Issue: Optical drives not recognized in MakeMKV container on Ubuntu VM (Proxmox)

[FlorianSpanuth]

I’m running an Ubuntu VM within Proxmox, and I’ve passed two optical drives through to the VM. I’ve tested mounting the drives in the Ubuntu VM, and confirmed that they can detect and read films. Here's the output of lsscsi -g:

lsscsi -g
[0:0:0:0] disk QEMU QEMU HARDDISK 2.5+ /dev/sda /dev/sg0
[3:0:0:0] cd/dvd QEMU QEMU DVD-ROM 2.5+ /dev/sr0 /dev/sg1
[4:0:0:0] cd/dvd QEMU QEMU DVD-ROM 2.5+ /dev/sr1 /dev/sg2

I’ve tried setting up MakeMKV both with and without docker-compose, but I’m encountering issues. My docker-compose.yml looks like this:

services:
makemkv:
image: jlesage/makemkv
ports:
- "5800:5800"
volumes:
- "/srv/docker/makemkv/config:/config:rw"
- "/stv/docker/makemkv/storage:/storage:ro"
- "/mnt/Media/MakeMKV:/output:rw"
devices:
- "/dev/sr0:/dev/sr0"
- "/dev/sg1:/dev/sg1"
- "/dev/sr1:/dev/sr1"
- "/dev/sg2:/dev/sg2"
environment:
- TZ=Europe/Berlin
- DARK_MODE=1
restart: unless-stopped

I can access the MakeMKV GUI on port 5800, and the GUI shows both drives in the dropdown menu. However, no Blu-rays are detected when inserted into either drive. Sometimes, I can use the eject button on one of the drives, indicating there is some sort of connection. However, the drives still fail to recognize the discs.

Here’s what my logs show regarding the drives:

makemkv-1 | [cont-init ] 54-check-optical-drive.sh: looking for usable optical drives...
makemkv-1 | [cont-init ] 54-check-optical-drive.sh: found optical drive [/dev/sr0, /dev/sg1], group 24.
makemkv-1 | [cont-init ] 54-check-optical-drive.sh: found optical drive [/dev/sr1, /dev/sg2], group 24.
makemkv-1 | [cont-init ] 54-check-optical-drive.sh: terminated successfully.

What could be causing this issue? I’m unsure why the discs are not being recognized despite the drives being detected in the logs.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Pippinuk]

Hi There - I am experiencing a very similar issue with the same setup - Ubuntu VM in Proxmox. The drive is detected by MakeMKV but when I insert a disk it simply scans the disks indefinitely but never completes. I am at a loss on how to see what's going on. I have enabled debug mode in MakeMKV but the logs from that are not particularly helpful. It almost feels like MakeMKV is unable to mount the disk properly.....permissions somewhere perhaps?

Any help would be gratefully received. For info, my docker-compose.yml looks like this:

services:
makemkv:
image: jlesage/makemkv
ports:
- 5800:5800
volumes:
- /mnt/makemkv/appdata:/config:rw
- /home/makemkv:/storage:ro
- /home/makemkv/MakeMKV/output:/output:rw
devices:
- /dev/sr0:/dev/sr0
- /dev/sg0:/dev/sg0
- /dev/sg1:/dev/sg1
- /dev/sg2:/dev/sg2
- /dev/sg4:/dev/sg4
environment:
- USER_ID=1005
- GROUP_ID=1006
- LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
- TZ=Europe/London
- SECURE_CONNECTION=1
- MAKEMKV_KEY=BETA
restart: unless-stopped

[Hattan-BA]

Greetings, I spent a lot of days and maybe weeks trying to make Proxmox LXC and even VM to recognize the optical drive (when connected via SATA), searched all over the internet.

The only fix I found is to get a USB to SATA adapter like this one [Extarnal 12V PSU needed], and connect the optical drive via USB and pass it to a VM works perfectly, no speeds lost. Didn't try to pass it to an LXC, should also work.

[FlorianSpanuth]

Hello @Hattan-BA,

Thank you for sharing your experience. It's reassuring to know that this issue isn't unique to my setup. It seems like it's a common challenge when working with Proxmox and optical drives. I've since moved away from using Proxmox and now run directly on Ubuntu Server, which has alleviated this issue for me.

Regarding the USB to SATA adapter solution mentioned, while it's a creative workaround, I've opted not to pursue it due to the added complexity and the need for additional power supplies for the drives, which isn't efficient or cost-effective in my case.

I appreciate your insights!