rasikaw
21st September 2025, 00:54
BACKGROUND
I just wanted to let everyone know about this amazing free program that I came across, by accident. But I’ll start off with a bit of background. I have a Pioneer external Blu-ray drive, and it has worked without any issues whatsoever, until recently.
I need to be able to play DVDs and Blu-rays in the VLC video player on my computer, for backing up purposes. I don’t really do piracy. So all my uses of VLC and any available “cracks,” or more correctly workarounds, for playing DVDs and Blu-rays with it, are for legitimate purposes.
I had been using the KeyDB workaround, and was able to access most of my DVDs and Blu-rays using VLC, without any issues, see:
Fix: This Blu-Ray Disc Needs A Library For AACS Decoding And Your System Does Not Have It — Auslogics Blog: https://www.auslogics.com/en/articles/fix-this-blu-ray-disc-needs-a-library-for-aacs-decoding-and-your-system-does-not-have-it/
Fix: This Blu-ray Disc Needs a Library for AACS Decoding - Appuals.com: https://appuals.com/fix-this-blu-ray-disc-needs-a-library-for-aacs-decoding/
VLC Blu-Ray: https://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/
FindVUK Online Database: http://fvonline-db.bplaced.net/
Suddenly it stopped working, and I was getting this error on VLC:
Blu-ray error:
AACS Host certificate revoked.
Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL 'bluray:///D:/'. Check the log for details.
I updated the AACS DLL for VLC as well as the KeyDB files to latest (LastUpdate: 2025-08-09 06:14:41), and was still getting the above error. I then started doing research, and to my horror found out, that my Panasonic Blu-ray drive had been bricked, by the industry and the manufacturer!
What happened is, I came across an old copy of CyberLink PowerDVD 14 on one of the discs at home, and installed and played some Blu-rays using it. I believe this is the culprit, and playing Blu-rays on it, caused my Blu-ray drive’s licenses to become revoked! So I can no longer use the above “crack,” as I had earlier.
I saw similar comments elsewhere; don’t these people understand that in their haste to go after the pirates, they are also harming the honest consumers!? I buy my discs legitimately, and I want to be able to put it in my drive on my computer and just play it, without having to trawl the Internet for workarounds and “cracks”!
And to insult to injury, they are even updating your hardware on the fly without informing you, or your consent! Isn’t this illegal, i.e. damaging someone else’ property, just to protect your interests?
#background
XREVEAL
Which is what I started doing next, trawl the Internet, and came across the amazing program I mentioned at the start. It is called Xreveal and it is freeware, but there are advanced features you can unlock with payment:
Xreveal 2.8.3: https://www.videohelp.com/software/Xreveal
Xreveal: https://www.xreveal.com/
Xreveal is meant to be like AnyDVD, which I have never used. It is a Windows only program, and once installed, sits in your system tray as an icon. It uses the KeyDB information, and looks for the file automatically once running. So follow the above instructions for installing the KeyDB file on your system.
Basically you need to download and the uncompress one of the KeyDB files, e.g. ‘keydb_eng.zip’. Inside you should find a file called ‘keydb.cfg’. Copy and paste this file, into the folder path ‘C:\Users\<your-login-name>\AppData\Roaming\aacs’.
If unsure, go to the ‘Run’ or ‘Search’ function in Windows, type %appdata% and press ‘Enter’. A file explorer window should open, with the above same path, i.e. ‘C:\Users\<your-login-name>\AppData\Roaming\’. Create a new folder in there called ‘aacs’, and copy and paste the previously uncompressed ‘keydb.cfg’ file into it.
Right click on the Xreveal icon in the system tray, next to the Windows system clock, and select ‘Exit’, then run Xreveal again. Xreveal should automatically pickup the location of the ‘keydb.cfg’ file.
Now you can start testing with various Blu-rays, to see if it is able to crack the various encryptions on the discs, including AACS. It should show a Blu-ray region code, and I just close the window, because I don’t want the drive’s region to be changed. I am not exactly sure what this window does for now. I am guessing, it is to do with playing Blu-ray discs from other regions than your own.
Once the disc is read by Xreveal, if everything worked as expected, the Xreveal system tray icon will remain blue. Otherwise it will turn red, meaning there was an error. Right-click on the Xreveal system tray icon, and select either the disc, e.g. ‘D:<TITLE>’, or ‘Settings…’, and you will be able to view the disc status.
If the disc was successfully unencrypted, you should see ‘Retrieved keys from keydb.cfg’ and ‘Verified keys succeed.’ with a list of encryptions that it removed, along with very useful drive and disc information, such as Label, Capacity, Timestamp, Authoring, BEE, DiscID, DiscID, VID, MK and VUK. Otherwise you may get an error like, ‘The disc key is not found!’
Now the disc, which was previously unreadable in VLC, should work! Try opening it and see, by going to the VLC menu, ‘Media’ > ‘Open Disc...’ > select ‘DVD’ or ‘Blu-ray’, the correct device that has the disc, e.g. ‘D:\<TITLE>’, make sure ‘No disc menus’ is selected, then press ‘Play’! Xreveal also has ripping functions, which are not as comprehensive as in a program like Handbrake.
Since this program unencrypts the disc at a system level, the now unencrypted disc, should be also available to other programs. I tested Xreveal with Handbrake 1.6.1, under Windows 11. Without using Xreveal, Handbrake was not able to open the Blu-ray disk, but using Xreveal it was!
I have the AACS DLL for VLC, which refers to the same KeyDB file (LastUpdate: 2025-08-09 06:14:41). So my VLC is also configured for using KeyDB, see links above. I was able to open a Blu-ray disc with AACS 1.0 v47 (as per Xreveal information), just using VLC and KeyDB, without needing Xreveal, which was not running. But to play a Blu-ray disc with AACS 1.0 v19, a lower version of AACS, I was not able to use just VLC and KeyDB, and had to also have Xreveal running, for it to be playable on VLC.
What is the explanation for this? Is it because that disc, may have had additional encryptions?
#xreveal
PASSKEY
There is another similar, free Windows only program, called DVDFab Passkey, which I also tried:
DVDFab Passkey 9.4.7.6: https://www.videohelp.com/software/DVDFab-Passkey
DVDFab Passkey: https://www.dvdfab.cn/passkey-lite.htm
I could not see any information related to Passkey using the KeyDB file, as Xreveal does. Though there should be a similar internal mechanism in use, perhaps also uses information from KeyDB. So this should be easier to install and use for novices.
It seems to have a few extra features, as compared to Xreveal. When you start Passkey, you are forced to wait 15 seconds, in the Welcome to Passkey window. After this, select ‘Stay with Free Version.’
The program functions like Xreveal with a system tray icon, and drive and disc information can be obtained, by right-clicking on this icon, and selecting ‘Settings...’ It took significantly longer to open the same Blu-ray than Xreveal (9 minutes, compared to a few seconds).
But after the encryptions are removed, you can actually open the disc, with the menus and they work as per normal. You don’t need to select ‘No disc menus’ when opening discs, as required with Xreveal, see above.
If you get any disc read errors, select ‘Ignore all’. I got the same result as with Xreveal for Handbrake 1.6.1, see above. Using Passkey, I was able to determine that my Panasonic drive, was at revocation level MKBv76+. It shows this after unencrypting a disc.
#passkey
HARDWARE SOLUTION
For those with a knack for meddling with the hardware, I also came across this, which may help someone:
Un-Bricking A Blu Ray Drive: https://hacks.esar.org.uk/un-bricking-a-blu-ray-drive/
#hardware #solution
Please note that, whatever information I have provided above, is to be used in a legitimate and legal manner only. I do not condone piracy, in any of its forms.
I just wanted to let everyone know about this amazing free program that I came across, by accident. But I’ll start off with a bit of background. I have a Pioneer external Blu-ray drive, and it has worked without any issues whatsoever, until recently.
I need to be able to play DVDs and Blu-rays in the VLC video player on my computer, for backing up purposes. I don’t really do piracy. So all my uses of VLC and any available “cracks,” or more correctly workarounds, for playing DVDs and Blu-rays with it, are for legitimate purposes.
I had been using the KeyDB workaround, and was able to access most of my DVDs and Blu-rays using VLC, without any issues, see:
Fix: This Blu-Ray Disc Needs A Library For AACS Decoding And Your System Does Not Have It — Auslogics Blog: https://www.auslogics.com/en/articles/fix-this-blu-ray-disc-needs-a-library-for-aacs-decoding-and-your-system-does-not-have-it/
Fix: This Blu-ray Disc Needs a Library for AACS Decoding - Appuals.com: https://appuals.com/fix-this-blu-ray-disc-needs-a-library-for-aacs-decoding/
VLC Blu-Ray: https://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/
FindVUK Online Database: http://fvonline-db.bplaced.net/
Suddenly it stopped working, and I was getting this error on VLC:
Blu-ray error:
AACS Host certificate revoked.
Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL 'bluray:///D:/'. Check the log for details.
I updated the AACS DLL for VLC as well as the KeyDB files to latest (LastUpdate: 2025-08-09 06:14:41), and was still getting the above error. I then started doing research, and to my horror found out, that my Panasonic Blu-ray drive had been bricked, by the industry and the manufacturer!
What happened is, I came across an old copy of CyberLink PowerDVD 14 on one of the discs at home, and installed and played some Blu-rays using it. I believe this is the culprit, and playing Blu-rays on it, caused my Blu-ray drive’s licenses to become revoked! So I can no longer use the above “crack,” as I had earlier.
I saw similar comments elsewhere; don’t these people understand that in their haste to go after the pirates, they are also harming the honest consumers!? I buy my discs legitimately, and I want to be able to put it in my drive on my computer and just play it, without having to trawl the Internet for workarounds and “cracks”!
And to insult to injury, they are even updating your hardware on the fly without informing you, or your consent! Isn’t this illegal, i.e. damaging someone else’ property, just to protect your interests?
#background
XREVEAL
Which is what I started doing next, trawl the Internet, and came across the amazing program I mentioned at the start. It is called Xreveal and it is freeware, but there are advanced features you can unlock with payment:
Xreveal 2.8.3: https://www.videohelp.com/software/Xreveal
Xreveal: https://www.xreveal.com/
Xreveal is meant to be like AnyDVD, which I have never used. It is a Windows only program, and once installed, sits in your system tray as an icon. It uses the KeyDB information, and looks for the file automatically once running. So follow the above instructions for installing the KeyDB file on your system.
Basically you need to download and the uncompress one of the KeyDB files, e.g. ‘keydb_eng.zip’. Inside you should find a file called ‘keydb.cfg’. Copy and paste this file, into the folder path ‘C:\Users\<your-login-name>\AppData\Roaming\aacs’.
If unsure, go to the ‘Run’ or ‘Search’ function in Windows, type %appdata% and press ‘Enter’. A file explorer window should open, with the above same path, i.e. ‘C:\Users\<your-login-name>\AppData\Roaming\’. Create a new folder in there called ‘aacs’, and copy and paste the previously uncompressed ‘keydb.cfg’ file into it.
Right click on the Xreveal icon in the system tray, next to the Windows system clock, and select ‘Exit’, then run Xreveal again. Xreveal should automatically pickup the location of the ‘keydb.cfg’ file.
Now you can start testing with various Blu-rays, to see if it is able to crack the various encryptions on the discs, including AACS. It should show a Blu-ray region code, and I just close the window, because I don’t want the drive’s region to be changed. I am not exactly sure what this window does for now. I am guessing, it is to do with playing Blu-ray discs from other regions than your own.
Once the disc is read by Xreveal, if everything worked as expected, the Xreveal system tray icon will remain blue. Otherwise it will turn red, meaning there was an error. Right-click on the Xreveal system tray icon, and select either the disc, e.g. ‘D:<TITLE>’, or ‘Settings…’, and you will be able to view the disc status.
If the disc was successfully unencrypted, you should see ‘Retrieved keys from keydb.cfg’ and ‘Verified keys succeed.’ with a list of encryptions that it removed, along with very useful drive and disc information, such as Label, Capacity, Timestamp, Authoring, BEE, DiscID, DiscID, VID, MK and VUK. Otherwise you may get an error like, ‘The disc key is not found!’
Now the disc, which was previously unreadable in VLC, should work! Try opening it and see, by going to the VLC menu, ‘Media’ > ‘Open Disc...’ > select ‘DVD’ or ‘Blu-ray’, the correct device that has the disc, e.g. ‘D:\<TITLE>’, make sure ‘No disc menus’ is selected, then press ‘Play’! Xreveal also has ripping functions, which are not as comprehensive as in a program like Handbrake.
Since this program unencrypts the disc at a system level, the now unencrypted disc, should be also available to other programs. I tested Xreveal with Handbrake 1.6.1, under Windows 11. Without using Xreveal, Handbrake was not able to open the Blu-ray disk, but using Xreveal it was!
I have the AACS DLL for VLC, which refers to the same KeyDB file (LastUpdate: 2025-08-09 06:14:41). So my VLC is also configured for using KeyDB, see links above. I was able to open a Blu-ray disc with AACS 1.0 v47 (as per Xreveal information), just using VLC and KeyDB, without needing Xreveal, which was not running. But to play a Blu-ray disc with AACS 1.0 v19, a lower version of AACS, I was not able to use just VLC and KeyDB, and had to also have Xreveal running, for it to be playable on VLC.
What is the explanation for this? Is it because that disc, may have had additional encryptions?
#xreveal
PASSKEY
There is another similar, free Windows only program, called DVDFab Passkey, which I also tried:
DVDFab Passkey 9.4.7.6: https://www.videohelp.com/software/DVDFab-Passkey
DVDFab Passkey: https://www.dvdfab.cn/passkey-lite.htm
I could not see any information related to Passkey using the KeyDB file, as Xreveal does. Though there should be a similar internal mechanism in use, perhaps also uses information from KeyDB. So this should be easier to install and use for novices.
It seems to have a few extra features, as compared to Xreveal. When you start Passkey, you are forced to wait 15 seconds, in the Welcome to Passkey window. After this, select ‘Stay with Free Version.’
The program functions like Xreveal with a system tray icon, and drive and disc information can be obtained, by right-clicking on this icon, and selecting ‘Settings...’ It took significantly longer to open the same Blu-ray than Xreveal (9 minutes, compared to a few seconds).
But after the encryptions are removed, you can actually open the disc, with the menus and they work as per normal. You don’t need to select ‘No disc menus’ when opening discs, as required with Xreveal, see above.
If you get any disc read errors, select ‘Ignore all’. I got the same result as with Xreveal for Handbrake 1.6.1, see above. Using Passkey, I was able to determine that my Panasonic drive, was at revocation level MKBv76+. It shows this after unencrypting a disc.
#passkey
HARDWARE SOLUTION
For those with a knack for meddling with the hardware, I also came across this, which may help someone:
Un-Bricking A Blu Ray Drive: https://hacks.esar.org.uk/un-bricking-a-blu-ray-drive/
#hardware #solution
Please note that, whatever information I have provided above, is to be used in a legitimate and legal manner only. I do not condone piracy, in any of its forms.