Blu-Ray drive not reading Blu ray disc

[Technique]

As per the ripping movie thread i have going on in another forum on this board i inserted a blu ray disc into the drive and it just keeps trying to read it a few times before giving up.

 

The drive is 8 years old, however that doesn't mean it's had a hammering. I actually use the other drive (a standard DVD re writer drive) way way more & is my main. I only ever really used the blu ray drive for movies which wasn't often or for the occasional iTunes audio rip.

 

I was able to rip a movie a few days ago. That said, both discs inserted have either never been watched or only watched once, so they're not even scratched as they were bought brand new.

 

How can i get it to read the disc?

[xendrome]

18 minutes ago, Technique said:

How can i get it to read the disc?

If it doesn't read ANY discs then the drive is bad, if it only does not read the  one disc then it's the disc.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

3 minutes ago, xendrome said:

If it doesn't read ANY discs then the drive is bad, if it only does not read the  one disc then it's the disc.

What he said.

[Technique]

And what about option C - when the drive doesn't read one disc, does read another disc (both blu-ray) and the one disc that doesn't read plays perfectly fine when put in another blu-ray drive (PS4)?

[DevTech]

7 minutes ago, Technique said:

And what about option C - when the drive doesn't read one disc, does read another disc (both blu-ray) and the one disc that doesn't read plays perfectly fine when put in another blu-ray drive (PS4)?

Option C is everything not yet considered....

 

- Flaky borderline drive

- Flaky borderline disc

- Region code

- Copy protection

- O/S and/or software issues

- ?

 

 

[DevTech]

Inspect disc carefully

 

- hold up to bright light

- look for scratches and imperfections on BOTH sides of disc

- note that disc is more vulnerable to scratches on the label side

 

then use isopropyl alcohol (99%) with a microfiber cloth to clean disc

 

- rub in a radial motion back and forth between edge and center, going around the disc

 

 

[NinjaGinger]

If it turns out to be anything other than the drive being knackered, Try running it with the autorun diabled. Just hole the shift key until it works. Disables most copy proptection that way. But dont tell anyone, especially SONY.

[Technique]

Well i kept trying and trying and trying. Restarted my PC, still didn't work. Drive in and out in and out still didn't work.

 

Connected up the external HDD while at the same time opening the drive and then closing it. Probably absolute pure coincidence but it then showed up in My Computer so i quickly ripped it before it decided it no longer existed

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

I'd still get that checked out. See if the player is bad or the disc.

[c.grz]

I've not used an optical drive in years but don't Blue-Ray drives need occasional firmware updates to read certain\newer types of Blue-Ray discs? I know I had to do that a few times back when I was still using optical drives.

[Technique]

5 hours ago, c.grz said:

I've not used an optical drive in years but don't Blue-Ray drives need occasional firmware updates to read certain\newer types of Blue-Ray discs? I know I had to do that a few times back when I was still using optical drives.

I tried looking but couldn't see anything.

 

From My Computer>Device Manager mine is [Samsung SH-B083L].

 

I can't find anything on the Samsung site itself. Only https://www.firmwarehq.com/Samsung/SH-B083L/files.html

 

but i'd rather not trust a third party site for the firmware update. Besides i don't even know what firmware i currently have installed.

[Technique]

So i contacted Samsung. Tried their Live Chat which was terrible. The guy didn't even respond, at all.

 

Contacted them through Facebook. The long & short of it is they have no support on their website & they'd like to put me in touch with a PC specialist.

 

Great.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

You can check your firmware version by going to Device Manager > clicking properties > Details tab on your optical drive.  The firmware will be under Hardware Ids

 

 

 

...though if you're still having problems with just that one disc ... your drive may not just like that one disc for whatever reason (beyond your control).  I doubt it is the firmware ... my drive is fairly old (like yours), I've never updated the firmware and it has read ever Blu-Ray I've thrown at it (which includes all the new releases this year).

 

HWInfo will also show you the firmware version.

[DevTech]

In tech, like in everything else, nothing is equal.

 

For Optical Drives, this is particularly the case and over the years a body of knowledge will have built up on which drive models and sometimes which specific firmware versions will be BEST at RIPPING discs.

 

It could simply be the case that your drive is at the bottom of the list. Since RIPPING is pretty much the only thing a drive would be used for these days, researching specific models before purchase would be the common sense thing to do.

 

Google should spew out some sites or forums where the best models for ripping have been determined in excruciating detail...

 

 

[Technique]

Thanks DevTech.

 

Got a new BluRay through today. Fast & Furious (first one). The drive is struggling with that one too after having no problems doing The Ant-man & the Wasp and now the 3rd Christian Bale Batman movie.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

didn't read every reply but given the age of your blueray drive it's possible the disc that won't read uses a newer DRM if it's a newer movie.

 

 

edit: sounds like it could just be suffering a slow death based on that last reply of yours above mine as well

[Technique]

35 minutes ago, Brandon H said:

didn't read every reply but given the age of your blueray drive it's possible the disc that won't read uses a newer DRM if it's a newer movie.

 

 

edit: sounds like it could just be suffering a slow death based on that last reply of yours above mine as well

Which is interesting considering that while it's old it also hasn't really been used. It's probably been used more this past month than it has the past 8 years. Ok not quite but you get the idea.

The DVD drive on the other hand has been used a hell of a lot and never has an issue with any disc put in there.

If i remember right the Blu-Ray drive has always been a bit 'funny' with blu-rays. I just put it down to technology not being so great when this drive was released.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

4 minutes ago, Technique said:

If i remember right the Blu-Ray drive has always been a bit 'funny' with blu-rays. I just put it down to technology not being so great when this drive was released.

very possible; some of the early PC blue-ray drives were definitely a bit iffy on quality.

i remember having to sift though quite a few different drives before I found a decently rated one when i purchased an external blueray writer a good 6/7 years ago myself

[Technique]

I just had a google of decent blu ray drives for ripping.

 

Was surprised to see the first mentioned (in fact all of them) were external and not internal drives.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

3 minutes ago, Technique said:

I just had a google of decent blu ray drives for ripping.

 

Was surprised to see the first mentioned (in fact all of them) were external and not internal drives.

i'm of the mindset that there's no real need of an internal disc drive anymore

I have an external i occasionally plug in to rip something but other than that it's put away not taking up space.

 

This way I can use the extra bay for another HDD/SSD on my tower and I can use the drive on other systems too if I need; like my laptop or take it to a friends house and use on their PC to rip something for them 

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

What Brandon said. No one uses internal CD/DVD/BR drives anymore. That bird has flown ever since ~2010.

 

I have an external as well that I use from time to time.

[n_K]

Different discs and disc types reflect differently, for example old CD drives in the 90s could read manufactured discs fine but couldn't read CDRs or CDRWs very well because more power is required for them to reflect the data back. Could be that your laser is starting to go, could be that the disc is badly made and requires more power to read than other discs. If you're feeling adventurous you could open the drive and play with the pots around the laser but a higher laser power will exponentially reduce it's operational lifespan.

[Technique]

I disagree regards the internal drive.

My opinion is that it DOES take up space - wherever you're putting it. In a drawer, in a cupboard, wherever, it doesn't just vanish so it takes up space. An internal doesn't - it's in the PC tower that's already there anyway.

I appreciate your point about an extra space for another HDD and i can accept that in the case of someone who needs that then an external optical drive would be better, but i already have 4 hard drives in my case. 1 SSD, 1 SSHD & 2 HDDs. I personally don't 'need' a 5th. Plus i have external hard drives too.

 

Anyway i'll have to look at ordering in a new drive because for this Plex thing i've got a ton of discs to rip. I'm very very early on in the ripping stage and i can't have the drive acting up this early on.

 

I've just learned about something called 'rip lock' which i believe affects the more modern blu ray drives? In which case that could be an issue. Would be helpful to get a drive that doesn't suffer from this.

 

Currently looking at a couple of LGs.

[DevTech]

15 hours ago, Technique said:

I disagree regards the internal drive.

My opinion is that it DOES take up space - wherever you're putting it. In a drawer, in a cupboard, wherever, it doesn't just vanish so it takes up space. An internal doesn't - it's in the PC tower that's already there anyway.

I appreciate your point about an extra space for another HDD and i can accept that in the case of someone who needs that then an external optical drive would be better, but i already have 4 hard drives in my case. 1 SSD, 1 SSHD & 2 HDDs. I personally don't 'need' a 5th. Plus i have external hard drives too.

 

Anyway i'll have to look at ordering in a new drive because for this Plex thing i've got a ton of discs to rip. I'm very very early on in the ripping stage and i can't have the drive acting up this early on.

 

I've just learned about something called 'rip lock' which i believe affects the more modern blu ray drives? In which case that could be an issue. Would be helpful to get a drive that doesn't suffer from this.

 

Currently looking at a couple of LGs.

Good drive or bad drive will be a night and day difference so worth selecting carefully.

 

 

Also:

 

https://forum.videohelp.com/forums/47-Blu-ray-Ripping

 

https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15432

 

https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16618

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/7h992t/2017_fastest_drive_for_bluray_ripping/

 

https://www.avforums.com/threads/bluray-drive-for-uhd-ripping.2187537/

 

 

 

Also, nothing wrong with having the drive internal. That's what I do, saves space, no stupid fiddling with power bricks and cables etc. The only possible reason for external, would be writable discs for backup but all my computers are networked on the home LAN so that's a waste of time...

 

 

[ReAnimation]

I much prefer having internal optical drives too.  For me its much more convienent having the drives there, ready and accessible.

 

I don't mind admitting I'm pretty old school -  I still buy movies on Blu-ray and Audio CD's as I prefer having the physical media, so I still use optical drives.

 

With regards to the drives taking up space - to me it completely depends on the design of PC case that you have, and the drive capacity/layout. 

 

My PC uses a pretty large tower style case that has dedicated space for optical drives (3) , mechanical hard disks (6) and a further 4 caddies for SSD's that fit behind the motherboard.

 

At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong - just depends on what you want your PC to do.🙂