Cannot open any 4k UHD discs *NEW USER

[Jd.smith]

Hello All,

was getting a common error of "automatic SDF downloading is disabled or failed" when just opening the software.
brand new to MakeMKV. Never touched it before. already paid for the software, just installed it today.

not new to IT though, so i've been going through the many other threads on this repeat offending topic.

some info on the drive.

Original

Drive Information
OS device name: D:
Manufacturer: ASUS
Product: BW-16D1X-U
Revision: A104
Serial number: [redacted]
Firmware date: 2119-01-04 10:47
Bus encryption flags: 1F

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible (with patched firmware)
Drive platform: MT1959
Harware support: Yes
Firmware support: No
Firmware type: Original (patched version available)
Firmware version: 0.A104W
DVD all regions: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw data read: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw metadata read: Possible (with patched firmware)
Unrestricted read speed: Possible (with patched firmware)

No disc inserted


Flashed using SDFtool Flasher v1.3.5 with ASUS-BW-16D1HT-3.10-WM01601-211901041014.bin from the "all you need firmware pack" (according to a couple of reddit thread this worked)

Drive Information
OS device name: D:
Manufacturer: ASUS
Product: BW-16D1HT
Revision: 3.10
Serial number: [redacted]
Firmware date: 2119-01-04 10:14
Bus encryption flags: 1F
Highest AACS version: 68

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
Firmware type: Patched (microcode access re-enabled)
Firmware version: 3.10
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

No disc inserted

Was getting this just when opening the program:

MakeMKV v1.17.8 win(x64-release) started
Downloading latest SDF to C:\Users\******/.MakeMKV ...
Automatic SDF downloading is disabled or failed.

in the middle-east for work, yes i'm using VPN.
updated my router AND PC to point at google for DNS. 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
have both Nord and express VPN

pulled the latest sdf from "https://www.makemkv.com/svq/sdf.bin" manually. there is an unable to download securely warning but it does actually download after that. renamed the _private_data.tar file, dropped the sdf.bin folder in the directory with it, closed and reopened MakeMKV. sure enough a new private data file is created and the sdf.bin file disappears.

SDF error clears and then I see this:

MakeMKV v1.17.8 win(x64-release) started
Debug logging enabled, log will be saved as C:\Users\********/MakeMKV_log.txt
Profile parsing error: multiple default profiles found, rename your custom profile (not sure what this means and could use some help here)
DEBUG: Code 0 at rt{eq-=Ks_r8Vhw{)jQ[:29395172

cannot open / decrypt any 4k UHD discs with MakeMKV. I've tried 3 different discs (black hawk down, lone survivor and v for vendetta) they all fail with decrypt errors. when I try to do so, the software reads the disc enough to give a title, then tries to download latest HK, fails, then presents the "automatic SDF downloadingis disabled or failed" error again. then decryption fails. ERROR: The volume key is unknown for this disc - video can't be decrypted

system is Win 11.

added the following entry in the hosts file

185.84.108.20 hkdata.crabdance.com hkdata.fairuse.org

flushed dns

connected to vpn. no change. I'm not sure what else to try or check at this point.

[dcoke22]

Can you try different exit points for your VPN? The server your trying to get to is in Russia, so geoIP filtering might be getting the way as well.

[Woodstock]

Actually, there was an article on one of the news sites a day or so ago about Russia blocking a lot of external sites from their citizens for a couple of days, including ALL access through VPNs, which MAY have interfered with accessing the SDF/HK downloads.

[Jd.smith]

Was able to get past the error by doing an uninstall and reinstalled on a drive separate from the OS, also pointed the data directory location to that drive. The latter is what i'm suspecting helped to resolve the issue, changing the data directory location. could be some security restrictions at play in the default locations getting in the way. Still connected to the same vpn location. did not reboot. did not place any new white-listings in bitdefender or entries in the hosts file. no new network changes.

as a test after it worked the first time, I deleted everything and uninstalled makemkv. reinstalled the software, applied the license, pointed the data directory at the same location. this time did not manually pull the sdf.bin file but instead opted to just load up the program and try a disc out. the updates worked.

Maybe some geo-block just happened to be lifted at or around the same time that I did all this, no way for me to know that. If not, hopefully this helps someone else with the same problem.

that being said with debug on ripping my first disc there's all kinds of errors present with minimum title lengths, audio sync errors and forced subtitles being empty. should that go into a new thread or is there some kind of documentation I missed that could help me look over settings? maybe I have something set wrong and that's causing some of those errors.

[dcoke22]

that being said with debug on ripping my first disc there's all kinds of errors present with minimum title lengths, audio sync errors and forced subtitles being empty. should that go into a new thread or is there some kind of documentation I missed that could help me look over settings? maybe I have something set wrong and that's causing some of those errors.

Minimum Title Length messages are just informational. You can change the threshold for minimum title length on the video tab in MakeMKV's preferences.

Forced subtitles being empty and removed is also just informational. Things are working as designed.

AV sync errors are usually nothing to worry about.

You can read more details in the MakeMKV FAQ.

[Jd.smith]

that being said with debug on ripping my first disc there's all kinds of errors present with minimum title lengths, audio sync errors and forced subtitles being empty. should that go into a new thread or is there some kind of documentation I missed that could help me look over settings? maybe I have something set wrong and that's causing some of those errors.

Minimum Title Length messages are just informational. You can change the threshold for minimum title length on the video tab in MakeMKV's preferences.

Forced subtitles being empty and removed is also just informational. Things are working as designed.

AV sync errors are usually nothing to worry about.

You can read more details in the MakeMKV FAQ.

awesome, thanks!