Why can't makemkv handle a simple error?

[armyofquad]

I'm getting a bit frustrated that whenever there's an error on a DVD, it shuts everything down.

I mean - I've even had a disc that plays fine in a DVD player, but there's a spot where everything I throw at it to try and rip it, just plain says error and shuts down.

Clearly there is still data past the error that is good and can be ripped. Clearly it should be possible to play through if a DVD player can. But - no one seems to understand the concept of creating software that will just deal with it and move on.

I mean, come on! If you can't read a bit......just flip a damn coin and move on to the next! Is it really that hard? Could we get an updated version of MKV that will push through an error no matter what, and finish the job? Outputting something is better than outputting nothing.

[Woodstock]

MakeMKV is trying to make an exact copy of what is on the disk. If parts are missing due to the disk being unreadable, how can it make "an exact copy"? Many of us process the MKVs further, with tools like handbrake to remove interlacing, compress the video with better algorithms, recode the audio for compatibility, and even burn in subtitles for players that do not deal with subtitle tracks. Those tools will fail at the same spot if there is missing data.

If you're driving through, say, Kentucky on an interstate highway, and you come to a section that has washed out for an unknown distance (yes, it happens!), would you continue at speed, since it's a "simple error", and you are pretty sure the road continues on?

[armyofquad]

If you're mapping a road in Kentucky, and there's a section of road that is washed out - is it acceptable to create a map that says "the world ends here" despite there being miles of completed, useable road, past the blocked spot?

[Woodstock]

When the maps were made (and the disk was mastered), the road was there. So yes, it's acceptable to include it in the map.

The map being fixed, though, it doesn't know about the big scratch that removed part of the road/data.

A DVD player is programmed to ignore minor problems. 2 seconds of video unreadable? Keep the last decodable frame on the screen until you find a key frame later on, and continue from there.

Most disk errors are cleanable. Some can be polished out. Some can be skipped over by excluding a particular subtitle or audio track. And some drives will return SOMETHING if they can read any part of the sector.

Aborting on uncorrectable errors is a decision the author made based on what the program is trying to accomplish.

[armyofquad]

And I'm saying aborting on error is not what I as the end user want. And every damn piece of software does that. Come on - give us a tool to deal with problem discs already!

At least give me a setting I can enable to allow the finishing of ripping a disc past an error - otherwise I have absolutely no possible way of getting useable data off of my disc!

[Woodstock]

google "ddrescue", which can combine images from multiple reads into an ISO that (might be) correct, if the errors are transient read errors. If you have access to two or more disks with DIFFERENT error locations, it works just fine, from what I've read. But be advised that you can still get images that have errors, if your drive is one of those that returns its "best guess" instead of reporting errors.

The *nix program "dd" can be told to make an image and replace unreadable sectors with zeros. That will read past errors, but you still don't have a good copy.

I used to rent disks from Netflix when the family had turned my copy into an unreadable mess, and rip those.

Sometimes an OLD DVD drive can read disks that a newer drive says are trash. Sometimes polishing the disk gets rid of the worst of the scratches so it can be read once. Careful waxing can help.

But software isn't going to fix what hardware cannot read.

In the long run, the best advice is to rip things as soon as you receive them, when you can still replace them if they have flaws (yes, it happens to new-in-package disks).

[armyofquad]

Thanks, I will give that a try. In this case I am ripping a brand new just opened box set - 2 discs giving me problems. It was an ebay purchase, so I was hoping to get what I need off of the discs rather than make an ebay seller take a hit on someone else's quality control issues.

[armyofquad]

Ugh.....ddrescue is some linux bs crap that is impossible to use.

[armyofquad]

Just spent the past hour trying to figure out how to install ddrescue.

Any software that after an hour of research, still cannot be installed, is clearly not programmed by anyone with any level of competence. I am so sick and tired of the attitude so many programmers have these days that, if it is hard to program, it should be hard to use.

I'm not a programmer....but if I were, I know for DAMN SURE I'd always follow the rule of making things user friendly.

For starters, there is no free windows option for ddrescue. I read through the mountain of confusing things, and get to the easy option for a Windows GUI version - and I'm hit up for cash. WTF? It's free open sourced software......except if you actually want the useable version. Really really low to charge money for the only version that may actually be useable.

So, whatever, I can install a linux partition - been meaning to do that on this PC for a while anyways, never hurts to be able to boot into it, and prove once again that everything sucks 1000 times more when trying to do it in linux. So, I go into there, download the free installer for the ddrescue gui for linux, run it - AND IT WANTS DEPENDENCIES!!!! Never mind that the download link gives no instructions or pre-requisites. And does the install manager barking at me it needs something tell me what it needs? Of course not - linux never gives any useful information.

I find a link online with screenshots and step by step instructions how to install it from command line. I follow those - every command in the process gives an error message.



Come on......does anyone actually program anything that actually works anymore? DDRescue - absolute crap. Couldn't even make an installer.

[armyofquad]

Spent the cash for the Windows version - it's an unusable pile of crap.

Can this be used to read a problem DVD? Is that even a thing this thing does? I mean - the DVD is commercial and encrypted, so doesn't it need to be decrypted?

But heck - I can't even find any way to point this thing to my dvd drive.


What in the heck did you recommend to me?

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I JUST WANT TO RIP MY DAMN DVD AND HAVE IT EXTRACT ALL THE USEABLE DAMN DATA ON IT!!!!!! IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK FOR FROM A RIPPING SOFTWARE!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

THANKS FOR RECOMMENDING I THROW AWAY GOOD MONEY ON CRAP SOFTWARE!!!!!

[pipo233]

IMHO this discussion leads to this question:

Do we want to break off the ripping process through a (read) error, which leaves us with no output file at all?
Or do we still want a output file no mater if there are errors?

The next question would be that it depends on what the errors exactly are i guess.

My point is that in for example a binary file there can't be any error, the program wouldn't work, but in a video file this does not necessarily be a problem. yes there will be artifacts or missing frames but in most cases the file is playable (usable).

So maybe there should/could be a option in the preferences that enables or disables a perfect rip or what to do when errors occur?

[dcoke22]

I have two different drives. It is sometimes the case that if a disc won't read in the LG WH16NS60 it will read in my ASUS BW-16D1HT. Occasionally it won't read in either, in which case I gently clean the disc. If it still won't read, I usually try to find another copy of the disc. I'm sure if I added a BU40N to my fleet of drives, I'd be able to read even more discs.

I haven't had reason to use ddrescue (https://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/) on a disc, but I've seen other people talk about using it on this forum.

[thetoad]

I have two different drives. It is sometimes the case that if a disc won't read in the LG WH16NS60 it will read in my ASUS BW-16D1HT. Occasionally it won't read in either, in which case I gently clean the disc. If it still won't read, I usually try to find another copy of the disc. I'm sure if I added a BU40N to my fleet of drives, I'd be able to read even more discs.

I haven't had reason to use ddrescue (https://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/) on a disc, but I've seen other people talk about using it on this forum.

ddrescue is perfect for your situation. some sectors might be problematic for one drive and not the other. I would use ddrescue to switch through drives and had lots of success reading discs that were problematic.

[armyofquad]

Well, it seems ddrescue still doesn't help with the piece of crap that is makemkv.

Between it not being able to complete a task, even with a ddrescue rip, and it requiring me to reinstall and apply a key every damn time I go to use it - it is more hassle than it's worth.

I've had it! Off to find something that actually works with me, instead of fighting me every step of the way!

[armyofquad]

Here's an idea.....

.....instead of requiring me to figure out how to use impossible to figure out horribly designed software to fix discs that your half-assed software doesn't want to read properly, HOW ABOUT ACTUALLY MAKING A VERSION OF MAKEMKV THAT CAN ACTUALLY READ A FUCKING DISK!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?