How can I fix the issue where applications like VLC, Handbrake, and MakeMKV cannot read DVDs from my drive, even though the drive and DVD are known to be good?

The most likely cause is the absence of libdvdcss, a library required to decrypt commercial DVDs protected by CSS encryption. To resolve this:

If using Flatpak versions of VLC or Handbrake, fix device permissions:

flatpak override --user org.videolan.VLC --device=all
flatpak override --user fr.handbrake.ghb --device=all

Install libdvdcss via Distrobox (recommended):

Create and enter a Fedora container:

distrobox create --image fedora:latest --name dvd-tools
distrobox enter dvd-tools

Inside the container, install RPM Fusion and libdvdcss:

sudo dnf install -y https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf install libdvdcss vlc handbrake-gui

Run VLC or Handbrake from within the container.

Alternatively, install libdvdcss system-wide (requires reboot):

rpm-ostree install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
rpm-ostree install libdvdcss
sudo systemctl reboot

Check your user groups:

Ensure your user is in the cdrom group:

groups
sudo usermod -aG cdrom $USER
# Log out and back in

Using Distrobox is recommended as it does not modify your base system and provides access to RPM Fusion packages. For more information, see Distrobox documentation.