www.makemkv.com

A similar question was asked in July 2014 with the topic "can't move the MKV file". I want to ask it in a different way.

To save anyone referring back, the issue was the file size limit for FAT32, which is 4GByte. MakeMKV will not copy any title larger than 4GByte to a FAT 32 device. Since a single layer DVD will hold 4.7GByte that excludes a lot of single layer DVDs, most dual layer DVDs and most blu-rays.

The answer suggested was to use NTFS. That is not an acceptable solution. I have been there. On one occasion I lost 5GByte of data trying to remove an NTFS drive. According to Microsoft, Windows regards NTFS drives as permanently mounted. They can only be removed safely by shutting down Windows first.

Apart from that I want to use the same drives with PVR devices, most of which only support FAT32.

To take one dual layer DVD as an example, MakeMKV shows the main title has 12 chapters in a total of 6.2 GByte, so it refuses to copy it to a FAT32 drive. It does copy the trailers which are smaller. If I look at the file structure in Windows Explorer it shows the main title has 6 .vob files of 1GByte each and 1 of 460MByte.

Would it be possible to add an option to follow the .vob structure? Would it be possible to add an option to have one file for each chapter?

Also please can the time limit for creating a forum post be increased, so I don't lose everything when I have to log in again when I try to post it?

Very, very strange - EVERY flash drive I have that is larger than 4GB is formatted NTFS, and I don't have the problems you report, so long as I eject the device properly. Even back when I was running WinXP, this was not an issue.

With flash drives, compatibility with other users can be a problem.

FAT32 - universal support, 4GB file limit
ExFAT - Win7+ and Mac OS X support, large file support
NTFS - Windows and Linux read/write support, OS X read-only, many hardware players at least read NTFS, large file support.

As for ripping by chapter, for DVDs, you can use the "Manual" mode to open the disk, and specify title:segment to create files in smaller chunks. It doesn't work for Bluray, but limiting yourself to FAT32 is problematic for BD anyway.

http://www.makemkv.com/manualdvd/

Edited to add: USB connected hard drives formatted as NTFS are also "removable" under Win7 and later. Depending upon your motherboard, SATA and eSATA are also removable, but you have to set up Windows to use ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) to hot-swap SATA. My system has several hot-swapable 4TB drives on it under Windows... Just need to use "Safely remove hardware" to get it to release them.

As for ripping by chapter, for DVDs, you can use the "Manual" mode to open the disk, and specify title:segment to create files in smaller chunks. It doesn't work for Bluray, but limiting yourself to FAT32 is problematic for BD anyway.

/manualdvd/

Thanks, that's very useful. I was able to split it into two files, chapters 1-6 and 7-12, of 3.2GByte each.

As for removing a NTFS drive, I can't remember which OS lost 5 GByte of data but I have often been told over and over again in XP and Vista a NTFS device could not be removed because it was still in use. I thought it also happened with Windows 7, but I would need to check. Anyway the main constraint is that I want to be able to play files on Labgear HDSR260 and Triax HDS110 satellite receivers, which only support FAT32.

I haven't yet been able to try blu-ray. The COOLEAD USB2 drive I have just bought will not work with the ICH7 chipset and/or XP on my laptop. It appears to install correctly on the first attempt. Later attempts have a warning it may not work correctly and a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager. It has lots of Device does not exist errors, and then it disappears from the list of drives. I'll try it on other machines with other OSs when I get home.

In Windows, double check to see if the drive is set up for 'Quick Removal' or "Better Performance". In Windows 7:
a) Open My Computer
b) Right Click the Drive, and select properties
c) Select the hardware tab, find the drive and click properties
d) If UAC is enabled, on the first tab, select 'Change Settings'
e) On the policies tab, set it to "Quick Removal"

It may help with the drive not being unmountable, while producing minimal speed reductions