Ripping DRM DVDs on MacOS with libdvdcss and Handbrake

Many educational materials producers use DVDs (12cm flat disks with a mirror-like surface on one side, a digital storage media popular in the 1990s) to distribute materials to teachers. To assist our modern staff update their media resources, we secured some drives to access content on DVDs . Unfortunately, media producers, in a misguided attempt to be pains in the neck, used a tool called DRM to increase the effort required to convert the media content to a useable format. The following is a tutorial on how we convert outdated DRM media into a useable format. The key is to install the libdvdcss library. To get there, takes a little work, but the easiest way is to install xcode tools and  Homebrew (helpful for installing lots of different tools) which makes installing libdvdcss and Hombrew easy.

  1. Install xcode tools (this may take a while):
    sudo xcode-select --install
    sudo xcodebuild -license accept
  2. Install Homebrew:
    /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"
  3. Install libdvdcss:
    brew install libdvdcss
  4. Install Handbrake:
    /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"
  5. Install libdvdcss:
    brew install handbrake

Now, you should be able to fire up Handbrake and rip your content to your computer. Handbrake tutorials are plentiful on the Interwebs if you need more support with ripping DVDs.

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