www.makemkv.com

Hello, I'm really frustrated today. I bought a Verbatim 4K Blu-ray drive to play my Blu-ray collection on my PC running CachyOS, but it doesn't work with VLC.

I tried makemkv but it can't find my player, which is a Verbatim, Model Code KIAB P/N: 43888 I signed up because even DeepSeek is fed up.

My question is: is it compatible with another firmware?

Welcome to the forums SkaalZ,

VLC, as distributed, can cope with encryption on DVDs but requires extra components to deal with the more complex encryption used on BluRay discs. Specifically you need to add the libaacs component and acquire recent AACS keyfiles - see VideoLAN - AACS for more information and SysAdminSage: How to Play Blu-ray on VLC: A Step-by-Step Guide for comprehensive instructions for Windows/Mac/Linux.

If the BluRay you are trying to play is an UltraHD disc, then that has more complex protections still and you will need to (a) check that your BluRay drive can read UHD discs in the first place and then (b) flash the firmware on your disc reader - see the Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2026 thread for instructions here.

If you need further guidance, please include the drive details as reported by MakeMKV. And thank Hollywood for all the frustration that you - and others here - have suffered in trying to play content they legitimately purchased.

AstralWanderer wrote: Sat Jul 11, 2026 5:56 pm VLC, as distributed, can cope with encryption on DVDs but requires extra components to deal with the more complex encryption used on BluRay discs. Specifically you need to add the libaacs component and acquire recent AACS keyfiles - see VideoLAN - AACS for more information and SysAdminSage: How to Play Blu-ray on VLC: A Step-by-Step Guide for comprehensive instructions for Windows/Mac/Linux.

Note that libaacs does not deal with bus encryption and can be somewhat inferior in getting regular BD decrypted, especially when you have a LibreDrive (because in that case libmmbd, backed by MakeMKV, can obtain VID through a "bypass" and calculate the VUK instead of relying KEYDB -- which may or may not has key for a specific title). Also libmmbd may give you less of a headache than libbdplus does for BD+ protected titles.

(By the way, libdvdcss can be an optional dependency of VLC / libdvdread in at least some Linux distro.)

tomty89 wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2026 8:31 am Note that libaacs does not deal with bus encryption and can be somewhat inferior in getting regular BD decrypted...

Thanks for the extra info - and of course LibreDrive is a necessity for UHD discs.

skaalZ wrote: Sat Jul 11, 2026 2:05 pm I tried makemkv but it can't find my player, which is a Verbatim, Model Code KIAB P/N: 43888 I signed up because even DeepSeek is fed up.

I rather missed this point. Is your player visible at system level (e.g. via sudo fdisk -l or lsblk) and, if so, can other media software (e.g. VLC via the Open Disk command - test with a CD or DVD) see it? If so, then that would suggest an issue with MakeMKV itself on your system.

Since your drive is an external unit connecting via USB, it is also worth checking it has adequate power supplied (i.e. that it is connected to a powered USB hub or root port on your PC).

AstralWanderer wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2026 1:19 pm an issue with MakeMKV itself on your system

Could very likely be just that the kernel module sg hasn't been loaded.

---

[ What follows is just verbiage from me who is trying to play expert / AI. ]

AstralWanderer wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2026 1:19 pm and of course LibreDrive is a necessity for UHD discs

Yes and no. AFAICT historically LibreDrive mainly refers to the support for / possibility of "establishing a bypass" for VID retrieval which somewhat renders AACS host revocation useless. I don't know if that had also been used for UHD BDs / AACS 2.0 at any point, but at least it no longer is (which is why we need Hashed Keys / KeyDB for them).

But since bus encryption is apparently mandatory / de facto standard in UHD BDs, and that eventually "hack" of similar approach that disables bus encryption has been included in "LibreDrive mode", so it is considered a "necessity". However in reality the hack is not required for all drive models, as some of them simply don't / can't do bus encryption. (On the other hand, some regular BDs are also Bus Encryption Enabled.)