Resolved Advice on external Blue-Ray drive. Edit: BOUGHT! Now just a Q of a high Quality cable.

[Alpha Centauri]

OP asked about the Pioneer. I have that model and it works well - it's loud though. I'm not sure even giving the db level is that helpful because the perception of its loudness, and how annoying its noise is, is related to the 'grating' nature of the noise and its frequency. So some people might not experience it as annoying at all. But compared to other drives I've owned, it's the loudest. In contrast, I've found Apple's DVD drive to be very quiet, but of course without the Blu-ray capability.

Got the second Verbatim 43888, shipped with a LG drive in today. I guess the reservation for the Pioneer internals for the EU market are exhausted. I chose to keep the originally bought one as it was a later model (re part #) and a fair bit bit quieter also.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

OP wrote:
"3rd party software required for Blu-ray"

It's going to be like that for ALL Bluray drives with the Mac.
Apple (to my knowledge) has never offered Bluray-specific software, ever.
Nothing at all.

You're quite correct. Verbatim EU..or DE suggested to use Free BluRay Player but this appears to be a sub model unfortunately.

So thus far I'm using good ol faithful Handbrake + the simple interfaced Burn (as Roxio Toast has become insanely expensive). So left in this equation is a decent stand alone BR player.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Thats correct, at least not directly from the enclosures USB-C port to the one on the mac with a USB-C to USB-C cable. It just wont get powered.
I tried every C-to-C cable i have, the braided ones from Apple that came with my iPhone 15, Anker, USB- 3.2 Gen 2x2, the one i use to connect my monitor to my M2 MB Air, USB4 - nope none of them worked.

There has to be a USB-C to USB-A adaptor in your MBP first, and from there a USB-A to C cable to the enclosure.

I did try an IQOS (the e-cigarette) USB-C to USB-C cable and it did power successfully and worked for native programs such as QT, Apple's DVD, Apple Music, VLC and Burn. Off course these aren't 4k and I'll be looking for a high Q and short (<.5m) data cable as the shortest Apple 1m cable is too long for portability.

 

[Reimulo]

I did try an IQOS (the e-cigarette) USB-C to USB-C cable and it did power successfully and worked for native programs such as QT, Apple's DVD, Apple Music, VLC and Burn. Off course these aren't 4k and I'll be looking for a high Q and short (<.5m) data cable as the shortest Apple 1m cable is too long for portability.

You are correct, I was wrong with that adapter.

Weeks after i posted this my USB connections started acting up, even with external SSDs that had worked fine before.

It turned out that my MacBook’s USB-C port was full of lint. After cleaning, everything worked fine again including the external BluRay Drive.

I should have updated my post here, but I forgot about this thread. Sry if that caused some confusion.

Also, it sucks to hear that Verbatim changed the internal drive without any obvious markings.
I actually came across this Thread from the MakeMKV forum full of people who were just as surprised to get an LG drive instead of the expected Pioneer.

That thread also mentions a way to flash the LG drive’s firmware using their “Ultimate Flashing Guide,” in case you still want to rip your Blu-rays.
I’ve never done this myself though, so I can’t say how risky it is or how likely it is to brick your drive.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

You are correct, I was wrong with that adapter.

Weeks after i posted this my USB connections started acting up, even with external SSDs that had worked fine before.

It turned out that my MacBook’s USB-C port was full of lint. After cleaning, everything worked fine again including the external BluRay Drive.

I should have updated my post here, but I forgot about this thread. Sry if that caused some confusion.

Also, it sucks to hear that Verbatim changed the internal drive without any obvious markings.
I actually came across this Thread from the MakeMKV forum full of people who were just as surprised to get an LG drive instead of the expected Pioneer.

That thread also mentions a way to flash the LG drive’s firmware using their “Ultimate Flashing Guide,” in case you still want to rip your Blu-rays.
I’ve never done this myself though, so I can’t say how risky it is or how likely it is to brick your drive.

Thanks for the reply and great news that the culprit was only lint.

I have joined the makemkv forum but this group is quite knowledgeable and it's a bit over my head.

This is another link I found to specifically flash the LG drive to be Libre compatible. Tbh I've ripped successfully so far, just not BR's I'm currently chicken not wanting to brick this drive but likely take a brave pill once I get serious about BR's (at least wanted the option when I purchased). Also it would appear that most 43888 of recent age will not have a Pioneer anymore. When I ordered the second 43888 (and it also was an LG), I stopped chasing it, too much unrealistic effort of buying and returning...just in case a Pioneer is inside. I had the opportunity, I guess, try flash the first drive whilst briefly having the second one (in case I break it) but time wasn't on my side.

So far though it's been a great drive and am happy I went for it. It fits nicely into my laptop's front pocket.

Burning SW has been a harder thing to find with many quite pricey or a subscription for MacOS. For basics I installed Burn for CDs/DVDs, with its very simple UI. Does the job quite nicely.

Thanks for all your help/ advice on the unit.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Before I mark the thread as "solved", I’ve edited the title to ask what the best usb-c to usb-c cable might be for 4 k content. It only needs to be around 50 cm long connecting the BR drive (usb powered) to my M2 MBP.

Is it a data cable I’m searching for? No probs getting a cable from Apple. Would I best of looking for a TB cable even though the Verbatim drive (may) not make use of it?

Apple DE sells this 0.5m TB4 cable from CalDigit I’ve just noticed.

It’s this model I have.

Thank you

 

[Fishrrman]

Didn't the drive come with a cable?
If so, use that.

You don't want a "thunderbolt" cable for USB.
You want a high-speed USBc data cable with 10gb/sec transfer rates.

BE CAREFUL:
Some USBc cables -- usually "charging" cables, I think -- only support 5gb/sec data transfers.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Didn't the drive come with a cable?
If so, use that.

You don't want a "thunderbolt" cable for USB.
You want a high-speed USBc data cable with 10gb/sec transfer rates.

BE CAREFUL:
Some USBc cables -- usually "charging" cables, I think -- only support 5gb/sec data transfers.

It came with a usb-c to usb-a to usb-c adapter, which I want to remove, just to run a usb-c to usb-c (which works).

For ripping DVDs, incl 4K, BR‘s, I assumed TB4 won’t be a bottleneck but tbh I’m not sure what the theoretical speed of the drive could be?!

Does that mean TB4 cable won’t work or rather is totally wasted connecting the two devices? It’s strange Apple doesn’t sell "data cables", they’re rather designated/ named as "charging cables" instead, likely with the slower speed you mentioned. I'll look for the cable specs on Apple's site.

EDIT:

1. Apple's available charging cables only support USB 2.0 speeds
2. My MBP's USB-C supports TB4 speeds
3. The Verbatim BR player supports the following:

So in conclusion I'm looking for a data cable that supports either USB-C 3.2 or a TB4 speed?

 

[Fishrrman]

USB is not "thunderbolt". Different tech, even though the connectors look the same.
I'm thinking that a "thunderbolt" cable may not work at all.
Others will have to jump in here to correct me if I'm wrong.

My advice is simple -- use the cable that came with it.
"What works... works".

 

[Alpha Centauri]

USB is not "thunderbolt". Different tech, even though the connectors look the same.
I'm thinking that a "thunderbolt" cable may not work at all.
Others will have to jump in here to correct me if I'm wrong.

My advice is simple -- use the cable that came with it.
"What works... works".

thanks for clarifying. My understanding on usb speeds is that:

USB3.0/ 3.1 Gen 1 = 5Gbps
USB3.1 Gen 2 = 10Gbps
USB3.2 Gen 2x2 = 20Gpbs
USB4/ TB 3&4 = 40Gpbs

That both USB 3.2 and/ or USB4 (TB3 or TB4) "should" work? But then, it has just become such a convoluted standard really and I'll perhaps call the manufacturer of the Verbatim product and ask them also. They have (at least here in Germany) offered good documentation they've sent via email to me in the past on this particular drive.

I'll report back before titling this thread as being "solved".

 

[salamanderjuice]

It came with a usb-c to usb-a to usb-c adapter, which I want to remove, just to run a usb-c to usb-c (which works).

For ripping DVDs, incl 4K, BR‘s, I assumed TB4 won’t be a bottleneck but tbh I’m not sure what the theoretical speed of the drive could be?!

Does that mean TB4 cable won’t work or rather is totally wasted connecting the two devices? It’s strange Apple doesn’t sell "data cables", they’re rather designated/ named as "charging cables" instead, likely with the slower speed you mentioned. I'll look for the cable specs on Apple's site.

EDIT:

1. Apple's available charging cables only support USB 2.0 speeds
2. My MBP's USB-C supports TB4 speeds
3. The Verbatim BR player supports the following:

View attachment 2530377

So in conclusion I'm looking for a data cable that supports either USB-C 3.2 or a TB4 speed?

It's just USB 3, 3.2 Gen 1 is another confusing name for USB 3. OEMs always want to sound like they have the latest so they came up with this crud.

Basically any USB C cable that supports USB 3 speeds will be fine. There are some 2.0 only cables kicking around but you shouldn't need anything too fancy.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Update: Called Verbatim and they confirmed that a TB4 should indeed work.

Silly me forgot I had some USB-C TB4 cables from my DAS backup drives. Tried them and yep, no issues.

So I'll be designating this thread as "resolved" finally. Everyone who has participated in this thread...thanks so much for the helpful advice.

Cheers