HD-DVD (and Blu-Ray) decrypting tools

[awhitehead]

This is in no way authoritative, and probably misses a bunch of things. I attempted to summarize what a tool does, what OS it runs under, and if a source code for it is available. This list will be updated sporadically. Please tell me if I missed something, or if I am incorrect about anything. In green I've indicated the software which might be of most utility to someone who is just starting with backing up his HD-DVD collection.

Blu-Ray Specific

• BackupBluRay - the original utility to create backup copies of Blu-Ray disks by Muslix64 (Java, source code). Note: BackupBluRay uses older keydb.cfg format then DumpHD. Originally BackupBluRay was using a hash of AACS\CPSUnit00001.cci file on Blu-Ray disk, that proved to be not unique. DumpHD 0.3 and newer uses SHA1 of AACS\Unit_Key_RO.inf which is thought to be unique per each pressing of Blu-Ray disk. You might need to edit the keydb.cfg file with a text editor and calculate SHA1 hash of different files to convert between the two keydb.cfg formats.
• bdkeyfinder - ape's utility to obtain the BD VUK from WinDVD 8. (Windows EXE, source code)
• Blu-Ray Disc Ripper by SuperGoof is capable of ripping Blu-Ray discs, and has provisions for making rips region-free (Windows XP + .NET 2.0, partial source code)

HD-DVD Specific

• BackupHDDVD C# (Source code) - C sharp port of BackupHDDVD by Emon, with CLI and GUI. In addition to EVO files, decrypts ACA files. Option to toggle NAV bug fix on and off is pending. Might have a bit of problem with large files, please check your backups, if you deal with files over 4 gigs in size (Windows, C# source code, rebuildable on anything that supports C#/.Net)
• BackupHDDVD-GUI (This program have been removed from sf.net due to alledged DMCA violations, and there are no reliable locations where it can be found on internet. Consider searching for "BackupHDDVD-GUI" on google) - Tool to decrypt HD-DVD movies. Graphical front-end to BackupHDDVD, with added ACA decryption functionality. Is alledged to mangle certaing packets in order to fix a "nav bug". Consider commenting out the line EncryptedPart[0x516-128]=127; in aacs/decoder/EVOBPack.java and recompiling. (Windows/Java, Java loads Windows specific DLLs. Java Source code included)
• validateVUK - Tool to check if a particular VUK will indeed decrypt a particular HD-DVD or Blu-Ray disk, written by evdberg (Windows EXE, closed source)
• Zotty's ACA Decrypter - Decrypts .ACA files on HD-DVD disks. ACA files contain information necessary for menu reconstruction. (Windows EXE, Linux binary, C++ source code)
• extract_aca by APE - tool to extract elements out of .ACA files. (Windows EXE, source code)
• aacsauth (original Linux source code) - a program written for Linux by jx6bpm, and ported to Windows by arnezami, that uses PowerDVD's private key to do the key negotiation with the HD-DVD drive (Windows, Linux, source code in C)
• Microsoft HD-DVD Interactivity Jumpstart - a package of software, produced by Microsoft, useful for HD-DVD authoring. Includes ACA creator, HD-DVD simulator, and HD-DVD validator software, and can be used to validate that menus were decrypted and re-created correctly. (Windows .MSI installer, closed source, might require WGA validation in order to download).
• VUKkeyfinder - APE's tool that checks WinDVD 8 memory and attempts to locate Volume Unique Key in it (Windows EXE, C++ source code)
• BackupHDDVD v1.0 (v 0.99 for historical interest only) - Original BackupHDDVD utility, written by Muslix64. Has hardcoded "nav fix" which corrupts certain packets. At this point this is probably mostly for historical interest to folks writing their own decrypters. (Java, source code included)
• FengTao Software released a version of DVDFab HD Decrypter that is reported to work with HD-DVDs (Windows EXE, freeware, closed source)

Dual-Use

• AVGo Media Recorder (Second link) is a video recorder, that can record any video played by a software media player (Windows EXE, free as in beer)
• DumpHD - Tool to backup HD-DVDs. Includes ACAPacker and PackScanner, tool that can blank/revert secondary VC-1 video stream and first Secondary DD+ audio stream (IME/U-Control) (Java, closed source)
  Note: BackupBluRay uses older keydb.cfg format then DumpHD. Originally BackupBluRay was using a hash of AACS\CPSUnit00001.cci file on Blu-Ray disk, that proved to be not unique. DumpHD 0.3 and newer uses SHA1 of AACS\Unit_Key_RO.inf which is thought to be unique per each pressing of Blu-Ray disk. You might need to edit the keydb.cfg file with a text editor and calculate SHA1 hash of different files to convert between the two keydb.cfg formats.
• aacskeys (Windows + Linux source code, older Windows only source code, Linux for PS3 binary ) - Program by arnezami, that generates a complete list of all volume and chapter keys (and pretty much all other possible keys that you might require) for a particular HD-DVD or Blu-Ray disk. Uses PowerDVD 7.1 host certificate in order to communicate with the drive. (Windows EXE, source code in C with instructions for compilation under Windows and Linux).
• mkb.exe, (Mac OS version) - evdberg's tool to obtain VUK from a disk, if a Volume ID for the disk is known. Can sometimes be used in conjunction with dumpvid and validatevuk to obtain a functional VUK to decrypt an HD-DVD disk (Windows and MacOS X, closed source)
• Dumpvid - Tool to intercept the communication between the drive and a valid player software, and obtain the volume ID of the drive. Can read the first half of the volume ID from any HD-DVD disk without authentication. (Windows EXE, c++ source code). arnezami modified it for use with Blu-Ray drives
• PackScanner - Tool which scans EVOs for pack types and can blank the video and audio streams. Functionality have been integrated into DumpHD by the author (Java, closed source)
• EVOdemux (Changelog) - Pelican 9's tool to demux .EVO files (Windows EXE, source code might be available on request)
  
• AnyDVD HD is available from SlySoft. I do not provide a direct link to it for reasons outlined in this post. Use Google, if you want. (Windows only, closed source, 79 USD a license, 21 day evaluation period)

Playback of HD-DVDs and Blu-Ray on a PC

• Cyberlink BD/HD Advisor - Software for Windows that will check if your system (and especially your video card) is compatible with Cyberlink PowerDVD software. PowerDVD 7.x uses video card hardware accelleration, and will only playback HD-DVD content on specific video cards. (Windows, close source, free download)
• Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra is the de-facto standard for playback of Hi-Def content on HTPC. However since Cyberlink uses video adapter specific hardware acclereation, you must double-check that you have a supported video card. If you have a supported video card but no HDCP connection to your monitor, in versions 6.5, 7.1 - 7.3 it will enforce 540p playback even if ICT is not set on the disk (Windows, closed source, $99.95 USD)
• Intervideo WinDVD 8 Platinum Japanese edition. Instructions for ordering were posted on avsforum (Windows, commercial software, 13440 yen (about 135 USD), closed source)
• NeroShowtime plugin that requires NeroShowTime 3, and plays back HD-DVD and BDAV (Self-authored) Blu-Ray . There are conflicting reports if this plugin is present in Nero 7 Ultra Edition Enhanced, or if you need to spend additional money on top of buying Nero 7 UE to enable Hi Def playback. (Commercial software, closed source, 24.99 USD for plug-in, 79.99 USD for Nero 7 Ultra Edition)
• Arcsoft Digital Theater 2 (Listed for 89.95 USD for a full version with HD support) is a newcomer on the scene, that can play back both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs. FREE TRIAL available (Direct link, 172 MB) from ArcSoft Japan (2007.10.01)

Random Notes

People reported that it is possible to use a DJ or JAD Java decompiler to decompile Java files on Blu-Ray disks, and in some cases remove region protection. More information in this thread.

arenzami discovered that it is possible to sniff the transaction happening between a valid player and an HD-DVD drive, and obtain volume ID and other information. More information in this thread. I theorize that a similar technique can be used with a Blu-Ray drive mounted in an external USB enclosure. arnezami used USB Snoop v1.8, but for devices mounted on IDE and SATA chains, people suggested Bus Hound (Commercial, limited functionality version is free). Geremia then posted CDBs used for communication with the drive further down in the thread.

Information on the firmware of the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive, including instructions on flashing it, high resolution photographs of the drive's logic board, information about CPU (Fujitsu FR 32 based) on the drive, firmware disassembly, etc are all in Geremia's thread about SD-S802A drive on xboxhacker.net. There is also a thread on drive firmware modifications here, including tools to back up firmware of your own Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive. If you own an Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive, download a utility to read the volume IDs off the HD-DVD disk, and a utility to backup your firmware image (both by xt5 of xboxhackers.net. dump.exe will likely work on SD-H802A drive as well). This post explains what vid.exe does, and this post explains how to operate dump.exe.. Geremia continued on to reverse engineer firmware, and figured out how to read the Control Data Zone of the HD-DVD disks. Now we know where on discs Host Revocation List is located.

If you are very concerned about device key revocation, and not being able to play back a legitimate HD-DVD because newer disk will revoke your player or drive, make a backup of Volume Unique Key for each one of your disks. The easiest method is probably to run aacskeys in verbose mode on every disk that you own. Then save the results in a safe place (if you are concerned about hard drive failures, printing it out, and putting them in disk liner notes works). This way (in conjunction with utility like DumpHD) you will have the necessary keys to decrypt the contents even if licensed software refuses to do it for you.

This thread has some notes on resetting the number of Blu-Ray region changes in PowerDVD.

Windows Vista has built in UDF 2.5 driver. If you need UDF 2.5 driver for Windows XP, read the article at uneasysilence on what they did to get Xbox360 drive to work. UDF 2.50 patch for Linux 2.6.20. Mac OS X 10.4 doesn't have UDF 2.5 driver, so playback under MacOS is currently questionable. Note that Roxio Toast Titanium 7.1.2 or newer (For sure Toast 8.0) has a RoxioBluRaySupport kernel extension, that is reported to support reading some Blu-Ray disks, but doesn't support mounting HD-DVD discs.

If you experience weird distortions/magnification of the image (as shown here) when playing back HD-DVDs on systems set to display resolution above 1920x1200, or so, maybe decreasing resolution will fix your problem. More information in this post.

Very useful list, nice explanations, thanks!

[blutach]

Agreed - very useful indeed.

Regards

[mrazzido]

yeah very usefull ,

@ moderator

this were a very good sticky.

[blutach]

Was thinking the same thing myself mrazzido

I hope awhitehead keep this up to date, especially considering arnezami's new offering aacskeys.

Regards

[HyperHacker]

Why no link to the Java version of BackupHDDVD?

[Emon]

FYI: My app can decrypt ACA files also.

I guess it makes sense that you didn't mark it as green though. It is an exact port of BackupHDDVD ..which has the "nav bug". I will add an option to turn on/off the "EncryptedPart[0x516-128]=127;" line.

[awhitehead]

Emon, I apologize, as I didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. Intent of highlighting a few apps was to permit someone who just got an HD-DVD drive and a couple of disks to figure out what software he should get to get started right away.

But you are right, your app provides most of the similar functionality (Yours doesn't do stream blanking, right?) together with a GUI, and ACA decrypting.

Thank you for pointing it out.

[KenD00]

Some corrections from my side:
- DumpHD does not validate or zero out any streams
- PackScanner does only work for HD-DVDs (and DVDs)
- PackScanner can only blank / revert the Secondary VC-1 Video Stream and the first Secondary DD+ Audio Stream
- The functionality of PackScanner is not integrated into DumpHD, this tool is just included (like the ACAPacker)

[awhitehead]

Originally Posted by KenD00

Some corrections from my side:

Thank you!

[stewwy]

great post.... any chance of a similar sticky for HD and or EVO playback? What works with what OS, workarounds for non-HDPC systems (selfishly thats the problem I'm having) etc

stewwy

[awhitehead]

Originally Posted by HyperHacker

Why no link to the Java version of BackupHDDVD?

I'll add it in, but in my mind functionally it is obsolete. It's main advantage was the fact that the source code was available and it was written in Java, however by this point it is pretty well established that it mangles packets in efforts to deal with bugs in PowerDVD 6.5 (So called "NAV fix"), and there are multiple implementations that have a nicer interface, and are re-implemented in various languages. At this point it's more of a basic learning tool that people can use if they need a very narrow feature set in order to do their own implementation of the decryption algorithms.

If you look at the comment I made for BackupHDDVD-GUI, I'd recommend that the same fix is to be applied to it too.

(Yes, something being written in Java can actually be an advantage, because then it can run not only on Windows, but on Linux and MacOS too)

Originally Posted by stewwy

great post.... any chance of a similar sticky for HD and or EVO playback? What works with what OS, workarounds for non-HDPC systems (selfishly thats the problem I'm having) etc

Thank you for your kind words.

There actually a couple of factors involved. For starters, playback, de-muxing, re-compressing, etc is all outside of the scope of this forum. The only reason I did include a link to EVOdemux is because it's a tool that has direct applications to decryption and correction of the menu XML files - it will tell you how many frames are present in a stream, what each stream in the container consists of, etc, all of which are needed if you want to correct the menus of HD-DVDs to work.

Additionally, in order to be meaningful, implementing your suggestion would require testing in a number of various combinations, having a wide variety of hardware, probably some sort of lab setup with ability to image systems with different OSes, swapping hardware, etc. Otherwise anything I'll write would not be authoritative, and would be of limited utility to anyone.

Sadly this looks like a full time job with very little returns in terms of actually paying the bills. I am excessively busy as it is (as are all of us, I am sure). No matter how I'd want to help you out, there are only so many hours in a day that I can dedicate to what is, on a grand scale of things, is a very minor hobby to me.

However, in no way should you be discouraged by my inability to help you. Start your own thread with your suggestions at the apropriate forum, and if it gets sufficient interest, I am sure over time moderators will make it a sticky.

[setarip_old]

Have any of you folks, who have the required hardware (I don't) checked out and evaluated the recently released freeware beta HD-DVD ripper from Fengtao Software? (There's a posting about its release in the "News" sub-forum)

It can be obtained at:

http://www.dvdfab.com/DVDFabHDDecrypter3090Beta.exe

It would be good to know your findings about it...

[szb005]

nice explanations, thanks!

[Pelican9]

DVDFab HD Decrypter working perfectly.
I've tried to rip King Kong, the result is good (working menu, everything is OK).
It takes 62 minutes for the full disc.
Easy to use.

[awhitehead]

Thank you for suggesting, setarip_old, and thank you for testing, Pelican9 Added to the list.

[SuperGoof]

Originally Posted by awhitehead

NeroShowtime plugin that requires NeroShowTime 3, and plays back HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.

Hi,

According to Nero web-site and user reports, this plug-in does not actually play Blu-ray movies. It only supports playback of BDAV authored discs. (Movies are BDMV)

[awhitehead]

Originally Posted by SuperGoof

Hi,

According to Nero web-site and user reports, this plug-in does not actually play Blu-ray movies. It only supports playback of BDAV authored discs. (Movies are BDMV)

I am sorry, I got confused by the AACS Playback bullet point on the feature list. You certainly are right.

[Henkske]

Does anyone know if it possible to remove the extras from a blu-ray disc?

I hope i can post this message here. I dind't know where to put it

Grt Henkske

[davinleeds]

DVD Fab HD not working for Iwo Jima. Used the latest 3156 beta.