Total MacOS v15.5 Newbie Running MakeMKV v1.18.1 with Annoyances

[AudioMaverick]

From the other posts I just glanced at, I think I am somehow (and accidentally) luckier than most...

I bought a Mac M4 Mini, in February, and am slowly leaving a nearly 40 year relationship with Microsoft operating systems. It was recently upgraded to Sequoia 15.5.

Last week, I bought Pioneer drive from Billy Carr... and, his recommended enclosure from Amazon. After running into all sorts of read errors trying to run MakeMKV v1.18.1 run on my Windows 11 laptop, I installed the MacOS version. I seemed to have no difficulties installing. All has been running OK, and I have spent 2 days making images of my 4K UHD discs.

The MakeMKV software seems a bit quirky, and I am trying to figure out when the issue lies... thinking it is most likely me. Here goes:
- I didn't think to check out "Expert Mode" until I got more used to the software,
- I am not sure if I am opening the file manager properly. I keep clicking on sub menus until I get to "BDMV" and answer the default 'NO' pop-up window,
- Sometimes, the file rename I make doesn't hold and I have to rename the output file,
- When the file extract is done, several thing happen ->
-- I can't eject the drive from front button or MakeMKV. I have to kill MakeMKV (no red close option),
-- I have to power-cycle the Pioneer drive to be able to use the drive's Eject button. Reopening MakeMKV doesn't always work,
-- I find that subsequent disc imaging can hang trying to read the next drive, IF I don't close everything down and reboot the Mac while power cycling the Pioneer drive.

All this adds just 2 or 3 minutes to my 1.0 to 1.5 hours of disc imaging. But, I am working. I am obviously still using the trial with aspirations of buying the license...

If anyone can let me know if this is about par for imaging discs, and let me know if there is something I am just not doing correctly to get the best experience, I'd be most appreciative!

I have over 650 discs to image, mostly 2K Blu-Rays and DVDs, but a lot of 4K UHD discs. I haven't tried any competitors to MakeMKV, so I don't know if the others will give me any worse of an experience.

Thank you in advance.

[dcoke22]

I have the Eject Menu displayed in the menu bar on my Mac. This makes it easier to eject a disk after a rip.

[AudioMaverick]

I have the Eject Menu displayed in the menu bar on my Mac. This makes it easier to eject a disk after a rip.

Thank you for the quick reply.

One would think... The drive spins for a few seconds, then stops spinning. The physical button is software locked, until I quit the application and restart it. Then, I can hit the eject button on the drive. The software button doesn't work until I restart the Mac. If I try to image another disc without restarting the Mac, the software usually hangs trying to read it.
. The thing that I found works is what I listed. But, I am making 4K images... That is a plus in my book. Just looking to see if I can do something to make it easier. The fun thing is iOS 26 is about to drop. Life is probably going to be a lot more interesting.

[seamus]

From the other posts I just glanced at, I think I am somehow (and accidentally) luckier than most...

Last week, I bought Pioneer drive from Billy Carr...

The MakeMKV software seems a bit quirky, and I am trying to figure out when the issue lies...

- When the file extract is done, several thing happen ->
-- I can't eject the drive from front button or MakeMKV. I have to kill MakeMKV (no red close option),
-- I have to power-cycle the Pioneer drive to be able to use the drive's Eject button. Reopening MakeMKV doesn't always work,
-- I find that subsequent disc imaging can hang trying to read the next drive, IF I don't close everything down and reboot the Mac while power cycling the Pioneer drive.

All this adds just 2 or 3 minutes to my 1.0 to 1.5 hours of disc imaging. But, I am working. I am obviously still using the trial with aspirations of buying the license...

If anyone can let me know if this is about par for imaging discs, and let me know if there is something I am just not doing correctly to get the best experience, I'd be most appreciative!

Mmm, I'm not sure you're "lucky". I've used Macs since about 2012; my current systems are a Macbook running Ventura (macOS v 13), and an iMac running Sequoia (macOS v 15). I'm currently evaluating MakeMKV, and like you, I also have a new Pioneer optical drive.

I've experienced some "quirky" behavior w/ MakeMKV, but nothing like the failures to eject that you describe! Of course I'm unfamiliar with your setup, and I didn't get my drive from Billy Carr. But if I had to guess at the source of this problem, I'd have to guess it's the drive itself. Maybe Billy will read this & reply??

You should not have to power-cycle your drive to be able to eject the DVD, and you should not have to reboot your Mac between "rips" of DVDs/BDs. IOW - AFAIK, this is not "par"!

Good luck & let me know if I can help further.

~S

[AudioMaverick]

Seamus, thank you for the reply. I have a new M4 Mac Mini. It is possible that if I remove and reinstall MakeMKV that it might install correctly.

I ended up uninstalling and reinstalling on my older ThinkPad P15s Gen 1 Win11 laptop with a Coe i7 Gen 10 CPU and an NVIDIA Quadro P520 GPU. For some reason, it installed the second time and MakeMKV seems to be running fine. I really only use the Win11 laptop to run a Windows movie database (until I migrate over to a Mac OS equivelant) and to do Windows 'Quick Assist' for a company a retired from. I can let the ThinkPad rip movies while I do my other stuff on the Mac.

Good luck on your quirks.

I think it is time to actually pay for a license! I tried over the weekend, but couldn't connect to MakeMKV.com. I see it is up a running for me today.