Using LibreDrives Unrestricted Read Speed in Other Software

[ryley]

Hi, I've recently started backing up my DVD collection to ISO images using a non-MakeMKV program (I'm retaining menus for now but will definitely use MakeMKV in subsequent stages). My WH16NS60 can rip most dual-layer DVDs in 20-25 minutes. I've noticed that if I open a DVD in MakeMKV, and begin the rip process, I can abort the rip and the unrestricted read speed feature remains active and accessible to other software. This reduces the rip time for my ISO backups to 7-8 minutes per dual layer DVD.

Are there any potential downsides to this workflow? I know some other decryption software had issues relating to LibreDrive and bus encryption with UHD discs, but I can't seem to find any information specific to DVD backups. I thought there might be some problems with completely unrestricted read speed and layer breaks in non-MakeMKV software, but I guess this might be less of a concern for DVDs.

[SamuriHL]

I've been doing this intentionally for many months. I have a script that I wrote that enables LibreDrive and then creates a protected iso. Can't really help you with dvd but I've been doing this with bd and uhd quite successfully. And yes speed control works great with this method. Bus encryption is disabled but the drive doesn't advertise that to the caller. This is why other programs that decrypt will fail because they are attempting to bus decrypt non bus encrypted data, thus corrupting it. But something like imgburn can be told to ignore the fact that the disc is protected and create a usable iso. It's awesome.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[ryley]

Thanks for detailing your process SamuriHL, I'll keep it in mind.

I noticed an alternative decryption tool reports my Region 1 drive as being Region 1-8 after enabling LibreDrive (presumably due to "DVD all regions"). I needed to shut down my computer to restore the single original region (cycling the tray is not enough). I'm not sure if this could cause issues on DVDs with more sophisticated copy protection, but my (very limited) testing shows bit-identical output between the two workflows I described with discs which match the region of my drive.

It would be pretty handy if Mike could provide a tool for enabling specific LibreDrive features for use in other software. But I'm sure there is very limited commercial benefit to such a tool.

[SamuriHL]

I think that's just how it's being reported but I don't know if it's actually making it all regions or not and whether that would impact DVD ripping or not. It's been so long since I've had to rip a DVD lol. Power cycling the drive will remove the firmware extensions from the drive's memory, so, yes, rebooting should restore things to normal if needs be for your DVD processing.