Here is an old history of what it took to play DVDs under Linux a long time ago. These days, most likely you can just download the VideoLANClient? ( http://videolan.org ) and play DVDs fine. The old history is here: GettingDVDWorkingUnderLinux.
A new problem has presented itself. How can I BackupMyDVDsUnderLinux? Click the link to find an archive copy of a web page I found about doing it.
I was recently trying to backup my DVDs and was getting bizarre CSS errors:
libdvdread: Error cracking CSS key for /VIDEO_TS/VTS_02_0.VOB (0x002f95f6)
libdvdread: Error cracking CSS key for /VIDEO_TS/VTS_02_1.VOB (0x002f977a)!!
I did a lot of searching to find the answer, but finally I found it! Some guy said this is caused by your region-limited drive not having a region set. So I installed a program called "regionset", and ran it:
:) regionset
regionset version 0.1 -- reads/sets region code on DVD drives
Current Region Code settings:
RPC Phase: II
type: NONE
vendor resets available: 4
user controlled changes resets available: 5
drive plays discs from region(s):, mask=0xFF
Apparently, the 0xFF means no region at all. So I set it to "region 1" being the United States (and most likely to be useful), then ran the program again, and it said:
:) regionset
regionset version 0.1 -- reads/sets region code on DVD drives
Current Region Code settings:
RPC Phase: II
type: SET
vendor resets available: 4
user controlled changes resets available: 4
drive plays discs from region(s): 1, mask=0xFE
So apparently 0xFE means region one. Because now when I backup my DVDs, it works. I don't know what will happen if I try one of the DVDs I bought in Malaysia, Taiwan, or Japan, though. Hopefully they'll work, too. I'll let you know if not.