Can't play commercial blurays with Matrox M9128

[jgg]

Hi from Berlin,

Ummmm, please don't recommend that I get a new graphics adapter. That isn't the point to my question.

I have a brand-new Buffalo external bluray player (BRXL-PC6U2) that works fine. It came with CyberLink PowerDVD, and everything works fine on a couple of laptops and one of my Lenovo ThinkStation s20s, which has an nVidia Quadro FX 1800.

The problem is my main computer, a Lenovo ThinkStation s20 in which I have two Matrox graphic adapters: an M9128 and an M9120. The former runs an NEC PA272W and the latter an NEC 2490WUXi2 and an NEC 2190UXp. Both cards use the same driver - I have the latest one installed.

The essence of the problem is pretty simple: Matrox drivers don't have the codecs required to play bluray files. Matrox Germany corroborated this.

My hope is to be able to use MPCHC or VLC, but I'm wondering if this is even possible given the fundamental problem with the graphics card.

Any ideas?

Thanks very much.

[usually_quiet]

VLC's Blu-Ray decryption libraries are still a work in progress. You would need to run AnyDVD HD or DVDFab Passkey in the background to decrypt the movie if you intend to play the commercial Blu-Ray discs with most non-commercial/unlicensed software media players. Note that you usually won't have trouble finding and playing the mts file containing the main movie with such players (assuming you are running proper decryption software) but you won't have access to the menus.

Leawo Blu-ray Player (free) claims to play back commercial Blu-Ray discs with full menu support, but I don't know if it relies on on hardware for H.264 and MPEG-2 decoding

The Pro version of DVDFab Media Player (not free) claims to play back commercial Blu-Ray discs with full menu support. However, I don't know if it relies on hardware for H.264 and MPEG-2 decoding. It has a 30-day free trial.

[Kerry56]

DVDFab has been offering their media player for free for a couple of weeks. They recently extended that offer to Oct. 8th.

http://club.myce.com/f116/new-freebie-promotion-339745/index2.html#post2761372

That being said, I prefer the Leawo player over the DVDFab player. Neither are 100% sure to play Blu-ray menus.

[DB83]

I think what Matrox is saying is that the cards to not support HDCP.

PowerDVD conforms to the standard in this respect.

Got an idea that the DVDFab player circumvents that and since its free right now it is worth testing it.

[jgg]

Thanks very much to all for the info.

I've sent DVDFab a request for the free license. I'll let you know what happens.

[usually_quiet]

Neither Leawo Blu-Ray Player nor DVDFab Media Player should require an HDCP compliant connection. Their Blu-Ray decryption and menu access are reverse-engineered not licensed, unlike PowerDVD, WinDVD and ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre, which are licensed and thus require HDCP connections.

[jgg]

I downloaded the latest version of DVDFab Media Player 2 Pro (v2.505). It installed and sort of started. I was able to see the interface and (as far as I know) all the controls, but it crashed every time I tried to play my disk.

Following the directions, as the first step I clicked the main menu icon to set the region; that's when it crashed the first time.
--------------------------
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: FabPlayer.exe
Application Version: 2.5.0.5
Application Timestamp: 5608fe1c
Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.1.7601.18933
Fault Module Timestamp: 55a69e20
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 0002224f
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
Locale ID: 2057
Additional Information 1: e8ad
Additional Information 2: e8adce1c2b9e7be834b4063ac3c53863
Additional Information 3: e8ad
Additional Information 4: e8adce1c2b9e7be834b4063ac3c53863
-----------------------------
I have no idea what it means...

Just for the heck of it, I then put my disk into my drive.

I restarted the program, which opened as before, but I still wasn't able to get anywhere. It crashed a couple of times with the same error message.

I was - using one of the menu items - able to to navigate to the folder on the disk where the m2ts files are located, but when I clicked any of them, nothing happened: the program didn't crash ... nothing.

Basically, that's the end of the story.

No problem closing or uninstalling the program, but no matter what I click on the interface, it crashes or doesn't do anything.

I've joined the DVDFab forum and am waiting to get approval to post.

I'm planning to send this same message to them to see if they can help.

I've also contacted Matrox again; sorry to be repetitious, but they've confirmed that the card simply doesn't have the required codecs to play blurays. (Just FYI, their newer C420, which costs over 400 euros, apparently can handle the task, but I'm sure there are better - and cheaper - ways to watch a bluray on my computer .)

I appreciate your patience with me on this one. Thanks. It just seems so hard for me to believe that a good-quality, 200-euro graphics adapter can't play a commercial blu-ray.

Watch this space.

[DB83]

The problem is that the message you are getting from Matrox is kind of strange.

Video Cards do not contain codecs. Saying that, Matrox do have some cards that do hardware encoding so those chips inevitably will have codecs. But normal playback/viewing cards rely on the codecs of the player/pc to handle the display.

You can test that quite easily by trying to play a HD video either encoded in h264 or mpeg-2 to the Blu-ray spec straight from your HDD. That is why I previously suggested the issue was HDCP related rather than a codec.

Might I ask what you normally do with this PC with multiple monitors ? Is in an entertainment PC or more for 'industrial' use.

Can you play DVDs and/or games with it ?

[Kerry56]

Did you try the Leawo Player? It is also free to use, and the last time I tested it, the program was very much improved. It still fails to open some menus in Blu ray, but will at least start the main feature every time.

[jgg]

The problem is that the message you are getting from Matrox is kind of strange.

Video Cards do not contain codecs. Saying that, Matrox do have some cards that do hardware encoding so those chips inevitably will have codecs. But normal playback/viewing cards rely on the codecs of the player/pc to handle the display.

Thanks for your feedback. I'm an absolute zero when it comes to technical issues. I was just repeating the info I got from Matrox here in Germany. I've written to them and requested an explanation.

You can test that quite easily by trying to play a HD video either encoded in h264 or mpeg-2 to the Blu-ray spec straight from your HDD.

Unfortunately, I don't have any ripped bluray-quality files. Hmmm, is this OK? http://s1.demo-world.eu/hd_trailers.php?filename=distributor_20th_century_fox-DWEU.mkv

That is why I previously suggested the issue was HDCP related rather than a codec.

I guess you mean the BD is protected, and this is what the card can't deal with, rather than the actual film. I guess other people made the same assumption, which is why they recommended the DVDFAB player. As I've mentioned, it didn't work either, but I'm not sure why not. My next try will be with the Leawo Player.

Might I ask what you normally do with this PC with multiple monitors ? Is in an entertainment PC or more for 'industrial' use.

Can you play DVDs and/or games with it ?

"Normally" it's just a home computer that I use for checking email and other extremely boring stuff. The "media-related" things I do are mainly focused on my cats , e.g. http://edu-net.net/images/BoysSunday/# and http://edu-net.net/media/newbalc/

On the "industrial" side, I'm a translator and former English teacher, and the multi-monitor setup offers many advantages in both realms.

Playing DVDs is no problem, either with my built-in DVD drive or the new Buffalo external bluray player. The only issue is the commercial BDs I've bought - Avatar, Harry Potter, etc.

As for computer games, I've never tried to play one in my life (69 years).

Thanks for your ongoing help.

[DB83]

You may like to try the tool on this page.

http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/bd-support/diagnosis.do

Report back with the result.

[jgg]

You may like to try the tool on this page.

http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/bd-support/diagnosis.do

Report back with the result.

OK,I've uploaded both files (Basic and Advanced). Both reported that my equipment failed.

By the way, the Lewao player opened the the bluray (The Return of the King), but the quality was so bad (jerky) that it was impossible to watch the film. Maybe my CPU isn't strong enough (Xeon L5506, 12gb RAM)?

Thanks for your ongoing help.

[DB83]

The jerky video could be down to the usb bus if it can not fetch the data quick enough.

Someone with more knowledge can comment on the suitability of the Xeon for BD playback.

The last section of the report might be the most significant tho.

HDCP does not appear to be the issue if I read it correctly. (Assume your external drive was connected when you ran the test - the report does, however, say no drive found but it could simply be looking for an internal one)

[usually_quiet]

You may like to try the tool on this page.

http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/bd-support/diagnosis.do

Report back with the result.

OK,I've uploaded both files (Basic and Advanced). Both reported that my equipment failed.

By the way, the Lewao player opened the the bluray (The Return of the King), but the quality was so bad (jerky) that it was impossible to watch the film. Maybe my CPU isn't strong enough (Xeon L5506, 12gb RAM)?

Thanks for your ongoing help.

I read the reports. They indicated an HDCP compliant connection is available but confirm Matrox's reply stating that the GPUs do not have the ability to decode H.264, MPEG-2 or VC1.

The CPU has 4 cores but the base frequency is only 2.13 GH. Maybe the programs you tried do not have software decoders able to make use of multiple cores.

I can't tell you if DVDFab Passkey plus MPC-HC will work better than any of the Blu-Ray players that you have tried so far.

[DB83]

@u_q

So that I get a better understanding.......

I made a statement earlier to the effect that I thought GPUs relied on software codecs for playback. My GPU does support hardware decoding but, as I write, that is turned off in PowerDVD but BD playback is still possible.

I find it so strange that GPUs that support monitors higher than 1080p fail in this regard. But it might support my suspicion that these GPUs are not really intended for home PCs

[usually_quiet]

@u_q

So that I get a better understanding.......

I made a statement earlier to the effect that I thought GPUs relied on software codecs for playback. My GPU does support hardware decoding but, as I write, that is turned off in PowerDVD but BD playback is still possible.

I find it so strange that GPUs that support monitors higher than 1080p fail in this regard. But it might support my suspicion that these GPUs are not really intended for home PCs

I never tried PowerDVD for Blu-Ray playback without hardware decoding. Good to know that it works.

You are right about the video cards. I had a Matrox Millenium consumer video card in one of my old PCs, but Matrox discontinued that part of their business a while ago and now specialized in multi-monitor graphics cards for industrial and business use, like CAD, digital signage, and video walls.

Most home users don't have Xeon CPUs in their PC either.

[DB83]

^^ I've also had a couple of Matrox cards in my time. My very first Capture Card was a Matrox. That one captured mjpeg. Later I had one that used a 'daughter card'.

All went 'the way' simply because they had connections such as AGP which were discontinued on later MBs.

But they were really good cards.

[jgg]

Hi again,

Sorry I disappeared, but other things came up.

I've basically given up on using the machine with the Matrox card for my BluRays and have decided on a less- elegant-elegant-but-functional solution.

As I've mentioned, I have a second Lenovo S20, with an nVidia Quadro FX1800, that plays the disks just fine using the PowerDVD that came with the Buffalo drive. The "problem", is that it's not connected to my NEC PA272 monitor.

Both the card and the monitor have the connections I need, though, and I anticipate being able to fix things with a simple display-port to mini-display-port cable.

I've never used the nVidia card or software to run a multi-monitor setup, but the interface looks pretty straightforward. I'll let you know.

Again, thanks for all the helpful input so far.

[DB83]

Does that card and monitor have hdmi connections ?

[jgg]

Does that card and monitor have hdmi connections ?

The monitor, yes, the card, no. The Matrox card has 2x display port.

[DB83]

Ok. But surely we are now talking about the NVidia card to connect to the monitor as per your post #18

[jgg]

Ok. But surely we are now talking about the NVidia card to connect to the monitor as per your post #18

Whoops. Heh-heh.

The nVidia Quadro FX1800 has 2x display port and 1x dvi-i.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_fx_1800_us.html

Sorry.

[usually_quiet]

Ok. But surely we are now talking about the NVidia card to connect to the monitor as per your post #18

Whoops. Heh-heh.

The nVidia Quadro FX1800 has 2x display port and 1x dvi-i.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_fx_1800_us.html

Sorry.

DVI-I and Display Port are usually HDCP compliant in recent years. I use DVI-I to connect my main PC to my monitor and PowerDVD 12 Ultra has no complaints.

[Edit]VGA would be a problem.

[DB83]

My GPU also has dvi connectors.

But it came with both dvi >> VGA and dvi >> hdmi adapters. Which meant when I changed the monitor a while back I only had to change the adapter.

[jgg]

DVI-I and Display Port are usually HDCP compliant ... I use DVI-I to connect my main PC to my monitor and PowerDVD 12 Ultra has no complaints.

Maybe I've confused you.

(1) PowerDVD had no problem with anything. The main hiccup is that the Matrox M9128, which I have in one of my Lenovo ThinkStation S20s, can't play blurays - period. This computer is connected to my NEC PA272W - on which I want to watch the blurays.

(2) I have another Lenovo ThinkStation S20; it has an nVidia Quadro FX 1800 and plays blurays just fine. All I need to do is connect it to the NEC monitor. I have the cable plugged into the monitor, but I have a sore back and can't bend down to plug the other end into the nVidia card. One of my former students has promised to come over and help me.

Actually, I think the technical part of this discussion is now done.

Does anyone have any idea how to help a 69-year-old get rid of a sore back?

My thanks to everyone who's provided input.

[DB83]

I think we understood the issue.

You were writing about a display-port to mini-port cable. I was simply looking for an alternative.

My sympathies for the bad back. I know the feeling really well.

[jgg]

I think we understood the issue.

You were writing about a display-port to mini-port cable. I was simply looking for an alternative.

My sympathies for the bad back. I know the feeling really well.

Thank you very much.