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Hi. I've looked all over the web site, Wiki, and forum, but can't find a simple description of how to play DVDs with XBMC.
It's probable that there is some error in my setup (which is ubuntu 9.10 running xbmc 9.11-rc1), and that watching DVDs is so simple that no one has bothered to document it. However, I'm a reasonably knowledgeable linux user, and can watch DVDs fine with totem, xine, vlc, and mplayer on the same machine, so I know it's not a hardware, css, or device permission issue. If I knew how DVD playback was supposed to work, maybe I could figure out what the problem is.
Some things I have tried include clicking the play button on the main screen (which interestingly sometimes complains about no device if there is no disk in the drive, but never does anything when there is a disk), adding /dev/dvd to the video sources, adding /media/cdrom/ to the video sources (that's my DVD mountpoint), and selecting the play DVDs automatically option.
The only thing that does seem to work is hunting around in the VIDEO_TS directory and clicking on VIDEO_TS.IFO. At least that works so that I know XBMC is capable of playing back DVDs. But obviously this solution is not acceptable for a general-purpose media PC that I'd like to set up for other (non-technical users) to use.
This must be such a simple question that I can't believe I can't find the solution, but I've hunted through all the menus, looked through the various FAQs, searched google, but I can't find a simple description of how to play DVDs on XBMC.
If someone can describe this for me, or point me to some documentation that I'm missing, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks.
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It should do it by just inserting the disc in the drive though this has to be enabled in your settings. If you are having trouble with the play button on the main screen it might be an idea to enable debug logging and post the log on pastebin so others might be able to see what is (or isn't) happening.
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Well, I've now additionally tried installing XBMC live (9.11) to my hard disk, to be sure that the problem wasn't something weird having to do with my Ubuntu install. But sure enough, there is no option to play DVDs (even when the automatic DVD play option is selected).
I think it's a little weird that xbmc touts DVD playing as a feature, when there is no mention of how to do this in the documentation and the only way to do this is to mount the CD and dig around in the VIDEO_TS directory.
A friend of mine suggested one solution might be MythTV, which does indeed have a menu item for optical disks that just works for DVDs. However, MythTV has no mouse support, which is kind of annoying.
In the end, I'll probably just write my own scripts around vlc. I just wish I hadn't wasted so much time trying to figure out how to get xbmc to play DVDs, when clearly this support has not been added into the GUI yet. I think whoever maintains the main web site should tone down the claim "Use your media as-is: XBMC can play CDs and DVDs directly from the disk", as that's obviously going to disappoint people who think they can use XBMC as a DVD player.
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tslayer
Team-XBMC Developer
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How's that debug log coming along? We can't help unless you read the stickies and provide the information that we require.
42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.
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Playing a DVD depends on which skin you are using. Some skins put play on the main menu, others allow the DVD option to be switched on and off.
Since you are using Camelot, we can assume you are using the Confluence skin. To play a DVD in confluence you have two choices:
1) in Settings you can tell it to autoplay when a DVD is entered.
2) There is an arrow ICON in the bottom left hand corner of the main screen select this to play your DVD.
I would be interested to learn if you DVD works, as with my install that I have just completed I cannot get XBMC to play DVDs at the moment.
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tslayer
Team-XBMC Developer
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Try compiling trunk as the last user did in the trac ticket. Otherwise, try applying the patch in that ticket.
42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.
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tslayer
Team-XBMC Developer
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You would need to compile it yourself from scratch by checking out the source code.
So, you can't just apply it to what you have installed.
I will make sure to bring this issue up for when/if we release a bug fixed 9.11.
42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.
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What versions are you guys running and what is your install procedure. I only run /branches/camelot SVN or /trunk/svn.
I usually compile three or more times a week. DVD playback is always up and down only another reason why I have a mythbuntu so I can use mythvideo to play back a dvd when xbmc will not, but myth is sketchy at best.
Anyhow, I am at 26157 with the SVN version of XBMC and it will not playback DVD's currentlly, it will load the main DVD window and that's all if I choose a selection from the DVD menu like play the movie or try to change the language track it just hangs or freezes there I have waited up to 2 minutes at one point but no change. I can hit stop and reload the movie and sometimes if I reboot it will play, but in the last few updates that does not work either.
In the 26115 version of /branches/Camelot final svn everything seems to work fine playback is quick and with no freezing and i have tried this version with several dvd's that have given me problems with other versions and they play fine. So I have chose to stick with that version for the time being.
I keep two directory's on my system XBMC and XBMC1. I compile the latest trunk in the XBMC dir and the latest final version svn in the XBMC1 dir this allows me to test a couple versions on and off.
I use rapier modded skin and the play disc is under the power sysmbol at the top of the screen, took me a bit too find this. I do have play disk automagically turned on and that function works, you can also do an eject/load from the toolbar at the bottom and under the general selection.
Regards,
Dave