www.makemkv.com

I have had no problem copying the DVD version of Les Triplettes de Belleville (aka Belleville Rendezvous) but the Blu-ray disk has defied all my attempts. MakeMKV V1.8.14 tries to read this disk for a few seconds and then tells me that there is no disk in the drive.

Windows Explorer (the 64-bit Windows 7 version) shows this disk in the CD/DVD/BD drive but when I select it I get the following pop-up message.

Burn a Disc
How do you want to use this disc?
- Like a USB flash drive
- With a CD/DVD player [this option is greyed out]

This is the first time that I have seen such a message in Windows Explorer. I have also successfully ripped well over 30 Blu-ray disks using MakeMKV.

I have tried two versions of this Blu-ray. Both were bought via the French Amazon site. The first contained both Les Triplettes de Belleville and L'Illusionniste (MakeMKV had no problem with the latter movie). The second Blu-ray contained only Les Triplettes de Belleville. Both BD versions of Les Triplettes de Belleville were unrecognised by MakeMKV, so I assume that there is something quirky about the master file.

Can anyone recommend a solution?

David

Debug logs would help.

Question 1 would be, do you have Bluray playing software installed on the computer? You may be running into a situation where drivers are interfering with MakeMKV's access to the disk.

I had assumed that because MakeMKV did not recognise the presence of this disk in the drive there would be no meaningful information in the log. That assumption proved to be correct. When I try loading this disk, the MakeMKV log merely records when MakeMKV was opened and closed.

If I am running AnyDVD HD on my PC then I can watch a Blu-ray using VLC or JRiver Media Center but AnyDVD is normally disabled (as recommended when using MakeMKV). If there was a driver interference issue I would expect it to affect any use of MakeMKV. However, as previously mentioned, I do not normally have any problem reading Blu-rays with MakeMKV. I have processed several of them during the past week alone.

Note that this Blu-ray of Les Triplettes de Belleville plays without any problem on my Oppo BDP-105 player.

My best guess is that the pop-up message I get via Windows Explorer is the primary clue to what is going wrong but I don't really understand the significance of that message.

David

When I first installed MakeMKV half a (computer) eon ago, it could not decode BDs, even though it was supposed to. That was fixed when I removed the software that came with the BD drive, which included a driver that intercepted all data requests when a Bluray was in the drive, so that it could decode the AACS for my machine. It made BDs invisible to MakeMKV, but they played fine in the supplied player software. DVDs were not a problem. It can happen with Windows, Linux, and Mac; if the "problem" software doesn't approve the access, the disk "isn't there".

Once the software was removed, things worked fine. This is why "it plays fine but MakeMKV says no disk" is a flag to me that says, "What software might be interfering?"

Since I never "play" BDs directly, it hasn't been an issue - everything that comes in the door gets converted to MKV files before viewing. But, for some people, it might be.

Woodstock wrote:Once the software was removed, things worked fine. This is why "it plays fine but MakeMKV says no disk" is a flag to me that says, "What software might be interfering?"

Despite seeing no reason why a driver conflict would only affect one specific Blu-ray, I tried uninstalling AnyDVD. As expected, it made no difference. MakeMKV still said there was no disk loaded.

Even when AnyDVD is installed and enabled, I can't play Les Triplettes de Belleville using either JRiver or VLC, so it's not just MakeMKV that is having problems with this Blu-ray. VLC gives the error 'VLC could not open the file "D:\" (Bad file descriptor)', while JRiver says there is no disk in the drive.

David

I have this blu ray but it is region B as this is not available in the US. Is your OPPO region free? I have ripped it with MakeMKV with no problems.

Is it possible your PC or blu-ray player are region specific? Normally this isn't so as I have ripped many Region B Blu-rays on my system (PC w/ Windows 7 64 bit)

dtblair wrote:I have this blu ray but it is region B as this is not available in the US. Is your OPPO region free? I have ripped it with MakeMKV with no problems.

Like you, I am using a 64-bit Windows 7 PC. My copy of the Blu-ray is also Region B. My Oppo Blu-ray player would also originally have been Region B, as it is a Europe-specific model that was purchased in the UK. There is a small chance that the dealer may have tweaked it to be BD region free but I doubt it, as I paid no extra charge for this.

The vast majority of my BD collection is recordings of classical music performances and all of these are clearly marked 'All regions' (or equivalent). I was also able to rip L'Illusionniste, which has an ABC logo. I have only ripped 3 other movies on BD, (My Cousin Vinny, LA Confidential and O Brother, Where Art Thou?) but I can't find any region indication on these disks. It is therefore quite possible that all the BDs I have ripped so far using MakeMKV are region free and Les Triplettes de Belleville is the first Region B disk I have tried to rip. However, I have no idea what region limitations, if any, apply to my PC setup.

If it is not a region issue then I wonder if you have exactly the same disk as me. My copy has information written in a small font all round the perimeter of the label side. In addition to telling me that it is Region B, there is both a 2002 copyright label and a label stating '2010 Edition video France Televisions Distribution'. Does your disk have a similar marking?

David

EDIT: Since making this post, I have found that BD drives are not normally coded by BD Region (unlike DVD regional coding) and that it is the player software that may have such restrictions. I have enabled AnyDVD HD, which is configured to remove BD Region coding, while attempting to view Les Triplettes de Belleville in Windows Explorer. However, the results are the same as before, i.e. Windows still thinks that there is no disk in the drive.

I have the same version purchased from Amazon.fr. I just tested is again and it comes right up in MakeMKV. I am currently running 1.18.14

I have used by PC to rip the Region B versions of Downton Abbey and Sherlock without issue. Can you try the rip on another PC or Blu-ray?

I assume you meant V1.8.14, which was the same level I was using. I've just upgraded to V1.9.0 but it has made no difference.

Unfortunately, I don't have another computer equipped with a Blu-ray drive, though I'm tempted to upgrade the optical drive in my laptop or old PC just to see if it works. However, I will first see if one of my friends has a suitable PC.

My optical drive appears to be made by LG and it is described in Device Manager as a CD-ROM drive, under the heading of DVD/CD-ROM drives (i.e. no mention of BD). The software driver is provided by Microsoft and is dated 21/06/2006. How does all this compare to your optical drive?

David

My PC is a cheapo LiteOn blu-ray that is read only. I also use an external LG USB BP06 which is a read-write. Both work with the Triplets. I would suggest checking another system to see if the disc is recognized

I will certainly take the first available opportunity to check my Triplettes disk on another BD drive.

In the meantime, I would be interested in your response to my other questions, i.e. how is your optical drive described in Windows Device Manager and what provider and date is associated with the driver software (listed under Properties for the optical drive entry in Device Manager)?

David

In Device Manager, it is the same as yours.

In Windows Explorer it is identified as a BD-ROM Drive

I hit exactly the same problem as previously described in my OP with a new Blu-ray I have just bought. This time it was a Unitel Classica recording of a classical concert (the Staatskapelle Dresden playing the Four Last Songs and the Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss).

The only action I had not yet taken to address this issue was to replace the Blu-ray drive in my computer, so I ordered a new Pioneer BDR-209DBK. This was installed today and I am delighted to report that both my problem Blu-rays can now be ripped successfully by MakeMKV.

I hope this information may help someone else who struggles with similar issues in the future.

David

I'm unable to explain why a new BD drive fixed my problem and can only speculate that older drives lack some key feature. The year of manufacture of my new Pioneer is 2014, while my old Hitachi-LG BH30N was made in 2009 (3 years after the introduction of Blu-ray in 2006).

I wonder if the Pioneer drive will start to reject some new BDs in 5 year's time...

David