www.makemkv.com

MartyMcNuts wrote: Sat May 03, 2025 2:22 am

xSephirothAngelX wrote: Fri May 02, 2025 10:16 pm Hi, just bought this drive and am trying to get MakeMKV to read the BluRay I'm putting in.

The system reads it fine and I can even mount it, but MakeMKV is stuck on just loading the disc.

Any way I can fix this or am I screwed because this is an BU40N on Firmware 1.05?

It should still work fine as is for DVD/BD discs but as LibreDrive isn't enabed, your drive could get revoked if you insert a new disc with AACS MKB revision. You would then have to wait for a MakeMKv software update. If you want to avoid this, you need to flash it. After flashing, Libredrive will be enabled and so will UHD readability.

Thing is I'm reading a normal 1080P Blu Ray.

I'm still going to need to flash it regardless?

xSephirothAngelX wrote: Sat May 03, 2025 7:06 pm

MartyMcNuts wrote: Sat May 03, 2025 2:22 am

xSephirothAngelX wrote: Fri May 02, 2025 10:16 pm Hi, just bought this drive and am trying to get MakeMKV to read the BluRay I'm putting in.

The system reads it fine and I can even mount it, but MakeMKV is stuck on just loading the disc.

Any way I can fix this or am I screwed because this is an BU40N on Firmware 1.05?

It should still work fine as is for DVD/BD discs but as LibreDrive isn't enabed, your drive could get revoked if you insert a new disc with AACS MKB revision. You would then have to wait for a MakeMKv software update. If you want to avoid this, you need to flash it. After flashing, Libredrive will be enabled and so will UHD readability.

Thing is I'm reading a normal 1080P Blu Ray.

I'm still going to need to flash it regardless?

If you want to enble LibreDrive, yes. It just so happens to also enable UHD readability.

I do have a flasher for it if you are worried about doing it yourself. See my signature.

MartyMcNuts wrote: Sun May 04, 2025 3:09 am

xSephirothAngelX wrote: Sat May 03, 2025 7:06 pm

MartyMcNuts wrote: Sat May 03, 2025 2:22 am

It should still work fine as is for DVD/BD discs but as LibreDrive isn't enabed, your drive could get revoked if you insert a new disc with AACS MKB revision. You would then have to wait for a MakeMKv software update. If you want to avoid this, you need to flash it. After flashing, Libredrive will be enabled and so will UHD readability.

Thing is I'm reading a normal 1080P Blu Ray.

I'm still going to need to flash it regardless?

If you want to enble LibreDrive, yes. It just so happens to also enable UHD readability.

I do have a flasher for it if you are worried about doing it yourself. See my signature.

Yep, downgrading the firmware is what made it work for me.

I managed to convert the episodes on Blu Ray to MKV, but is there a process for compressing them so the file size is not so large?

It's like 10 GB for a 1 hour episode.

xSephirothAngelX wrote: Sun May 04, 2025 6:21 pm Yep, downgrading the firmware is what made it work for me.

I managed to convert the episodes on Blu Ray to MKV, but is there a process for compressing them so the file size is not so large?

It's like 10 GB for a 1 hour episode.

Lots of folks use Handbrake to transcode their rips.

Yes, but why cripple your high resolution video?

Coopervid wrote: Sun May 04, 2025 7:59 pm Yes, but why cripple your high resolution video?

It really depends on how much compression you use. I don't use HandBrake, don't like it.

I prefer to use NVENCc64 CLI and use GPU encoding. I find I can reduce BD video bitrate by around 50% without any noticable difference in quality. For UHD, I reduce the video bitrate to 25k average and again, don't notice any quality difference.I don't touch the audio as I want the ATMOS/DTS-X tracks as intended.

I watch movies on a TCL 75" 4K Mini-LED TV and a Samsung 78" 4K TV.

The Staples Canada near me has 4 units in stock and I'm hoping to find an old stock Pioneer model there.

Is there a way to discern which is which from the box... UPC... or anything else without actually plugging it into a PC?

TM2-Megatron wrote: Mon May 05, 2025 5:27 am The Staples Canada near me has 4 units in stock and I'm hoping to find an old stock Pioneer model there.

Is there a way to discern which is which from the box... UPC... or anything else without actually plugging it into a PC?

Yeah, look at the date on the box. To be UHD compatible, it must be pre 12/2022.

TM2-Megatron wrote: Mon May 05, 2025 5:27 am The Staples Canada near me has 4 units in stock and I'm hoping to find an old stock Pioneer model there.

Is there a way to discern which is which from the box... UPC... or anything else without actually plugging it into a PC?

I bought a couple from the Staples Canada about a month back near my place and both of them were Pioneers.
I didn't know how to tell by looking at the box but decided to take a risk and it worked out.

Received my 43888 today and found it also has a BU40N inside with the 1.05 firmware. Used the SDFtool to flash the 1.03 firmware and it's worked with no hassles on four different UHD discs so far. The BU40N hardware is definitely not a dealbreaker!

mwjoh wrote: Mon May 19, 2025 7:01 pm Received my 43888 today and found it also has a BU40N inside with the 1.05 firmware. Used the SDFtool to flash the 1.03 firmware and it's worked with no hassles on four different UHD discs so far. The BU40N hardware is definitely not a dealbreaker!

until it eats a disc

TM2-Megatron wrote: Mon May 05, 2025 5:27 am The Staples Canada near me has 4 units in stock and I'm hoping to find an old stock Pioneer model there.

Is there a way to discern which is which from the box... UPC... or anything else without actually plugging it into a PC?

So did you roll the dice?

I bought a second from a different location, it was also an old firmware Pioneer.
No date that I can see, but also no drive logo on the back of the box, which may be an indicator.

baliw wrote: Fri May 30, 2025 2:59 pm

TM2-Megatron wrote: Mon May 05, 2025 5:27 am The Staples Canada near me has 4 units in stock and I'm hoping to find an old stock Pioneer model there.

Is there a way to discern which is which from the box... UPC... or anything else without actually plugging it into a PC?

So did you roll the dice?

I bought a second from a different location, it was also an old firmware Pioneer.
No date that I can see, but also no drive logo on the back of the box, which may be an indicator.

Post the Makemkv info of it.

It’s in another one of my posts. Mine are both identical, and have been updated.
I was wondering if the other poster tried.

My very recently ordered Verbatim 70102 drive turned out to still be a Pioneer UD03. These can be flashed to UD04 and MKV compatibility quite easily.