Need help making MKVs from ISOs ripped from a LibreDrive

[Drew Neilson]

I've been searching and so far have not found a simple concise answer.
I ripped ISOs of most of my UHD Blu-rays, Blu-rays, and DVDs using PowerISO on Windows 10, from an LG WH16NS60 drive running LibreDrive firmware 1.03 with microcode access re-enabled. I want to make MKVs from those ISOs. How *exactly* do I do this? I've read other threads here that discuss extracting the contents of an ISO to a folder--for example, C:/users/myusername/videos/movies/copiedmoviedisc (replacing "myusername" with my actual username, and replacing "copiedmoviedisc" with the actual movie/disc name)--starting a backup of the actual disc in MakeMKV--where the backup is being created in a different directory--immediately cancelling the backup, and moving the discatt.dat file from the folder that MakeMKV created it in to the "copiedmoviedisc" folder.
This process isn't working for me.
I also just read that with ISOs created using LibreDrives, the discatt.dat file isn't necessary because the ISOs contain *everything* due to the fact that disc microcode access was enabled during the ISO file creation. This is why I felt that it was necessary for me to include "ripped from a LibreDrive" in this post's title.
So, I hope that someone will clear up my confusion. I apologize if this subject has already been covered, but I have not been able to get this to work.
Please note that I have not updated MakeMKV nor my drive's firmware since creating those ISOs--which was between half a year and a year ago, IIRC--because I read that the discatt.dat file must be created from the same drive and the same drive firmware version as the ISO that it is supposed to go with.

[Billycar11]

If you didn't first open the disc in makemkv then copy the iso then it is useless and can't be decrypted because it's double encrypted buss plus the moves encryption it.

[Drew Neilson]

If you didn't first open the disc in makemkv then copy the iso then it is useless and can't be decrypted because it's double encrypted buss plus the moves encryption it.

While I don't remember the exact workflow that I used when I created the ISOs, I had MakeMKV installed before I used PowerISO to create any of them. What I *don't* remember is whether or not I *actively* mounted each disc in MakeMKV before ripping the ISO in PowerISO. I'll look through the notes in my OneNote notebook to see if I wrote any notes detailing what I did, because as I learn new computer- and electronics-related stuff, I often take notes in OneNote. I *might have* mounted them in MakeMKV before ripping them in PowerISO.

I'll re-rip my discs if I have to, but I'd prefer to rip volume images of them--ISO or similar volume image format--for archival purposes, with everything on them in an unchanged state. It'd be ideal if there is ripping software that works like MakeMKV by creating decrypted files that can immediately be played on a media player or put into a media server such as Emby, and *also* creates a volume image file, such as an ISO, that MKVs can be made from in the future. That way I could, for example, immediately make MKVs of each of the main features, and make MKVs of the special features from those volume images at a later date. That way, I could put my movies into my media server now, and worry about the special features at a later date, and when I want to make MKVs of the special features, those MKVs will be created faster because they'll be created from the volume image file on my hard drive instead of from the optical disc.

In addition, there is a case to be made for creating bit-for-bit backups of discs. People can use volume images to make new MKVs without having to dig out their discs and put them into optical drives. Here is an example use case. MakeMKV didn't support Dolby Vision until a few years ago, and before that, when people made MKVs from UHD Blu-rays that had Dolby Vision, that Dolby Vision metadata was lost or messed up, making it so that when MakeMKV started supporting Dolby Vision, those people needed to re-rip their discs to get DV. MakeMKV's 'backup' feature would not have helped, because the backups would also not have intact Dolby Vision.

If those users had made volume images of their discs, the video within those volume images would have intact Dolby Vision, and furthermore, those users could have recreated their MKVs from those images instead of from discs, making the process of recreating them faster, if the drives that they stored those images on are faster than their optical drives.

[SamuriHL]

I use PowerISO from time to time to create protected ISO backups. However, I do this from a powershell script. Here is a sample of how this works e.g. on my E: drive:

Code: Select all

$Volume = Get-CIMInstance  -Class Win32_Volume -Filter "DriveLetter = 'E:'"
$filename=$volume.Label
$ext=".ISO"
Write-Host $filename$ext

invoke-command -scriptblock {makemkvcon64.exe info dev:E: --noscan}

invoke-command -scriptblock {piso.exe make-image E: -o d:\VIDEOS\$filename$ext}

What this does is get the volume label from the disc inserted in the E drive, enable LibreDrive to disable bus encryption using makemkvcon64 command line, and then uses PowerISO command line to create the protected ISO. Skipping the enable LibreDrive part of this equation on a UHD (or blu-ray that supports bus encryption) will result in a corrupt ISO image. That part is VERY important. In any case, this script has worked for me many times, although I use a different process these days.

(P.S. This assumes makemkvcon64.exe and piso.exe are in your path)

[dcoke22]

In addition, there is a case to be made for creating bit-for-bit backups of discs. People can use volume images to make new MKVs without having to dig out their discs and put them into optical drives. Here is an example use case. MakeMKV didn't support Dolby Vision until a few years ago, and before that, when people made MKVs from UHD Blu-rays that had Dolby Vision, that Dolby Vision metadata was lost or messed up, making it so that when MakeMKV started supporting Dolby Vision, those people needed to re-rip their discs to get DV. MakeMKV's 'backup' feature would not have helped, because the backups would also not have intact Dolby Vision.

I'm not sure that's true. Yes, it took a while for MakeMKV to support putting DV data into a .mkv container. And if you had made a .mkv with MakeMKV before support was added, you needed to re-rip. But I think it is true that if you had a disc backup made with MakeMKV before support was added, and used that backup with a version of MakeMKV after that support was added, you would get a correct .mkv file.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=22513&p=93358#p93358

^ That post appears to Mike saying as much is true.

[Drew Neilson]

I use PowerISO from time to time to create protected ISO backups. However, I do this from a powershell script. Here is a sample of how this works e.g. on my E: drive:

Code: Select all

$Volume = Get-CIMInstance  -Class Win32_Volume -Filter "DriveLetter = 'E:'"
$filename=$volume.Label
$ext=".ISO"
Write-Host $filename$ext

invoke-command -scriptblock {makemkvcon64.exe info dev:E: --noscan}

invoke-command -scriptblock {piso.exe make-image E: -o d:\VIDEOS\$filename$ext}

What this does is get the volume label from the disc inserted in the E drive, enable LibreDrive to disable bus encryption using makemkvcon64 command line, and then uses PowerISO command line to create the protected ISO. Skipping the enable LibreDrive part of this equation on a UHD (or blu-ray that supports bus encryption) will result in a corrupt ISO image. That part is VERY important. In any case, this script has worked for me many times, although I use a different process these days.

(P.S. This assumes makemkvcon64.exe and piso.exe are in your path)

Cool, thanks. I'd like to modify this script and can use whatever help you can provide.
1. What would this script be if it was written as a batch file? I have *limited* experience with writing batch scripts and so I'll look into this myself and I'll try to remember to post my results in this thread, when I have them. However, I have no experience with PowerShell, and so I don't completely know how to read your code.
-- I already have some batch files that I might want to add the functionality of your script to, but they are batch files, not PowerShell files.
-- As I understand it, PowerShell scripts cannot be executed in an automated way, such as via Windows AutoPlay, while batch scripts can be. While I could add to my batch files some shim code that loads your PowerShell script, executes it, and then returns to the batch script, it might be better to have all of the required functionality in the batch script.

2. It needs to save each ISO and its discatt.dat file in a folder that is separate from the other ISOs and discatt.dat files.

[SamuriHL]

1. Can't be done in a bat file. That's why I wrote it as a powershell script. No idea why you believe that it can't be executed the same as any bat file but that's simply not true. They get saved to .ps1 files and can be executed using the powershell executable. If you don't care what the ISO is named, you can do it in a bat file but I explicitly use powershell commands to get the disc label to make the ISO. Otherwise it's just two commands that can be thrown in a bat file:

makemkvcon64.exe info dev:E: --noscan
piso.exe make-image E: -o d:\VIDEOS\whatever_you_decide_to_call_it.iso

2. Has nothing at all to do with my script. You'd have to figure out how to script that on your own as I have zero desire for that. Given that the ISO is not bus encrypted using this method, the discatt.dat file is completely irrelevant anyway.

[Ezatoka]

but I explicitly use powershell commands to get the disc label to make the ISO

As we're on Windows here (if D is the drive letter for the drive):
wmic volume where "Driveletter like '%D%'" get label

Code: Select all

Label
DCU_DARK_NIGHT_PART2

Just need to ignore the first line and there you have the name. Remember to double the % if you're using that in a batch file (e.g. wmic volume where "Driveletter like '%%D%%'" get label)

[Drew Neilson]

No idea why you believe that it can't be executed the same as any bat file but that's simply not true. They get saved to .ps1 files and can be executed using the powershell executable.

https://www.addictivetips.com/windows-t ... indows-10/
This says that PowerShell scripts cannot be run automatically. I'd want the PowerShell script to run via Windows' AutoPlay whenever I insert a Blu-ray or a DVD. This site says that the way I'd make that happen is by using some BAT code as a shim.

2. Has nothing at all to do with my script. You'd have to figure out how to script that on your own as I have zero desire for that. Given that the ISO is not bus encrypted using this method, the discatt.dat file is completely irrelevant anyway.

The original purpose of having the script put each ISO and discatt.dat file in its own folder is to help prevent each discatt.dat file from getting disconnected/lost from the ISO that it is supposed to go with. However, if the discatt.dat file isn't necessary, then that's that.

[SamuriHL]

but I explicitly use powershell commands to get the disc label to make the ISO

As we're on Windows here (if D is the drive letter for the drive):
wmic volume where "Driveletter like '%D%'" get label

Code: Select all

Label
DCU_DARK_NIGHT_PART2

Just need to ignore the first line and there you have the name. Remember to double the % if you're using that in a batch file (e.g. wmic volume where "Driveletter like '%%D%%'" get label)

Nifty. Was just easier for me to use powershell since, as you said, we're on windows.

[SamuriHL]

https://www.addictivetips.com/windows-t ... indows-10/
This says that PowerShell scripts cannot be run automatically. I'd want the PowerShell script to run via Windows' AutoPlay whenever I insert a Blu-ray or a DVD. This site says that the way I'd make that happen is by using some BAT code as a shim.

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

https://www.delftstack.com/howto/powers ... atch-file/

If you really "need" a bat file, there you go.

[Drew Neilson]

As we're on Windows here (if D is the drive letter for the drive):
wmic volume where "Driveletter like '%D%'" get label

Code: Select all

Label
DCU_DARK_NIGHT_PART2

Just need to ignore the first line and there you have the name. Remember to double the % if you're using that in a batch file (e.g. wmic volume where "Driveletter like '%%D%%'" get label)

I am using it in a batch file.

Code: Select all

wmic volume where "Driveletter like '%%D%%'" get label

Does that line create a variable called "label" whose value is the volume name? If not, how would I set a variable named "label", "volume", or something like that and whose value is the disc's volume name/label? I want to make piso save the ISO with the volume's name being the file name.

EDIT:
This is the relevant portion of my BAT script, as it is currently written, after reading the responses so far:

Code: Select all

cmd /c start "" /High makemkvcon64.exe info dev:H: --noscan
wmic volume where "Driveletter like '%%H%%'" get label
cmd /c start "" /High "C:\Program Files\PowerISO\piso.exe" make-image H: -o F:\.iso\unsorted\!label! -ot iso

My optical drive's letter is H, and the volume that I want the ISO saved to is F.

Code: Select all

cmd /c start "" /High

starts the relevant executable with a process priority of "high". I need to make sure that I've put into quotation marks everything that needs to be in quotation marks, and nothing else.

[SamuriHL]

Code: Select all

for /f %%i in ('wmic volume where "Driveletter like '%%D%%'" get label') do set LABEL=%%i

May work. Although given that you need to skip the first line of the output, you may want to look up the tokens keyword for batch files and just assign it the last line of the output.