If you're experiencing rip errors, please read here first!

[CSmuggler]

I'm having the same "Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR" problem with a Region 2 DVD that I wanted to rip. It couldn't rip the movie. Well, reading this forum, I saw someone suggest that people go back to an earlier version of MakeMKV, so I did, and the disc is ripping fine without the error.

I'm on a mac, and the version that worked for me is makemkv_v1.12.2 .

Have the developers acknowledged this, and do we know why these DVDs can't be read with the latest version? Do we know it'll be fixed in the near future?

Thanks so much to all in the forum who were looking up the problem.

The disc in question is the MGM UK release of Conan: The Destroyer. It has special features and commentaries that are not part of the new 4k Conan: The Destroyer release by Arrow, so I wanted to archive my disc. It was driving me crazy. The special features would rip, but not the feature itself... and if memory serves, it has a Schwartzenegger commentary, so I wanted to move a copy with that commentary to my Plex Server.

Best to all...

CS

[CSmuggler]

...and I was wrong. I still have the errors. I was hopeful that that was the solution since I wasn't receiving the errors.

CS

[Babanane]

Hello,

I wanted to try an old version but I have to pay the 60€ license key to do that...

If you know another way, be my guest

Thanks !

[Woodstock]

Step one: Download current version
Step two: Use key THOUGHTFULLY PROVIDED by the author at the MakeMKV is free while in beta link
Step three: Run your test before the key expires at the end of (currently) March 2025

[Annihilation]

Is there any success using polishing methods to correct problematic micro scratches on blu-rays? Did the obvious cleaning and I have one or two discs (out of many the ripped fine), that are having read errors from a very specific sector that is likely tied to these almost imperceptible blemishes.

[dcoke22]

Is there any success using polishing methods to correct problematic micro scratches on blu-rays? Did the obvious cleaning and I have one or two discs (out of many the ripped fine), that are having read errors from a very specific sector that is likely tied to these almost imperceptible blemishes.

I don't have any personal experience with these methods… but here's a recent thread on this subject. https://forum.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=37450

[senxez]

Good idea

[ChaosLegionnaire]

as a computer and IT technician, i have to chip in, correct and rebutt some of the statements made by some users in this topic.

firstly, someone said that they cant support or use makemkv until the software becomes more reliable. this is a misrepresented argument. it is the nature of optical storage that is unreliable.

many users both on here and on the now defunct club myce, which is a forum on optical storage, have both said that multiple optical drives are needed because if a disc cant be read in one drive, it can be read in another and if a drive doesnt work for one disc, it can for a different disc.

this only proves the unreliable and unpredictable nature of the hardware of optical storage and has got nothing to do with the software. why do you think steve jobs and apple dropped optical storage support for one of their macs which doesnt have an optical drive? jobs obviously doesnt like optical storage for more reasons than one.

also, blu-rays are more prone to errors than dvds and dvds are more prone to errors than cds. so all these reasons are why i no longer use optical storage as part of my 321 backup strategy. if i cant get the same data back easily or consistently and have to juggle multiple discs and drives back and forth to get my data back, its not worth it. time is money to me.

next, someone experienced power related problems with his optical drive but denied his power supply was inadequate or problematic. again a misdirected argument. you can have a 1000w psu and yet still experience power related woes. the problem is with the quality or cleanliness of the power being supplied.

if the power supply uses poor quality components like rectifiers with an inadequate current rating, an undersized main transformer and capacitors from a dodgy manufacturer, you will still end up with "dirty" power or in technical jargon, electricity with high ripple and high noise. semiconductor electronics absolutely hate power being supplied with high ripple and noise and will malfunction if these requirements are not met, so the quantity of the power being supplied or drawn is irrelevant be it 20w, 1000w or 1500w. the quality of the power being supplied matters too.

another issue i would like to talk about are deliberate mastering errors and playing fine but NOT ripping fine. this has been said so many times and need to put it to rest. movie disc publishers either put errors on their discs purposefully or unintentionally through poor manufacturing. they either dont care or do this on purpose because they think one bad sector here and there wont matter because one sector is 2048 bytes and 2kbytes out of a 7.9gb DL movie dvd or 46.6gb DL movie blu-ray is like a drop in the ocean plus the players will just skip over bad areas so they hope you wont notice. but rippers will notice because they will check the data against a checksum to know they have done their job of gathering all the data correctly and will stumble over this, so some errors placed on discs are purely to screw over rippers but not players and watchers.

this school of thought (plays fine but doesnt rip fine) reminds me of overclocking and stability/stress testing from the Prime95 FAQ from mersenne.org.

CAN I IGNORE THE PROBLEM?
-------------------------

Ignoring the problem is a matter of personal preference. There are
two schools of thought on this subject.

Most programs you run will not stress your computer enough to cause a
wrong result or system crash. If you ignore the problem, then video games
may stress your machine resulting in a system crash. Also, stay away from
distributed computing projects where an incorrect calculation might cause
you to return wrong results. Bad data will not help these projects!
In conclusion, if you are comfortable with a small risk of an occasional
system crash then feel free to live a little dangerously! Keep in mind
that the faster prime95 finds a hardware error the more likely it is that
other programs will experience problems.

The second school of thought is, "Why run a stress test if you are going
to ignore the results?" These people want a guaranteed 100% rock solid
machine. Passing these stability tests gives them the ability to run
CPU intensive programs with confidence.

Q) My machine is not overclocked. If I'm getting an error, then there must
be a bug in the program, right?

A) The torture test is comparing your machines results against
KNOWN CORRECT RESULTS. If your machine cannot generate correct
results, you have a hardware problem.

"We had a server at work that ran for 2 MONTHS straight, without a reboot
I installed Prime95 on it and ran it - a couple minutes later I get an error.
You are going to tell me that the server wasn't stable?"

A) These users obviously do not subscribe to the 100% rock solid
school of thought. THEIR MACHINES DO HAVE HARDWARE PROBLEMS.
But since they are not presently running any programs that reveal
the hardware problem, the machines are quite stable. As long as
these machines never run a program that uncovers the hardware problem,
then the machines will continue to be stable.

so based on the above, it is actually good that makemkv performs a rigorous check of the data collected from the disc. this shows that it is good at uncovering potential problems that may arise either from the media or drive or both. sometimes, it is not even the optical storage subsystem that has a problem but its actually an unstable cpu, ram, bad mobo, failing hard disk or all of the above. but unfortunately, some people prefer burying their heads in the sand like an ostrich and refuse to acknowledge their systems DO have a problem...

now, i will go into properly diagnosing and troubleshooting disc faults because someone said that other ripping software works fine except for makemkv, so the fault lies with makemkv. well... all im going to say is... that's not a scientific method or approach of finding where the problem lies when you only use that one app itself to find the fault... with itself?!

the way i troubleshoot my discs is with nero discspeed. im surprised no one has mentioned it probably because it doesnt work with modern windows like win10 and above because of the way win10 and later change the way hardware is accessed? but the latest version of windows i can confirm nero discspeed works on is windows 7 because i have used it in win7pese before which is a live boot cd version of windows 7 enterprise sp1 32-bit and it works for DL dvd movie discs if you know how to bypass the "illegal operation read of scrambled sector without authentication" error message by having dvd decrypter open or makemkv open while scanning with a libredrive enabled drive. it also works with DL blu-ray movie discs without needing libredrive, at least with the movie titles i tried. im not sure if nero discspeed can work with BDXL TL and QL discs and as a consequence 4K UHD blu-ray discs. dont have any to try.

the tests you want to run are the transfer rate test and scandisc. while running the transfer rate test, make sure there are no sudden sharp downward spikes in the transfer rate graph. if they occur at the layer break line on the graph (for dual layer discs), its fine and not a glitch. the firmware of some drives slow the read speed down near the layer break to prevent glitches and errors reading the data that's stored at the layer break of the disc.

then on the scandisc tab, make sure all the sectors are green. if any are yellow or red, you've either got a bad disc or a drive with a failing laser or both or just the disc and the drive not liking each other. try nero discspeed with a different disc and drive to see if the problem is reproducible. see if the problem follows the disc? or does the problem follow the drive? as you juggle between multiple different discs and drives, then you have the problem pinpointed.

if you're on a linux based os like ubuntu, you can also try running nero discspeed with WINE. i tried running victoria hard disk tester on ubuntu with WINE before and it works so no reason nero discspeed wont work either. you can even use victoria to test your optical drive but you must enable the show logical drives option in settings then select the drive letter that corresponds to your optical drive.

for macs, i believe bootcamp is used to run windows based programs on a mac? i dont use macs so please consult your mac documentation on running windows programs on macs.

so that's how you troubleshoot optical disc and drive related problems properly instead of pointing the finger without proof and running the proper tests!! lastly, as a disclaimer, i actually have NEVER used the ripping function of makemkv precisely because of the problems outlined in the first few paragraphs above associated with optical storage. i purely use makemkv for its decryption on the fly function to play and watch movie titles. most movies are crap anyway and are only worth watching once. only once in a blue moon do i find a movie title worth keeping and watching again then i might consider walking the plank and ripping the movie disc to hard drive.