Do I need to update for LibreDrive?

[GerryM]

I have this drive that DOES rip DVD, Blu-Ray & UHD discs, but I get these Key exchange failure errors (backing up Dogma UHD). It also doesn't work with Blu-Rays & PowerDVD. PowerDVD always says the disc is corrupt, but the disc works fine from another drive. Lastly, some Blu-Rays it just doesn't recognize. It tries real hard but gives up indicating no disc in the drive.

Screenshot 2026-06-27 191401.png

Drive Information
OS device name: \Device\CdRom2
Current profile: BD-ROM
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU50N
Revision: CC03
Serial number: 011HS002481
Firmware date: 2119-12-26 16:42
Bus encryption flags: 1F
Highest AACS version: 82

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible, not yet enabled
Drive platform: MT1959

Will flashing to enable LibreDrive fix all this? If so, what firmware do I use? I don't see a lot of info for these BU50N drives. Should I treat it like a BU40N?

Any help appreciated.

[Sayaka]

I have this drive that DOES rip DVD, Blu-Ray & UHD discs

By "DOES rip UHD discs" I'm going to go ahead and assume you mean "is supposed to be able to rip UHD discs", as you do not have LibreDrive enabled, and I've never heard of MakeMKV being able to rip a single UHD disc without LibreDrive.

LibreDrive compatible drive is required to read UHD discs.

Anyway, someone seemed to have the same issue as you did (same drive, same firmware version), way back in 2021 : viewtopic.php?p=109516

The answer was to try to flash to BU40N 1.03-MK firmware or BU50N 1.00-MK firmware if the first one fails. However, in this topic, we can see that both failed and 4Kwannabe actually had to e-mail Billycar11 (memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=15044) for an auto flasher, which I would recommend doing given that your drive and firmware version seem to be fairly rare.

(I actually have an idea as to why the normal flash may fail and I also have an idea regarding how to solve this, but given that if I'm wrong you might end up bricking your drive, I don't think we should attempt this. Asking Billy to help you out seems like the reasonable course of action here.)

[GerryM]

Thanks for the reply, but I did mean what I said. This drive recognizes and rips UHD discs. My process is to make an MakeMKV backup of the discs and then rip from the backups, but for this I made a point to also rip directly from the disk. Both processes were successful, even with all those errors. I tried to include a screenshot but apparently I don't know how to drag & drop, or they are not allowed in this forum?? Regardless, below is the drive & disc info displayed, as well as the errors I see.

So, do you think it's worth flashing to enable LibreDrive? Will it fix the errors I've described?

BTW, I bought this drive earlier this year on Amazon. They are still available.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5CFY8RW?re ... n_title_31
----------------------------------------------------------
Drive Information
OS device name: \Device\CdRom2
Current profile: BD-ROM
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU50N
Revision: CC03
Serial number: 011HS002481
Firmware date: 2119-12-26 16:42
Bus encryption flags: 1F
Highest AACS version: 82

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible, not yet enabled
Drive platform: MT1959

Disc Information
Label: DOGMA_UHD
Timestamp: 2025-10-31 23:31:04
Protection: AACS2.0/C v82
Data capacity: 90.32 Gb
Disc type: BD-ROM UHD
Number of layers: 3
Bus encryption flags: 80
------------------------------------------------------------

Code: Select all

MakeMKV v1.18.3 win(x64-release) started
Using direct disc access mode
Loaded content hash table, will verify integrity of M2TS files.
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..02E5B5A79C2E867BCDE3EC2C6294AC2A4B0 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..082E9607FCA7C8646AF409CBCE9236A8B1E to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..027BCAE5DEC636982369AE1BD707AD7863C to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..020AF44562B06BA59B1332127F34B928209 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..046FE9700F44624D4BEF13E4AD365AC0B80 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0C55C19F300F3E19C2DB34812D68FE9F0C4 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..05E9349AAA8154286979678E2583F54B731 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..057D60359AE6F04F4D89B56C6802FCD8F97 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..026F1BCEA9F200C752BC979265324DB619A to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..01C5CB4ADC2DBF320039A23420CC259036F to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0CC305C48AD3F6B63B4181425E69200B1BE to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0A16D6AA0CC5DE397055484C9868125E1CE to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..07CC99D90BC66955CA6192ADBFF9CE77A1A to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0EF36A203489E67A3A29B413FA1FDAAC8B5 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0D78043C793D03363FB4009B80A56690303 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..00147107F49188442CCE291715E87068A0B to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..04B2002FF64C1A87FE4CA5DB13FE57E7266 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..01C8B134571328FFB6AC52E0DA46CEB9764 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..09489C813171A235CCC5573C5E2911E5205 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..02AD3EFC3D21B660C09FFB5E145EF9FA4D1 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0D940884E8C0A68A608160009BE7A5D3EB8 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..06C41DFA1DE04C17DAF707C542801BB4140 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0A83B81B2FEF3A30128C470B899C45A8626 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0F3DF9468A0ECEF6057C28A3704FF86619A to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0E5C23D1A001FCFC5E68DF8A012C191D7A9 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0CD38E73F57D01703C725AE49B44F25185A to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0F06CD531A80D5B703A4D52423B98D24680 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..01116A1104E2CCF0AFD4307229B50381358 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0494A9295E4D2214D96FBBA51C05F948818 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..06CEE30288DAC4FA36B9A64253D28CD951E to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..012610A3277647B2CAF8DE3E6341DFDE03C to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0F76F79C6364004617885CC20F45AE828CE to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0E8DFCAEF42D1F8BA283911F7D1C8C6E4A1 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..02CBBF747BD1C06ED48095FC3AEF572D14E to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..054C19ABC8F140D01484AD771E82E599710 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0B3487AF45C977FF8CC9C00CC58D5D1BEA8 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0F12C4F9941243BDA425DB61463F557E925 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0E558FA013BCDF9BB2C62F70711A5A7F582 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..014191381F9D83EDBA1442785D8769567D6 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0E192AF0D63D5E065AA240A967847B30B08 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom2'
Can't read AACS VID from disc - most likely current AACS host certificate is revoked by your drive
File 00012.mpls was added as title #0
Title #00013.mpls has length of 10 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 30 seconds and was therefore skipped
File 00100.mpls was added as title #1
File 00302.mpls was added as title #2
File 00305.mpls was added as title #3
File 00303.mpls was added as title #4
File 00300.mpls was added as title #5
File 00101.mpls was added as title #6
File 00001.mpls was added as title #7
Title #00047.mpls has length of 8 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 30 seconds and was therefore skipped
Title #00008.m2ts has length of 9 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 30 seconds and was therefore skipped
Title #00005.m2ts has length of 22 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 30 seconds and was therefore skipped
Title #00003.m2ts has length of 1 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 30 seconds and was therefore skipped
Title #00015.m2ts has length of 10 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 30 seconds and was therefore skipped
Title #00010.m2ts has length of 8 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 30 seconds and was therefore skipped
Title #00019.m2ts has length of 8 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 30 seconds and was therefore skipped
File 00022.m2ts was added as title #8
Title #00001.m2ts has length of 0 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 30 seconds and was therefore skipped
File 00017.m2ts was added as title #9
File 00013.m2ts was added as title #10
Operation successfully completed

[Sayaka]

Thanks for the reply, but I did mean what I said. This drive recognizes and rips UHD discs. My process is to make an MakeMKV backup of the discs and then rip from the backups, but for this I made a point to also rip directly from the disk. Both processes were successful, even with all those errors.

BTW, I bought this drive earlier this year on Amazon. They are still available.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5CFY8RW?re ... n_title_31

I've only seen two people on this forum ask about the Wbacon drive, and they didn't get many replies. It doesn't seem to be a very famous drive.

What really puzzles me is that as far as I know, what you're describing shouldn't even be possible under normal circumstances (apologies for misunderstanding you, by the way). I do not know what's causing the fact that you're able to rip 4K discs (despite getting errors) without having LibreDrive enabled. I've just checked and your firmware is indeed not on the officially supported firmware list, either.

So, do you think it's worth flashing to enable LibreDrive? Will it fix the errors I've described?

If the issues you're describing were to happen to me that is indeed what I would attempt, but please wait for an expert such as MartyMcNuts or Billycar11 to reply to this thread, or contact one of them directly. They can probably provide an auto flasher if both you and them deem it necessary, and more importantly they should also be able to give you better advice than I (hopefully). Right now, I have zero experience with the Wbacon drive and all I know about BU50Ns comes from things I've read (maybe I'll buy one of these at some point to investigate this though, as I am really curious). So while I do know some things about flashing and MakeMKV in general, I do not want to risk giving bad advice given my lack of expertise with this drive. Sorry for not being able to help out more.

[GerryM]

Thanks for the interest, and the caution. I didn't realize this drive was such a rarity/oddity. Overall, it works well enough, but some things about it make me shake my head. Just now it refused to recognize a regular old Blu-Ray disc. ARGH!

I'll wait to see if one of the gurus responds.

[Sayaka]

Just now it refused to recognize a regular old Blu-Ray disc.

If it's an old Blu-ray disc I would recommend cleaning it (not the label side, the other side, obviously) with a slightly damp, clean microfiber cloth to get rid of the chemical haze that can prevent ripping. Then, you can dry it with another clean & dry microfiber cloth, making sure that there is no water left before putting it back in the drive. But maybe that's already what you were doing ?

The longer a disk sits in its packaging, the more often it needs to have the chemicals of manufacturing cleaned off of it. Any disk issued more than a few months prior to your purchase will accumulate a chemical haze, some bad enough to need washing to be readable.

[tomty89]

I do not know what's causing the fact that you're able to rip 4K discs (despite getting errors) without having LibreDrive enabled.

It might not be as surprising as it might have seemed. While I don't have much experience with different generations / variants of LG drives / firmware, so I don't know if this is Pioneer-specific, but with at least many older Pioneer models, there's no "copy protection" for regular BD -- you can copy the content of the disc without having MakeMKV or so doing anything special. It's just that the content would be encrypted as it is. The point of LibreDrive (as in, the volatile firmware / "microcode" hack) is often just to allow MakeMKV to obtain the VID for VUK calculation without having to present the drive a host cert/key that is not yet revoked.

And while I also don't have any "native UHD" Pioneer models, it doesn't seem like "copy protection" have been added for UHD BDs either. At least with crossflashed Pioneer models, it's the same story as it is for regular BDs.

The thing is for UHD BDs / AACS 2.0, MakeMKV really just relies on key libraries (Hashed Keys / KeyDB). (There might still be "leftover logic" in the code that makes some "futile attempts" to derive the VUK though.) In other words, you don't even need any "bypass" to get the content and decrypt it, as long as the drive doesn't do bus encryption -- which is the case with crossflashed Pioneer drives. Therefore, if this LG model / firmware here is somehow UHD supporting but not equipped with bus encryption, then it doesn't really need LibreDrive support from MakeMKV for UHD BDs (while it would probably "have better chances" for regular BDs if it gets Libre-ated). (Btw I don't know if UHD BDs are always BEE. Maybe it's just all the discs the OP has happen to be non-BEE?)

P.S. although I thought MakeMKV would just "give up" on UHD BDs when the drive is not "considered" LibreDrive. Wonder if that has changed at some point...(or maybe it checks for bus encryption and decide whether to give up depending on that...?)

Another P.S. The very reason PowerDVD doesn't work might be that this drive doesn't do bus encryption...

---

I was abusing the term "copy protection" btw. It does NOT mean that you can "clone" a BD / UHD BD and play it on "proper" (i.e. from big brands) consumer player -- the "clone" would lack "bits" required for "proper decryption".

[Sayaka]

you can copy the content of the disc without having MakeMKV or so doing anything special. It's just that the content would be encrypted as it is.

I was aware of that, yes. By "rip" I meant making a decrypted backup, given the context (GerryM showed in the logs that MakeMKV is able to open a UHD disc with this drive - and IIRC it only does that when it's possible to make a decrypted backup). My mistake if my way of phrasing it was ambiguous.

Therefore, if this LG model / firmware here is somehow UHD supporting but not equipped with bus encryption

...Can this truly happen, though ? Given that the BU50N is supposed to always be Bus Encryption Capable (https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=172914) ? Then again, since this drive is (I believe) an OEM drive, maybe Wbacon did something weird ?

(Btw I don't know if UHD BDs are always BEE. Maybe it's just all the discs the OP has happen to be non-BEE?)

All AACS v2 discs (so I'm pretty sure all UHD discs) are Bus Encryption Enabled, as well as some AACS v1 discs (regular Blu-ray discs).