Has MakeMKV stopped working?

[shug4476]

Hi, I am new to the forum and have joined specifically to post this question.

I have been using MakveMKV without issue for years, backing up my DVD and Blu Ray collection to my server.

Recently I have run into an issue with almost all (about 80%) of blu rays that I try and back up. Whenever makeMKV approaches a layer change, it stops tracking and I get the following errors:

Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00004.m2ts' at offset '1206804480'
Error 'Posix error - Input/output error' occurred while reading '/dev/rdisk5' at offset '1206804480'
Error 'Posix error - Input/output error' occurred while reading '/dev/rdisk5' at offset '1206804480'
Error 'Posix error - Input/output error' occurred while reading '/dev/rdisk5' at offset '1206804480'
Error 'Posix error - Input/output error' occurred while reading '/dev/rdisk5' at offset '1206804480'
Error 'Posix error - Input/output error' occurred while reading '/dev/rdisk5' at offset '1206804480'
Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00004.m2ts' at offset '1206804480'
Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00004.m2ts' at offset '1206804480'
Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00004.m2ts' at offset '1206804480'
Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00004.m2ts' at offset '1206804480'
Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00004.m2ts' at offset '1206804480'
Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00004.m2ts' at offset '1206804480'

I initially thought this must mean my blu ray drive was having issues. That was an LG USB drive, which I returned under extended warranty, and purchased a new Pioneer drive which has arrived today.

However, the Pioneer has had exactly the same problem as the LG.

I have been using my Macbook 2012 as laptop and began to think that the battery may be too old to sustain the power over USB needed for the extra demands of the layer change, so reinstalled MakeMKV on a 2017 iMac, but ran into exactly the same problem.

Can anybody advise? This is happening for almost every disc, across multiple drives and multiple computers. It can only possibly be the software.

[Billycar11]

nah man its probably your discs i have used makemkv nearly everyday for the past 6 years it does not randomly stop working
clean the disc with a damp lint free cloth and dry with another right away to avoid water spots
you can also wash them with liquid soap and hot water just make sure the soap has no grit in it

[shug4476]

nah man its probably your discs i have used makemkv nearly everyday for the past 6 years it does not randomly stop working
clean the disc with a damp lint free cloth and dry with another right away to avoid water spots
you can also wash them with liquid soap and hot water just make sure the soap has no grit in it

This includes brand new discs that have never been opened (straight out of the box). It is definitely not the discs.

[ryley]

That was an LG USB drive, which I returned under extended warranty, and purchased a new Pioneer drive which has arrived today.

However, the Pioneer has had exactly the same problem as the LG.

I have been using my Macbook 2012 as laptop and began to think that the battery may be too old to sustain the power over USB needed for the extra demands of the layer change, so reinstalled MakeMKV on a 2017 iMac, but ran into exactly the same problem.

This includes brand new discs that have never been opened (straight out of the box). It is definitely not the discs.

If you have tried multiple drive brands and multiple computers but still have issues with certain discs I'd say those discs might be problematic. I would recommend trying an externally powered USB hub to rule out power supply issues from your iMac.

It is important to remember that even brand new discs can be of borderline quality or even outright defective. Unless those same discs worked properly in a different drive I don't think you could say that it is "definitely not the discs".

Can anybody advise? This is happening for almost every disc, across multiple drives and multiple computers. It can only possibly be the software.

If the software were the issue I'm sure there would be other users reporting similar issues with 80% of their discs.

[shug4476]

Thanks but it would seem to me that if MakeMKV is consistently running into problems with BR discs which play without hitch on a player (and through the same drive as MakeMKV is using to make the rip), then MakeMKV may not be coded adequately to buffer the data from the discs it is ripping?

[ryley]

Thanks but it would seem to me that if MakeMKV is consistently running into problems with BR discs which play without hitch on a player (and through the same drive as MakeMKV is using to make the rip), then MakeMKV may not be coded adequately to buffer the data from the discs it is ripping?

Playback software, like hardware players, can skip over problematic sections of a disc and conceal some degree of read errors. MakeMKV does not do this as it does not produce broken/incomplete files.

If your drive cannot return the data requested by software that is ultimately the fault of either your discs, your drive or both. MakeMKV isn't even attempting anything latency sensitive like real-time playback, so there is no firm requirement that your drive can return every sector in a timely manner.

[shug4476]

Thanks but it would seem to me that if MakeMKV is consistently running into problems with BR discs which play without hitch on a player (and through the same drive as MakeMKV is using to make the rip), then MakeMKV may not be coded adequately to buffer the data from the discs it is ripping?

Playback software, like hardware players, can skip over problematic sections of a disc and conceal some degree of read errors. MakeMKV does not do this as it does not produce broken/incomplete files.

If your drive cannot return the data requested by software that is ultimately the fault of either your discs, your drive or both. MakeMKV isn't even attempting anything latency sensitive like real-time playback, so there is no firm requirement that your drive can return every sector in a timely manner.

Right, I am going to pay for another ripping software, try the same discs, and report back the findings.

[bmillham]

I've had lots of brand new discs in sealed packages fail reading. They looked perfectly clean. But after cleaning them they work fine.

Lots of times new discs have a thin invisible layer of soap scum left on them after manufacturing. Your eyes can't see it but it's enough to blind the laser pickup.

As already pointed out to you MakeMKV will not skip over bad sectors like a player will. This is because MakeMVK will only create a perfect copy of the original.