DVDFabPasskey issue

[DB83]

I would post this on their own forum. I have registered there but the registration shows no sign of being approved. (I can understand a first post to await moderation but to get moderator approval BEFORE you post ????). That seems to be the only way to get support for the product

The issue is for Passkey v9 (not quite the latest version but was certainly not fixed last time so I guess it would not be fixed now) playing a Blu Ray through PowerDVD.

Users will know that the disk has to be read and then cleared for playback via the online system. This usually takes just a few seconds. This particular disk is not read so quickly. After a few minutes I have to confirm the Zone Code (which is B) for it and a little later the program tells me that only the main feature will play (maybe not the exact words). So I have no access to the extra features which ever method I choose beit menu or direct selection of an item.

Now in the past I am sure that if I did not invoke Passkey (I previously had v8 but lost that in a HDD crash) I could play any Zone B Blu Ray. Now PowerDVD either tells me the content is corrupt or it just loops to tell that a element (I guess the aacs licence) has to be updated. Even when the program tells me that the update has been made the disk fails to play.

The issue does not happen with dvds and I have tested it using Passkey playing a Region 1 disk, closing the program, and then a Region 2 disk played immediately with no issue and no changing of Region Code.

I guess that Passkey has done something to the PowerDVD settings but I fail to see how it can be over-ridden without uninstalling it and maybe even to re-install PowerDVD neither of which I want to.

Anyone have any thoughts on this ? BTW PowerDVD is quite an old version yet I also installed a trial of the latest one and that also refuses to play the disk in the manner I described above.

[october262]

is the movie a new release movie ??
the disc may have copy protection that
isn't supported yet.

[DB83]

It is a fairly new release maybe about 6 months ago.

I guess I will try the latest update of Passkey just in case.

Even so the ideal situation would be to be able to play Zone B disks without the need for Passkey and only invoke it for Zone A ones.

[DB83]

Well I ran the update and the disk is now read quite quickly but.....

PowerDVD still only plays the main feature. However......

The xtras can be played directly in vlc so it is not an encryption issue.

Could the disk have an authoring issue ?

[DB83]

A little update.

Passkey was updated again today but the issue is still not solved. The speed gain I referred to was a false positive since I has turned off 'Blupath' whatever that is since I can find no manual or tutorials about this anywhere. And my forum registration is still not approved so I still can not post there.

But there is another oddity here. When the disk runs PowerDvd tells me that it does not support the use of a mouse to navigate it. Whether I ignore that message or run the PowerDVD utility I can still navigate the disk with a mouse. The extras menu comes up but whatever selection I make only the main feature runs.

At the end of the day I can live with it. One day I will probably invest in a stand-alone player just for the Zone B disks and use Passkey for the few Zone A ones I have although Passkey works fine for other Zone B disks with extras menu. This actual disk is a little older than I thought. I bought it some 5 months ago but only now got around to play it. It was actually released almost 12 months ago.

But, at the end of the day, the most frustrating thing is lack of software report without forum access.

[usually_quiet]

Maybe there is a bug in PowerDVD but an authoring problem, which you mentioned earlier, has not been ruled out.

[october262]

A little update.

Passkey was updated again today but the issue is still not solved. The speed gain I referred to was a false positive since I has turned off 'Blupath' whatever that is since I can find no manual or tutorials about this anywhere. And my forum registration is still not approved so I still can not post there.

But there is another oddity here. When the disk runs PowerDvd tells me that it does not support the use of a mouse to navigate it. Whether I ignore that message or run the PowerDVD utility I can still navigate the disk with a mouse. The extras menu comes up but whatever selection I make only the main feature runs.

At the end of the day I can live with it. One day I will probably invest in a stand-alone player just for the Zone B disks and use Passkey for the few Zone A ones I have although Passkey works fine for other Zone B disks with extras menu. This actual disk is a little older than I thought. I bought it some 5 months ago but only now got around to play it. It was actually released almost 12 months ago.

But, at the end of the day, the most frustrating thing is lack of software report without forum access.

for blupath see here - https://www.dvdfab.cn/blupath.htm
and see here for mouse support for bluray discs - https://www.cyberlink.com/support/product-faq-content.do?id=2606

[DB83]

Thank you for your continued assistance and the above links (The Cyberlink one was a model of brevity )

I am coming around to the simple fact ithat Cyberlink does not like this disk. Reviews of it on Amazon (btw it is Ingmar Bergman's 'The Magic Flute' if you are curious) mention the extras so the disk does play ok. Just tried it again and Blupath took over 5 mins to find the playlist (the disk does have many, many playlists which I suspect are fake so that could be the issue but then the main feature does play and surely the purpose of this is to deny the ripping of the main feature).

I also re-installed the trial of PowerDvd 18. The disk refuses to play but that could be simply that the trial itself is crippled. How can you test a program when many features are disabled and Cyberlink do state that it is restricted to some playback only.

[DB83]

Well I finally was able to post on their forum - only went back since I will soon be getting a disk I have been waiting for more years I care to admit to and do not really want a replay of this issue which is still not solved.

The post was under 'moderation'. And I have received a notification of a reply to the Q. but for whatever reason I can not access the reply and neither does the topic appear in the list although it is shown in the summary.

Anyone have access to this forum and see a topic under the DVDFAB Passkey sub-forum started by 'DavidJB' ?

[DB83]

Well I have now read the post but the topic is still unavailable to me so I can not reply.

[DB83]

But what the reply tells me is that if I disable PassKey then the player (PowerDVD) should ignore it and play the default Region.

So can anyone who uses the sw confirm this to be the case.

[usually_quiet]

But what the reply tells me is that if I disable PassKey then the player (PowerDVD) should ignore it and play the default Region.

So can anyone who uses the sw confirm this to be the case.

I don't have Passkey installed now but disabling it should produce the same effect. Without Passkey, PowerDVD checks the disc region and the drive region to verify that they match. If the region for both match or the disc is "All Region"/No Region", you should be fine. Otherwise, PowerDVD will want to reset the drive to a different region.

[DB83]

That makes sense except that PowerDVD refuses to play ANY disk and just says the content is 'corrupted'. Re-enable it and the disk plays.

That is the general, default, result. Apart from this one disk that only plays the main feature. The menu is there but whatever I select just plays the main feature.

[usually_quiet]

That makes sense except that PowerDVD refuses to play ANY disk and just says the content is 'corrupted'. Re-enable it and the disk plays. That is the general, default, result.

Is it possible that Passkey has a component which replaces one used by PowerDVD?

Apart from this one disk that only plays the main feature. The menu is there but whatever I select just plays the main feature.

I have a retail copy of PowerDVD 18 Ultra installed rather than a trial, plus I didn't install it on a system where an older version had previously been installed. I've not used a trial version of PowerDVD for several years. (My mother's laptop came with a trial for the standard PowerDVD pre-installed.) I don't know how badly the trial is crippled today.

[DB83]

This version is not a trial. It is actually v 12. (If it still works........)

Yes. It is my guess that PassKey has overwritten a component used by PowerDVD. Possible, of course, that with v9 it is different and might not be totally compatable with this ancient version of PowerDVD.

I now have made contact with the respondent in the DVDFAB forum and provided some more info there. If it just this one disk then I will live with it. The disk I am waiting for should arrive from Germany middle of next week and that, for me, is the critical issue.

[DB83]

Just a little clarification.

The 'corruption' issue only applies to Blu Rays. When Passkey is not running, PowerDVD plays dvds with no issue.

Now I am sure that when I started this topic the only avenue for support was their forum and I experienced some delay in getting in on there. But looking at the site again there does appear to be some software support so I have sent them notice of this issue.

Will keep you informed of progress.

[october262]

you might want to run BD Advisor and see if anything else needs to be updated
for powerDVD - https://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/76859.page;jsessionid=48D2875CE8B9893AB2105F574F10E654

[DB83]

But why ?

This system has played Blu Ray for years. I built it specifically with BD playback in mind. Yes, compared with today's specs it is quite slow but it works.

And Blu Ray still play when Passkey is enabled. So in my book it is not the system. It is not PowerDVD. It is just this, for want of a better word, annoyance that I can not play Blu Ray without Passkey which I could do perfectly well before the program was initially installed.

And if DVDFab have done this for the user to be dependent on their software............

[DB83]

For anyone who is interested....

I received my package from Germany.

Ran the disk via Passkey and it reported that it could not establish the 'newer' encryption. However it has played both the disks in the set, menus et al without issue.

So I am a happy bunny.

For anyone who is interested.......

From quite a young age I have had an interest in a German film from 1942/43 'Munchhausen'. I have owned super 8 (German issue), Betamax/VHS - several issues, tv recordings, DVD - several issues. All have different run-lengths. In fact from the later dvds I learnt that the longest, initial, version was 'lost'. Then a few days ago I discovered that an almost complete print had been discovered and put on Blu Ray in Germany. That Blu Ray also features two slightly different versions of the film trimmed a few months after the first showing in 1943.

So I am a happy bunny.