Drive Recommendations for Noob Not Concerned w/UHD

[Jargs]

Does anyone have recommendations for what drive I should get if I'm not concerned about ripping UHD?

I've been slowly working on ripping my entire DVD and (non-UHD) blu-ray collection for a couple years now, but my current drive (ASUS BC-12B1ST b) seems to be giving up the ghost. It stopped detecting discs a couple days ago, and I haven't been able to get it working again, so I'm in need of a replacement.

All I've been able to find on the forums so far just talks about which drives support UHD and flashing firmware for UHD. If I'm not planning on ripping UHD, can I just get any drive that supports LibreDrive? Will I still need to flash the firmware? Is there anything specific I should be looking for?

Any guidance is appreciated! Thanks!

[tomty89]

For regular BDs (and DVDs) you don't even necessarily need LibreDrive (although it might smooth things out under circumstances).

For non-Pioneer drives flashing is often for making a drive Libre, and LibreDrive is a requirement for UHD ripping. (Most if not all flashable models will support UHD once it is made Libre.)

For Pioneer drives flashing is usually for making non-UHD models support UHD. I don't think there's a model that is not LibreDrive but can be made so through crossflashing. See viewtopic.php?p=79712#p79712 for the list of LibreDrive models / firmware version. (Basically anything "modern", I think -- by "modern" I mean like BDR-208/S08 or later. In fact I suspect even older models are technically Libre and/or can be made Libre easily. Likely it's just because they are ancient so mike didn't give a damn about them.)

[zittrig]

Libredrive enabled may kill the the rip-lock of some drives, for the full reading speed. Otherwise it could be, that the drive is reading only up to about 2x.

[skyrider]

Does anyone have recommendations for what drive I should get if I'm not concerned about ripping UHD?

I've been slowly working on ripping my entire DVD and (non-UHD) blu-ray collection for a couple years now, but my current drive (ASUS BC-12B1ST b) seems to be giving up the ghost. It stopped detecting discs a couple days ago, and I haven't been able to get it working again, so I'm in need of a replacement.

All I've been able to find on the forums so far just talks about which drives support UHD and flashing firmware for UHD. If I'm not planning on ripping UHD, can I just get any drive that supports LibreDrive? Will I still need to flash the firmware? Is there anything specific I should be looking for?

Any guidance is appreciated! Thanks!

You can only buy drives from Pioneer and LG nowadays.
Other manufacturers such as Samsung, LiteOn and various OEM brands left the market long ago.
Personally, I recommend Pioneer, it is far superior to LG, and also more durable and reliable.
Unfortunately, stock is practically gone due to the end of production, so there isn't much room for being picky anymore.

[barnstarmer]

Libredrive offers advantages for those ripping standard blu-rays later than MKBv81 (2025 and later). Makemkv currently doesn't have a host certificate that works with discs later than MKBv81. Libredrive can bypass bus encryption and reveal the VID. When combined with the public MKBv82 device keys, libredrives can still update the latest keydb database using software like SamuriHL's Keydb Tool. This way you won't need to submit a dump of your MKBv82 blu-ray disc to MakeMKV to get it to work. You can read about the public keydb database here.

All the newest drives (LG and Pioneer) have encrypted firmware and need to be flashed with libredrive firmware. Read the Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide to learn how to do it. LG drives are easier to come by and handle Blu-rays and DVD's just fine. For archival purposes, I recommend picking up a 5.25 inch internal LG drive with the MT1959 chipset, since these can be flashed later with ASUS libredrive firmware that does not have jamless playback. Jamless playback can produce bad rips. Before flashing ASUS libredrive firmware, first flash the libredrive firmware recommended for your drive by the Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide.

[tomty89]

Makemkv currently doesn't have a host certificate that works with discs later than MKBv81...When combined with the public MKBv82 device keys, libredrives can still update the latest keydb database using software like SamuriHL's Keydb Tool. This way you won't need to submit a dump of your MKBv82 blu-ray disc to MakeMKV to get it to work. You can read about the public keydb database

Hmm is that still true? Also, does MakeMKV even use keys (VUKs) from KEYDB.cfg (or hashed keys) for AACS 1.0 / regular BD anyway? Last time (v1.18.3) I checked it doesn't seem to do that. (I try to get it decrypt an encrypted backup without discatt.dat. Unlike the case of AACS 2.0 / UHD BD, it didn't seem to work -- although the disc I tested wasn't an MKB v82 one.)

Certainly if keys can be obtained and added to your KEYDB.cfg, you should be able to play or rip it with a libaacs "frontend" (and MakeMKV isn't one AFAIK).

All the newest drives (LG and Pioneer) have encrypted firmware and need to be flashed with libredrive firmware.

There's not even one MK firmware provided anywhere for Pioneer drives though. Besides, I'm not so sure whether the firmware is "encrypted" is strictly relevant. (IIRC there are drives with unencrypted firmware that need to be flashed.)