www.makemkv.com

I have a PIONEER BD-RW BDR-S12JX. As of recently I have recently not been able to rip DVDs (Blue Ray and UHD disks still work fine). It just spins the disks for a bit, attempts to read it, and then MakeMKV says "No disc inserted." There's no other errors. I've re-tried to scan/rip DVD disks that I previously ripped. I'm also seeing the "no disc inserted" issue here. I also noticed the VLC media player isn't able to play the DVDs like it was before. So maybe it's a drive issue? But then why do Bluerays and UHD disks still work?

Any suggestions or trouble shooting steps appriciated.

if you have no other reader to check with then I would assume the lasers are getting weak

CDs and DVDs use the red laser while BDs and UHDs use the blue laser. Seems that the red laser is dead.