External drive advice...

[brecht]

All the external pioneer drives i've looked at say "for windows" or "for windows and mac os" on the box, so now im not sure which one i should get. Do they work with linux? Is there any specific drive i should get for 4k bluray ripping?

[MrPenguin]

All the external pioneer drives i've looked at say "for windows" or "for windows and mac os" on the box, so now im not sure which one i should get. Do they work with linux? Is there any specific drive i should get for 4k bluray ripping?

Yes, USB drives are just "mass storage devices" and so work fine with Linux. MakeMKV requires that the drive's /dev/srN device also has a corresponding /dev/sgM device, but that's just a matter of the kernel supporting "SCSI generic".

As for supporting UHD, you will need to buy a Pioneer drive whose firmware is dated 2022-11 or earlier, which is becoming increasingly difficult as existing stocks run out. Drives manufactured more recently have updated their firmware both to block MakeMKV's LibreDrive and to prevent downgrading.

[Coopervid]

All the external pioneer drives i've looked at say "for windows" or "for windows and mac os" on the box, so now im not sure which one i should get. Do they work with linux? Is there any specific drive i should get for 4k bluray ripping?

Depending on your country of residence you might find a Verbatim 43888 which contains a Pioneer UD04 that works out-of-the-box.

[flojo]

becoming increasingly difficult as existing stocks run out.

Overly niche I'd say. It's easier to find a working laserdisc player :-/

[MrPenguin]

Overly niche I'd say. It's easier to find a working laserdisc player :-/

It depends who you ask. I believe asmcom still has some - for now at least.