VLC not playing DVD and can't install libdvd-pkg in 20.10

Question

It comes up with message "Are you trying to play dvd without libdvdcss?" I have tried all the command line fixes listed including the one that says it's for Ubuntu 20 but all return variations on "not found". What am i missing? Screen grab was taken from response and cut/pasted directly into terminal

Does this answer your question? How can I play encrypted DVD movies? — Archisman Panigrahi, Dec 13 '20 at 10:17
Not really, as I said they will now play in Videos but VLC still refuses to play them. — Vic, Dec 13 '20 at 11:39
Does this answer your question? How do I enable the "multiverse" repository? — karel, Dec 17 '20 at 08:21
With the caveat above. Yes I have enabled “mutiverse” but NO the other half of the original question is unanswered ie VLC will not play the DVD. — Vic, Dec 18 '20 at 09:09
are you in Ubuntu proper (gnome) using Nautilus as file manager? It's odd it says nothing when you insert the DVD. — cipricus, Feb 23 '21 at 13:51
Did you run sudo apt update first then checked that you have all the packages necessary to play DVDs. Run dpkg -l|grep libdvd. You should have installed libdvd-pkg, libdvdcss-dev, libdvdcss2, libdvdnav4 and libdvdread7. — Paul Benson, Feb 24 '21 at 16:25

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Nov 25 '20 at 04:06

2

libdvd-pkg is in the multiverse repository; you need to enable that.

:~$apt policy libdvd-pkg
libdvd-pkg:
  Installed: 1.4.2-1-1
  Candidate: 1.4.2-1-1
  Version table:
 *** 1.4.2-1-1 500
        500 [redacted]/us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/multiverse amd64 Packages
        500 [redacted]/us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/multiverse i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

On my system (not 20.10) this can be done on the "Software and Updates" page.

After enabling multiverse, you will have to enter the following two commands one by one.

sudo apt install libdvd-pkg
sudo dpkg-reconfigure libdvd-pkg

edited Nov 25 '20 at 04:06

Archisman Panigrahi

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answered Nov 24 '20 at 13:40

Organic Marble

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Thank you that worked but it still won't play in VLC, although it does work in Videos now. – Vic Nov 24 '20 at 15:06
The OP has posted an answer that shows what the problem was really about: 1) no notification prompt/message upon insertion; 2) the OP was trying to play the DVD in VLC by opening individual files from the disk. – cipricus Feb 23 '21 at 15:27

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 23 '21 at 12:36

1

Have since found that you must "Open DVD" not an individual file on said DVD. VLC works if you do that doh!

answered Feb 23 '21 at 12:36

Vic

151

Don't you get a message when you insert the DVD? You might be interested by this, this, this. – cipricus Feb 23 '21 at 13:23
This answer clarifies your question. You should edit the question to make it clear that the problem was with you and VLC (hence your name I guess) – cipricus Feb 23 '21 at 13:27
1

No message when DVD inserted and name is ironic arising from metal detecting. – Vic Feb 23 '21 at 13:39
Sorry, my eyes are faulty, I read "vlc" :) I hope my answer will count as compensation for my lack of attention. (Please edit your question: you get good answers that have nothing to do with your problem, it is a waste of people's time). – cipricus Feb 23 '21 at 14:08
As you say, libdvd-pkg in ubuntu 20.10 or any other OS has nothing to do with it. – cipricus Feb 23 '21 at 14:16

cipricus · Answer 3 · 2021-02-23T17:33:52.303

Normally you should be asked what to do when inserting a DVD. If you are not, check the file manager settings.

Otherwise the command vlc dvd:// should run the DVD. You could associate that command with a shortcut, or create a launcher for it. If Gedit is your text editor (if you are in Ubuntu proper - Gnome), do this:

Create the folder ~/.local./share/applications (CTRL+h to see hidden files and folders)
Open terminal and run gedit ~/.local./share/applications/start_dvd_vlc (that should open the newly created file ~/.local./share/applications/start_dvd_vlc. If it doesn't then you have another text editor; you can replace gedit with that or install gedit with sudo apt install gedit).

Paste this:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Play DVD in VLC media player
Exec=vlc dvd://
Icon=vlc
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=AudioVideo;Player;Recorder;
Keywords=Player;Capture;DVD;Audio;Video;Server;Broadcast;

If you want a different icon for that, change the Icon line to the path to your icon. Take a look here. This might work: