Also Can't Play Commercial Blu-Ray Discs

[survivor]

Hello there folks,

 

I recently bought a Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM laptop that came with a Optiarc BD-ROM BC-5500 H drive. The computer came with Corel's WinDVD player software. The CPU is an i3 2.13 Ghz, with 4 Gigs of RAM. The graphics unit is Intel Graphics Media accelerator HD, and has 1751MB of graphics RAM. The driver ver. is 8.15.10.2040 from Jan. 2010, and is the latest. I have DirectX 11 installed, and WMP 12. I just bought two Blu-Ray commercial discs so that I could experience the "wonderful world" of Blu-Ray. I have yet to actually view either of the discs however.

 

Yesterday, I installed Roxio Creator. I then went through all or most of the programs that come with it, and everything seemed to open and run no problem. No errors, nada.

 

Then came today.

 

I first tried to insert a disc, and when the Autoplay window popped up, I tried WinDVD. All that did was seem to start. The cursor went busy and the HD showed lots of activity, but nothing other than that happened. I uninstalled and reinstalled WinDVD after perusing Sony's and Corel's support sites, and after having a chat with a Sony "support" person. Still nothing.

 

I then tried CinePlayer, ver. 5.3 C03, Build 531B15A which after having read several warning/errors:

 

"CinePlayer can not play the protected content because the video card or driver does not support the required overlay technology. Would you like to continue playback?" I chose "yes." Then:

 

"Your graphics card does not have on board decoding to play high definition content and will require more processing cycles from your CPU. If you experience un-desirable breaks in playback, we suggest these steps to achieve the best HD experience:

•Shutdown all other software while playing HD content

•Update your graphic card driver to the latest version

•Check for a software update by clicking "Software Update" (which finds NO update)

•Upgrade your graphics card (!)<---mine

 

Would you like to continue playback?" I chose "Yes." Then:

 

"File format not supported. Please install appropriate decoders to play the file." I then click "OK", which just starts the error cycle over again.

 

I then perused these fora and found a few similar problems which led me to the needed purchase of the playback plugin, which one of the posters pointed out is a terrible marketing ploy. Nonetheless, I plunked down my $30, downloaded and installed the plugin and voilà... NOTHING! Same error cycle! I then completely uninstalled the WinDVD player, for now, and rebooted, performed a registry clean just in case something was left over, and still the SAME EXACT errors as before the plugin install. CinePlayer plays both regular commercial DVD's, and those that I made myself on my other older XP SP3 desktop using a Sony DVD-RW player/burner. I did turn off "Hardware Acceleration" in the Settings, Video tab, and I am sure the plugin installed okay. The splash screen does show the "BD" and the logos were added to the player front screen.

 

Now, I guess the next two steps would be to uninstall Roxio completely and reinstall WinDVD and see if WinDVD will then be able to play these discs, and if all else fails do a complete reformat and restore back to the factory defaults (which I really don't want to do!

 

I have never had so much trouble with what should be a simple thing: play a video disc in a video disc player. I bought the VAIO with the thought that it not only is a nice modern Win 7 machine, but also would allow it to double as a stand-alone Blu-Ray player if I ever indeed get a high def tv. It has HDMI and everything.

 

I purchased Roxio largely to archive my VHS collection to DVD, but have yet to be able to even try that, because the last 24 hours has been trying to figure out why I can't play the Blu-Ray discs. If I ever do, I would also like to try the myriad other programs (like Lightzone!) that come with Creator Pro.

 

Oh well, time to hear from the experts.

 

Awaiting your replies,

 

Scott

[sknis]

Is AVATAR one of the discs you are trying to play? That one has had several issues for a lot of people trying to play that on thier computer. Google for it. I don't know if there are any fixes.

 

What is the other blu-ray disc you are trying to play? If is is a recent movie, then it may have the same issue.

[survivor]

Hey there sknis,

 

Negative, not Avatar. One is the movie "Taking Woodstock" copyright 2009. It says on the back BD Live 2.0. My 'puter came with a BD Live icon which is nothing more than an ad for Sony, but doesn't mention any version numbers. The other is a Jeff Beck concert that is copyrighted 2008. Both have dts Master audio and Blu-Ray logos.

 

I think this computer is new enough where most Blu-Ray titles ought to work. Also the fact that I can't even get the WinDVD player to even run, with or without a disc in the drive tells me something more than versions may be going on here.

 

The other things I can do is try Sony "support" again, they have a chat feature that I have used twice so far. They are quick to respond, but as most tech support provided by corporations, seem only to be versed in basic fixes, and usually end up only suggesting s rollback to factory condition, which as I wrote above I may try through desperation only.

 

My biggest gripe abpout all this is the utter waste of time, just to watch a movie, which is one reason I haven't made the plunge into Blu-Ray before this.

[survivor]

You install the suite - the drivers are PART of that

 

Now whether or not you've messed up the registry by trying to install them on their own I honestly don't know - but they can't BE installed on their own

 

 

Dude,

 

I bought Creator 2010 Pro and the USB capture device. The capture device comes with it's

own drivers on it's own cd, with a separate instruction sheet with installation instructions for the device. One might assume that Roxio wouldn't be selling this separately, if it were included with Creator. This also assumes that one might be able to use the Roxio USB capture device with software other than Roxio's. I've installed dozens of USB devices over the years on many different computers, and have never had one break an unrelated piece of hardware before. This malfunction prevents either WinDVD or CinePlayer from ONLY playing Blu-Ray discs! I still was able to burn two cd's, and play other regular DVD's, (I didn't get around to trying to burn a DVD, yet).

 

This weekend I will be attempting to re-install everything over again, and perhaps I will be able to contact Roxio tech support to see what they say on the matter. In any case I now know that the player will play Blu-ray discs, and that only after installing the Roxio provided drivers for the USB device did this behavior occur.

[gi7omy]

I'll try to keep this simple:

 

I installed the suite

 

I don't have (and never had) a separate driver disc

 

I plugged in the device

 

It worked in Videowave

 

It operates as a CAPTURE device ( not as a player) and it needs the suite to operate.

[ogdens]

Dude,

 

I bought Creator 2010 Pro and the USB capture device. The capture device comes with it's

own drivers on it's own cd, with a separate instruction sheet with installation instructions for the device. One might assume that Roxio wouldn't be selling this separately, if it were included with Creator. This also assumes that one might be able to use the Roxio USB capture device with software other than Roxio's. I've installed dozens of USB devices over the years on many different computers, and have never had one break an unrelated piece of hardware before. This malfunction prevents either WinDVD or CinePlayer from ONLY playing Blu-Ray discs! I still was able to burn two cd's, and play other regular DVD's, (I didn't get around to trying to burn a DVD, yet).

 

This weekend I will be attempting to re-install everything over again, and perhaps I will be able to contact Roxio tech support to see what they say on the matter. In any case I now know that the player will play Blu-ray discs, and that only after installing the Roxio provided drivers for the USB device did this behavior occur.

 

Go here http://www.roxio.com...quirements.html and read the 2nd paragraph on compatibility.

[sknis]

I'm leaning to blame this on a hardware problem since two programs don't work. Have you checked Sony site for potential issues?

 

Have you checked Sony site for updated firmware? I think this is for your burner/player but double check and be careful.

 

1) Prepare your computer like this. I know it is new but there may still be something old on it.

2) After you shut off your anti-virus (don't just pause it) try the Repair option in Windows>Settings>Control Panel>Programs and Features. Try again. Note, it you have the disc handy, it is just as easy or easier to do the repair from the disc.

3) If that doesn't work, try using Revo Uninstaller in the MODERATE MODEto remove Creator. Reboot and then reinstall.

4) If that doesn't work and you are still sane, the program has one more options full Install/Uninstall.

[survivor]

Yet another update:

 

Success! After a couple of reboots I tried to run WinDVD player again, and now it IS working and playing my Blu-Ray discs! Now I will re-install Creator and the Blu-Ray plugin, and then try CinePlayer.

 

I'll keep y'all apprised.

[survivor]

sknis,

 

As far as firmware goes, Roxio's disc information states that the drive is at ver. 1.70. The link to Sony's site you provided doesn't apply to my laptop's model, and doing a search for, variously, "Optiarc BD-ROM BC-5500H" with and without the word "firmware", based on my model # reveals nothing, no results. Also, as stated in my original query, I "chatted" with a Sony support person, and as far as I can tell those folks have no clue about things as obscure as firmware, and if they do, aren't allowed to tell us, the general consumers. I may give it another try, though. Places like this forum are generally the only place one seems to be able to find actual answers to real questions that I have found over the last 20 plus years of using personal computers. (For example's sake only: My fist PC was an Amiga 500 in 1987, wish I still had it!)

 

As far as the rest of your suggestions go, when I get time, (which may be a couple of weeks, unfortunately) I may go further with all this uninstalling/reinstalling nonsense, and I will be sure to let you know. I also may see if I can talk to Best Buy (I know, I know!) where I bought the computer to see if they have a Blu-Ray disc handy that I can try in the store, on my and perhaps a demo computer to see if we can get any Blu-Ray discs to play. Again, the drive seems ok and can play other, regular DVD's. I also will try and burn a Blu-Ray data disc, either files or photos or something with Roxio to see if CinePlayer, or some other Roxio utility can read the ones that it actually creates.

 

I still find it hard to believe, based on the information I do have, that I wouldn't at least be able to play back some commercial Blu-Ray disc. Again, I knew I've been refraining from being an "early adopter" for some good reason.

 

So, for now, thanks for your quick responses, and much help, and I will be checking back here regularly, and will let all here know if and when I find a suitable solution.

 

Oh, and BTW, my OS is Win 7 Home Premium 64bit. I forgot that in my original post!

[grandpabruce]

Yet another update:

 

Success! After a couple of reboots I tried to run WinDVD player again, and now it IS working and playing my Blu-Ray discs! Now I will re-install Creator and the Blu-Ray plugin, and then try CinePlayer.

 

I'll keep y'all apprised.

 

If you have the BD plugin installed, for CinePlayer, and nothing happens when you click to play a BD disc, click on the Settings button, then click on Video, Hardware Acceleration, click the dot to the left of Off, click Apply, close Cineplayer, open it again, and try to play the BD disc again.

[gi7omy]

This isn't going to be much help but a google search for firmware for that drive found this

 

"The BC-5500H firmware is encrypted and so far nobody knows how to decrypt it "

[ogdens]

FYI

 

When anybody replies on here, you can set up to receive email notification's, just go to My Settings(top of this page) and follow directions in Notification Options.

[survivor]

This isn't going to be much help but a google search for firmware for that drive found this

 

"The BC-5500H firmware is encrypted and so far nobody knows how to decrypt it "

 

Wonderful!

 

Still working on this. I was able to so far successfully create a music cd. Next thing is to purchase a Blu-Ray blank and make some kind of disc, then see if the thing can be read. As time goes on I will be trying different Roxio modules, at least to do basic functions, just to make sure that both the drive and Roxio do their jobs properly.

 

Once again, thanks to those who responded, and will keep you all abreast.

[cdanteek]

Wonderful!

 

Still working on this. I was able to so far successfully create a music cd. Next thing is to purchase a Blu-Ray blank and make some kind of disc, then see if the thing can be read. As time goes on I will be trying different Roxio modules, at least to do basic functions, just to make sure that both the drive and Roxio do their jobs properly.

 

Once again, thanks to those who responded, and will keep you all abreast.

 

Your Optiarc BD-ROM BC-5500H is a Rom Drive, not capable of burning to anything, just playing disc's...

[REDWAGON]

Your Optiarc BD-ROM BC-5500H is a Rom Drive, not capable of burning to anything, just playing disc's...

 

Good point you are making cd. I have a couple of friends that bought new computers that have a BD drives and found out they can't burn discs either for that same reason. They have a ROM drive !! Many users that have the drives just don't realize there is a diffrerence. For those that just use it for reading or playing, no problems

 

Frank...

[survivor]

Your Optiarc BD-ROM BC-5500H is a Rom Drive, not capable of burning to anything, just playing disc's...

 

You are correct, this drive does not burn Blu-Ray, (which I found out today inquiring @ Best Buy where I bought the laptop), however it is a cd and regular DVD burner. It does look like this may be a hardware issue after all (the not reading Blu-Ray thing), and unfortunately looks like I may have to send this thing to a Sony repair place. (At least it's still under warranty!)

 

Not that big a deal not burning Blu-Ray, at this time anyway, I looked at the prices of blank Blu-Ray discs! I guess the ROM (READ only memory) should have tipped me off, eh?!

 

To be continued...

[cdanteek]

You are correct, this drive does not burn Blu-Ray, (which I found out today inquiring @ Best Buy where I bought the laptop), however it is a cd and regular DVD burner. It does look like this may be a hardware issue after all (the not reading Blu-Ray thing), and unfortunately looks like I may have to send this thing to a Sony repair place. (At least it's still under warranty!)

 

Not that big a deal not burning Blu-Ray, at this time anyway, I looked at the prices of blank Blu-Ray discs! I guess the ROM (READ only memory) should have tipped me off, eh?!

 

To be continued...

 

 

Product specifications of BC-5500

 

This product is also available with different specifications.

Read Maximum Speed:

 

BD SL: 4x (for Data)

BD DL: 4x (for Data)

DVD-ROM SL : 8x

DVD-ROM DL : 4x

DVD+R : 8x

DVD-R : 8x

DVD+R DL : 4x

DVD-R DL : 4x

DVD+RW : 4x

DVD-RW : 4x

DVD-RAM: 5x

CD-ROM : 24x

CD-R : 24x

CD-RW : 16x

<br style="font-weight: bold;"> Write Maximum Speed:

 

DVD+R : 8x

DVD+R DL : 4x

DVD+RW : 4x

DVD-R : 8x

DVD-R DL : 4x

DVD-RW : 4x

DVD-RAM: 5x

CD-R : 16x

CD-RW : 10x

<br style="font-weight: bold;"> Access time (typical):

 

BD 320 ms

DVD 200 ms

CD: 190 ms

Mechanism: Tray loading

Interface: P-ATA: BC-5500A

S-ATA: BC-5500S

Burst transfer rate: PIO mode 4

Ultra DMA 33

Cache Memory: 4.5 MByte

<br style="font-weight: bold;"> <br style="font-weight: bold;"> Media supported:

 

BD-ROM

BD-R

BD-R DL

BD-RE

BD-RE DL

DVD-ROM

DVD-R

DVD-R DL

DVD-RW

DVD+R

DVD+R DL

DVD+RW

DVD-RAM

CD-ROM

CD-R

CD-RW with 80mm and 120mm diameter

 

Modes supported:

 

BD-ROM, BD-AV (read), DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, CD-DA, CD-ROM (XA), CD Extra, Video CD, Photo CD, CD Text

<br style="font-weight: bold;"> Writing methods :

 

DAO, SAO, TAO with zero gap, variable or fixed packet, multisession

Compatibility:

 

MPC Level 3, MultiRead, PC2001

180 gram (without Bezel)

(0.40 lbs)

 

Special features:

Buffer under run error prevention

Default drive ID CSEL

 

• Free Blu-ray faceplate

Package Content

Brand New Original SONY BC-5500H Blu-Ray Combo BD-ROM DVD Writer SATA DVD Drive Multi Burner x 1

[survivor]

Well folks, here's a follow up to my Blu-Ray playback issues.

 

I restored the laptop back to factory condition, and lo and behold the WinDVD software by Corel that came with the computer started right up and both my Blu-Ray titles played, no problem. I installed some of my other software and retried WinDVD right after each install, and all worked flawlessly.

 

THEN I installed the Roxio video capture device and drivers, and retried WinDVD and it wouldn't start. I didn't even get around to installing Creator 2010 Pro at all. So, somehow the drivers for the USB capture device are the problem. It also won't UNinstall. From Control Panel-Programs and Features I click on the entry for the driver and click "Uninstall". A small window pops up with instructions to "Press ok to uninstall" which I do, but nothing happens, and the entry remains in "Programs and Features". It doesn't seem to mess up anything other than the ability to play Blu-Ray, but of course I haven't tried everything yet, and I haven't even been able to see if I can actually capture video in the first place.

 

ARGH!

 

All this trouble and I have yet to even attempt to do the thing I wanted to do that caused me to buy Creator and the USB capture device in the first place, capture VHS video and burn it to DVD's.

 

Any suggestions?

[gi7omy]

You CAN'T install the device drivers on their own - it just won't work.

 

They're part of the overall installation package and can't be installed separately

[survivor]

You CAN'T install the device drivers on their own - it just won't work.

 

They're part of the overall installation package and can't be installed separately

 

Before, I did install everything, and I still had the same problem as stated in my original messages both with WinDVD and Roxio's CinePlayer software. Until I installed the driver for the USB capture device, the Blu-Ray's played; after they didn't. Fairly simple troubleshooting there. Are you saying that I should install Creator first, and then the USB capture drivers? Nowhere in any instructions does it state that. The instructions that came with the capture device just state to plug in the device then put the driver disk in the drive and install the drivers. The instruction sheet never even mentions any other software whatsoever which leads me to believe that it should be able to be used with other software than Roxio's own.

 

The trouble with trying this is I have to restore back to factory again, which is somewhat time consuming. Guess I know how I'm going to spend some of my vacation next week.

 

Oh well, awaiting any other suggestions from those that may have experienced similar issues.

[gi7omy]

You install the suite - the drivers are PART of that

 

Now whether or not you've messed up the registry by trying to install them on their own I honestly don't know - but they can't BE installed on their own

[survivor]

Ok, hear this:

 

I now have Creator 2010 Pro completely installed, including the Blu-Ray playback plugin. Corel's WinDVD still works, and when a Blu-Ray disc is inserted in the player Windows 7 automatically changes the theme to basic and the discs play with no issues, nice and smooth playback. However Roxio's CinePlayer, with all the Blu-Ray logos visible still gives me the same series of error messages as I wrote above claiming that my hardware doesn't have the proper decoders to play back HiDef video! Even when I manually change the theme to basic.

 

Now I feel a bit chagrined that I shelled out $30 more dollars for something that doesn't seem to work. Oh well, I guess contact with Roxio is still in order. And I've yet to test the USB capture device to see if it works. But at least I can play my Blu-Ray discs with something.

 

Ogdens:

Go here http://www.roxio.com...quirements.html and read the 2nd paragraph on compatibility.

 

Yep, I checked that out, and Creator is the only software I have. I wasn't actually planning to use it with anything else, so no worries there, I was just making an observation, that, at the time, it logically seemed to me that considering the separate instructions, it may have been compatible with other video software. It did seem to me that the drivers were what was causing my playback issues, but now, at least, that issue seems fixed. At least I know it isn't a hardware issue.

 

Grandpabruce:

 

If you have the BD plugin installed, for CinePlayer, and nothing happens when you click to play a BD disc, click on the Settings button, then click on Video, Hardware Acceleration, click the dot to the left of Off, click Apply, close Cineplayer, open it again, and try to play the BD disc again.

 

Yep, just tried that, no change. Thanks for the tip.