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Why VLC Won't Play Certain ISO Files?

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Q: I just recently downloaded a few movies in .ISO format, however VLC will not play them on my mac. I continue to get this error:

"No suitable decoder module
VLC does not support the audio or video format "undf". Unfortunately there is no way for you to fix this."

Do I have to go the old fashioned way and mount the .ISO file as a virtual DVD, or is there a solution to this problem?

A: UNDF is an undefined file. This may be because it is corrupted, or it is still in the process of being downloaded, and therefore vital information is missing. It is not a file type.

Q: So, I am moving to Mexico and don't want to take all of my movies. I want to put them on a portable hard drive, instead. I haven't found a reliable way to rip them onto the drive. This subreddit had a tread about converting the movie file to ISO, then associating the file with the VLC Media player. I successfully created the ISO file and associated it with the VLC player in accordance with several web sites that gave me directions, but I am not able to get the file to actually play. I have dragged the ISO file into the player, tried "Media" - "Open file", and also right clicked and choose "Play in VLC Media Player". Nada. Any suggestions are appreciated. Using Windows 7 64 bit.

A: ISO is actually an archive file which is used to backup CDs or DVDs. VLC can play ISO files as long as the DVD structure is intact (it also means that the ISO file must have the exact same folders that are in your DVD such as Video_TS folder). If the directory structure of ISO image is not similar to that of DVD, you will fail to play the file on VLC. You should make sure you have copy the ISO files from a DVD disc completely, or you should have just ripped the DVD directly into a media format with a DVD Ripper.

Brorsoft DVD Ripper For Windows | For Mac


Convert DVD to 200+ formats and 150+ devices with 6X faster speed and 1:1 output quality. Learn more >

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Part 1: Backup DVD with Original Structure and Play with VLC


With Brorsoft DVD Ripper For Windows | For Mac, you can backup the DVD movie from the physical disc to with original structure so that you can get the ISO fiels have the exact same folders that are in your DVD such as Video_TS folder.

Step 1: Run the DVD Ripper/Blu-ray Ripper, then insert DVD disc to your DVD drive.

Click the DVD disc button to load your DVD. You can also add ISO movies from your computer or hard drive.

All the loaded files will be listed on the left item bar and you can preview them on the right as the picture below shows.

Tip: Computer should networked so that the ripper can access key for cracking the copy-protections. 

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Step 2: Select a destination folder

Click "Browse" button to select a destination folder for the output files.

The CSS and region code protection get hacked when loading DVD. DVD ISO can be also loaded to convert to VIDEO_TS/VOB file structure.

Step 3: Backup a DVD with original structures

Click quick button "Copy the entire disc" to starts copying the DVD disc to hard drive maintaining the original structure.

As soon as the copying task finished, you can click "Open" button to get the output videos. The backed up DVD movie is usually saved as a directory file structure within which there are VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folder. The VIDEO_TS folder contains main movies (.vob) and lots of system files (.ifo and .bup).

Then you can VLC media player, click File >> Open Directory, find the Video TS folder you have backed up, select it and click OK.

Tip: If you just wanna do movie only copy, you can choose "Copy" > "Directly Copy" from the Format menu to copy the . vob files only. You can turn to DVD to DVD Main Movie to copy movie only from DVD discs.

Part 2. Rip DVD Directly into A Media Format


Brorsoft DVD Ripper For Windows | For Mac has the most powerful crack technology. Both HD DVDs and standard DVDs can be ripped to all popular SD and HD (3D) video formats like 4K/1080P/720P H.264/H.265 MP4MOVMKV, M4V, WMV, FLV, AVI, 3GP, MPEG and more.

Meanwhile Brorsoft DVD Ripper also provides the preset formats for over 175 hot devices (iPadiPhone,AndroidSurface tabletSamsung GalaxyXbox, PlayStation, NAS, Panasonic/Samsung/Sony/LG Smart TVs/HDTVs/3D TVs). Simply select the profile to rip DVD for playback on your device with optimized settings and never worry about the video incompatibility!

Step 1: Same as Part 1.

Step 2: Decide output format

Click Format bar and choose MP4 from Common Video, which can be recognized by VLC well. MKV is also a good choice; as a container format it takes whatever you give it.

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STEP 3. Advanced Settings

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With the right settings you can retain the quality of the original DVD while also saving space.

Please remember the file size is based more on bitrate than resolution which means bitrate higher results in bigger file size, and lower visible quality loss.

This is particularly helpful when streaming over your network, depending on your network quality.

Simply click Settings bar and you can tweak the settings to your satisfaction and even save it as preset.

STEP 4. Start ripping DVD

Hit the "Convert" button at the bottom of the main interface to start the conversion.

It will automatically convert DVD to the media format you have selected.

When the conversion finished, just click the "open" button, and drag & drop the ripped files to VLC media player interface.

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