www.makemkv.com

For VLC I had to play around with Windows Environment Variables before I could get BD-J menus to work. You have to use a certain version of Java and then put the path to that in the Env Variables. I can't remember the details but am pretty sure there was a really helpful reddit thread that I followe...

All hard drives carry risk of failure/corruption including spinning HDDs and both SATA and NVME SSDs. The only way to be certain the files are safe is to have a backup, either another hard drive, cloud storage or in this case you could rip all your discs again, making them the backup. There is sligh...

Hope Asmcom gets well soon. But I would be very wary about the possibility that the ebay customer has bought the drive, swapped in a non-UHD drive they already had into the enclosure, and started a customer return. That way they get their money back and end up with a UHD version for free. I've seen ...

I don't have brightness issues with MPC + madvr, but I did spend a long time fiddling around with settings at the start until I was happy. Presumably there is a brightness control somewhere within mpc that you can adjust? Or possibly the HDR is not turning on correctly? Some software you have to tog...

Thanks for the info. Sounds like flashing it twice is the best of both worlds. Will the SDFtool Flasher (v1.3.6) handle the Flashing to BW-16D1HT 3.02 if I can find it? Or would WH16NS60 1.00 add more capability /stability instead? I just found "All You Need Firmware Pack (MartyMcNuts)" f...

I have half an answer for you. :lol: Cyberlink PowerDVD 24 Ultra. Why half an answer? Because I've only tried it on regular Blurays and not yet on UHD. :oops: I've been using PowerDVd for well over two decades and I'm a fan. I think it originally came with a work Laptop ages ago. I have my main Box...

I have played around with various methods of playback and I would say that although you do get menus on VLC, I find playback to be a bit stuttery even on high spec PCs. MPC-HC is non-stuttery and you can get HDR through madVR, but no menus, so a faff to access special features and any localisation t...

Thanks Coopervid, that worked. Even these older Pioneer drives seem to read problematic discs better than the BU40N.

I have also bought a 209EBK as a spare and would like to be able to read UHD discs, if it's not too much trouble. Drive Information OS device name: \Device\CdRom2 Current profile: BD-ROM Manufacturer: PIONEER Product: BD-RW BDR-209M Revision: 1.20 Serial number: ***** Firmware date: 2014-04-08 Bus e...

but it will also work as UHD playback? Official playback, no, never. Unofficial UHD playback, sure. Just integrate VLC, MPC-HC or whatever player with MakeMKV as it is used as the on-the-fly decrypter. Direct UHD disc playback is not recommended as it will wear out your drive quite a bit faster. di...

It's an even sillier decision on Pioneer's part given that the "official" UHD watching method is now pretty much dead in the water, since Cyberlink PowerDVD stopped supporting watching 4k discs as of September 2023 (itself a consequence of intel no longer supporting sgx). If they can no lo...

There used to be a whole load of PC cases that had vertical 5.25" optical drive bays, we had an HP one in our HTPC and dell was quite fond of them as well. So most 5.25" drives used to be manufactured with the expectation they could be mounted vertically. All the drives I have owned have h...

Have the same issue with the UK new release and have emailed the tgz file.
File name is MKB20_v77_The_Prince_Of_Egypt_0CCC.tgz

Glad I could be of help. If the ASUS struggles to rip without errors (rare but has happened to me), slow down the read speed in MakeMkV. That fixed all but one disc I own that I ripped due to playback errors (before acquiring additional drives), but unless you happen to have the German UHD of Mockin...

Are you using a laptop or a desktop to watch the films? I have always encountered issues watching blus and 4k discs on laptops, I don't know if they have a tendency to power down the USB connection or something which makes the disc freeze. If a desktop, is the external drive plugged straight into th...