[SOLVED] Playing a dvd-video image.

stf92 · 03-07-2010, 12:30 AM

Hi:
Can a dvd-video image be played? And if so,
by what means? Thanks.

neonsignal · 03-07-2010, 01:58 AM

Yes it can; you would loop mount the image, and then play it using a video program such as vlc or mplayer. (This assumes that the image is not from a copy protected DVD.)

David the H. · 03-07-2010, 02:36 AM

Naw, you shouldn't need to mount the image with most players, since they generally read the data straight from the dvd device, without mounting, and you can consider an image to be a device.

How you play a disc image depends on which player you're using though. VLC can open an iso the same way as with any other file. mplayer and xine are a bit more tricky, and require launching with a different command-line syntax.

Code:

mplayer dvd://1/path/to/iso     #with the number being the title to start with.

xine dvd:/full/path/to/iso     #note that xine requires the full path, it won't accept relative paths.

Other players will have different requirements. Check their documentation.

One good trick though is, as I mentioned before, that the iso can usually be treated as if it were the dvd device. Try replacing the program's drive setting (e.g. /dev/dvd) with the path to the iso. Chances are it will work.

stf92 · 03-07-2010, 02:59 AM

Thanks David. I casually have just compiled mplayer. One thing it takes me hours to do every time I want to play a cd or dvd with mplayer is the command syntax. But I know it's powerful.
Regards.
P.S.: In fact, there is a second part in this post. I compiled VIDEO_TS tracks for a double layer dvd with a program who left to images (files):
as I see it, one for the first layer, the other for the second one. I now can't burn it, no matter why, and it is my intention to play nonetheless from the image. Have you worked with double layer or can apply the theory to it? Bothers me to bother you.

David the H. · 03-07-2010, 03:37 AM

One thing you can do to make it easier, if you plan to always use the same command, is to create a wrapper function or script for launching them. For example, try putting this function into your bashrc...

Code:

function mplayeriso() {

mplayer -mouse-movements dvdnav:///"$1"; 

}

And launch it with:

Code:

$ mplayeriso /path/to/image

This will open up the iso in mplayer with dvd navigation support, assuming yours is compiled with it enabled.

stf92 · 03-07-2010, 08:32 PM

About the function, I'll try it later. About mplayer invocation, what did actually worked was 'mplayer dvd://N -dvd-device /dev/hdc' for a dvd-video dvd in the drive. That is, it's impossible, by reading the list of syntax forms alone in the man page, to discover how to specify the video source unit (the drive that contains the dvd). But looking for options, I've found -dvd-device, which I never had before.

As to reading the two-fold image files, ... helpless. Mplayer starts OK, saying 'Playing ...' but then it stops without any message. So I'll consider this thread solved. Hasta la vista.