Rough Guide: v1.18.1 on CachyOS(Arch Linux)

[jayandp]

I've managed to get MakeMKV v1.18.1 working with my Pioneer BD-RW BDR-S13U on my CachyOS install, including UHD discs, so thought I'd go through the steps I did to get it working, just in case it could help others figure out there own setups. Some of these steps might be redundant, but I wanted to note everything just in case.

Not sure if it ended up being relevant, but I first installed MakeMKV as a Flatpak, and then downgraded that to v1.17.9.

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flatpak install makemkv
flatpak update --commit=df0d21a85e16b61460d1168a5d14e8963b836881bec7c6352a8d4f6be4a1f414 com.makemkv.MakeMKV

Then I made sure my drive was detected using:

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sudo modprobe sg
sudo bash -c 'echo sg > /etc/modules-load.d/sg.conf'

Next I opened MakeMKV Flatpak, made sure it detected my drive, and then I registered my key. This way ~/.MakeMKV/_private_data.tar was generated. Then I closed it and removed the flatpak.

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flatpak remove makemkv

Next I installed native versions of both VLC, and Kodi. We'll need VLC's plugins to make sure it works. Plus we'll install the correct version of Java for the Blu-ray menus while we're at it, since by default a newer incompatible version of Java is setup in many cases. Also installing the following libs seems to help.

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sudo pacman -S vlc vlc-plugins-all kodi jre8-openjdk libbluray libdvdnav aribb24
sudo archlinux-java set java-8-openjdk/jre

Next we'll install native MakeMKV and libaacs softlinks to libmmbd. Thankfully Arch's AUR makes this way simpler than building manually.

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paru -S makemkv makemkv-libaacs

Now we should have native MakeMKV. Launch the app and make sure your drive is still being detected, and try popping in a bluray and loading it in MakeMKV to make sure it can decrypt it.

Next open VLC, go to Tools-> Preferences-> Show Settings - All-> Input/Codecs-> Access Modules-> Blu-ray and make sure you select your desired Bluray Menu Region. Save, and then press CTRL+D to open the Disc menu, select Blu-ray, uncheck No Disc Menus, and press Play. Hopefully your disc loads and you get functional Blu-ray menus.

For Kodi, open it up and you'll see a Disc option appear, ignore it(doesn't seem to work for some reason). Go up to the Settings gear button instead, then open the "File manager". If you have a disc inserted, you should see it listed. Click on it, then navigate to the BDMV folder and select the "index.bdmv" file. After a slightly lengthy wait, you should get a popup asking what you want to play, for now we're gonna pick "Show Blu-ray menu" in order to make sure everything is working. After loading for another slightly lengthy wait, you should see the disc start to play and eventually get presented the disc menu. Just use arrow keys and enter to navigate, as mouse is funky in Kodi.

And there you have it. Hopefully these steps are enough to get you a functioning Blu-ray setup on your CachyOS or other Arch based distro. Let me know if you have any questions and hopefully I can answer them.