How to decrypt and copy CPRM .VRO files

[fuzzynormal]

Anyone got an idea how to decrypt Japanese DVD video recorder files using an iMac OSX? Lots of advice, but all the recommended apps seem to be Windows based.

Looking for a solution specifically for the Apple side of things...

[Growl]

Anyone got an idea how to decrypt Japanese DVD video recorder files using an iMac OSX? Lots of advice, but all the recommended apps seem to be Windows based.

Looking for a solution specifically for the Apple side of things...

I’m using a Mac and I have to use Windows XP in a virtual machine. It has to be windows XP as anything higher doesn’t work.

Anyways here are the steps I used. (Still valid and working in 2021!!)

Step 1 - Use windows XP (windows 7 doesnt work), parallels virtual machine is ok
Step 2 - Copy the relCPRM_00664 folder to the c:\ (drive)
Step 3 - Check the DVD is viewable in windows explorer, if not install Nero InCD (note, Nero InCD is needed otherwise an error will occur when trying to decrypt the vro file)
Step 4 - Launch relCPRM.exe
Step 5 - Although in Japanese click on the [BROWSE] button to the right of the first text field - this is the SOURCE location
Step 6 - Navigate to the *.VRO file. In this case /DVD_RTAV/VR_MOVIE.VRO
Step 7 - Although in Japanese click on the [BROWSE] button to the right of the second text field - this is the DESTINATION location
Step 8 - Leave all the setting as default - do not change!
I didn’t tick the settings in the picture a previous user posted and it worked (but maybe slower,
feels like it is doing nothing, but just wait).
Step 9 - Click the [START] Button
Step 10 - On completion of the decryption and copy you will be presented with a "Process completed" pop-up window
just click [OK] to continue.

Extra note. Regarding the DVD drive, I was using an external SuperDrive. I assigned it to Mac OS to insert and read the disk, then assigned it to the windows XP virtual machine to decrypt.

You will need an intel based Mac as the newer M1 chipsets can’t run intel based windows operating systems.

[Growl]

I am now using an m1 Mac with success. Basically the same steps as before but running windows 11 under parallels. I ran the program in win xp compatibility mode and as an admin.

Extra note, some DVD drives do not work/give errors. The Apple Superdrive is one that works. An external Buffalo Blurry/dvd reader did not.

[Seeker47]

Wow, time sure flies: a jump of 10 years in this thread, though it does not seem to have gotten tagged with the "Old Thread" warning. Maybe it's that I just never seemed to run afoul of the CPRM thing -- using the Pioneer recorders exclusively, ever since some very early forays with a Lite-On unit -- but I haven't encountered any VRO files that DVDVOB2MPG could not handle -- and I've run through a great many of them.

[usually_quiet]

...Maybe it's that I just never seemed to run afoul of the CPRM thing -- using the Pioneer recorders exclusively, ever since some very early forays with a Lite-On unit -- but I haven't encountered any VRO files that DVDVOB2MPG could not handle -- and I've run through a great many of them.

CPRM encryption is only triggered when a DVD recorder records a digital TV broadcast flagged "copy once" that is received via the DVD recorder's own TV tuner. The DVD recorder also has to use recording media that supports CPRM encryption (HDD, DVD-RAM, or compatible DVD-RW) to record anything. If the wrong type of media is being used for recording, recording ceases when the flag is detected.

Japanese TV broadcasts apparently use the "copy once" flag more frequently than US TV does. In the USA, terrestrial TV broadcasts are never supposed to be flagged as "copy once". US cable TV can and does flag some content as "copy once" but it is usually not used on clear QAM channels, which are the only digital cable channels that a DVD recorder can tune in the USA.