[dvd::rip] Need help dvd::rip no longer reading TOC info

All,

dvd::rip is no longer reading the dvd toc after clicking on "Read DVD
table of contents".  It just hangs there.  This issue just started
happening.  I have no idea why.  In an effort to weed out possible
causes I have un-installed & re-installed dvd::rip and all it's
dependencies (I confirmed all dependencies are available).  Still a no
go.  My dvd player is fine.  I can watch movies from it using mplayer.

I have tried reading the toc with both lsdvd and transcode.  Both
provide the same results.

I have looked in this mail list archives for a possible solution with no
luck.  No luck with google either.

Here is all I'm getting from the dvd::rip log
Thu Jun 26 10:12:05 2008 Start job 'Read TOC (lsdvd|tcprobe)'
Thu Jun 26 10:12:05 2008 Start job 'Read TOC (lsdvd)'
Thu Jun 26 10:12:05 2008 Executing command: execflow lsdvd -a -n -c -s
-v -Op \/dev\/hdb 2>/dev/null && echo EXECFLOW_OK

The job plan and progress details window gives the following
Read TOC (lsdvd|tcprobe)   0.00% finished
   Read TOC (lsdvd)        0.00%, elapsed 00:02
   READ TOC (tcprobe)      Waiting
       Determine number of titles Waiting

Here are my vitals
Program              Version   
  -------------------------------
  dvd::rip             0.98.8    
  transcode            1.0.5     
  ImageMagick          6.2.8     
  ffmpeg               SVN-rUNKNOWN,
  xvid4conf            1.12      
  subtitle2pgm         0.4       
  lsdvd                0.16      
  rar                  3.70      
  mplayer              1.0       
  ogmtools             1.5       
  dvdxchap             1.5       
  mjpegtools           1.9.0     
  xine                 0.99.5    
  fping                not installed
  hal                  0.5.8     
  -------------------------------

Any help is much appreciated