Please show the drive letter in the MakeMKV window

[mkvfanclub]

The source information just shows this:

Type: DVD disc
Name: DVDVolume

The titles listing just shows the titles.

Even the log doesn't show the drive letter of the source drive.

Problem #1 - I have 3 DVD drives and I use MakeMKV (fully paid for with genuine key) to rip from all 3 drives at the same time. So I put a disc in each drive and click the scan option to get the titles, etc.

Problem #1 - when the scan of all discs is finished, I have to manually enter a path for each MakeMKV instance because MakeMKV saves the path centrally - this is fine, I don't mind doing this every time, but MakeMKV doesn't tell me which drive letter that instance of MakeMKV is going to be ripping from. So I don't know whether to enter Disc1, Disc2, Disc3, etc, because MakeMKV doesn't tell me the source drive letter.

Problem #2 - it's usual that each of the MKV instances will finish ripping at different times. So when the first MakeMKV instance finishes ripping, I need to move the files into a proper folder so that I can re-use the temp folder. Except MakeMKV doesn't say which drive letter has finished ripping. So right now, I have 3 copies of MakeMKV running. All I know is that the files in D3 have finished ripping. But I don't know which drive that instance of MakeMKV was using. Looking at the drive activity LED doesn't do any good because two drives might have finished ripping and I don't know which MakeMKV instance is for which drive.

Problem #3 - I need to manually name the files that MakeMKV has ripped. To do this, I need to open the DVD disc in VLC. But I only want to do this after it has finished ripping otherwise trying to open a DVD disc that's currently being ripped causes issues. So I fire up VLC and ask it to open a DVD disc. VLC wants to know the drive letter I want to open. I have no idea because MakeMKV doesn't tell me which drive letter it has finished ripping. So I have to wait for all 3 discs to finish ripping before I can safely play the discs and rename the files.

This is actually quite a big hassle, having to deal with this every single time I rip from 3 drives concurrently and the solution just seems so simple. So please just show the DVD drive letter in the Source information on the right-side of MakeMKV. Surely that's not much to ask? After all, the drive letter does fit right in there with 'Source information' and actually, it's strange not to include it in 'Source information'. It would be nice to see it in the log shown in the lower portion of the MakeMKV window too.

I paid over £50 for this software and it's great software and my suggestion is surely really small - showing a drive letter for the drive you are ripping from in Source Information just seems to obvious, it's surprising it's not in there already. So hopefully you can consider it. If the 'Source information' area is not possible, maybe MakeMKV can show the drive letter in the window title as many other programs do.

Thank you.

[Chetwood]

Have you tried one of the batch ripping tools mentioned here on the forum and compared the total rip time to your approach?

[dcoke22]

Do you have 'Ask for single drive mode:' checked on the IO tab in preferences? For the duration of a session, that ties an instance of MakeMKV to a particular drive which I think might help.

[mkvfanclub]

Do you have 'Ask for single drive mode:' checked on the IO tab in preferences? For the duration of a session, that ties an instance of MakeMKV to a particular drive which I think might help.

Yes, of course. I need to have that checked otherwise there's no way to rip from 3 drives at the same time. After launching MakeMKV and selecting the drive I want to use, I'm aware that the same drive will be used for that instance of the program. My point is that after selecting a drive to use, MakeMKV doesn't show the drive letter anywhere after that point. I don't know why such a small detail cannot be shown in the drive information, source information, log file or even window title bar. It's very strange to offer multi-rip support and to ask which drive letter the program should use, but then not show the drive letter anywhere.

As regards to people on here suggesting I use alternative software (mainly their own), I want to use MakeMKV. MakeMKV is an absolute gem of a DVD ripper. It's the gold standard of DVD ripper. It's the best DVD ripper out there bar none and this is why I paid over £50 for MakeMKV even though the beta key is completely free and will probably remain free as long as the program exists. I paid for the software, not because I needed to, but more as a thank you to the developer for creating such a fine and useful product.

So after buying the software, I have a tiny little suggestion to the developer which is to show the drive letter in the program so that while a rip is in progress and when a rip is finished, I can see instantly which drive the program is attached to. Other software doesn't come into it.

Imagine the Windows Format utility if it didn't show the drive letter in the window. So it asks when you first start it which drive do you want to use. You tell it and then it says 'Are you sure you want to format your Western Digital HD?' and maybe you have 4 Western Digital HDs so if you have multiple copies of the program running, you have no idea which drive each copy is referring to other than that one initial startup question. Wouldn't you think it stupid that the program didn't refer to the drive by its assigned letter?

Imagine Acronis TrueImage if it didn't show the drive letter during backup or restore. Are you sure you want to backup your Western Digital Hard Drive to your Western Digital Hard drive? Er... not sure.

Imagine a disk defragmenter that didn't show the drive letter.

Imagine using the command line without drive letters. Directory listing of Western Digital Hard Drive. I have 4 of them. Which one is it referring to? Oh yes, it's obvious, the program shows the serial number. I'll just open up my computer and check the serial number shown on the drive label. It's obvious!

All of these things show the drive letter in the program window because it's the obvious bit of information that you need because you need to stay aware of which drive that instance of the program is using. MakeMKV should do the same.

[dcoke22]

I use a Mac, which doesn't have drive letters. However, I think MakeMKV will tell you which drive letter the drive is using in the Drive Information section on the right side before you click scan.

[mkvfanclub]

I use Windows.

If there is no disc in the drive when I launch MakeMKV, the drive letter is shown in Device Information.

However, after inserting a disc, MakeMKV detects it automatically and does a little scan automatically. MakeMKV then removes the drive letter from Device Information and instead shows device name (such as \Device\CdRom0).

The drive letter is then never shown again.

I would like it to be shown in the title bar, source dropdown menu, in the information panel and in the log panel (or some of those at least). What I need is that when MakeMKV has finished ripping the disc, MakeMKV shows the drive letter for the disc it has just ripped so I know I can now open that drive letter in VLC or something.

As it stands, MakeMKV doesn't show the drive letter at all (unless there is no disc in the drive which isn't much use) so when it's finished ripping, I have no idea which drive letter MakeMKV just ripped. So I don't know which drive letter to open in VLC Player.

To give a comparison, if I launch VLC Player and then click Open Disc, it lets me choose the disc by drive letter. It then shows the drive letter in the window title bar permanently so I can always see which disc that copy of VLC Player is playing. I can launch multiple copies of VLC Player and it will show the drive letter for each copy in the title bar. If I click Media Information, it shows the drive letter there too. So I don't see why MakeMKV can't show the drive letter in the title bar.