Blu-ray Driver for the Mac Pro

[sOwL]

Hello. As the title says, im thinking of getting a blu-ray driver for the mac pro, and i have 2 questions, one for hardware and one for software. What type of blu-ray drivers does the mac pro 1,1(late 2007) use? Are they the same with the ones PCs use? Any suggestion, value for money? Are they going to have good write speeds for dvds or cds or are they gonna be slow? And software-side, does snow leopard support it? Well actually is there any application that supports blu-ray?? I know im able to burn them with toast so.. dunno, need your help!

 

[nanofrog]

The default port in the '06 - '08 models for optical is IDE. It has a pair of SATA ports for optical as well, but they won't let you boot off of them IIRC (i.e. OS installation disk for a clean install).

You don't actually need drivers, as they use the default drivers in the OS to operate. But in OS X, Toast is all I'm aware of, and that's for burning/viewing non HDCP material.

Some have used VLC, but I can't remember if it was under OS X or Windows it was being used. I seem to recall they had to rip the material under the Windows side, then it could be viewed in OS X.

 

[gugucom]

Blu-Ray playback and ripping on the Mac Pro is only possible in Bootcamp Windows.

 

[sOwL]

Burning both Blu-ray and HD dvd in OSX with toast is indeed possible. I also heard someone that could play Blu-ray in VLC with some tricks, and that could be also possible in OSX, but i'd prefer a program made for Blu-ray playback.. Let's hope VLC will support blu-ray some time.. Thnx for the answers guys peace!

 

[gugucom]

I also heard someone that could play Blu-ray in VLC with some tricks, and that could be also possible in OSX, but i'd prefer a program made for Blu-ray playback.. Let's hope VLC will support blu-ray some time.. Thnx for the answers guys peace!

VLC will never support playback of copy protected BRDs. People have been ripping the stream files from the disk with AnyDVDHD (Windows only) to HDD, remuxing them and playing them back from there with VLC.

 

[sOwL]

I don't get it... aren't most DVDs copy protected too? And what's wrong in *playing* copy protected material on first place?

 

[nanofrog]

VLC will never support playback of copy protected BRDs. People have been ripping the stream files from the disk with AnyDVDHD (Windows only) to HDD, remuxing them and playing them back from there with VLC.

That's the part I missed.

Toast is good for non HDCP as I understand it, and more focused on using BRD as archival media for data, not so much video, unless it's self recorded (non HDCP).

It appears Apple's continuing to drag their feet on BR support in OS X, even though they've made some improvements (HDCP compliant hardware being used in newer systems).

 

[sOwL]

That's the part I missed.

Toast is good for non HDCP as I understand it, and more focused on using BRD as archival media for data, not so much video, unless it's self recorded (non HDCP).

It appears Apple's continuing to drag their feet on BR support in OS X, even though they've made some improvements (HDCP compliant hardware being used in newer systems).

Guys, at least let me confirm this: Toast *is able* to burn HD content. It has a plugin called "HD plugin", which can do some nice things: 1) Burn HD video on a DVD (but it's going to be small in length in order to fit the DVD size) 2) Burn HD directly to BRD and 3) Burn HD Disks (although i don't care about that)

I can't accept that Apple isn't actually going to support Blu-Ray playback out of the box.. But still, is there any source or anything that you guys could link me to read about why VLC won't/can't support BRD playback in the future? Again thank you for your replies

 

[gugucom]

I don't get it... aren't most DVDs copy protected too? And what's wrong in *playing* copy protected material on first place?

DVD ripping with Handbrake is supported in OS X. BRD ripping is not supported. Both are violating the license as the licensor understands it. But the legal situation is different over the world and licensees have a different view with regards of using their legal leeway.

BRD playback is of course legal but the technical means to play back copy protected material must be installed by the manufacturer which isn't done in Apple's case.

 

[sOwL]

DVD ripping with Handbrake is supported in OS X. BRD ripping is not supported. Both are violating the license as the licensor understands it. But the legal situation is different over the world and licensees have a different view with regards of using their legal leeway.

BRD playback is of course legal but the technical means to play back copy protected material must be installed by the manufacturer which isn't done in Apple's case.

Ok that made it clear, thank you

 

[gugucom]

I can't accept that Apple isn't actually going to support Blu-Ray playback out of the box.. But still, is there any source or anything that you guys could link me to read about why VLC won't/can't support BRD playback in the future? Again thank you for your replies

Apple see Blu-Ray as a competing distribution. They made more than a billion $ revenues from iTunes last year if I remember right and an increasing part of that is from video. They will block BD as long as they can.

VLC is a non commercial product and as such will never get licensed to deliver copy protected play back. They are unlikely to apply unlicensed technology which circumvents the copy protection because that will be illegal in many jurisdictions and may lead to huge compensation claims.

 

[yg17]

Apple see Blu-Ray as a competing distribution. They made more than a billion $ revenues from iTunes last year if I remember right and an increasing part of that is from video. They will block BD as long as they can.

VLC is a non commercial product and as such will never get licensed to deliver copy protected play back. They are unlikely to apply unlicensed technology which circumvents the copy protection because that will be illegal in many jurisdictions and may lead to huge compensation claims.

VLC plays copy protected DVDs.

 

[gugucom]

VLC plays copy protected DVDs.

Good point. I'm no expert there but it appears that the DVD protection is weak and not about play back but about copying. The Blu-Ray .m2ts stream files seem to be protected against play back as well.

 

[yg17]

Good point. I'm no expert there but it appears that the DVD protection is weak and not about play back but about copying. The Blu-Ray .m2ts stream files seem to be protected against play back as well.

I'm not sure what the original intent of DVD copy protection was, but it's encrpyted, so whether you're playing or copying, it has to be decrypted. They may have been concerned more about illegal copying, but in an attempt to prevent that, they prevented playback (unless, of course, it was decrypted).

I really don't know why studios are even bothering with it to be honest. Anything that's encrypted has to be decrypted (by a legit, authorized player) to be played. It's only a matter of time before someone reverse engineers it and uses it for other purposes. I understand they want to protect their content, but they spend so much time and money on it and create so much hassle and headache for consumers who want to use their movies fairly, only for some nerd to crack it. I wonder how much cheaper DVDs and Blu Ray movies and players would be if they didn't waste so much R&D on copy protection.

Encrypting your personal files with a password works because the password is stored in your mind and no one else can read that. But encrypting a DVD or Blu Ray doesn't work as well because the key to unlock it is stored either on a filesystem or a chip of some sort, and someone is going to find it.

 

[ntux]

Actually, Blu-Ray ripping is possible in Mac OS X using the MakeMKV application. It doesn't support ripping BR discs protected by BD+ however (for the moment).

I tried ripping BR movies in my Mac Pro 08 with my LG BH08LS20 drive (replacing the stock PATA superdrive with a sata-to-ide converter), works like a charm!