnyDVD or DVDFab Passkey and they will decrypt in the background for you...)

[jagabo]

So HDCP isn't required either!

[netmask56]

So where exactly do you put keys database and AACS dynamic library. on a WIndows 7 setup? On mine somewhere in C:\Users\Netmask\AppData and then where? In appdata you have Local, LocalLow and Roaming folders? Do I create a folder and call it aacs?

[TreeTops]

From the first post: "put it in %APPDATA%/aacs/"

[jagabo]

Open an explorer window. In the address bar enter %APPDATA%. That will take you the appdata folder, usually C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming. Make an AACS folder there. Put the DLL file in it.

[netmask56]

Open an explorer window. In the address bar enter %APPDATA%. That will take you the appdata folder, usually C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming. Make an AACS folder there. Put the DLL file in it.

Thanks

[netmask56]

OK all done however when I try to play a Blu Ray disc I get this message Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL 'dvd:///D:\'. Check the log for details.

Set up a path for the log file in Documents but nothing saved..

[jman98]

I think Baldrick intended well, but it seems that this is maybe alpha or at best beta software NOT intended for general release yet. It might be best to wait for it to be released for real.

[netmask56]

Yep I concur - been reading a bit on the VLC site. Oh well in theory it should be good...

[Baldrick]

I haven't tested it but I'm gonna do it later today.

edit: It works fine here. WIndows 7 and VLC 2.0. But you must manually choose/guess the title to play....

[gll99]

In XP the 'appdata' setting is under documents and settings. To check it open a command prompt window (old style dos box)...click on start, click on run and then type cmd and press enter. Once the box opens just type the word set and press enter. This will give you a list of all the environment variables that your session has set. Near the top of the list you'll see one that looks like APPDATA=C:\documents and settings\YourUsername\Application Data. YourUsername will be your userid so it will be different. This is where you need to go to in explorer to add the aacs dir and put the keydb.cfg file in it. The dll goes in the same dir as vlc.exe.

I normally use Powerdvd that came with my drive for playback but purely out of curiosity I ran some quick tests This worked fine with older titles like Superman Returns, Total Recall and Space Cowboys but it can't play 2012. It looks like it's reading the disc and the time updates but no audio or video plays it just shows a canned vlc graphic. Another title Journey to the centre of the earth starts playing the extras but when I selected the main title the app crashed.

btw) I know it found the aacs dir because it added a new dir named vuk under it in which it created a file for each title that I tested.

[Ai Haibara]

On XP and higher (can't remember if it works on NT/2K or 9X/ME), you can open the Run box from the Start menu and type:

%appdata%

...to pop up an Explorer window with the Application Data folder. Plus, it'll remain in your Run box history, so if you want to use it again, you can just select it from the dropdown.

(Edit: ...and jagabo already mentioned this. But, from an already-open Explorer window, though.)

[benjuzzo]

Wonder how to get your VLC 2.0 to play encrypted blu-ray discs? Here's how.

You'll need two files: keys database and AACS dynamic library.

Keys database: get the file
Windows: put it in %APPDATA%/aacs/ . How to find where %appdata% dir is?
Mac OS: put it in ~/.config/aacs/
Linux: put it in ~/.config/aacs/


AACS dynamic library
Windows 32bit: put that file in your VLC directory
Mac OS: right-click on VLC, choose "Show package contents" and put that file in Contents/MacOS/lib directory
Linux 32bit: put that file in VLC folder (or in LD_LIBRARY_PATH, usually /usr/lib/)
Linux 64bit: put that file in VLC folder (or in LD_LIBRARY_PATH, usually /usr/lib64/)

Download from http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/ or http://vlc-aacs.whoknowsmy.name/


NOTE!
This is not any official VLC release.
VLC does not support blu-ray menus so you must manually select title to play.


(Or buy AnyDVD or DVDFab Passkey and they will decrypt in the background for you...)

I tried to follow this step on my mac osx 10.7.3 but it doesn't work with my official vlc 2.0 release, why? I insert this two file in exact directory but it doesn't work with my pearl harbor blu-ray disc (for example) where i wrong? maybe here? "~/.config/aacs/ " I write in my terminal window:
cd .confing
mkdir aacs
cp KEYDB.cfg .
(everything ok)

then insert my bd disc into my samsung bluray player , open but the same error.
any solutions, please?? thanks all

[Baldrick]

Did you copy the http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/files/libaacs.0.dylib to the Contents/MacOS/lib folder?

I have only tested it on one Blu-ray(Batman Begins) in Windows 7 and it worked.

[jman98]

IMPORTANT NOTE: The 2.0 release says "Menus are deactivated in this release". It is talking about the experimental BD support. It says they will be supported "soon".

[INFERNO2K]

I've followed all directions properly plenty of times but receive "Your system AACS decoding library does not work. Missing keys?". I'm guessing that this keys database is simply out of date for my new optical drive (ASUS BW-12B1LT).

Anyone know who manages or where one might find an updated version of this keys database?

[cgjamj]

Hello all. I'd really appreciate some help with this. I've copied the .dylib file to the MacOS/lib directory with no problem. However, I am not able to find the ~/.config/aacs/ directory. It doesn't seem to exist and I can't find any details about it. Not sure if I need to create it and if so, where? Also, I'm confused by the ~ so I need specific instructions on this. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[benjuzzo]

Did you copy the http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/files/libaacs.0.dylib to the Contents/MacOS/lib folder?

I have only tested it on one Blu-ray(Batman Begins) in Windows 7 and it worked.

Yes I did it! but it doesn't work on my mac! ayn solution? I don't understand exactly about this directory position: ~/.config/aacs/

[jman98]

Did you copy the http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/files/libaacs.0.dylib to the Contents/MacOS/lib folder?

I have only tested it on one Blu-ray(Batman Begins) in Windows 7 and it worked.

Yes I did it! but it doesn't work on my mac! ayn solution? I don't understand exactly about this directory position: ~/.config/aacs/

Yes, the documentation provided in the first post from VLC is a joke. It's not your fault.

My best guess based on my Unix/Linux experience (MacOS is essential a Unix variant) is that they mean for you to go to your home directory as a user and then go to .config/aacs under YOUR home directory. You might want to get familiar with Terminal under OS X as I think it would be simpler to do this on the command line - if you have some Unix/Linux experience. So if your user account is JoeBlow then you would go to something like /users/JoeBlow/.config/aacs.

[benjuzzo]

Did you copy the http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/files/libaacs.0.dylib to the Contents/MacOS/lib folder?

I have only tested it on one Blu-ray(Batman Begins) in Windows 7 and it worked.

Yes I did it! but it doesn't work on my mac! ayn solution? I don't understand exactly about this directory position: ~/.config/aacs/

Yes, the documentation provided in the first post from VLC is a joke. It's not your fault.

My best guess based on my Unix/Linux experience (MacOS is essential a Unix variant) is that they mean for you to go to your home directory as a user and then go to .config/aacs under YOUR home directory. You might want to get familiar with Terminal under OS X as I think it would be simpler to do this on the command line - if you have some Unix/Linux experience. So if your user account is JoeBlow then you would go to something like /users/JoeBlow/.config/aacs.

I did it in my home directory I copied KEYDB.cfg file but nothing work.....any help please? I did it with my terminal under MAC OS X

[wannapeekabluray]

Guys, ive been trying the VLC workarounds and searching around for other methods. Check out a download called DAPlayer.

First time with a non-us region bluray and played... no crashing or craziness so far, still watching it. But it is another free option for windows users.

You can simply google "DAPlayer" and it should be the first one that comes up.

[Nyk42]

Alright, I can't get this to work. I am still getting the message that I don't have an AACS Decoder installed. I put the keydb in %appdata%\aacs. And I now have libaacs.dll in d:\program files (x86)\VideoLan\VLC, d:\program files (x86)\VideoLan\VLC\plugins\aacs, and even c:\windows\syswow64 for kicks! Where does this library have to be?

[monsterapple]

Alright, I can't get this to work. I am still getting the message that I don't have an AACS Decoder installed. I put the keydb in %appdata%\aacs. And I now have libaacs.dll in d:\program files (x86)\VideoLan\VLC, d:\program files (x86)\VideoLan\VLC\plugins\aacs, and even c:\windows\syswow64 for kicks! Where does this library have to be?

Which version of VLC are you running. If you are running the 32bit version make sure to download the 32bit version DLL. Same goes for 64bit version. This was the problem I had at first. I'm using Windows 7 64bit and I mistakenly downloaded the 64bit version of the DLL. Once I got VLC to play the movie, only the opening trailer played. At this point you have to go to title under video when you right click on the screen. Choose the longest run time and that should be your movie.

[Nyk42]

I am running the 32 bit VLC 2.0.1 (I haven't tried the "experimental version"). But I can't even get it start playing anything. I can live without the BLuRay Menu, if I could just get it to play a title.

[monsterapple]

I am running the 32 bit VLC 2.0.1 (I haven't tried the "experimental version"). But I can't even get it start playing anything. I can live without the BLuRay Menu, if I could just get it to play a title.

And you are using the 32bit version of the dll? Make sure it is the 32bit version. It should be 428 KB. The dll should only be in Program Files (x86)\VideoLan\VLC.

[Nyk42]

oops! Looks like I made the same mistake. I did download the 64 bit libaacs.dll. I've got it fixed now. Thank you for pointing it out.

[monsterapple]

oops! Looks like I made the same mistake. I did download the 64 bit libaacs.dll. I've got it fixed now. Thank you for pointing it out.

You're welcome. I'm glad to have helped.

[BEABBAG]

Hello, I just downloaded all the plugins and have set up all my files in the correct directors in windows vista. VLC is crashing after about 11 seconds on every disk, has anyone else run into this issue with the BD plugin? I am also trying to install the plugins on linux but, I am new to the OS. I started using Ubuntu about 4 days ago, any help with explaining how to get to the correct directory for the aacs folder would be appreciated. The Linux tree is way different than the Windows tree so, I am new to the file system and really dont know my way around.

[BEABBAG]

Ok I have fixed the issue of the crash. It would be a good idea to update your instructions so that people know that you are suppose to check the box to not show menus. I had my disks working until the menus started to pop and then the crash. I was searching around on the VLC forums and found the fix. I still need help with the Linux side of things but, I have every thing working on windows. If anyone is still having issues after installing the aacs.dll and the Key database correctly, more than likely VLC isn't working because you are not checking dont show menus option.

I have also tried to use the VLC 64 bit variant with the 64 bit aacs, this is not working for me, has anyone else got the 64 bit version to work? If so, what have you done to get this operational? I am on Vista 64 bit and would really appreciate any help on how to get it working with the 64 bit software. I am also still looking for help on Ubuntu 64 bit because I do cannot locate the correct directory to install the files on linux. Thank you again for any help and I hope my information has helped anyone still having issues with the BD playback.

[BEABBAG]

For those who are still having issues here is the instructions to help you get your BD working...

1. Install VLC 2.0.1 current build
2. Install the KEYDB.cfg in the %APPDATA%aacs/ directory. In order to do this use the Windows Search option[this is for Vista and Win7, not
sure how to go about it in XP] and type in %APPDATA%. This will bring you to the roaming folder in the APPDATA directory. Once inside the directory,
create a new folder and name it aacs. Once the folder is created put, the KEYDB.cfg in the folder and close it.
3. Open your VLC directory, the directory where you installed VLC. For me that is D:/Program Files(x86)/VideoLAN/. Take the liabaacs.dll and place it
in the VideoLAN directory. You will see all the other library .dll files that VLC uses to play DVD's.
4. Once you are done open up VLC and chose Open Media and select the BluRay option. Then check the no discs menu before selecting your BluRay drive
from the drop down menu. Once you select the drop down menu, select play and VLC will now play your Blu-Ray DVD.