Puzzled -- does kodi 16.1 support bluray playback or not?
#1
Hi everyone,

just in the process of replacing our HTPC's mythtv frontend with kodi -- in particular because it supports cec out of the box. Works great so far using the pvr-mythtv addon!

One feature, however, that has degraded since the switch is bluray playback. Mythtv was able to do at least some basic bluray playback (no menus, though), but when trying to play a bluray disk in kodi by choosing "play disk" from the main menu, all I get is some log messages like

Code:
14:47:42 T:140138906552512  NOTICE: DVDPlayer: Opening: /media/cdrom0/BDMV/index.bdmv
14:47:42 T:140138906552512 WARNING: CDVDMessageQueue(player)::Put MSGQ_NOT_INITIALIZED
14:47:42 T:140136713017088  NOTICE: Creating InputStream
14:47:42 T:140136713017088  NOTICE: Creating Demuxer
14:47:42 T:140136713017088   ERROR: Open - error probing input format, /media/cdrom0/BDMV/index.bdmv
14:47:42 T:140136713017088   ERROR: OpenDemuxStream - Error creating demuxer
14:47:42 T:140136713017088  NOTICE: CDVDPlayer::OnExit()
14:47:42 T:140138906552512   ERROR: Playlist Player: skipping unplayable item: 0, path [/media/cdrom0/BDMV/index.bdmv]
14:47:42 T:140138906552512  NOTICE: CDVDPlayer::CloseFile()
14:47:42 T:140138906552512  NOTICE: DVDPlayer: waiting for threads to exit
14:47:42 T:140138906552512  NOTICE: DVDPlayer: finished waiting
14:47:42 T:140138906552512  NOTICE: CDVDPlayer::CloseFile()
14:47:42 T:140138906552512  NOTICE: DVDPlayer: waiting for threads to exit
14:47:42 T:140138906552512  NOTICE: DVDPlayer: finished waiting

(Occasionally, also a message box would pop up, saying that at least one playlist item failed to play.)

The same test bluray disks play fine using, say, vlc.

My system is Debian Jessie, with kodi from jessie-backports.

I initially thought that maybe jessie-backport's kodi package was compiled without bluray support, hence I compiled kodi from scratch, explicitly specifying the --enable-bluray configure option, but still no luck. (Compilation succeeded only after installing libbluray 0.8 from testing, though, since kodi's original source requires at least 0.7, while Jessie gets shipped with 0.6)

So I wonder... does kodi actually support bluray playback by itself, or is bluray playback usually delegated to some external player?

If kodi does actually natively support bluray playback, I'd be grateful for any ideas on how to further debug the lack thereof on my system...

Cheers --

-- tcrass
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#2
These links may be of use

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=189402
http://lifehacker.com/5559007/the-hassle...collection
http://lifehacker.com/5621471/how-to-ena...ck-in-xbmc
https://www.reddit.com/r/kodi/comments/4...with_kodi/
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#3
Try my addon, Bluray iso utils. The bluray iso needs to be ripped with anydvd or other similar software.
Add-on : Bluray iso utils Rewrite of BR_iso_enhancements
Add-on : BR_iso_Enhancements Give theatrical & directors cut from the same bluray iso each their own library entry, use bluray iso's of tv shows as if they are already ripped.
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#4
Hi everyone,

thank you all for your replies! Before going into detail, however, I'd first like to say that I am well aware of the capabilities of tools like MakeMKV to provide both ripping an on-the-fly decryption capabilites, but this was just not the point of my initial posting. I was merely wondering if Kodi natively supports bluray playback (provided libraries like libbluray & friends are installed) or if an external player is required.

(Well, in particular two facts make me assume that kodi should actually be able to playback blurays:

1) In System => Settings => Video => Disks, there are some bluray related options
2) According to pmap, kodi does actually load libbluray)

(2016-06-19, 21:48)PatK Wrote: These links may be of use

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=189402
http://lifehacker.com/5559007/the-hassle...collection
http://lifehacker.com/5621471/how-to-ena...ck-in-xbmc
https://www.reddit.com/r/kodi/comments/4...with_kodi/

Thanks for these links, PatK -- they are, however, referencing rather old and perhaps somewhat outdated information, mainly targeted towards Windows. And in particular, they're mostly about ripping bluray disks prior to watching their content -- which is not what I'm after.

(2016-06-20, 04:11)Wimpie Wrote: Try my addon, Bluray iso utils. The bluray iso needs to be ripped with anydvd or other similar software.

Same as above, Wimpie -- I'd really like to be able to just insert a disk an watch it, rather than having to rip it beforehand.

So can anyone give a definite answer to the question if kodi natively supports bluray playback right from disk?

Cheers --

-- Torsten
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#5
Quote:Kodi natively supports bluray playback
Blu-ray or Blu-ray Disc (BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray The format was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association, a group representing makers of consumer electronics, computer hardware, and motion pictures. Sony unveiled the first Blu-ray disc and has copy-write, and unless you're a hardware manufacturer that has paid for the licence to the decoding keys and pay royalties for each and every copy (like a Blu-Ray player) you will not be able to use and decode the disk. Kodi does play HD files, and un-encrypted disks without DRM (the hardware/drive reads the data, and if it's playable under the terms I've mentioned), then it plays the video. The prior messages allude to users that choose to play HD files from their own disks using various methods that seem to work for them.

DRM, Copywrite, and Encryption are nothing new, so rather older messages may be outdated but still apply.

So: Yes Kodi can play a Blu-Ray that is not encrypted, has no DRM, and you have the appropriate hardware configuration to supply end to end HDCP protection. So the likely hood of that being available, is like roosters teeth.
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#6
(2016-06-20, 22:45)tcrass Wrote: ...I'd really like to be able to just insert a disk an watch it, rather than having to rip it beforehand.

So can anyone give a definite answer to the question if kodi natively supports bluray playback right from disk?

Cheers --

-- Torsten
KODI will not play Commercial Blu-disc movies as a stock install. Commercial blu-rays need a 3rd party decoder to decrypt the data in order for the internal KODI player to play it from the Blu disc, as PatK states.

MakeMVK dll files (the first of the 4 links above) allow for decryption and playback directly from the Blu disc through KODI. AnyDVDHD, installed and running in the system tray, does so as well, without needing to copy DLL files around.

MakeMKV (approx $50 USD) appears to be less costly than AnyDVD but you need to copy the DLL files every time they are updated (as new commercial Blu discs come out). AnyDVDHD lifetime license looks to be twice as much, but is simply install/update and use. Both are online purchases.

However, both those programs can be illegal to use, depending on the country where you live. If so, you could use PowerDVD (approx $70USD) to play the Bludisc on your HTPC, either directly or by setting it up as an external player that KODI calls (but you could still run into the HDCP hardware compliance issue with the Power DVD software, also mentioned by PatK).

None of those methods require you to rip the Blu-disc to a hard drive in order to play the movie from the optical drive.

-Wapitikev
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#7
Hi there,

first of all: thanks for your lectures! However, they addressed issues way down the pipeline -- as I said, I'm aware of bluray encryption, and I I've already purchased a MakeMKV license about one year ago.

All I wanted to know was if kodi generally supported bluray playback -- sorry if I hadn't made myself clear enough.

Well, the answer seems to be "yes". My initial problem with Debian's kodi package seems to be rooted in the fact that this package was compiled without the --enable-libbluray configure option. I now successfully re-compiled kodi from the Debian sources with that option enabled, and now kodi attempts to playback blurays. As expected, it fails miserably due to encryption -- but this is a different story.

To this end, I'd like to close this thread now.

Thanks again --

-- Torsten
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#8
Debian is not the best platform for kodi.
If I have helped you or increased your knowledge, click the 'thumbs up' button to give thanks :) (People with less than 20 posts won't see the "thumbs up" button.)
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#9
(2016-06-20, 04:11)Wimpie Wrote: Try my addon, Bluray iso utils. The bluray iso needs to be ripped with anydvd or other similar software.

This link is bringing up an error for me. Is it still valid?

[EDIT] Never mind, the link in your sig worked okay.

Okay so what's the tool of choice to rip BluRay to ISO? Preferably on a Mac.
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#10
@ozgadgetguy - try this - http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=280247 worked for me
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