what do get as second drive for my Mac?

[Wolfgangster]

Do you need internal or external drive?

I bought a Verbatim 43888 (Pioneer inside) three weeks ago in EU - came with latest firmware 1.14 (last year or older) and works great.
Already scanned discs, that my internal Asus and Hitachi couldn't read...

Can u share the infos shown in makwmkv?
Sounds very intresting! Its just 99€ here :O
Its libre drive then??

Drive-Info from Verbatim 43888 below.
Works out of the box - no flashing with 1.14 required

[asmcom]

I currently have an BD-RE HL-DT-ST BD-RE BU40N FR07 803HS013801, flashed myself on Mac (which I would like to avoid to do again as hell) with libre drive enabled. I'm a noob with terminal, it cost me blood and tears.

but sometimes it just refuses to rip certain brand new discs, or single episodes, they play perfectly fine but always fail to rip due errors. Why can't MakeMKV just rip then with the "errors" like my xbox plays them?
Are there alternative programs that can handle errors? I don't mind a single frame skip for example in an 2h movie.

So I consider a second drive as an alternative try.
What is currently a good choice, available in the EU, most pioneer drives doesn't seem to be available. And as far as I understood, current FW of them be a problem.

Again, I am on MAC, I can't use the usual flash tools!!

I can provide you a Pionner drive in Europe from Ireland with no import tax.

viewtopic.php?t=19387

Asmcom

[D3F3ND3R16]

Thanks for the suggestions and offers! Tomorrow I will receive the Verbatim 43888 and hopefully it works out of the box. Would be the cheapest drive so far that doesn't require flashing at all.
99€ and no flashing sounds to good to be true. I already expected another 1-200€ for the second drive.

[D3F3ND3R16]

So here is what I got:

Drive Information
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR-UD04
Revision: 1.14
Serial number: BADL101897WL
Firmware date: 2020-06-15
Bus encryption flags: 1B
Highest AACS version: 78

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8A10
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-US04
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 1.14
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

Is 1.14 supported?? I thought it needs to be older

[Wolfgangster]

Is 1.14 supported?? I thought it needs to be older

Read above: 1.14 is older (from 2020), supported and should work out of the box...

[Coopervid]

You can read, can you? Now try an UHD.

[D3F3ND3R16]

it can read so far, im ripping an tv show currently, both drives running same time, great.
Inresting is, the Pioneer is running a bit faster 4,7 than the BU40N 4,3.
Gona try out UHD soon, but it should be able to handle that right?

[asmcom]

it can read so far, im ripping an tv show currently, both drives running same time, great.
Inresting is, the Pioneer is running a bit faster 4,7 than the BU40N 4,3.
Gona try out UHD soon, but it should be able to handle that right?

The BU40N is a considerably faster drive than the Pioneer BDR-UD04. The Hitachi BU40N can read up to 8X speed. I will post a comparison here in the next few days. The Pioneer BDR-UD04 is a great drive, and so is the Hitachi BU40. You have 2 very good drives. It could be the laser reading the disc's outside edge or layer three when you happened to look at it. Try ripping the exact same disc and comparing the overall time, and you will find the BU40N to be much faster. However, I don't think the speed matters too much, it is the reliability that counts. I still use my BU40N as it is a mighty wee drive.

Asmcom

[D3F3ND3R16]

Hi asmcom,

great to hear that I have two good drives
i didnt make an comparison yet, just watching the rip speeds when ripping the same TV show, there the pioneer was faster. my BU40N never hit the 8x mark?! But I don't really watch it, I start them both and usually come back some time later. The UD04 is currently ripping an UHD with 4x, it just started the process. so not sure about the overall speed. So far I'm pretty happy with the UD04.
The BU40N is also currently ripping and BD Movie, its just running at 3,3x.
But I guess, it just depends on thousand things how fast it really gets, right?

[MartyMcNuts]

Hi asmcom,

great to hear that I have two good drives
i didnt make an comparison yet, just watching the rip speeds when ripping the same TV show, there the pioneer was faster. my BU40N never hit the 8x mark?! But I don't really watch it, I start them both and usually come back some time later. The UD04 is currently ripping an UHD with 4x, it just started the process. so not sure about the overall speed. So far I'm pretty happy with the UD04.
The BU40N is also currently ripping and BD Movie, its just running at 3,3x.
But I guess, it just depends on thousand things how fast it really gets, right?

For UHD the Pioneer max is 4x. The BU40N max for UHD is 6x.