What the %$#@ do I do? (Windows/Gankutsuou DVD)

azulmagia · Post by **azulmagia** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:26 pm

Hey guys, I've got a problem here. My father just bought for me Gankutsuou Volume One, but I can't watch the goddamn thing. Because of some "digital protection" bullshit, the bloody computer says that Windows can't read the DVD or whatever. And no, I don't have a regular DVD player (although I have a friend who does). I don't want to rip the fucking thing, I just want to watch it!

So what the hell do I do, guys?

Kariudo · Post by **Kariudo** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:37 pm

did you perhaps change the region setting on your dvd drive to view/rip a region 2 (or other not region 1) disk and then forget to change it back?

Minion · Post by **Minion** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:37 pm

are you sure your computer is capable of playing dvds?

dokidoki · Post by **dokidoki** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:51 pm

Apparently Gankutsuou, like the Ghibli/Disney DVDs, is <a href="http://forums.animeondvd.com/showflat.p ... =all">copy protected</a>. What player software are you trying to play it with? If you have the HD space, ripping it to your HD and pointing your software player to the directory might work. (It's stupid, I know) DVDFab Decrypter should handle the newer protection.

Qyot27 · Post by **Qyot27** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:52 pm

Is it the software that's saying that, or Windows itself? If it's just the software, then VLC or mplayer should work fine.

azulmagia · Post by **azulmagia** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:57 pm

dokidoki wrote:Apparently Gankutsuou, like the Ghibli/Disney DVDs, is <a href="http://forums.animeondvd.com/showflat.p ... =all">copy protected</a>. What player software are you trying to play it with? If you have the HD space, ripping it to your HD and pointing your software player to the directory might work. (It's stupid, I know) DVDFab Decrypter should handle the newer protection.

Windows Media Player. I'll try using Power DVD, and I'll let you know what the results were.

Like I said, I don't want to rip it, I just want to watch it.

Minion wrote:are you sure your computer is capable of playing dvds?

Uh, yes.

dokidoki · Post by **dokidoki** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 10:20 pm

azulmagia wrote:Like I said, I don't want to rip it, I just want to watch it.

I know. But copy protection works by corrupting data, which confuses traditional copying mechanisms. But sometimes this corrupted data confuses playback mechanisms as well. (either unintentionally or intentionally, ie: crippling CD playback in computers) I once bought a game for the C64. The original disc wouldn't work. I copied it, and the copy worked. Stupid.

azulmagia · Post by **azulmagia** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:08 pm

Well, I used PowerDVD, and it does play it, but there is noticeable slowdown and freeze-up at the end of episode 2. This is probably a quirk of the computer's DVD drive, and probably doesn't have anything to do with the copy protection.

There are some DVDs it can't handle, like End of Evangelion, (it freezes/slows down around the part where Lilith comes off the cross) which my friend's DVD player handled perfectly fine.

What about a PS2? I don't have one yet, but I am saving up money to get one. Would the copy protection matter to the DVD drive of a PS2?

x_rex30 · Post by **x_rex30** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 4:57 am

I've heard that the series uses a new kind of copy protection and you can't even rip it with dvd decrypter. Later volumes of Gankutsuou by Geneon don't rip correctly. AnyDVD ripped them just fine though. I've also read that you can use RipIt4Me in conjunction with DVD Decrypter to rip discs that have newer protection mechanisms. So, that BS might have something to do with it not working. Maybe VLC Player will work. All my region 2 videos work with it, but all the other major popular free video players don't work. So maybe try VLC Player, maybe that'll get it to work.

Willen · Post by **Willen** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 9:25 am

Stand-alone DVD players should play these discs back with no problems unless the mechanism/firmware is computer based (many lower-end models with MPEG-4 (XviD) capabilities). The player's built-in error correction should compensate for the deliberately corrupted data. Same should go for computer playback software (PowerDVD, WinDVD, etc.) unless your drive is a bit more finicky about bad discs. Ironically, I've had better luck with bad discs with an older DVD-ROM drive than my fairly new DVD-RW drive.

A PS2 (and Xbox + Xbox360, possibly the PS3) should play these discs fine.

Your other option is to rip it to the hard drive (with DVDFab Decrypter, AnyDVD, or RipIt4Me) and then play it back. Assuming your drive can actually read the disc properly all the way through to rip it...

azulmagia · Post by **azulmagia** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 10:49 pm

Final update on this problem.

I tried it on my friend's DVD, but it didn't work at all. My friend bought it for like $50-$60 dollars or something, I figure the copy protection kicked in there. So we we to my friend's friend's place, and his DVD player, which is absolutely top of the line. I got through all of the first two episodes perfectly well. About two or three minutes into episode three, problems started developing. It appears episodes three and four (and the preview tracks) are fuxxored somehow. If you look at the disc under a strong light, you can see a discolouration of sorts around the rim. Now, all DVDs that the computer's DVD drive can't handle have a similar discolouration (including End of Evangelion, though on my friend's, it worked fine.) with the possible exception of this Italian DVD I once rented that was badly produced and conked out so I never found out who the dildo-wielding killer was. So the copy protection was ultimately a non-issue.