www.makemkv.com

I recently purchased the Pioneer BDR-XS07UHD with the intention of using it to rip my growing media collection. The drive worked great for the first disc, but then I noticed that at some point it stopped responding - it doesn't spin-up, makemkv reports "The program can't find any usable optical drives", and in general I'm unable to access the contents of the drive from Windows. I can't be sure since I was multitasking, but I think it started having problems after cancelling a makemkv rip (I noticed I was ripping to the wrong folder).

I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong here. I'd love to know if anyone else has experienced problems with Pioneer drives.

Here's what I've tried so far to resolve the issue (in no specific order):
- Reinstalling the firmware using the utility found here (https://pioneer.jp/device_e/product-e/i ... #firmware1), but the tool seems unable to find the drive either, reporting "Available target is not found."
- Opening Device Manager and uninstalling the device, and trying to find more-recent drivers (none were found by Windows)
- plugging it into my work Mac (2019 i9 MacBook Pro)
- plugging it into my desktop (win11, intel 8086k, gtx1080ti, etc.)
- unplugging and plugging it back into my laptop (2015 Razer Blade 14)

Luckily Amazon was willing to refund the cost of the drive, but I still have a disc stuck inside that I'd like to remove, and it'd be great to get the drive working again since otherwise it's just e-waste. Might have to tear it apart in order to retrieve the disk.

The manual for your drive talks about a 'forced ejection' drive utility. I wonder if the drive utility sees the drive and can eject the disc?

I downloaded the tool but it immediately closes whenever I try to open it. I tried running it as Administrator and in compatibility mode for windows 8 to no avail.

I'll try the tool on my other computer during my lunch break and report back; hopefully that PC can open the tool without issue.

I got the tool to load on my desktop but it didn't recognize the drive. I've been emailing back and forth with pioneer to see if there's any steps to resolve this. I'll update here again if I come up with a solution.

This is why I will never, ever buy a slot load drive!!

So after unplugging and re-plugging in the drive does the eject button still not work? Does the drive make a sound when pressing eject? Does the drive make a sound when you first plug in the USB cable? Does the drive appear in windows explorer? If so, can you eject from the right click menu?

Does the drive have a power port at the back? If so, could you plug in a power cord just to eject the disc?

No, the drive doesn't make any sounds at all - when plugging in, unplugging, hitting eject, etc. - nothing. The drive does not appear in Windows explorer either. Ejecting the drive does nothing either. Windows device manager reports the drive as "USB device" or something like that, not the name of the device. Probably some sort of firmware issue.
I was able to remove the disc by prying off the top plastic enclosure and removing the 7-8 screws on the top of the metal enclosure, which revealed the disc. Not something you should have to do with a new drive.

I decided to purchase a drive from Billycar11, and it should arrive tomorrow. If I don't end up posting about this topic again it can be assumed that it earns my endorsement. The same can't be said about these Pioneer drives.
Despite already being refunded by Amazon, Pioneer said they'd warranty-replace my drive. Pretty good customer service. I'm not sure if I'll even open the box, though; I'll probably just sell it to someone else who cares to roll the dice on it. Or I'll keep it around for when I want to ~2x my ripping throughput.

Hopefully someone else in the future can make use out of some of this information. Seems like Pioneer are pretty willing to honor their 1 year warranty if you ask them about it. Having said that, I'd avoid this drive in the future.