I had a HP DV9335 that was a lemon and after months of dealing with the Geek Squad and Best Buy they finally caved when I suggested I would stand outside and tell everyone that walked in they sold lemons and charge top dollar for them.  They gave me a 1000 dollar credit towards a new laptop.  When they did not have the one I was looking at in stock on they pointed to this M1530 and said how about that one? "It's got Blu-Ray."  I was basically like sure that's a perk if you consider giving up the larger screen and full keyboard.  I checked the specs and found this to be a rather impressive machine and opted for it. To give Best Buy some positive press I'd say they turned things around.  The retail price for this machine was 1300 bucks roughly without a service plan.  They had me out the door with this one for nothing more then the trade I can in on.. and they gave me 100 bucks in the form of a Best Buy card.  I got home loaded it up and was impressed, loaded Ubuntu, even more impressed.  Well finally it came to checking out the Blu Ray and I pulled out my new copy of Wall-E.....FAIL... open this... FAIL ... try this and that and this and that....FAIL FAIL FAIL.  I followed the advice above.. tried to call Dell..India told me no go.. you bought from Best Buy.. you go to geek squad...Ticked.. Ticked.. Ticked... Finally I tried the removal of the DMD... FAIL... it won't reload.  Stops at 5 percent says its failed and that's it.  So I got out my copy of Cyberlink after trying to demo 8 to no avail.. yes the downloaded demo didn't work.  I looked for hours for other options, reading and so on.. Found that under Ubuntu it's going to be an even bigger headache.. but alas a bud said "get 8 on sale right now for 25% off."  If you have a previous version say 6 or 7 you can get a discount or an even better one because of  the holiday.  My friend went the keygen route and was able to get 7 installed and then upgraded at the same price.  I did the legit route and came out about the same...except totally legal if you care about things like that.  I would like to get the Dell software figured out.. when I have time to spend 5 hours on the phone with a tech I might.. for now I'll enjoy my functional install.  *** I had to pay but happy I'm not trolling anymore to get a fix.  If yourtime is money...then get the software and be done with it.  If you bought direct from Dell you might fair better then I did.  I just didn't have it in me to fight on the phone while on my vacation.

CyberLink_PowerDVD8Ultra_2217TaRe38.exe was the dowload.

CyberLink PowerDVD 8 Readme

03/24/2008

Thank you for using CyberLink PowerDVD 8.

This Readme file contains the latest information about CyberLink PowerDVD 8. For complete instructions on using CyberLink PowerDVD 8, please refer to the user's guide or online help.

This Readme is divided into the following sections:

• What's New in CyberLink PowerDVD 8
• CyberLink PowerDVD Versions
• Hardware Compatibility
• General Playback Performance and Quality Issues
• TrueTheater™ - Lighting/Stretch-Related Issues
• Technical Support
• Licensing and Copyright Information

What's New in CyberLink PowerDVD 8

Audio

• New! - Dolby Digital Plus*
• New! - Dolby TrueHD*
• New! - DTS-HD*
• DTS-ES*
• DTS Neo:6 (Discrete, Matrix)*
• DTS 96/24**
• AAC 5.1 Channel support**
• DTS**
• Dolby Digital 5.1
• Dolby Digital EX**
• Dolby Pro Logic IIx**
• Dolby Headphone**
• Dolby Virtual Speaker**
• TrueTheater™ - Surround (Multi-channel Environment Impression Mode)
• TrueTheater™ - Surround (Virtual Speaker Mode)
• TrueTheater™ - Surround (Headphone Mode)
• MLP lossless**
• SRS TruSurroundXT**
• Pitch scaling technology
• Audio equalizer presets
• Audio visualizations
• Direct 96/24 output
• MP3, WAV

Video

• New! - SMPTE VC-1 High-Definition Video*
• MPEG4 AVC (H.264) High-Definition Video**
• TrueTheater™ - Lighting (Adaptive lighting for video quality enhancement)
• TrueTheater™ - Stretch (Non-linear stretch technology)
• Video smart de-interlacing

Playback Formats

• New! - BD-ROM (Blu-ray Disc) playback*
• New! - BD-RE (Blu-ray Disc) playback*
• VCPS for DVD+VR with content protection
• CPRM for DVD-VR with content protection**
• DVD-Audio**
• External subtitles
• DVD files (DVD-Video, DVD-VR, DVD+VR) from any folder in your hard drive

Advanced Features

• New! - Movie Collection Support
• New! - Movie Remix
• New! - Integration with MoovieLive Service
• UPnP Support - Access your media from a Home Network**
• Say-It-Again - Automatically repeats the last movie scene
• See-It-All - Automatically speeds playback to show as much of the movie as possible
• Read-It-Clearly - Moves subtitles from the viewing screen

* - Available in Ultra Edition (Blu-ray Disc) only

** - Available in Deluxe version and Ultra Edition (Blu-ray Disc)

CyberLink PowerDVD Versions

To find the version of your copy of CyberLink PowerDVD, click on the logo within the CyberLink PowerDVD player or press Ctrl+A on your keyboard. The version is displayed at the top of the dialog box that opens. To upgrade CyberLink PowerDVD to a different version, click Activate on the About page and then enter an activation key in the dialog box. This will upgrade to a new version of CyberLink PowerDVD in order to activate even more features.

* - Not supported for Blu-ray Disc content

Hardware Compatibility

CyberLink PowerDVD 8 offers complete multi-channel (4/6/7/8), S/PDIF and HDMI sound device support, including (but not limited to) devices from Analog Devices, Aureal, Creative, Cirrus/Crystal, CMedia, ESS, Fortemedia, KCTech, Philips/VLSI, Realtek, IDT, SiS, TI, Yamaha, VIA, and any other sound device that supports the Microsoft WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE interface.

It is recommended that you install the latest driver from the original card/device maker, not a Windows built-in driver, in order for multi-channel output to work properly.

CyberLink PowerDVD 8 supports Microsoft DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA) in display chips or integrated chipsets from Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, SiS, and VIA/S3. Acceleration functions include Entropy Decode, Inverse Discrete Cosine Transform, Hardware Motion Compensation and Subpicture Alpha Blending units.

If "Hardware Acceleration" is enabled, some systems might display subtitles incorrectly. This is because the display driver only supports an old format of the Microsoft DXVA interface. It is recommended that you install the latest drivers from the original card/chip maker in order for this function to work flawlessly.

CyberLink PowerDVD 8 is fully optimized for multimedia instruction sets, such as AMD 3D Now! Professional, Enhanced 3D Now!, 3DNow!, Intel Streaming SIMD Extensions 2/3/4 (SSE/2/3/4), MMX, the Hyper-Threading technology, dual-core and quar-core CPU supported.

CyberLink PowerDVD 8 is compatible with new DVD-RAM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+RW, DVD-Multi, DVD-Dual, DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drives, BD-ROM drives with IEEE 1394, USB 2.0, ATAPI, SCSI or CardBus interface, as long as the drive conforms to the SFF8090 command set and SBP-2 (if applicable).

CyberLink PowerDVD 8 is compatible with all Centrino, Socket 478, Socket 423, Socket 370, Slot 1, Socket A and Slot A chipsets from Intel, VIA, SiS, ALi, NVIDIA, and AMD.

The features for hardware deinterlace and "Read it clearly" may need updated drivers to support them. If you find problems when using these features, please update your drivers to latest version and then try again.

CyberLink PowerDVD 8 is capable of high-definition audio decoding. However, due to the industries lack of common secure audio path technology, all protected audio content (eg. DVD-Audio, Blu-ray Disc) will force audio to be down-sampled to 48Khz/16bit output resolution. This constraint will be removed once an approved secure audio path is deployed for the PC ecosystem.

General Playback Performance and Quality Issues

External subtitle loading: For loading external subtitles, you should name the subtitle file with the same file name as the playback video file.

DMA Mode:

It is HIGHLY recommended that you enable the DMA function of your DVD-ROM in order to reduce CPU loading when accessing DVDs. Windows XP and Windows 2000 both contain built-in DMA support.

Display Issues:

To ensure that CyberLink PowerDVD works properly, please install DirectX version 9.0 or higher.

It is highly recommended that you NOT run CyberLink PowerDVD below 1024x768 resolution, since DVD video resolution is best at 1024x768 or higher.

Deinterlace issues:

CyberLink smart deinterlace is a sophisticated video processing technology that requires a lot of CPU power. If both bit stream analysis method and pixel adaptive are used, it is recommended that you have at least a 1.8 GHz system for optimal performance.

3rd party software issues:

Some 3rd party software (such as AnyDVD®) may affect the normal functionality of CyberLink PowerDVD. For example, causing interference so CyberLink PowerDVD is unable to recognize DVD media/titles. It is recommended that you disable such applications before using CyberLink PowerDVD.

Blu-ray Disc Playback Capability and Limitation:

• Due to the high computation requirement for Blu-ray Discs, you may experience some video quality drop, frame drops or lower performance on particular titles.
• Blu-ray Disc playback on external monitors via DVI/HDMI connectors requires HDCP capable display devices.
• It is recommended that all non-critical applications be closed before beginning Blu-ray Disc playback. Full CPU/GPU clock-rate shall be reserved for CyberLink PowerDVD Blu-ray Disc playback.
• Advanced Access Content System (AACS) is supported for commercial content playback. Occasional renewals of AACS keys are required. An Internet connection is required for this operation.

TrueTheater™ - Lighting/Stretch-Related Issues

To use TrueTheater™ - Stretch, it is highly recommended that you use a graphic card with 8MB or more video memory.

TrueTheater™ - Stretch and TrueTheater™ - Lighting are sophisticated video processing technologies that require higher CPU power. If both of these functions are enabled (especially in conjunction with other audio effects), it is recommended that you use at least a 1.0GHz system for optimal performance.

TrueTheater™ - Stretch and TrueTheater™ - Lighting are implemented within a CyberLink proprietary video decoder, thus, they are not available when hardware video acceleration is enabled.

TrueTheater™ - Stretch and TrueTheater™ - Lighting are not available under Blu-ray Disc playback due to the limitation of platform horsepower.

Technical Support

Solutions to your problems are available 24 hours a day at no cost on the CyberLink web site (http://www.cyberlink.com).

• Note: You must first register as a member before using CyberLink web support.

Technical Inquiry Form

For your assistance, you may complete the Inquiry Form (http://www.cyberlink.com/english/cs/support/form/index.jsp) in the Support section of the CyberLink web site. The more accurate and detailed the information you provide, the better we can help to solve your problem.

General Support

Please visit the support section (http://support.cyberlink.com) of the CyberLink web site to view all the support options that are available to you. In addition to frequently asked questions, the CyberLink web site also provides troubleshooting techniques, the latest in product news and other relevant information.

Licensing and Copyright Information

Dolby

Manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories. Dolby, Pro Logic, MLP Lossless, The "AAC" logo, and the double-D symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. Confidential unpublished works. Copyright 1992-2004 Dolby Laboratories. All rights reserved.

DTS

Manufactured under license under U.S. Patent #'s: 5,451,942; 5,956,674; 5,974,380; 5,978,762; 6,226,616; 6,487,535; 7,003,467; 7,212,872 & other U.S. and worldwide patents issued & pending. DTS, DTS Digital Surround, ES, and Neo:6 are registered trademarks and the DTS logos, Symbol and DTS 96/24 are trademarks of DTS, Inc. © 1996-2007 DTS, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Manufactured under license under U.S. Patent #'s: 5,451,942; 5,956,674; 5,974,380; 5,978,762; 6,226,616; 6,487,535 & other U.S. and worldwide patents issued & pending. DTS is a registered trademark and the DTS logos, Symbol, DTS-HD and DTS-HD Master Audio are trademarks of DTS, Inc. © 1996-2007 DTS, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2008 CyberLink Corp. All rights reserved. Dolby, Pro Logic, MLP Lossless, Surround EX, and the double-D symbol
are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories.

Dell PowerDvd DX 7 does work, but there are four updates that you need to make it work (at least that's what I needed).  Unfortunately, these updates are not in one single place as Dell has not kept all of the updates for this product centralized (that I know of).  I was able to force Dell's hand (by filing a complaint with the BBB) and receive a free copy of Dell PowerDVD DX 7.  Even still, it took several hours for ME to get the program to work.  Dell Tech support knows nothing.

Basically, the updates that are needed were issued in November 2007, January 2008, May 2008, and October 2008.  In order for me to get my BD disks to play, I had to install ALL of these updates (if you only install some, PowerDVD DX may not play at all).

Unfortunately, this was a while ago and I can't remember where I was able to find all of these updates.  At least one of them (the November 2007 one I think) is on the Drivers and Downloads page.  I believe the second one I got using the automatic update function with Power DVD DX.  The third (may be the fourth) update is here:  http://update.cyberlink.com/ftpdload/patch/powerdvd/dell/DVD080327-05/CyberLink_PowerDVD.exe

Try using the automatic update function again after downloading the update from Cyberlink.  That may take you to the fourth update.  I can't remember though so I'm not making any guarantees.

I saved all the updates into a folder and I still have them, but unfortunately don't have any way of getting these updates too you.  I would suggest you try getting Dell Media Direct to work with the fix that I wrote several posts prior or file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau ASAP.  It is the only way to get Dell to actually take you seriously.

Hey all,

I have been having the blu ray problem for some time! MediaDirect always seems to want to download the same update (3.5) and install that. However today it downloaded a different file (38.9mb):

http://update.cyberlink.com/ftpdload/patch/DELL_MD/4_7/PCM080919-04/MediaDirect4_7.exe

I installed this then connected my laptop to the internet via an ethernet cable (currently running wireless) shut down the laptop and then opened MediaDirect express (using the small button with the house on it). When switching the laptop on via the home button the wireless does not come on and so that is why I connected the laptop to the ethernet cable before switching off. I let the MediaDirect load up and do whatever configuring it needs to and then switched off the laptop and booted it up as normal. Once going back into MediaDirect I attempted to play a blu ray dvd and it works fine now. I don't know if it is just luck or something I have done! Only thing is the blu ray dvd will not play when using the home button to load MediaDirect but plays when loading normally (via a full boot up). A small problem I guess but better than was before!

Hope this helps guys!

Hi tcbrown18, That cyberlink software is buggy. I had it and got Coral WinDVD 9 plus HD instead, and have had no problems with it. Blu-ray drives are good, but you need you firmware updates. Since Ive had my LG, i have had 5 firmware updates.

Thanks a bunch, Lawgirl7.

I'll try your suggestions.  I am desperate.  I want to watch Wall-E and Prince Caspian and can't. 

I've given up on getting help from Dell.  Three different Tech support people over the past week and they were all CLUE-LESS. It was as if they were reading a English manual and didn't really understand the language let alone anything about computers.  Very strange experience. 

I'm just so glad I didn't purchase any extra long "support" services from Dell because that is a waste of money. 

Tashma you have just joined others with Media direct problems when you bought your new Dell laptop. You posted this on 12-12-08 and that just lets me know that Dell has a lot of customers out there with this issue. I bought my laptop with media direct 3.5 a year ago.

Dell support chat installed the MD 4.7 update on my Dell 1530 also. And now not only do I have an issue with MD playing the blue ray I wanted, it will not see my drive as a blue ray player but only as a DVD player now.

I also have the same update issue with MD. The update says I need Media Direct 3.5. I downloaded the update but during install it shows I have version 4.7 installed and can't continue. If I try to install 4.7 again it says I have version 3.5 installed and can't continue. I have tried uninstalling it and reinstalling 3.5 and even the 4.7 but I still have the updating and Blue ray drive detection issues.

There has to be some complete uninstall issue of all the MD files that are corrupt and not replaced during reinstall

Just to give you some more information on what you are facing with MD on your NEW DELL, the MD is on its own partition on your laptop but is so small you can't see it in Windows Explorer as a drive or partition. Instead of working on a patch for this MD problem, Dell said I have to reformat my laptop and reinstall the MD partition and my Vista partition. I have one year of installs and program setups with all their updates and I refuse to wipe out all of my personal settings and program installs that will take HOURS to backup install and update because Dell did not just make a software for a blue ray player but a "PARTITION" they can't update or repair.

I will wait for an update that works or demand they provide me with a software that works.

Please let me know if you have had your issue fixed with MD

Thanks

This is absolutely not a problem with the blu ray discs, simply that newer discs incorporate new technologies which older software/firmware won't recognise.

It is very poor indeed that Dell is blaming the discs - it is definitelty a problem with firmware of the drive or the playback software in almost all cases.

I have had various issues with blu ray play back ( in my case I bough a Dell 530s and then added my own bluray drive and software):

1. Issues with the version of the Blu Ray profile (version 1, 1.1 (Bonus View) and 2.0 (BD-Live)) supported by the drive/player.

Newer discs sometimes require later versions of the playback software and or a firmware upgrade to the Blu ray drive to recongnise the advancements made in the version of the Blu ray profile so they can play newer discs.  There is often a disclaimed stuffed in many new blu ray disc cases explaining this.

2. Cyberlink PowerDVD versions 7 and 8 (all have had different problems with playing back various blu ray discs)

In each case it has always been a game of waiting for Cyberlink to post the updates to their support site and this can sometimes take many weeks.  For retail versions of the software, check http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/support/cs/product-update.do?locale=en_GB for updates.  For bundled versions of the software, click the Upgrade button button in PowerDVD to get the appropriate updates (there are some updates for software bundled LG drives at the retail link above).

My advice

Get the latest available software and firmware updates for your drive and playback software.

Use the Cyberlink Blu ray compatability checker at http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/bd-support/diagnosis.do to help with analysing the problems.

Stick with it... if have found that eventually the problems will be ironed out!

I've recently bought (Jan 09) a new studio laptop with Dell blu ray drive etc:emotion-18:.  I'll post some info on what playback and how I fix any problems if they occur when it arrives).

elyoh

I'm having problems with Media Direct 4. When updated to the most recent version available via the built in "update" function (which takes it to version 4.0.4620) it does not recognise my Dark Knight blu ray, coming up with an error that there is no DVD in the drive. An earlier version will recognise the bonus blu ray but the 1st disk crashes the application after the WB splash. I tried applying the update linked above but get an error message saying that it needed version 3.5 in order to be applied. Is anyone else experiencing similar issues or know a fix?   I have tried the application update button today and it detected another update which I downloaded and installed. This now takes it to the following versions: Version 4.0.4707 BD Version 4.0.4602 However I still get the error message saying cannot detect a DVD or DVD device. Does anyone else still get this error after updating to the above application version?

I'm having the same exact problems as you are and I don't know what else to do. Dell support is the worst and I've just about given up completely. Have you had any luck recently?

You have to install PowerDVD 8 trial version in order to install the codec, (a software needed to recognize Blue-ray disk), that your blue-ray player and Media Direct needs to play the Blue-ray disk. You don't have to use the trial version of PowerDVD 8 (created by cyberlink), but you need the codec it installs so you can use Mediadirect which is created by cyberlink also http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/products/main_1_en_US.html .

The install of PowerDVD 8 and then a restart also fixed my version conflict I was getting when trying to use Media Direct Update. I think the Update was having issues because it was not recognizing the drive or needed the core codec it came with when Media Direct was installed at the factory. It also could be that the PowerDVD 8 codec is an updated version and supports more blue-ray disk.

One thing that Dell told me was that the Blue-ray disk needed the codec software to work but that the software is only installed in Windows. This means that if you start your computer with the Media Direct (house icon button) you can only play DVD disk and not Blue ray. You have to start your computer into windows to watch a Blue-ray disk. It's sad that Dell did not make Media Direct boot up with no way to update it.

I'm using Vista Home premium

I hope this helps 

I bought a studio 17 (1737) with Blu-Ray drive and have been able to only play one of my many disks. This week I got bangkok dangerous in and took it with me on a business trip ... figuring I'd watch it on my studio in the plane.

I am able to play all the previews, but once the movie starts playing -- or is supposed to start playing -- the screen goes dark. Since the menus are responsive, I assumed it had to load; but even after 10 - 15 minutes nothing was playing.

I checked for upgrades and have the latest version of media manager.  Version 4.0.4707 with BD-Live version 4.0.4620

This is extremely frustrating! I read a post about having to install the trial version of WinDVD Pro-8 to get this particular codec load. Is that to solve this particular problem, or was that aimed at some other problems described in one of the earlier posts?

Any feedback would greatly be appreciated.

Thank you!

I bought a studio 17 (1737) with Blu-Ray drive and have been able to only play one of my many disks. This week I got bangkok dangerous in and took it with me on a business trip ... figuring I'd watch it on my studio in the plane. I am able to play all the previews, but once the movie starts playing -- or is supposed to start playing -- the screen goes dark. Since the menus are responsive, I assumed it had to load; but even after 10 - 15 minutes nothing was playing. I checked for upgrades and have the latest version of media manager.  Version 4.0.4707 with BD-Live version 4.0.4620 This is extremely frustrating! I read a post about having to install the trial version of WinDVD Pro-8 to get this particular codec load. Is that to solve this particular problem, or was that aimed at some other problems described in one of the earlier posts? Any feedback would greatly be appreciated. Thank you!

I have a Studio 17 (1735) also with Media Direct at exactly the same versions as you and it won't even recognise that a Blu Ray disk is in the drive. I have tried PowerDVD 8 Ultra from a friend to see if that works any better, but found that doesn't work much better with it consistently crashing. Not much help I'm afraid but you are not alone in having these problems with the Studio!

Cheers

The previews on Blu ray discs aren't generally in HD so that's proably why they play.

My Dell Studio 17 has Dell Media Direct 4.0 loaded from a CD labelled Rev.00 August 2008.

When I first loaded it, it propted me for 2 patches.  One was called Dell_Patch.exe (37mb) and another MediaDirect4-7.exe (8mb)

It has now has BD-Live version 4.0.4620 and Version 4.0.4707 for the software.

I've tried the following discs and they all seem to work fine:

Batman Begins*

The Dark Knight*

Casino Royale

2001 A space odyssey

Transformers*

*have had issues with other players with these disc playback that were all fixed with updates...

If you go to the settings menu and do 2 things:

1. Rerun setup and when it prompts for updates, download what ever it gives u - might be worth noting the link (which I forgot to).

2. Once complete, go back to settings and click check for updates again.  It gives you another one!  Install that also.

This (touch wood) has allowed me to play all my discs.  Seems a problem with bluray that sometimes new discs need periodic software updates to work. Perhaps bangkok dangerous is one such disc... may be a waiting game and quite annoying...

Hope this helps...

The previews on Blu ray discs aren't generally in HD so that's proably why they play. My Dell Studio 17 has Dell Media Direct 4.0 loaded from a CD labelled Rev.00 August 2008. When I first loaded it, it propted me for 2 patches.  One was called Dell_Patch.exe (37mb) and another MediaDirect4-7.exe (8mb) It has now has BD-Live version 4.0.4620 and Version 4.0.4707 for the software. I've tried the following discs and they all seem to work fine: ... If you go to the settings menu and do 2 things: 1. Rerun setup and when it prompts for updates, download what ever it gives u - might be worth noting the link (which I forgot to). 2. Once complete, go back to settings and click check for updates again.  It gives you another one!  Install that also. This (touch wood) has allowed me to play all my discs.  Seems a problem with bluray that sometimes new discs need periodic software updates to work. Perhaps bangkok dangerous is one such disc... may be a waiting game and quite annoying... Hope this helps...

Very interesting and useful thanks. I have those updates that you describe and just tried reinstalling Media Direct and applying those 2 patches you mentioned (previously I have had 3 updates in total that have been applied). The software states it is at the same versions as yours, but I still get an error message saying that it is "unable to detect a DVD or DVD device", so it hasn't made any difference for me.

I noticed that my Media Direct Software disk describes itself as Rev: A00 March 2008 - different date to yours, so I'm not sure if it could be this - don't suppose you can recall what versions the software reported before the first update?

Alternatively what version Studio 17 do you have - I have the 1735 but have noticed there is another one when going through the Dell support website?

While I haven't fixed my issues with MD, I did find a workaround - using a different program!  Not the ideal solution, but I was just too frustrated with MD and so turned to PowerDVD 8, and that has worked so far.  I realize I have a different problem than a lot of people here have - my MD wouldn't even download any updates, even though it said it needed them.  Hopefully I can still fix MD eventually, but it's dropped in priority since PowerDVD is working.