Why is MakeMKV in beta?

[jsCP94]

I always wondered this. It seems that this program is complete, and just needs monthly updates for copy protection decryption of new DVDs/Blu-rays. What still needs to be tested? Is it that it's too risky to "properly" release such a legal gray-area program?

If Mike were to release this today, I would buy this in a heartbeat.

[Woodstock]

It's always in Beta because it is frequently changing. There are a couple of features under development now, according to what Mike has posted. And it isn't always perfect; just a few versions ago, there was a fix that broke something else.

[jsCP94]

There are a couple of features under development now, according to what Mike has posted.

What features are under development?

[taylorwmj]

What features are under development?

Mike has stated he is working on a solution for playlist obfuscation. That'll be a big one so we don't have a whole bunch of lazy fools asking "which playlist" instead of using PowerDVD with procmon to figure it out themselves.

I presume he's determining a way to read the Java of the disc menus to find what .mpls is called from the click action of the play movie button. Could be way off here too in how he's doing it.

[jsCP94]

Mike has stated he is working on a solution for playlist obfuscation.

What is playlist obfuscation? Even after a google search, I'm still a little confused on what it is.

[Lovely Rita]

This may help....

http://www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic ... bfuscation

[taylorwmj]

Great post Rita.

As a quick overview:


It's a form of "copy protection" that essentially just makes it really difficult to know what title is the correct title in applications like MakeMKV.

It will show the disc as having 100s if not 1000s of titles. While these are just "pointer" files of sort pointing to various smaller video files, all but 1 or 2 are incorrect. If you choose the wrong title in MakeMKV, you'd get a movie with scenes potentially all out of order. You could also get an image smack dab in the middle of the movie for about a minutes stating "This is a copy" or something to that extent.

The link Rita shared will give a more thorough explanation and how to get around it.


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[MrVideo]

That'll be a big one so we don't have a whole bunch of lazy fools asking "which playlist" instead of using PowerDVD with procmon to figure it out themselves.

Not everyone has, or wants, PowerDVD on their systems.

[yorgo]

That'll be a big one so we don't have a whole bunch of lazy fools asking "which playlist" instead of using PowerDVD with procmon to figure it out themselves.

Not everyone has, or wants, PowerDVD on their systems.

In that case, if one can't wait for Mike's solution, RedFox AnyDVD works wonders.

[whatever_gong82]

That'll be a big one so we don't have a whole bunch of lazy fools asking "which playlist" instead of using PowerDVD with procmon to figure it out themselves.

Not everyone has, or wants, PowerDVD on their systems.

In that case, if one can't wait for Mike's solution, RedFox AnyDVD works wonders.

+1.
I have both MakeMKV and AnyDVD HD, and I love both programs.

[Devore]

Playlist deobfuscation is the only major feature I can think of that is missing. Everything else is either media protocol and key updates, or something that changes the purpose of MakeMKV.

Since no one has an automated general purpose playlist solution yet, I have to assume it is rather complicated to reverse engineer. Probably the player runs compiled Java code when menus are launched, and that can literally do anything and base its playlist decision on any number of factors. PowerDVD/procmon may be with us for a long time.

[SamuriHL]

Screen pass evolves a lot. It's similar to BD+ in that regard....once you have it "figured out" they change it and you have to update the code that handles it. AnyDVD has dealt with this for quite some time and it has to be updated every time they update the protection. I suspect MakeMKV will have to go through a similar process depending on how the solution is implemented.

[obsidian9]

That'll be a big one so we don't have a whole bunch of lazy fools asking "which playlist" instead of using PowerDVD with procmon to figure it out themselves.

Not everyone has, or wants, PowerDVD on their systems.

Yes, us Mac users don't really have any other option other than to come here asking about playlists. I guess we could technically install a copy of Windows on our macs so we can run PowerDVD when the need arrises. But that's rather laborious and costly. Hence using the native MakeMKV. Plus, I'd rather give my money here than anywhere else.

[taylorwmj]

Not everyone has, or wants, PowerDVD on their systems.
Yes, us Mac users don't really have any other option other than to come here asking about playlists. I guess we could technically install a copy of Windows on our macs so we can run PowerDVD when the need arrises. But that's rather laborious and costly. Hence using the native MakeMKV. Plus, I'd rather give my money here than anywhere else.

That's what I did. Dual booting is so easy. Windows is generally cheap. Got PowerDVD on sale. Use VirtualHere on the Ubuntu Server the BD Drive is connected to (and has MakeMKV) to share BD Drive across network. Mount the BD Drive on my MBP running Win7 with VirtualHere client and open PowerDVD with Procmon. Now I can just accurately know myself which playlist. No ambiguity or reliance on others.

[mtnardi]

That's what I did. Dual booting is so easy. Windows is generally cheap. Got PowerDVD on sale. Use VirtualHere on the Ubuntu Server the BD Drive is connected to (and has MakeMKV) to share BD Drive across network. Mount the BD Drive on my MBP running Win7 with VirtualHere client and open PowerDVD with Procmon. Now I can just accurately know myself which playlist. No ambiguity or reliance on others.

Easy you say? I'd like to hear what you think is hard