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STG_E_CSS_KEY_NOT_PRESENT
DVD sector has no valid CSS key
STG_E_CSS_KEY_NOT_PRESENT is HRESULT 2147681031 (0x80030307) from winerror.h. AllStat describes it as “Copy Protection Error - The given sector does not have a valid CSS key.” The result belongs to reading a title key or protected sector from CSS media. A reliable this result diagnosis preserves the raw value and reconstructs the state that made this true: the requested sector or title does not provide the valid CSS key expected by the read operation.
The decisive meaning of this result is that the requested sector or title does not provide the valid CSS key expected by the read operation. The severity bit does not decide handling; the controlling fact is that the requested sector or title does not provide the valid CSS key expected by the read operation. The important boundary is not merely failure but which object and state transition established: the requested sector or title does not provide the valid CSS key expected by the read operation.
Where the result appears
- This result can surface in a DVD CSS authentication, key exchange, protected-sector reading, or region-management logic.
- map the failure to one concrete operation among IOCTL_DVD_READ_KEY, DVD_COPY_PROTECT_KEY, AGID allocation, challenge and bus keys, title offsets, and region data.
- Preserve physical drive identity, media ID, region state, AGID or session generation, key type, title offset, sector range, and driver stack before releasing or replacing the object that returned this result.
An incident record for this HRESULT must distinguish caller, runtime, provider, and backing resource while testing whether the requested sector or title does not provide the valid CSS key expected by the read operation.
Typical causes and interpretation boundary
The immediate contract boundary is specific: the requested sector or title does not provide the valid CSS key expected by the read operation. Common cause branches include the following:
- The offset points outside the encrypted title.
- The disc layout or navigation data is inconsistent.
- The key request uses the wrong key type or title offset.
Confirm the cause branch that explains why the requested sector or title does not provide the valid CSS key expected by the read operation by using call arguments, object state, metadata, device information, or provider traces.
Correct handling and recovery
The primary recovery is to derive the title offset from validated DVD navigation data and request the appropriate key for that title. The result failure report should expose enough reading a title key or protected sector from CSS media state to understand why the requested sector or title does not provide the valid CSS key expected by the read operation without a production debugger.
When it follows cancellation or replacement, create a new generation before applying the recovery: derive the title offset from validated DVD navigation data and request the appropriate key for that title. Reconcile persistent, remote, device, or ownership state before repeating it.
Practical scenario
A player asks for a title key using a menu-sector offset rather than the movie title offset, so the drive reports no valid key for that location. Record the decisive state for this HRESULT and verify recovery on a fresh object or request generation.
Difference from related HRESULTs
STG_E_CSS_SCRAMBLED_SECTOR reports encrypted data that cannot be read; it says the expected key is absent Tests and telemetry should preserve that boundary for this HRESULT.
Developer and administrator guidance
Developers handling it should make object lifetime and state transitions explicit, preserve the native HRESULT, and keep cleanup paths safe when initialization or output is partial. Use authorized test media to cover fresh sessions, stale AGIDs, title changes, scrambled sectors, region mismatch, and exhausted reset counts.
A runbook should preserve the original artifact and logs before the proposed recovery—derive the title offset from validated DVD navigation data and request the appropriate key for that title—changes evidence. Repair for this HRESULT should target only the evidence-backed component, provider, document, device, or configuration.
References
- Microsoft: IOCTL_DVD_READ_KEY
- Microsoft: DVD_COPY_PROTECT_KEY
- Microsoft: DVD Copy Protection Property Set
- Microsoft: STG error codes
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