Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS MakeMKV Install Issues

[Makitta]

I got a used laptop to finally ripe my DVD/BluRay collection and setup Plex for home.
I installed Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS onto it, and have been trying several different methods to install MakeMKV, with fresh re-installs of the OS to "clear the board" between each attempt. None have been successful so far.
I know the drive works because I can watch BluRay/DVDs withh VLC with it. (Verbatim KIAB External Slimeline)

-------------------------------------------

• Attempt 1:
  Fresh Ubuntu OS Install and latest OS updates from Software Updater.
  In Terminal:

  Code: Select all

  sudo apt update
  sudo apt upgrade
  sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config libc6-dev libssl-dev libexpat1-dev libavcodec-dev libgl1-mesa-dev qtbase5-dev zlib1g-dev
  sudo apt install yasm
  

  Downloaded MakeMKV from default App Center. (Orange bag icon with an "A".)

• Result 1: FAILED
  Option to register the software never appears.
  It cannot see drive nor successfully download bin packages.
  Does not react to drive, with or without a disk.

-------------------------------------------

• Attempt 2-4:
  Fresh Ubuntu OS Install and latest OS updates from Software Updater.
  In Terminal:

  Code: Select all

  sudo apt update
  sudo apt upgrade
  sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config libc6-dev libssl-dev libexpat1-dev libavcodec-dev libgl1-mesa-dev qtbase5-dev zlib1g-dev
  sudo apt install yasm
  

  Followed the instructions here to install as APT PPA, then Flatpak, then Snap
  https://linuxcapable.com/how-to-install ... ntu-linux/

• Result 2-4: FAILED
  Option to register the software never appears.
  It cannot see drive nor successfully download bin packages.
  Does not react to drive, with or without a disk.

-------------------------------------------

• Attempt 5:
  Fresh Ubuntu OS Install and latest OS updates from Software Updater.
  In Terminal:

  Code: Select all

  sudo apt update
  sudo apt upgrade
  sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config libc6-dev libssl-dev libexpat1-dev libavcodec-dev libgl1-mesa-dev qtbase5-dev zlib1g-dev
  sudo apt install yasm
  

  Downloaded OSS, Bin, and ffmpeg tar files from here and uncompressed all three to the "Downloads" folder:
  viewtopic.php?f=3&t=224&sid=a252c8e190d ... 62fc24a29d
  
  Right-clicked the "ffmpeg" folder and opened "Terminal"

  Code: Select all

  sudo ./configure --prefix=/tmp/ffmpeg --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-pic
  sudo make install
  sudo PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/tmp/ffmpeg/lib/pkgconfig ./configure
  sudo make
  sudo make install
  

  Then I right-clicked the "OSS" folder and open "Terminal"

  Code: Select all

  sudo ./configure
  sudo make
  sudo make install
  

  Then I right-clicked the "BIN" folder and open "Terminal"

  Code: Select all

  sudo make
  (agree to terms and service)
  sudo make install
  

  Then I restart the laptop and try to run MakeMKV

• Result 5: FAILED
  Does not have the blue MakeMKV icon, but a default grey gear icon.
  Option to register the software never appears.
  It cannot see drive nor successfully download bin packages.
  Does not react to drive, with or without a disk.

-------------------------------------------

I feel I am missing a critical step somewhere causing all of these to fail. But I have no clue what, and I've scoured forums and YouTube videos to no success.
Can anyone spot where the failure point is? Why none of these options result in a functioning MakeMKV program?

[bmillham]

Why are you trying to install ffmpeg? You only need to do that if you need 24 bit FLAC. And I don't think that's even an issue anymore with newer distros.

Just follow the official instructions (minus the ffmpeg bits at the end) and it should be fine. I've installed MakeMKV on Pop OS 24.04 (Pop is based on Ubuntu) and it MakeMKV builds/installs/runs perfect.

[Makitta]

Trying again, skipping the ffmpeg parts.

• Attempt 6:
  Fresh Ubuntu OS Install and latest OS updates from Software Updater.
  In Terminal:
  

  Code: Select all

  sudo apt update
  sudo apt upgrade
  sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config libc6-dev libssl-dev libexpat1-dev libavcodec-dev libgl1-mesa-dev qtbase5-dev zlib1g-dev
  

  Downloaded OSS and Bin tar files from here and uncompressed to the "Downloads" folder:
  (skipping ffmpeg portion)
  
  I right-clicked the "OSS" folder and open "Terminal"

  Code: Select all

  sudo ./configure
  sudo make
  sudo make install
  

  Then I right-clicked the "BIN" folder and open "Terminal"

  Code: Select all

  sudo make
  (agree to terms and service)
  sudo make install
  

  Then I restart the laptop and try to run MakeMKV

• Result 6: FAILED
  Does not have the blue MakeMKV icon, but a default grey gear icon.
  Option to register the software never appears.
  Does not react to drive, with or without a disk.
  Menu options to register or access preferences and everything under "File" are greyed out.

I wish I knew what I was missing or doing wrong here. I've seen in videos how it is installed and how it is supposed to behave, but acts broken no matter what methods I try to install it. Could it be Ubuntu itself? Should I try using an older version or changing to another Linux type like Mint? Forums state Ubuntu "should" be a great Linux OS for MakeMKV, and I even picked a blu-ray external drive that should work out of the box with MakeMKV, but I cannot get it to work for the life of me. (Verbatim KIAB External Slimline)

[bmillham]

I would suggest you read the installation instructions again and follow them. You are making several big mistakes!

Hint: You do not need to sudo EVERY command, only the apt and make install bits.

[Makitta]

Ok. So, I tried one last time to install MakeMKV after another fresh install of Ubuntu, using just the OSS and BIN files, and only using "sudo" when the instructions said to, and it still failed. Same things as above, default grey gear icon, the menus are all greyed out, and it won't react when I try the drive. Maybe the Linux version of 1.18.1 isn't working for install on Ubuntu?
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=224

So I gave up, and purged Ubuntu and installed Windows 11 instead. I REALLY wanted to do this with Linux and move away from Windows, but I just could NOT get it to work. And MakeMKV works right away on 11. Maybe one day MakeMKV will get more usable for Ubuntu.

[Elzzon]

OP was using `sudo` when it wasn't necessary, but running the configure script or initial `make` with or without `sudo` shouldn't effect the end result. So I think that's a red herring.

I can confirm that on Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS, MakeMKV 1.18.1, built using the instructions (viewtopic.php?f=3&t=224), doesn't work. It builds, but the resulting executable just complains about Qt dumps core. I am on a headless machine, so I don't know if this is exactly what OP was getting (since his results are in terms of the GUI/desktop behavior), but it's definitely a showstopper.

On my test machine, all prerequisites were installed and up-to-date; kernel is 5.15.0-135-generic. gcc and g++ are 11.4.0. The configure script runs cleanly.

Building the OSS tarball throws a bunch of compiler warnings, but no fatal errors. Nothing remarkable in the BIN tarball process, either; it just copies the appdata.tar, blues.jar, and blues.policy files into /usr/share/MakeMKV, and makemkvcon into /usr/bin.

After going through the build/install process, executing /usr/bin/makemkv yields the following:

Code: Select all

qt.qpa.xcb: could not connect to display 
qt.qpa.plugin: Could not load the Qt platform plugin "xcb" in "" even though it was found.
This application failed to start because no Qt platform plugin could be initialized. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.

Available platform plugins are: eglfs, linuxfb, minimal, minimalegl, offscreen, vnc, xcb.

[1]    1071039 IOT instruction (core dumped)  /usr/bin/makemkv

I repeated this process a few times, just to be sure something transient wasn't going on, and it's consistent. The third time around, I enabled core dumpfile retention, but since the binary wasn't compiled with debug symbols I'm not sure it'll be a huge amount of use. There are a bunch of hits on Google for "This application failed to start because no Qt platform plugin could be initialized" but it seems to be a pretty general Qt error without any specific cause or solution.

If I have time, maybe I'll try compiling with debug symbols and looking into the coredump with gdb, but given that I don't have any familiarity with the program I'm not sure that's going to be a great use of time.

[genericuser]

@Elzzon,

Any luck with this? I'm running into exactly the same issue. I'm on Mint Linux 22.1, but also on a headless machine, and also getting the same error.

[genericuser]

I played around with it a little more, and I think the issue is that the

Code: Select all

makemkv

command is to launch the GUI, and because we're running headless, there's no window manager. We should use the

Code: Select all

makemkvcon

command instead, which is the command line interface.

Running that seems to get past the problem but I am running into the "This version is too old" problem mentioned here. Neither the beta key, nor the key mentioned on the problem page work for me - both give "Key not found or invalid". I am using an external drive because my machine has a built-in that won't open. It's possible that I am also experiencing the issue described here about key registration failing when a disc is present in the drive, but I haven't had a chance to open the box up to disconnect the internal drive yet.

Hopefully using the command line invocation will solve your problem. I'm going to wait until the "too old" problem is fixed, then try again.

[genericuser]

One more update: I hooked up a monitor as was able to register via the GUI. The beta key worked, but the "temporary workaround key" did not. Once I did, makemkvcon works as expected from the command line. Hope that helps anyone else who runs into this issue!

It will be mildly annoying if I have to hook up a monitor every time I want to register, but workable.