Buffalo 16X not reading/Stalling

[Not-so-great-at-this]

# MakeMKV info/read hangs indefinitely on all discs (Blu-ray AND DVD) - Ubuntu, LG BH16NS58/Buffalo BRXL-16U3

## Summary

`makemkvcon info disc:0` (and `dev:/dev/sr0`) hangs indefinitely after printing the
startup line, on every disc I've tried (Blu-ray and standard DVD alike). No crash,
no error - the process just sits there consuming ~100% CPU on one thread forever,
until manually killed. This happens consistently across many hours of testing and
a long list of environmental changes (below), all of which made no difference.

**The exact same physical drive and disc work perfectly fine ripping via MakeMKV on
a Windows laptop** - so this is very likely something specific to this Linux
environment or to this MakeMKV Linux build, not the disc or drive hardware itself.

## System info

- OS: Ubuntu (kernel 7.0.0-29-generic)
- MakeMKV version: 1.18.4 linux(x64-release), installed via the
`ppa:heyarje/makemkv-beta` PPA
- Drive: Buffalo BRXL-16U3 (external USB), internally an LG/HL-DT-ST BD-RE
BH16NS58, firmware revision 1.03, stock (not flashed)
- Drive info from a prior working session:
```
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BH16NS58
Revision: 1.03
Bus encryption flags: 1F
Highest AACS version: 61
LibreDrive Information: Status: Possible, not yet enabled
```

## What happens

```
$ makemkvcon info disc:0
MakeMKV v1.18.4 linux(x64-release) started
[hangs here indefinitely - no further output, no error, no crash]
```

Same result with `makemkvcon info dev:/dev/sr0` (bypassing disc-index discovery
entirely).

On one occasion, waiting long enough resulted in:
```
Failed to open disc
Total 0 titles
```
...but this was not consistently reproducible, and mostly the process just hangs
forever with no output at all.

## strace findings

Attaching `strace -p <PID> -f` to the process while hung shows the main thread
doing nothing but an infinite polling loop:

```
clock_nanosleep(CLOCK_REALTIME, 0, {tv_sec=0, tv_nsec=50000000}, NULL) = 0
clock_nanosleep(CLOCK_REALTIME, 0, {tv_sec=0, tv_nsec=50000000}, NULL) = 0
[repeats indefinitely, every ~50ms, no other syscalls]
```

Using `ps -eLf` to find the actual busy worker thread (98-100% CPU, separate from
the polling main thread) and attaching strace directly to *that* thread with
`-T` (to show syscall duration) showed the exact same clock_nanosleep(50ms) loop -
no reads, writes, ioctls, or any SCSI/MMC-level communication with the drive
visible at all, despite that thread showing real, sustained CPU usage.

## Things I've ruled out (tested individually and in combination)

- **udisks2 automount conflict**: confirmed via `mount | grep sr0` and dmesg
(`Can't open blockdev` racing with `UDF-fs: INFO Mounting volume...`) that
udisks2 was grabbing the device. Fixed with a udev rule
(`ENV{UDISKS_IGNORE}="1"` matched on the drive's USB vendor/product ID). Made
no difference to the hang either way (tested with the rule present and absent).
- **Leftover/zombie processes**: found and killed multiple orphaned
`makemkvcon guiserver` background processes (one still running >7 minutes,
99% CPU, from an earlier failed GUI launch attempt) that were accumulating
across test attempts. Killing everything with `pkill -9 -f makemkv` and
starting completely fresh made no difference.
- **Network/DNS connectivity**: confirmed working (`ping 8.8.8.8` and
`ping google.com` both succeed with normal latency, ~11-25ms).
- **TLS/SSL version**: curl 8.18.0 / OpenSSL 3.5.5, both current; forcing
`--tlsv1.2` explicitly made no difference (this was tested for a *separate*
issue - makemkv.com's own download server returning Cloudflare 525 errors on
both wget and curl - but ruled out TLS as a factor generally).
- **`sdf_Stop` setting**: found `sdf_Stop = ""` in `~/.MakeMKV/settings.conf` and
set it to `"1"` based on an old forum thread about SDF-download hangs. No
change in behavior.
- **USB autosuspend**: checked `/sys/bus/usb/devices/<drive>/power/control` -
already `"on"` (never suspends), not the cause.
- **USB 3.0 vs USB 2.0**: physically moved the drive from a USB 3.0 (SuperSpeed,
Bus 2) port to a USB 2.0 port (Bus 1, confirmed via `lsusb`/speed file).
Kernel log had shown a forced `usb reset SuperSpeed USB device` event during
an earlier hang, which looked promising, but the hang was identical on
USB 2.0.
- **usb-storage vs UAS driver**: confirmed via dmesg
(`usb-storage 2-2:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected`) that the drive
uses the legacy `usb-storage` driver, not `uas` - so this isn't an UAS
compatibility issue.
- **Disc type**: hangs identically on both a Blu-ray and a standard DVD.
Rules out anything AACS/Blu-ray-specific.
- **Local firewall**: `ufw status` returns `inactive`.
- **Driver/module loading**: `usb_storage` module confirmed loaded;
xhci_hcd controller initializes cleanly at boot with no errors in dmesg.

## Cross-check with a different tool

To isolate whether this was drive/system-level or MakeMKV-specific, I tried
`HandBrakeCLI -i /dev/sr0 --scan` on the exact same drive/disc/system.
**HandBrake successfully opened the device and began scanning** - it got to
`keydbcfg.c:701: No valid AACS configuration files found` (expected, since I
don't have libbluray's AACS keys set up - not something I'm looking to solve
via HandBrake, just wanted to confirm the drive/USB/system stack itself is
functional). This is nowhere near the "hangs silently forever with zero I/O"
behavior MakeMKV shows - HandBrake reached a specific, clean error almost
immediately.

This strongly suggests the drive, USB connection, and OS-level SCSI/MMC access
are all working correctly, and the hang is specific to how this MakeMKV Linux
build communicates with this drive.

## Additional notes

- Also attempted to remove the PPA install and build from official source
(`makemkv-oss-1.18.4.tar.gz` / `makemkv-bin-1.18.4.tar.gz`) to rule out a
PPA-specific packaging bug, but makemkv.com's own download server is
currently returning Cloudflare 525 (SSL handshake) errors on every attempt
(via both wget and curl, with modern TLS/OpenSSL), so I was unable to
complete this comparison. Reinstalled via the PPA to get back to a working
baseline install.
- Happy to provide any further diagnostics (additional strace output,
ltrace, gdb backtrace of the hung thread, etc.) - just let me know what
would be useful.

Any help figuring out what's actually blocking this would be genuinely
appreciated - this is the last piece blocking a fully-local home media server
setup that everything else is already working for.

[tomty89]

See viewtopic.php?p=203364#p203364

Replace the value to use for sdf_Stop with what is found in your log file.

(Note: it's a long-time Linux-specific bug since MakeMKV 1.17.8.)

LibreDrive Information: Status: Possible, not yet enabled

Or search the forum to find out whether BH16NS58 can be crossflashed into a LibreDrive. (The model doesn't look familiar to me, so I don't know.)

[Sayaka]

Or search the forum to find out whether BH16NS58 can be crossflashed into a LibreDrive. (The model doesn't look familiar to me, so I don't know.)

This is a BRXL-16U3 BH16NS58 with 1.03 firmware, the same drive that I helped Zombiciego flash in "General MakeMKV discussion".

Not-so-great-at-this, you would need to temporarily downgrade makemkv-bin to 1.17.6 if you choose this LibreDrive/UHD compatibility-flashing path, and do a rawflash enc to DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02_MK.bin from MartyMcNuts' All You Need Firmware Pack. Then, should this MK firmware give Linux trouble (I do not know if it will), you could do a rawflash main to DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.00.bin *after* this first rawflash enc step.

If you feel like choosing the "flashing route" and have never flashed an LG drive on Linux before, please tell me before attempting anything, I can provide detailed instructions.

(Also, if you are not interested in LibreDrive/UHD compatibility, you can temporarily downgrade to makemkv 1.17.6-bin, launch MakeMKV with a disc inside the drive, open the disc with MakeMKV, wait until the firmware dump file is created, close MakeMKV, upgrade back to 1.18.4-bin and everything should start working properly. Again, please let us know if you need help with this.)

EDIT : Also, here are the download links to makemkv 1.18.4 and makemkv 1.17.6-bin : viewtopic.php?t=42158

[Not-so-great-at-this]

Or search the forum to find out whether BH16NS58 can be crossflashed into a LibreDrive. (The model doesn't look familiar to me, so I don't know.)

This is a BRXL-16U3 BH16NS58 with 1.03 firmware, the same drive that I helped Zombiciego flash in "General MakeMKV discussion".

Not-so-great-at-this, you would need to temporarily downgrade makemkv-bin to 1.17.6 if you choose this LibreDrive/UHD compatibility-flashing path, and do a rawflash enc to DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02_MK.bin from MartyMcNuts' All You Need Firmware Pack. Then, should this MK firmware give Linux trouble (I do not know if it will), you could do a rawflash main to DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.00.bin *after* this first rawflash enc step.

If you feel like choosing the "flashing route" and have never flashed an LG drive on Linux before, please tell me before attempting anything, I can provide detailed instructions.

(Also, if you are not interested in LibreDrive/UHD compatibility, you can temporarily downgrade to makemkv 1.17.6-bin, launch MakeMKV with a disc inside the drive, open the disc with MakeMKV, wait until the firmware dump file is created, close MakeMKV, upgrade back to 1.18.4-bin and everything should start working properly. Again, please let us know if you need help with this.)

EDIT : Also, here are the download links to makemkv 1.18.4 and makemkv 1.17.6-bin : viewtopic.php?t=42158

I have never attempted a drive flash of any kind. Anything that could help would be great. Thank you!

[Sayaka]

Mostly copied from another post of mine in another topic.

EDIT : Also, I am 99% sure your drive is an MT1959 drive, but please double-check just in case. DO NOT FLASH (apologies for all caps) it it says anything else than MT1959.

In your specific case, please do an apt purge for the makemkv version you already have installed before attempting the following.

LINUX GUIDE FOR BH16NS58 1.03

Step 1 : Downgrade to makemkv-bin-1.17.6

Since, on Linux, makemkv-bin versions above 1.17.7 have a broken universal firmware tool, we are going to downgrade to 1.17.6-bin (which should be almost the same as 1.17.7-bin). Ignore this step you've already done so.

Check out this topic : viewtopic.php?t=42158

The versions you want are 1.18.4-oss and 1.17.6-bin.

Please check out this topic for instructions for the oss part : viewtopic.php?t=224

Ignore the libavcodec part, it's outdated.

Then, after unzipping makemkv-bin-1.17.6, enter the newly created folder, open a terminal window inside it, and type

Code: Select all

make

then

Code: Select all

sudo make install

Step 2 : Additional Linux step just in case

Open a new terminal window and type

Code: Select all

sudo modprobe sg

To avoid possible issues


Step 3 : Identify the correct drive

Now open a new terminal window and type

Code: Select all

makemkvcon f -l

Identify the drive you want to flash, there should be something called /dev/sr0 or something like that. Make a note of this.


Step 4 : Prepare the needed firmware files

Check out this topic : viewtopic.php?t=22896

And click on the mediafire link below "All You Need firmware pack"

Once you're done downloading, extract it.

Copy DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02_MK.bin and DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.00.bin (from "All You Need Firmware Pack (MartyMcNuts)/Internal Desktop Drives/") and paste them into the /tmp folder.


EDIT : Make sure there is no disc in the drive during Step 5 and the optional Step 8.

Step 5 : Perform the flashing operation

Copy and paste this line into a terminal window, replacing /dev/sr0 with the correct device path (if needed) that you made a note of when you did Step 3.

Code: Select all

makemkvcon f -d /dev/sr0 rawflash enc -i /tmp/DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02_MK.bin

Step 6 : Unplug the drive and leave it unplugged for 30 seconds, then plug it back in.


Step 7 : Test the drive, and make sure it's working as intended.


Step 8 : If you're having trouble on Linux despite thoroughly cleaning your Blu-ray discs, try this, replacing /dev/sr0 with the correct device path (if needed) that you made a note of when you did Step 3 :

Code: Select all

makemkvcon f -d /dev/sr0 rawflash main -i /tmp/DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.00.bin

Only do Step 8 after Steps 5, 6, and 7, and only if you plan on mostly using your drive with Linux and are having trouble with the firmware you flashed at Step 5. Then do Steps 6 and 7 again.


Step 9 : Once everything is working fine, please feel free to upgrade back to 1.18.4-bin.