How do you protect your drive from "Poison Discs" that might affect LibreDrive?

[SpedeMaster]

Hi everyone,

I've been reading more and more about so-called "Poison Discs" – UHD Blu-rays with unusually aggressive AACS versions or BD-Java structures that not only cause read errors but might even interfere with the drive itself. Some users report cases where LibreDrive functionality was temporarily or even permanently disabled after inserting such discs.

So I'm wondering:
How do you protect yourself against these types of discs?

Specifically:

Do you use certain workflows (e.g. starting with a backup instead of direct ripping)?
Are there any known signs or disc behavior that help identify such risks?
Is there a central list/database of problematic or "dangerous" discs?
Do you isolate your drive with VMs or dedicated systems?
Has anyone actually experienced a disc that caused LibreDrive to stop working or become disabled?
I'm currently using MakeMKV v1.18.1 [darwin arm64] on macOS with a fully registered license.
My drive is a Pioneer BDR-XS07TUHD with LibreDrive-enabled firmware, and I want to be absolutely sure it remains functional and unharmed – especially since replacing it is not easy these days.

Any feedback, tips or best practices are greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

[MartyMcNuts]

Hi everyone,

I've been reading more and more about so-called "Poison Discs" – UHD Blu-rays with unusually aggressive AACS versions or BD-Java structures that not only cause read errors but might even interfere with the drive itself. Some users report cases where LibreDrive functionality was temporarily or even permanently disabled after inserting such discs.

So I'm wondering:
How do you protect yourself against these types of discs?

Specifically:

Do you use certain workflows (e.g. starting with a backup instead of direct ripping)?
Are there any known signs or disc behavior that help identify such risks?
Is there a central list/database of problematic or "dangerous" discs?
Do you isolate your drive with VMs or dedicated systems?
Has anyone actually experienced a disc that caused LibreDrive to stop working or become disabled?
I'm currently using MakeMKV v1.18.1 [darwin arm64] on macOS with a fully registered license.
My drive is a Pioneer BDR-XS07TUHD with LibreDrive-enabled firmware, and I want to be absolutely sure it remains functional and unharmed – especially since replacing it is not easy these days.

Any feedback, tips or best practices are greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

Never heard of such a disc. Sounds like rubbish to me.

[Billycar11]

yeah not a thing
show us some of the conspiracy theory posts so i can go post its wrong

[SpedeMaster]

Thank you for the clarification that there's no need to worry and that this is just a rumor.
I originally got this information from ChatGPT. The following quote is what ChatGPT told me – I’m not sure why it made this claim:

Bus Encryption Markings
This is an internal counter that tracks how many different Bus Encryption Keys your drive has seen and accepted.
Each modern UHD disc with a new AACS/Bus encryption can increase the counter – not all, but many do.
The value doesn’t increase with every disc, only when the disc uses a new, previously unseen bus key.
Typical increment: +1 per new generation or variant of a bus key.
What happens if the limit is reached?
The threshold is believed to be around 20 to 24.
Once this limit is hit, the drive permanently disables LibreDrive.
That means:
– No more RAW access
– No more access to title or AACS metadata
– MakeMKV can no longer decrypt UHDs
– The drive becomes permanently unusable for UHD ripping
This lock is set internally by the hardware, not by software – even downgrading the firmware won’t help once the limit is reached.

Important to understand:
Your current value is 13
That means only ~7 discs of margin – if that.
And: You never know in advance whether a disc will introduce a new bus key!
Every UHD without a mount-block is basically Russian roulette.

Best regards!

[MartyMcNuts]

Thank you for the clarification that there's no need to worry and that this is just a rumor.
I originally got this information from ChatGPT. The following quote is what ChatGPT told me – I’m not sure why it made this claim:

Bus Encryption Markings
This is an internal counter that tracks how many different Bus Encryption Keys your drive has seen and accepted.
Each modern UHD disc with a new AACS/Bus encryption can increase the counter – not all, but many do.
The value doesn’t increase with every disc, only when the disc uses a new, previously unseen bus key.
Typical increment: +1 per new generation or variant of a bus key.
What happens if the limit is reached?
The threshold is believed to be around 20 to 24.
Once this limit is hit, the drive permanently disables LibreDrive.
That means:
– No more RAW access
– No more access to title or AACS metadata
– MakeMKV can no longer decrypt UHDs
– The drive becomes permanently unusable for UHD ripping
This lock is set internally by the hardware, not by software – even downgrading the firmware won’t help once the limit is reached.

Important to understand:
Your current value is 13
That means only ~7 discs of margin – if that.
And: You never know in advance whether a disc will introduce a new bus key!
Every UHD without a mount-block is basically Russian roulette.

Best regards!

You really can't believe a word Chad G. Petey (ChatGPT) says.

[SamuriHL]

Jesus I love how AI constantly makes up BS. I deal with this problem at work every single day. It lies and makes stuff up constantly.

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[zaqqaz6917]

Jesus I love how AI constantly makes up BS. I deal with this problem at work every single day. It lies and makes stuff up constantly.

Sent from my SM-S938U1 using Tapatalk

Similar to our usa guy