DVD's stall when I try to play them

[hedgeborn]

Hi all,

Looking for some help with a problem.

Not sure what information is relevant but I'll attempt to keep it brief.

I like to watch DVD's from netflix etc on my laptop. I've tried VLC, Mplayer, Movie Player and Xine and all of them do the same thing more or less. The movie plays but it pauses or lags every 3-6 minutes or so, then resumes.

VLC seems to work the best, but it does it too and it's to the point where it is irritating to watch a movie on it. You watch 10 minutes, then a freeze, VLC says "buffer.." and runs from 0-100% in a little progress bar, the DVD drive spins up again furiously then the movie plays again. Over and over through the whole movie.

It does it in EVERY DVD I have tried.

I've tried everything from completely uninstalling the movie players, reinstalling them, tweaking every setting I can find per instructions I've found on other forums. I even went as far as going into my laptops BIOS to set the CD drive speed to HIGH hoping that would help.

Can't really tell if it has maybe it's doing any good or not. VLC seems to stutter a bit less now, but it still does it.

Is this just how it is watching a DVD on Ubuntu or what? I really do NOT want to resort to reinstalling Windows 7 (ugh) but this is unacceptable.

I'm open to any and all suggestions on how to get acceptable, reliable performance out of one of these DVD apps.

Thanks.

Not sure what info will be relevant but, the machine is a brand new Lenovo T510 thinkpad, Core i5 2.4 ghz, 4 gb RAM, Nvidia graphics. Running Ubuntu 10.04 32 bit.

[Rubberman]

Usually this is caused by not installing the proprietary nVidia drivers. The generic drivers available from the package manager don't handle the demands of full-screen full-motion video very well. I run 9.04 on a laptop with nVidia hardware, and with the proprietary drivers I can run HD video (720p) without problems. If you are trying to run 1080p or 1080i, then you may not get great results as the system has to work to reduce the resolution. However, since you said you are trying to run DVD's, which run 720x480, this should not be an issue.

[hedgeborn]

Hmm.. Interesting. Yes, I haven't even attempted 1080. Only regular DVD's. I'm getting slightly better results since I turned up the speed of the drive in BIOS, but still not good enough. This is a brand new computer that should be fairly fast so I'm fairly confident this is a software issue. I just need a way to resolve it and I'm out of ideas.

[Rubberman]

Have you gone to the nVidia web site and downloaded/installed the latest driver for your chip set? If not, then you REALLY need to do that.

[hedgeborn]

Have you gone to the nVidia web site and downloaded/installed the latest driver for your chip set? If not, then you REALLY need to do that.

I checked and my machine is running the latest, up-to-date Nvidia driver already.

Do you watch DVD's on your linux machine?

I'm just wondering if perhaps this isn't just normal. I don't hear a chorus of people telling me they all play DVD's on Ubuntu and they are flawless and never skip or lag. I'm wondering if I am chasing a ghost here and if this just isn't "as good" as VLC or Mplayer and Linux can do with a DVD

[Rubberman]

I do play dvds, and dvd images (mounted .iso files) that I have rip'd from a physical dvd (saves wear and tear on the media), as well as other video formats including HD - both on my laptop (Dell D630 w/ Ubuntu 9.04) and workstation (Intel mobo w/ CentOS 5.5 and nVidia 8800GT dual display video). Both have worked just great for me.

[Rubberman]

So as to your last question, "I'm just wondering if perhaps this isn't just normal." - that is entirely possible. Have you tried more than one DVD? If not, then perhaps there is a flaw in the media. If so, then perhaps there is an issue with the DVD player. The one way to be sure is to use dvdbackup and rip the dvd to a dvd directory structure, then try playing that directly to see if it works. Most video players (VLC, Kaffeine, et al) will allow you to play a directory with proper DVD sub-structures (AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS sub-directories) just like a regular DVD. It's just playing off of your hard drive instead of the slower DVD player.

[rokytnji]

Thanks.

Not sure what info will be relevant but, the machine is a brand new Lenovo T510 thinkpad, Core i5 2.4 ghz, 4 gb RAM, Nvidia graphics. Running Ubuntu 10.04 32 bit.

Do you watch DVD's on your linux machine?

Like rubberman. I also watch DVDs on my DVDROM and this will make you sick. On my IBM A22 P1000, 256MB ram, AntiX 8.5 dual boot with Puppy Dingo. Using Gxine player with the right codecs. No skip or Lag. My video quality is acceptable. Watch these DVDs at my ranch which gets no TV signal when I am there working on it. (in the boondocks)

Don't use Netflicks though. These are Dvd's recorded from our Satellite Tv at my other place. Home Made.

I have a good DVDROM though in that ancient IBM and the DVDs we record on are good quality DVDs recorded on a external DVD recorder hooked up to satellite box.

[jayd512]

I'm gonna chime in with Rubberman and Roky, here.
I have an Acer lappy that has fairly good specs. The best way for me to watch a movie is to just rip it to the HD and watch it from there.
No stuttering or lag, good resolution and sound.
This goes for both home made and store bought DVD's.

[Rubberman]

I'm gonna chime in with Rubberman and Roky, here.
I have an Acer lappy that has fairly good specs. The best way for me to watch a movie is to just rip it to the HD and watch it from there.
No stuttering or lag, good resolution and sound.
This goes for both home made and store bought DVD's.

Besides, that way you don't have to lug all that heavy plastic around when you travel! When I go on trips, I take my entertainment dvds as bit images on the hard drive (.iso files), mount them, and then play the movie just like on a real disc. The advantage? Better performance - not only the hard drive is faster than the DVD, but also the libdvdcss has removed all the CSS DRM cruft and the region codes, so your system has less to do when playing the video. Just FYI, the DRM that encumbers commercial DVDs does have a measurable impact on the system. Since the decryption process is done in software, if the disc is REALLY munged with that cruft, then it will stutter because it has to spend too much time decoding it. Also, Sony is the worst of the worst for that stuff, so if your DVD is a Sony production, just be glad it plays at all!