Can't play Japanese DVD

[PDGNKG]

I'm new to this, so forgive my ignorance...

My wife has some DVD's that were made in Japan. I believe they were off the air recordings done on a Sony Recorder. They are -R, and have CPRM protection. I checked with DVD decrypter, and it says they are region 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. I can play them with Power DVD no problem. But we've tried every player we can find at the stores, and no go.

I finally bought a Sony BDR S570 because it was on sale, and was capable of playing the CPRM discs. It is also possible to hack it for region free from what I understand. We can't play the discs on that unit either. The files show up in the menu, and you can scan through the chapters, but they don't play. I will try to do the region hack on it, but based on these are probably region free discs, I don't think that will help.

I'm starting to think the discs are not finalized. The DVD decrypter software says disc status: Incomplete, so I assume that means not finalized?

If so, is there anything that can be done? I tried making a copy of the DVD and made sure it was finalized, but same problem. Maybe I can use some software to just convert them to a playable format?

[oldfart13]

Yes, sounds like the discs are not finalized. I guess you don't know anyone with a Sony recorder? They might allow you to finalize the discs. Barring that, if you can rip out the mpegs from the disc with DVD Decryptor, you can always just make another DVD or else convert the mpegs to avi with AutoGK. If the disc mpegs can't be got at try Isobuster. That can extract files from a not finalized DVD....

[DB83]

They may also be recorded in VR mode since they play in PowerDVD

VR mode disks will only play in the recorder that they were recorded. Take a look at the folder(s) on the disk in Windows Explorer and report back the file names. All is not lost.

[jagabo]

relCPRM can remove the CPRM encryption. You can then manipulate the video with the usual tools. Like Mpg2Cut2.

[PDGNKG]

On a typical disc, the file names are:
VR_MANGR.BUP
VR_MANGR.IFO
VR_MOVIE.VRO

I'm quite sure she said they are VR mode discs, and based on the file name, yes they are. So in the future, they can make discs in non-VR mode. As for the discs we already have, I guess I'll need to convert them to something playable. Shouldn't be too difficult, but I'd appreciate some advice on what's the best software to use.

Thanks to all for such quick responses!

[hech54]

If it has one title....DVDShrink might be able to do something with it.

[DB83]

Sometimes you can simply rename the .VRO file (yes, these are VR disks) to .mpg and re-author that file as a standard dvd.

But search the forums as there will be plenty of posts as to the softtware that can extract the movie(s) from this file - IIRC mpegstreamclip is one - for re-authoring.

[PDGNKG]

If it has one title....DVDShrink might be able to do something with it.

Not sure what you mean by "title". Most have exactly the same file names as above, but on the DVD player it will show a menu with multiple recordings like:
10/20 7:57pm(0H57M)
10/27 7:57pm(0H57M)
etc...

[jagabo]

I deal with encrypted VR mode DVD+RAM discs quite often. I use the tools listed in my previous post.

[DB83]

I deal with encrypted VR mode DVD+RAM discs quite often. I use the tools listed in my previous post.

Sure.

When I had my first dvd recorder, I accidently (what you get for not reading the manual properly) recorded quite a few disks in VR mode.

Every time I put the disk in the PC it said it had CPRM protection although I am convinced it did not and I had no trouble ripping the contents as described.

[[_chef_]]

I deal with encrypted VR mode DVD+RAM discs quite often. I use the tools listed in my previous post.

Where did you get such media from??

[PDGNKG]

So looks like Mpg2Cut2 isn't a burning software? If someone can give me a quick rundown on the steps I need to convert them it would be great. Again, sorry for asking simple questions, but I've got basically zero experience with DVD's, other than pushing the play button...

[DB83]

1. Copy .vro file to hard drive
2. rename to .mpg or use mpegstreamclip or similar to extract .mpg for the file
3. use DVD Flick to author simple dvd
4. burn author folders with imgburn

[oldfart13]

VRO is RAM. I rip these all the time (unencrypted) by having windows explorer see the VRO movie and copying it to the computer hdd. If it's CPRM then you may have to copy it with something that will remove the CPRM as stated by another poster. If it's multiple episodes on a disc you might run into problems with the direct copy method. Some DVD authoring tools like TMPGEnc DVD Author can also see the RAM discs programs so you should be able to make a DVD using that program...

[usually_quiet]

I deal with encrypted VR mode DVD+RAM discs quite often. I use the tools listed in my previous post.

Where did you get such media from??

He might have recordings from a Panasonic DVD recorder. I own a Panasonic DMR-ES10 purchased in 2005. According to the manual, to record programming marked CGMS-A "copy once", I must use DVD-RAM discs, and the recordings will be encrypted. Fortunately my cable service does not yet use "copy once" for any channels in my package.

[classfour]

usually_quiet said:


"He might have recordings from a Panasonic DVD recorder."

That would explain the lack of playback on standalones.

It looks like his PC drive can read -RAM media. If we see this again, it may be time to ask the OP for the media info.

[jagabo]

I deal with encrypted VR mode DVD+RAM discs quite often. I use the tools listed in my previous post.

Where did you get such media from??

Japan.

<edit>
Oh, I see, you were making a joke about the + typo. Yes, the are DVD-RAM.
</edit>

[usually_quiet]

usually_quiet said:


"He might have recordings from a Panasonic DVD recorder."

That would explain the lack of playback on standalones.

It looks like his PC drive can read -RAM media. If we see this again, it may be time to ask the OP for the media info.

The OP said they were -R discs.

For what it is worth, some Panasonic DVD players can play VR-mode recordings on DVD-RAM, though I don't believe all of them offer that feature. I'm not sure if protected recordings would play on all such machines in addition to normal DVD-RAM VR-mode discs. There are many standalone DVD players that won't play VR-mode recordings, regardless of the media used.

[jagabo]

As I understand it, and maybe this information is outdated, but only DVD-RW and DVD-RAM support CPRM. Maybe CPRM support was added to DVD-R later?

[usually_quiet]

As I understand it, and maybe this information is outdated, but only DVD-RW and DVD-RAM support CPRM.

That was my understanding as well. When I read that it was DVD-R media I wondered if the report stating CPRM is present on the discs was a software error.

[classfour]

It DID come from Japan, after all.

Maybe not to our perceived DVD standard?

The file type sounded like -RAM media to me....could be wrong.

[PDGNKG]

They may also be recorded in VR mode since they play in PowerDVD

VR mode disks will only play in the recorder that they were recorded. Take a look at the folder(s) on the disk in Windows Explorer and report back the file names. All is not lost.

But the specs on the Sony BDR570 say it will play VR with CPRM mode. And it is just a player, so that doesn't really make a lot of sense.

[jagabo]

How to decrypt and copy CPRM .VRO files:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/326725-How-to-decrypt-and-copy-CPRM-VRO-files?highlight=relcprm

[PDGNKG]

relcprm worked great. I then used imgburn to put it on a new DVD, and it played fine! But, I lost the chapter info, so not sure if that's normal or I did something wrong.

[DB83]

You did nothing wrong. The chapter information would be stored in the .ifo file but I do not think it can be recovered from a VR disk.

[jagabo]

The title information is lost too. Most players and editors will only access the first title in the VRO file. Mpg2Cut2 can access all of them.