I gave up on that piece of crap ages ago. I use VLC.

while it works its not my choice. I generally delete totem and
evolution soon after a fresh install.

Missing codecs maybe?

I already have all the restricted codecs installed.

I use Kaffeine and vlc is a good option but I would definitely file a
bug on that.

I've just tested Torem Movie Player on both DivX and DVD movies and for me
it works fine. I've installed all the codecs I could find, but I can't
remember exactly which ones now. This is on Ubuntu 8.04, on my MSI Wind,
with a plug in "no name" DVD player/burner.

I'm rather surprized because while it's always played DivX movies it didn't
use to play DVD's! Something happened over the last few months that fixed
that and I wish I knew what...

Have you installed libdvdcss2? It is necessary to play commercial encrypted
DVDs.

I have not.
Movies as in - anything I download off the net.
MPlayer will play some of them but some it only plays audio, some only
video.
Also have VLC - it usually just plays the audio part if there is a problem.

Apparently I already have it installed as well. Didnt know that but I
must have done it when I first installed.

Have you installed libdvdcss2? It is necessary to play commercial encrypted
DVDs.

Kaffeine and Totem both use Xine as its engine. Movie Player uses Totem. The
type of error that you are getting is common and could mean anything. It could
be consistency errors or a setting with a wrong parameter. Since it is the
video, I would concentrate on that. I would start with Xine since it is the
engine that most players use. See:
dvd.sourceforge.net/.../howto.html

Also: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=230337
www.videohelp.com/.../...age-only-sound-t320436.ht\
ml

The previous threads seem to point to a problem with your video settings (open
GL or use of a compositor such as Compiz) and the DVD player. This could result
in the type of error you mention. Read them and let us know what you think. I
use Compiz and have no problem, but my settings could be different. You could
try deinstalling Compiz for example and then trying the video playback. You can
always re-install it. If you aren't using Compiz look at what other video
settings could be a problem.

I have all desktop graphics at a minimum. This is my work machine so
I like it fast.

Ill check the rest though.

Mplayer uses X11.
VLC uses default - which might be nothing so Im trying X11 and then
the OpenGL(GLX). There is also OpenGL.