Windows 7: BD Playback stops because of graphic problem

I got myself a new blu-ray, and popped it into my external bd player and it was playing nicely. But when I got to the middle, I paused it and left for a few, came back, and now it stated there was a problem. I got a warning stating that my CyberLink PowerDVD "cannot play back the protected content - (Code - 0122)" and to try either 1) make sure the graphics card driver meets the requirments, or 2) do not use dual monitors. I don't have two monitors, and I thought my graphics card was fine, no problems. Also, I ran its BD advisor tool, and there were all okays except for two: graphics card driver: 8.15.10.1872, and HDCP-compliant display: no.

I have no idea what's going on, and everything was fine until this showed up.

My graphics is an Intel graphics media accelerator driver, and I recently checked its properties: single display, color quality 32-bit, 1080 resolution, refresh rate 60 hetz, color correction is all, and hot keys enabled. Don't know what to look for, and everything seems fine. Again, this being a problem is all brand new to me.

What could be the problem?

I had problems with PowerDVD awhile back playing newer BD discs and went to Total Media Theatre 3 which I've had for some time. Oddly enough, this older software had an update still available which corrected the problems, similar to yours, I was having.

Newer BD discs can be problematic possibly because of problems with DRM. Try an older BD disc and see if it plays fine. Then see if Cyberlink has any updates for the PowerDVD version you have; that may correct the problems. You may also need to check if there are any firmware updates available for your external BD drive. To check this, open Device Manager as Administrator, and I expect you'll find the external drive under Portable Devices, double click your BD drive, go to the details tab, then under the Property drop-down menu select "hardware lds". There should be an alpha/numeric number on the far right and this is your firmware version. Check the manufacturer site for any updates and how to proceed installing it.

You might try a different player as well, perhaps WinDVD.

Hope something above helps.

Okay, this is weird. I played the disc again (the same one from before) today, and I worked, and as I played it from beginning to end, nothing wrong happened. "shrugs" I don't get it.

Is Total Media Theatre 3 free to get? If so, where? Same goes for WinDVD, and the update for what I have. Speaking of Cyberlink Power DVD: anytime I look for an update, it's one that costs money. If there was a free one, that'd be great.

I did what you asked, but I'm not too sure if I have any or if I'm looking at it right, and I don't want to click something that's wrong. I made a picture so you can pinpoint it for me, here:

I'm not surprised the disc played alright the next time you tried it. Similar problems here before the update of TotalMediaTheatre 3. Buggy.

I didn't know if PowerDVD came with your computer, or if you bought it. But yea, the updates available are for purchased versions, those versions that come with your computer are usually lite versions the manufacturer has licenses to for installation on machines they build. The only free media player I know of that supposedly plays bluray is VLC, which you can download here. I've never used it but if it doesn't work maybe someone can help you out here.

I can't read it very well but it looks like your drive firmware version number is on the line that starts with "HL"; the version number itself begins with "CP" and ends with "101". I would first look for a software solution that works, even if you must purchase it, before monkeying around with updating the firmware; you always need to be careful and know what you are doing when updating firmware, BIOS, etc.

Perhaps VLC will work for you.