I have an ASUS BW-16D1X-U. Over the last few months, I have noticed that it keeps getting stuck at a read speed of 2x when ripping blu-rays. I thought this may be MakeMKV slowing the drive down because of read errors, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Sometimes, if I cancel the rip and then re-start it, the drive will spin up, and rip at full speed. Other times, I need to close the instance of MakeMKV, power-cycle the drive, and then launch a new instance of MakeMKV. At that point, the drive is stable and happily rips at full speed (for a few discs, at least).
Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing happening? It rips discs fine at 2x, it just takes forever. If this is a sign of the drive failing, I would rather replace it before it really starts flipping out.
ASUS drive keeps getting stuck at 2x read rate (BW-16D1X-U)
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Shwalamazula
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2024 11:36 am
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segfaulted
- Posts: 92
- Joined: Mon May 06, 2024 11:10 am
Re: ASUS drive keeps getting stuck at 2x read rate (BW-16D1X-U)
I had similar slowdowns when ripping regular (non-UHD) blu-ray discs with my BP50NB40 drive (reflashed). The drive is new too, manufactured 2024.
The read speed went up to 4x for a while and suddenly caps at 2x after a few minutes. Having tried the rip several times, the slowdown consistently happens early on and stays slow for the rest of the rip.
Disabling MakeMKV's speed control didn't really seem to help. I set mine to 0=0 which caused some odd seek noises and more slowdowns. I'll stick with defaults from here on.
I came up with a dumb workaround which might get it back up to speed without having to quit and restart.
1. Use a program like Process Explorer or Process Hacker / System Informer
2. Highlight both makemkv.exe and makemkvcon64.exe
3. Right-click, choose Suspend (MakeMKV will now be frozen, do not close it)
4. Start another MakeMKV window, wait for the drive to spin up, then close that new window
5. Wait several seconds, or wait for the disc to quiet down?
6. Back on the process tool, right-click makemkvcon64.exe only, choose Resume
7. Wait a few more seconds
8. Right-click makemkv.exe, choose Resume
And then MakeMKV should sustain a "normal" read speed for while.
It's very hit-and-miss though. Sometimes, the slowdown comes back regardless, which makes me think it's software related.
The read speed went up to 4x for a while and suddenly caps at 2x after a few minutes. Having tried the rip several times, the slowdown consistently happens early on and stays slow for the rest of the rip.
Disabling MakeMKV's speed control didn't really seem to help. I set mine to 0=0 which caused some odd seek noises and more slowdowns. I'll stick with defaults from here on.
I came up with a dumb workaround which might get it back up to speed without having to quit and restart.
1. Use a program like Process Explorer or Process Hacker / System Informer
2. Highlight both makemkv.exe and makemkvcon64.exe
3. Right-click, choose Suspend (MakeMKV will now be frozen, do not close it)
4. Start another MakeMKV window, wait for the drive to spin up, then close that new window
5. Wait several seconds, or wait for the disc to quiet down?
6. Back on the process tool, right-click makemkvcon64.exe only, choose Resume
7. Wait a few more seconds
8. Right-click makemkv.exe, choose Resume
And then MakeMKV should sustain a "normal" read speed for while.
It's very hit-and-miss though. Sometimes, the slowdown comes back regardless, which makes me think it's software related.
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Shwalamazula
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2024 11:36 am
Re: ASUS drive keeps getting stuck at 2x read rate (BW-16D1X-U)
That's interesting. This almost feels like thermal limiting, but it feels too inconsistent for that.
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segfaulted
- Posts: 92
- Joined: Mon May 06, 2024 11:10 am
Re: ASUS drive keeps getting stuck at 2x read rate (BW-16D1X-U)
I don't think it's thermal related either. My BP50NB40 managed to backup several other discs (4K and regular BD) from start to finish without capping to 2x read speed.
But the interesting part is the slowdown only seems to happen when I make a full backup of 3D bluray movies.
When I ripped the same 3D disc to mkv, it reads up to 5.4x without issues. Reading the 3D disc to an iso file with ImgBurn also got 4x read, but the resulting iso file is useless.
As for using MakeMKV itself,
Backing up 2D blurays and UHD discs worked fine; they easily sustain 4-5x speed at times. I don't think the 3D discs themselves are the problem because my older internal drives can backup those at full speed.
So now I'm left to wonder if it's something common to the external drive firmwares. Maybe there's a "silent play" feature that needs to go, or MakeMKV is doing something differently between a full backup and mkv rip.
But the interesting part is the slowdown only seems to happen when I make a full backup of 3D bluray movies.
When I ripped the same 3D disc to mkv, it reads up to 5.4x without issues. Reading the 3D disc to an iso file with ImgBurn also got 4x read, but the resulting iso file is useless.
As for using MakeMKV itself,
- I've tried various 3D movies from 2010-2023
- Suspending/resuming the exe processes got very inconsistent results
- Flashed different model's firmware (BP50NB40, BP60NB10, BU40N)
- Ran on Windows and Linux
- Used the BP50NB40 drive on a laptop and desktop PC
- Plugged in the extra USB power plug for the drive
- Disabling LibreDrive using a registry entry
- Used the speed control settings like 0=0 or B2=99
- Installed older versions like MakeMKV 1.14.4 (released June 2019)
Backing up 2D blurays and UHD discs worked fine; they easily sustain 4-5x speed at times. I don't think the 3D discs themselves are the problem because my older internal drives can backup those at full speed.
So now I'm left to wonder if it's something common to the external drive firmwares. Maybe there's a "silent play" feature that needs to go, or MakeMKV is doing something differently between a full backup and mkv rip.