Backing up HD-DVD discs in 2026?

[maples]

Hello,

I recently started backing up my media library, and I have some HD-DVD discs which I would like to back up (Specifically, Star Trek: The Original Series, all 3 seasons, on the HD-DVD and standard-DVD combo pack with one format on each side of the physical disc).

However, I've had a quite difficult time getting MakeMKV to work with these discs.

The drive is a LG GGW-H20L, and it seems to be in good working condition. I've used it to successfully back up several DVD and Blu-Ray discs without issue.

Operating system is Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, with MakeMKV installed via https://launchpad.net/~heyarje/+archive ... kemkv-beta

When I insert a disc then open MakeMKV, it seems to hang indefinitely on the "detecting CD-ROM drives" step.
When I open MakeMKV, select the drive, then insert a disc, I get the spinning disk icon indefinitely. (When this happens, the /usr/bin/makemkvcon guiserver A0001+shm process goes to 100% of a single CPU.)

Once, I was able to get MakeMKV to the "Decrypting" step, but I have not been able to replicate that.

I have heard that sometimes there is an issue with the physical disc degrading. So I tried taking a disc image with `ddrescue`. It completed with no errors (and at a decent speed too, about a half hour for a 21GB image). So I don't think it's an issue with the physical disc.

I tried opening the ISO file itself in MakeMKV, but that didn't work either. It opened the ISO okay, then spent some time on the "Decrypting" step, then outputted this error log:

Code: Select all

MakeMKV v1.18.3 linux(x64-release) started
Debug logging enabled, log will be saved as /home/anthony/MakeMKV_log.txt
Evaluation version, 26 day(s) out of 30 remaining
DEBUG: Code 0 at S{\1-j6N>Jamw4_#:121267063
Title #CBS.EVO has length of 34 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
Title #Intro.EVO has length of 22 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
Title #black.EVO has length of 30 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
Title #Legal_ES.EVO has length of 5 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
Title #Disclaimer_ES.EVO has length of 5 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/menu.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 727040, attempting to work around
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/menu.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 755712, attempting to work around
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/menu.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 755712, attempting to work around
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/menu.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 786432, attempting to work around
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/menu.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 786432, attempting to work around
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/menu.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 817152, attempting to work around
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/menu.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 817152, attempting to work around
DEBUG: Code 0 at rS'kX[?E+(}mX}1,lG$:213132376
DEBUG: Code 0 at rS'kX[?E+(}mX}1,lG$:213131272
DEBUG: Code 0 at Hf16[[(@X"xi$qX<cOP*:213131157
DEBUG: Code 0 at Hf16[[(@X"xi$qX<cOP*:121262647
DEBUG: Code 425 at Hf16[[(@X"xi$qX<cOP*:121261773
DEBUG: Code 0 at 6ys2-Sj@+U2`ewnXI>8;;:213129984
DEBUG: Code 0 at 6ke}K!XcO4K"uoO)%e8A3:121268972
DEBUG: Code 1 at ZLYTr,ep,n=\)Iug:121262578
DEBUG: Code 0 at g/{GRX8Y<-5!C~6:213138494
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/Eps07.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 8192, attempting to work around
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/Eps07.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 18432, attempting to work around
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/Eps07.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 18432, attempting to work around
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/Eps07.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 32768, attempting to work around
DEBUG: Code 0 at rS'kX[?E+(}mX}1,lG$:213132376
DEBUG: Code 0 at rS'kX[?E+(}mX}1,lG$:213131272
DEBUG: Code 0 at Hf16[[(@X"xi$qX<cOP*:213131157
DEBUG: Code 0 at Hf16[[(@X"xi$qX<cOP*:121262647
DEBUG: Code 19 at Hf16[[(@X"xi$qX<cOP*:121261773
DEBUG: Code 0 at 6ys2-Sj@+U2`ewnXI>8;;:213129984
DEBUG: Code 0 at 6ke}K!XcO4K"uoO)%e8A3:121268972
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/Eps07.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 32768, attempting to work around
DEBUG: Code 2 at ZLYTr,ep,n=\)Iug:121262578
DEBUG: Code 0 at g/{GRX8Y<-5!C~6:213138494
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/Eps05.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 6144, attempting to work around
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/Eps05.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 10240, attempting to work around
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/Eps05.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 10240, attempting to work around
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/Eps05.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 14336, attempting to work around
DEBUG: Code 0 at rS'kX[?E+(}mX}1,lG$:213132376
DEBUG: Code 0 at rS'kX[?E+(}mX}1,lG$:213131272
DEBUG: Code 0 at Hf16[[(@X"xi$qX<cOP*:213131157
DEBUG: Code 0 at Hf16[[(@X"xi$qX<cOP*:121262647
DEBUG: Code 9 at Hf16[[(@X"xi$qX<cOP*:121261773
DEBUG: Code 0 at 6ys2-Sj@+U2`ewnXI>8;;:213129984
DEBUG: Code 0 at 6ke}K!XcO4K"uoO)%e8A3:121268972
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/Eps05.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 14336, attempting to work around
DEBUG: Code 2 at ZLYTr,ep,n=\)Iug:121262578
DEBUG: Code 0 at g/{GRX8Y<-5!C~6:213138494
DEBUG: Code 0 at rS'kX[?E+(}mX}1,lG$:213132376
DEBUG: Code 0 at rS'kX[?E+(}mX}1,lG$:213131272
DEBUG: Code 0 at Hf16[[(@X"xi$qX<cOP*:213131157
DEBUG: Code 0 at Hf16[[(@X"xi$qX<cOP*:121262647
DEBUG: Code 4 at Hf16[[(@X"xi$qX<cOP*:121261773
DEBUG: Code 0 at 6ys2-Sj@+U2`ewnXI>8;;:213129984
DEBUG: Code 0 at 6ke}K!XcO4K"uoO)%e8A3:121268972
The source file '/HVDVD_TS/Eps04.EVO' is corrupt or invalid at offset 6144, attempting to work around
DEBUG: Code 2 at ZLYTr,ep,n=\)Iug:121262578
DEBUG: Code 0 at g/{GRX8Y<-5!C~6:213138494
Failed to open disc

I've attached a copy of MakeMKV_log.txt from reading the ISO; I skimmed it but nothing stuck out to me as abnormal besides the errors outputted above.

For kicks and giggles, I spun up a Windows VM and installed MakeMKV there to try to read the ISO, but got the same results.

Any ideas on what I should try next?

Thanks!

[wiliamcorlin]

Hey, interesting setup — don’t see HD-DVD questions much anymore

From what you described, it actually doesn’t sound like a drive issue. The fact that ddrescue pulled a clean 21GB image at normal speed is a pretty good sign your LG GGW-H20L is reading the disc fine at the hardware level.

The errors you’re getting in MakeMKV (all those .EVO “corrupt or invalid” messages) point more toward MakeMKV struggling with the HD-DVD structure itself, not necessarily physical damage. HD-DVD support in MakeMKV has always been a bit spotty compared to DVD/BD, and it hasn’t really been a focus for years.

Also the “detecting CD-ROM drives” hang + makemkvcon pegging CPU is something I’ve seen mentioned before with older formats — kind of like it gets stuck parsing the disc layout.

One thing I’d try is instead of going through MakeMKV first, open the ISO with something like VLC or another tool that supports HD-DVD structure and see if the .EVO files actually play нормально. If they do, that confirms the data is fine and it’s just a MakeMKV limitation.

Another angle — those combo discs can be weird. Since they’re HD-DVD on one side and DVD on the other, sometimes detection gets confused depending on how the drive reports it.

When you mount the ISO, do you see a clean /HVDVD_TS structure with proper .EVO files, and can any of them be played directly outside of MakeMKV? That might help narrow down whether it’s parsing vs actual data issues.

[m20120]

I was going to ask if your drive (GGW-H20L) supports reading HD-DVD, but a quick google search seems to indicated that it should.

I have a bunch of HD-DVD titles (including the Star Trek set you mentioned). I backed them up years ago and also was able to rip another HD-DVD title in the past few months. I am using an external Microsoft XBox HD-DVD player that I bought a long time ago. Running MakeMKV on Windows with no issues. I am not sure if you have enough HD-DVD titles that makes it worth finding a different drive or not. The XBox 360 HD-DVD drives do seem to be around and might do the trick.