Does MakeMKV require other software?

[CurlyBen]

This will probably sound like a dumb question, but does MakeMKV require commercial software such as WinDVD to be installed in order to access some discs? I've tried searching but not come up with any relevant results.

The reason for the question is I'm having real difficulty getting either my laptop (which came with WinDVD, though I think a fairly old edition) or my desktop (which just has a cheap Lite-On drive with no commercial Blu Ray playing software) to reliably read Blu Rays, but I'm having marginally more success with my laptop. I'm doubtful this is the cause but I'd like to rule it out before wasting more time trying to work out what on earth is going on!

Cheers

Ben

[Woodstock]

MakeMKV does its work all by itself.

If you're installing on Linux, there are certain free libraries that need to be installed, but the Windows and Mac versions have everything "built in".

[CurlyBen]

MakeMKV does its work all by itself.

If you're installing on Linux, there are certain free libraries that need to be installed, but the Windows and Mac versions have everything "built in".

Thanks. In that case is there anything that's likely to cause a BR drive not to recognise discs? I've tried several (some brand new, not all from the same set etc.) and they're not being recognised by either of my computers. I'm running Windows 7 and generally Windows and MakeMKV can't even detect a disc in the drive. I don't think it's the drives themselves that are faulty though, as a couple of discs will play (discs 1 and 2 of the Firefly series work, but the disc 3 has the same problem). I think the problem started after I tried to read a Harry Potter BR, and now can't read discs I have read previously. If it makes any difference one drive is reporting level 9 AACS, the other level 26.

I realise this isn't a MakeMKV problem but any help or pointers on where to look would be great, as this is driving me nuts!

[Woodstock]

When you installed the BD drive, did you also install other software with it?

I had problems such as you describe when I had "Bluray software" installed. Since I no longer watch BDs directly (EVERY disk I buy goes through MakeMKV before viewing), I uninstalled the "BD drivers", and a LOT of problems went away.

[CurlyBen]

The laptop came pre-installed with Corel WinDVD, which doesn't work either. The desktop was a bare drive and has VLC installed but nothing else which is interested in Blu Ray. I've also tried both with Linux running from a USB stick and get the same results (with one odd exception - my laptop will recognise one particular BR when running on Linux, but not Windows). I'm really quite confused about it. If it was software issue it would be a little unusual for it to affect two different computers at the same time but certainly shouldn't persist when switching to another operating system, but the chances of both pieces of hardware failing in the same unusual way (a couple of BR discs do work fine) are pretty slim as well. My initial thought was that it was some kind of DRM/copy protection system, but that shouldn't stop Windows/Linux seeing the disc and certainly shouldn't prevent me watching with WinDVD.

[Woodstock]

Is the BD drive a USB type? If so, is it powered by the USB port, or via an adapter?

There are some USB powered DVD and BD drives out there that are fine when playing a disk, but generate lots of errors during a rip. The reason is that the port they're plugged into does not provide enough current to run them at high speeds. Some of these will come with special cables to let you plug them into two ports at the same time (USB limits the power on a single port), but using a powered hub can often fix the problem.

I first encountered this when a friend's USB hard drives would go off-line if he used his USB printer. It all went away when he switched out his passive (i.e., powered by the computer) hub for one with its own power supply.

[CurlyBen]

They're both internal SATA drives. I'm fairly sure now it's not a MakeMKV issue but I can't work out whether it's a different software problem or a hardware issue. Driving me slightly nuts!