4K UHD BD to Mac rips help for a complete novice

[EmilyDickinsonFanboy]

I've been walking around the internet getting lost in answers I don't understand or that contradict each other, and stumbled upon this place so I thought I'd give it a shot.

I'm just going to give you as much information as I can in the hope that some of it is useful.

2020 Intel MacBook Air. Will USB-C ports throttle the quality? Am considering getting a Pro with HDMI and am willing to wait if HDMI will improve things.
Speed of rip not really an issue. Is 6 hours reasonable? I'd be happy with that.
Also I don't care how big/ugly/portable it is. It'll be used very rarely (for example I want all three Apocalypse Now cuts in 4K UHD downloaded to my Mac and even with buying the BD set it doesn't look like I can get all 3 in those specs from the code they provide.) - actually if anyone can just answer that question I'd be sorted!
Apparently I need a drive that is "UHD friendly".
I'm really not great at technical computer stuff at all! so something as simple as possible would be great.
I'd be doing it on my only computer so anything I download/install needs to be something with a good reputation for security/anti-malware stuff.
Ideally aside from the cost of the discs and the drive I'd like it to be free!

I hope you can help. Thank you.

[Pintset]

Hello!

I will simply tell you what I bought and why, and you, if you like, can do the same. And I use Windows, but there should no be any difference.

For the drive, I got myself Pioneer BDR-XD07TUHD from Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/dp/B081JX8R3 ... ct_details
MakeMKV supports new Pioneer drives as is — no firmware flashing required.
I do not know what your country is, but here is the official Pioneer Europe links to the drives that should work as is (should because there is always a small chance, that there is some revision that will not work. I am describing to you my experience ):
1) bdr-xd07tuhd: https://pioneer-blurayodd.eu/products/b ... /index.php
2) bdr-xs07tuhd: https://pioneer-blurayodd.eu/products/b ... /index.php
As you can see, I bought the first one, but you can get the second. The second has more features, but it also has a slot-loading mechanism for discs, which I personally don't really like because IMO there is a higher probability for that mechanics to break over time. Also, some people say that slot loading can scratch the discs. However, I have never had such a drive so I cannot tell. Maybe this exact Pioneer will work for a lifetime and not scratch anything . What to get is totally up to you.

Then I got MakeMKV (also available for Mac). I bought a license for it years ago, because the Pioneer above is my second drive . MakeMKV will allow you to rip the movies into mkv files. Again, if you buy one of the Pioneers above then MakeMKV and the drive should work out of the box.

[lukeyrada]

Hello

I can also recommend the Pioneer BDR-XD07TUHD for your rips using a Mac. Got mine maybe a month ago and it worked right out of the box. I have used it with a very old (2012-2013) 13 inch Macbook Pro and also with a 16 inch 2021 M1 Macbook Pro. Same experience on both. Plug it in and it is recognised when you open MakeMKV. I have ripped a few 4Ks so far and it generally takes 50 minutes - 1 hour for Disks between 50GB - 85GB.

Regarding additional downloads. I have used Macs for a good few years now and have not once used or downloaded any "antivirus" software. I consider it a rip off. I've never had a problem with Viruses on a Mac, apparently this is more of a consideration on Windows. No other downloads or software is required either. My Drive was plug and play straight out of the box. Was purchased via Amazon (UK).

[EmilyDickinsonFanboy]

Thank you both for your replies. Pioneer drives and the latest Mac OS are not playing together nicely at the moment, so I'll see how that pans out and take another look at the recommendations provided in the links.

When you say it worked out the box with no downloads do you mean without makemkv at all? When I was referring to dodgy downloads I didn't mean makemkv. I've seen that come up again and again so I have no doubts that it's legit!

[dcoke22]

This forum maintains this post: Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide

In that post you'll find a list of all the optical drives that can be used to rip UHDs with MakeMKV. They can be broken down into two categories. One category is the drives that require their firmware flashed to support ripping UHDs. The other category is Pioneer drives which do NOT require their firmware flashed to rip UHDs; they work with MakeMKV out of the box (except, apparently, with MacOS Ventura 13.2).

Also in the flashing guide you'll find a list of sellers who will sell you a flashed (if necessary) and tested drive that will work with MakeMKV. Reach out to whoever is correct for your geography and I'm sure they'll be happy to help you out.

Regarding your other questions. USB-C ports won't degrade the quality. MakeMKV allows you to copy all the bits off a DVD, blu-ray or UHD. You end up with a bit-for-bit copy of the movie.

Blu-ray.com (https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Apocalyp ... ay/241662/) suggests that the Final Cut 40th Anniversary edition has all 3 cuts of the movie.

[EmilyDickinsonFanboy]

Thanks for pointing out that post. Unfortunately even though I can see that it's clearly broken down, it's still too technical for me. I don't require any further help though, this thread and the one you linked to will be useful for reference.

I emailed the distributor earlier to ask about the code they include in the set for a digital copy/s. A lot of people are saying the code is only good for one version of the film, and/or it's not 4K UHD. A lot of conflicting information. I did email one of those sellers and depending on what the distributor says, and how the Pioneer-Ventura issue pans out, I'll take them up on one of their suggestions.

On an interesting side note, I found the Apocalypse Now workprint this evening, and one PM to a stranger later I got a link to a Google Drive and the film has now been downloaded. I find it hilarious that getting the legal versions on my Mac is so convoluted and expensive and difficult for me, but the illegal hard-to-find version took just over 10 minutes.

[lukeyrada]

I have a 2021 M1 Macbook Pro running Ventura 13.2 and my Pioneer Drive worked right out of the box with it with zero issues so it isn't a software issue with the latest MacOS or with the Pioneer Drive, at least my model.

"The other category is Pioneer drives which do NOT require their firmware flashed to rip UHDs; they work with MakeMKV out of the box (except, apparently, with MacOS Ventura 13.2)."
That information is incorrect @dcoke22.

I don't know if the original poster is talking about an M1 or M2 Mac. Maybe the latest M2 ones have an issue but my M1 does not.

Regarding the necessary downloads referenced by the OP, just MakeMKV is all you need to download. Be aware that the Licence Key on this site (required to use MKV) was a recently expired one. I haven't checked to see if they updated they Key for February yet. I just purchased the programme/License the other day because I didn't want to have to wait.

[SamuriHL]

I can check my M2 later today with my Pio drive.

EDIT: No issue with my BDR-212. LibreDrive'd up and reading UHD's without issue.

[EmilyDickinsonFanboy]

From the Pioneer website: "We have confirmed that our drives are not recognized by macOS Ventura 13.2 released by Apple on January 23. We are currently investigating this symptom. We would like to ask our customers who are using our drives to refrain from updating to macOS Ventura 13.2."

I'm glad it's working for some people though!

[SamuriHL]

That's nonsense advice from Apple (EDIT: or I guess Pio but probably comes from Apple's recommendation), though. I just got the MacBook Pro 16 M2 Max the day after it came out and it shipped with 13.2 so not exactly much we could do about it if it doesn't work. Sure, that applies to non-M2 devices. While I'm glad it works for me, I plan on using my trusty bu40n on the Mac and leaving the Pio on my Windows laptop. For those that this issue does impact, that completely sucks and hope the get it fixed soon.

[lukeyrada]

Strange. Conflicting reports so who knows. I can only go on my direct experience, what I know, and I used the Pioneer Drive yesterday to rip a 4k (Lucy) and it worked fine on MacOS 13.2, M1 Macbook Pro. If what Pioneer say is true then that should not be possible.
I did have some problems ripping Total Recall yesterday though but I suspect that is Disc specific or perhaps some settings need tweaking. Tried and failed twice. Only Disc to fail so far but will try it again.

[SamuriHL]

Yeah my experience on the m2 max was that it worked, as well. I don't doubt those who are having issues. But it would seem it's not a cut and dried "does not work on 13.2" kind of issue and instead seems a bit more nuanced. Still sucks for those who are having issues regardless.

Sent from my SM-G998U1 using Tapatalk

[jedigrover]

Here is what Pioneer's Amazon listings is now showing:
"We have confirmed that our optical drives are not recognized by macOS Ventura 13.2 released by Apple on January 23, 2023. We are currently investigating this symptom. We would like to ask our customers who are using our optical drives to refrain from updating to macOS Ventura 13.2. At this time, this symptom has been confirmed on Mac with Intel processors, but not on Mac with Apple silicon."

So it seems it is restricted to Intel-based Macs running Ventura 13.2 (which is me...2018 mac Mini with latest Ventura).
Hopefully will be resolved soon--I'm looking to get a 4k-capable drive & the Pioneer would be ideal.

[jedigrover]

It appears Ventura 13.2.1 fixed the issue, so I'll be ordering now.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30117

[lukeyrada]

Good to hear jedigrover.

Intel Mac based issue then. That would expplain why I had no problems.