I am having the same issue with a Samsung R580 Blu-ray capable laptop. Latest Avatar offering will not play past the “warnings” section. The Avatar version released this past Spring stopped playing on the laptop as well. At this point, no Blu-ray disc will play with Power DVD8. If tech support would check my support “tickets” from recent history, they would see how much difficulty I have experienced with their player. I haven't been able to use my laptop Blu-ray player for months.
Very disappointed and frustrated.

Hi Chuck,

please let me know:
1. which version of PDVD 8 you had installed previously (isales or OEM)
2. which Version is installed now (please have a look into the about page and also provide the SR-number written there - NOT the CD-Key!!)

Br
Michael Technical Support

Werde Facebook Fan

Cut and past post now ???? What the he'll the title of this post even says ultra and it was bought from cyberlink with a cd sr is DVD 100330-01

There is a discussion about problems with Avatar and Power-DVD 8 in the german forum under

http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/13801.page

The recommend workaround is working for me - at least for the time being. I had the same problem. I bought Avatar in April and it worked fine under Power-DVD 8 until the beginning of November.
Other older and new Blu-Rays work fine, i do not have any illegal or dubios software on my system and the cyberlink advisors say my system is ok and fully capable for standard and extended play.

Please read the title this is not avatar from feb this is for the new relese extended editon that came out this month

Maybe that there is a difference between the issues with the two versions of "Avatar", but I would prefer to try the workaround...

The problem with the old version of "Avatar" ist not a problem of the disc itself, but with the online handling of the BD-Live feature - and that may be the same with the new version...

Thank you Michael.
The Samsung Laptop came bundled with a lesser version (don't remember the version) so I loaded PowerDVD 8 Version 8.0.3228e.54.
The SR Number: CDS021209-03
I was incorrect about other Bluray movies not being able to play on this version. I tried a few other disc and they work fine.
Specifically, the newly released (11-16-2010) Avatar will not play with the referenced version of the player.
I am having the same issue as "Blurayfan",.. the older version of Avatar stopped working in the player around the beginning of November, this version had previously worked fine in the player,.. now it does not work in the player. Additionally, the recent Avatar release will not play in the above referenced player.
Can you advise?
Thank you in advance for your expertise.
Chuck

I'm having the same problem. I've spent over five hours and contacted more companies than I can remember trying to get the Extended Edition Avatar Blu Ray disc to play.

I'm using Power DVD DX. I can be contacted at rfachiniii@msn.com

Thanks!

I looked up the German forum information:

1. Click UI button “Configure PowerDVD Settings” (Or hotkey Ctrl-C)
2. The path of Local Storage is at “Blu-ray Disc  Advanced  BD-Live  Location”
3. Copy & Paste the path to Windows File Explorer. You will see 3 folders: APDA, BPSA, and BUDA.
4. Delete all 3 folders to clear local storage.
5. Disconnect the internet. So it will not check available update from the remote server.
6. Launch PowerDVD and playback the title.

I can't find such a UI button. I can find configure Display settings but there is no Local Storage path listed. Also, I'm not trying to play April's Avatar disc. I'm trying to play the one released this month. I don't want to mess with settings if it won't fix my problem, and could even make things worse.

Hate to say it but PowerDVD 10 Ultra Mark II also has problems with the new extended collectors version of Avatar, 3 blu-ray disc set. My laptop, Alienware M15X, is more than capable of running blu-ray but this blu-ray set will not play without stuttering audio and video.

For info running ATI drivers 10-11, the latest, with ATI Mobility Radeon HD5730 and Matshita BD-RE UJ235A with latest firmware.

@RogerF:
You don't have a button for the configuration of PowerDVD (this is the UI button...)? And the Keys CTRL an C are not on your keyboard as well? Strange...

The hotfix will not make things worse, except if you really use online features such as BD Live. The Hoftix will delete all locally stored BD Live data, not less, but even not more.

It would be interesting to know if the hotfix helps on the new Version of Avatar. If someone is willing to try it, it would be nice to post the result here.

For the old version I wrote a simple batchfile for deleting the three mentioned folders and disabling the network adapter and a second batch for re-enabling the network. My network cable is behind a cupboard, that is not really handy...

Works fine, now I'm much more relaxed concerning the final solution...
If someone is interested in:

devcon disable PCI\VEN_10EC
rd "C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\XXYY\Anwendungsdaten\CyberLink\PowerDVD8\LocalStorage\APDA" /s /q
rd "C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\XXYY\Anwendungsdaten\CyberLink\PowerDVD8\LocalStorage\BPSA" /s /q
rd "C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\XXYY\Anwendungsdaten\CyberLink\PowerDVD8\LocalStorage\BUDA" /s /q

Devcon is the console version of the Windows Device Manager (download it from Mirosoft via Google); the Parameter has to be modified, it can be found in the graphical device manager under the properties of the network adapter. The path to the three folders has to be modified too.

The re-enabling of the network adapter can simply be done with

devcon enable PCI\VEN_10EC (with modified parameter, of course)

For me the BD live settings are accessed by clicking the advanced button under the Blu-Ray disk tab. This just shows you the location of your BD live folder which in windows 7 should be under the
\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\CyberLink\PowerDVD8\LocalStorage\ with <username> being the windows login name your currently using. I can confirm that deleting the 3 directories located in this folder and then disconnecting from the internet before loading the disk will allow it to play. Hopefully Cyberlink realize this and release a fix that allow it work with out doing this. I am currently involved in a very unhelpful "help" process as I try to get them to realize this.

On my PowerDVD, there is no UI for settings and ctrl-C does nothing. Maybe it's a dumbed-down version for DELL users.

I looked under C: users and did a search for cyberlink but the folders mentioned did not show up. Under users I saw Guest and Public, but my username did not show up. I tried changing my folder settings to show more folders by hitting the check box near Hidden under properties, which was a mistake--since it hid all of my desktop shorcuts and disabled my RSS feeds.

I actually got the movie to play-- it won't autoplay, and I have to let it load for about 20 seconds, then it gives the message about looking online for player updates, then the screen goes black. After that, I have to press play and wait another 15 seconds and then it will give the disc menu. However, I can't play the 2nd or 3rd discs in the set. I wait for it to load, then try to play, and I briefly see Prohibited show in the upper right.

Well, for whatever reason, now my computer is showing the file folders under my login. I have AppData, Roaming, CyberLink, PowerDVD but there is no Local Data folder under PowerDVD. In fact, the PowerDVD folder is empty.

The latest Avatar extended version works fine in my Blu-ray player software. I won't post other manufactures software on Cyberlinks message board but know that it does work in other manufactures programs.

I did have PowerDVD 10 Ultra Mark II but did not like the way it locked up my system for ages when opening and closing the program, so I got a refund. My youtube channel====> http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn

Were you able to play discs 2 and 3 with the extra content?

Yes I just tried disc 2. I will say though the program stopped responding for about 5-10 seconds then started normally. I have a sense it was waiting for something from the net.

I haven't tried disc 3 as I figure if it plays 1& 2, disc 3 should be fine. My youtube channel====> http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn

Quote: deleting the 3 directories located in this folder and then disconnecting from the internet before loading the disk will allow it to play.

Since that folder was empty on my machine, I tried disconnecting the internet, reloading PowerDVD, insterting the disc, and playing it. I get the same problem: Playing the disc seems to be "Prohibited" The discs were purchased in the US.

Mine was purchased and played in Australia. It may be a zone thing.

Also the other main reason I went with this other program is I really really hate the black bars on my DVD's. My new program allows me to zoom in to take out as much of the black bars as I want, although it doesn't really matter with Avatar as it is 1.78FF and is virtually full screen on a 16:9 screen anyway. My youtube channel====> http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn