makemkvcon: "Program reads data faster than it can write..."

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Bloody
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2014 11:23 am

makemkvcon: "Program reads data faster than it can write..."

Post by Bloody »

Howdy,

Just a comment about a minor issue:

Although very considerate, these "Program reads data faster than it can write to disk" messages always appear alot on my machine because i usually rip DVDs to .iso files in a RamDisk (Linux/tmpfs) and then let makemkvcon have fun with the .iso, in order to avoid the coffee break when it comes to "This may take some time, please be patient - it can't be avoided."... :wink:

Of course, my output SSD (for the .mkv files) can't compete with the read speed of the RamDisk, so these warnings are always there... lots of...
Woodstock
Posts: 10312
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2011 11:21 pm

Re: makemkvcon: "Program reads data faster than it can write

Post by Woodstock »

Really can't see where you're gaining speed there... unless MOST of your rips involve disks with odd-ball IFO files that require a disk scan...

You are limited by disk read speed from the optical to the RAM disk, then SSD write speed for the next step.... Where going direct from disk to SSD should be faster.
Bloody
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2014 11:23 am

Re: makemkvcon: "Program reads data faster than it can write

Post by Bloody »

I've got numerous DVDs with complex multiplex content (yes, really). One example i can defo remember: "The Patriot" PAL (ger). MakeMKV usually takes about 3-20 minutes for a full VOBU scan on a physical DVD drive (yes, it sometimes takes 20 minutes). From an .iso file in a RamDisk it takes like 2 seconds for the same operation.

Even without complex multiplex content, scanning a DVD goes rrraatt-rrrrraaat-rraaat on the poor DVD drive while i get <silence> and zero seek times on a RamDisk, therefor the latter is of course always faster. Try ripping 30(+) DVDs/day for a few weeks and then tell me you don't care how long it takes (or how long it takes until your physical DVD drive finally gives up and retires after the torture from all those seek op's).

Anyhow, since i never know in advance if MakeMKV would have to perform a full VOBU scan for a certain DVD (unless i'd actually try and see what happens), i simply rip ALL my DVDs as .iso files to the RamDisk and go from there, complex or not. This guarantees maximum speed with any DVD and no worries whatsoever. There simply is no faster (and easier) way. By using shell scripts i already got it all automated. No mouse clicks involved, etc.

Anyhow, the issue was about those funny messages printed by makemkvcon (recommending to buy a faster harddisk..) and it ain't even a problem, just a simple comment about what i observed while ripping DVDs at maximum speed, so please don't take it as criticism. Just an observation...

Edit: another example for complex multiplex content: Star Wars Ep. 1 (,2,3,...) PAL/ger. And without even remembering in detail, those anti-customer corporations like Disney or Sony Entertainment will always throw every brick they have at us. It's just that after a while i simply gave up and decided to never let MakeMKV do a physical disk since it works perfectly well with .iso files, too.

Edit2: while i'm at it: having MakeMKV scan a physical DVD (just to know what's on the DVD) takes about 15-30 seconds (roughly). Not doing that and instead just ripping all titles from an .iso (incl. content scanning and then copying/re-muxing files) to .mkv files on the SSD takes about 20-40 sec., depending on how many GB we're talking about (32 seconds for 7 GB). Tested with an overclocked i5 (@4.5 GHz) but a rather slow SSD (350 MB/s write speed), so the times are roughly the same. But: it still saves me the fuzz with those complex multiplex disks.
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