iTunes is seeing the CD but dbPa isn't. Any idea why?

[snowdog]

Hi all.

I'm getting some problems creeping in with ripping my CDs. I suspect this may be down to a cheap external DVD drive that can't be arsed any more. But this is new...

Having spent the last two hours trying to get a CD to actually be recognised & appear on my Mac, it seems that iTunes can see it but dbpa can't.

Could this be down to the external drive or do you think something else may be the problem?

[Spoon]

Re: iTunes is seeing the CD but dbPa isn't. Any idea why?

Perhaps iTunes is locking the drive? try quitting iTunes, then restart CD Ripper.

[snowdog]

Re: iTunes is seeing the CD but dbPa isn't. Any idea why?

So, I tried the above suggestion & a few other things.

I've narrowed it down to two discs. These are the 2007 remasters of Rush's "Presto" & "Test For Echo".

When I insert almost any CD into my external DVD drive, it recognises & automatically launches iTunes. I launch dBpa & it then finds the meta-data itself, I change the tag fields to my liking & rip.

No problems at all. It's done this for dozens of CDs with iTunes quite happily sitting there. So I'm pretty convinced that iTunes is not locking anything off, as it's fine for all but these two discs that load in iTunes but just will not load in dBpa.

It's almost as though there's some kind of copy protection or authoring data that iTunes can't see but is foxing dBpa.

As always, I'm at a loss. The only thing I can think of is buying a new DVD drive. But if that doesn't help, it'll just be an expensive way to find out that the drive is not the issue.

???

[PeterP]

Re: iTunes is seeing the CD but dbPa isn't. Any idea why?

Please post EAN/UPC code (the numbers below the barcode) from your Rush - Presto CD that triggers this bug. I'm trying to find the exact same disc to recreate this in my lab.
Also, what is the exact model of your optical drive?

[snowdog]

Re: iTunes is seeing the CD but dbPa isn't. Any idea why?

Thanks! I'll get this information together when I get home this evening.

[snowdog]

Re: iTunes is seeing the CD but dbPa isn't. Any idea why?

So...

There are no distinguishing features on the original unbranded DVD drive I bought. The one that's causing me problems.

I've replaced it with a new drive from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07JGWBLVH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The new drive recognised & ripped the first two "difficult" discs I put in it, so I guess that's me sorted.

If you still wanted to run tests, I'd be happy to send you the unbranded drive.

As far as the discs are concerned, I'm out fo time for this evening, but the first is:

Presto
Cat: 7567-83736-2
Bar Code: 07567-83736-2 6
Discogs Entry Number: 883165

More to follow...

[PeterP]

Re: iTunes is seeing the CD but dbPa isn't. Any idea why?

Thanks for the details.

I have the exact same disc; testing with different drives now.

[snowdog]

Re: iTunes is seeing the CD but dbPa isn't. Any idea why?

Cool!

I notice I referred to the "2007" remasters. This was a brain fart cause by my just having bought the studio albums box set. I do, of course, mean the 2004 remasters.

[snowdog]

Re: iTunes is seeing the CD but dbPa isn't. Any idea why?

Thanks for the details.

I have the exact same disc; testing with different drives now.

Right, finally I have a chance to sit down & look at the other discs...

Roll The Bones is Discogs 2128296

Test For Echo is Discogs 2128306

If you wanted me to send you the DVD drive, PM me an address & I'll get it out to you.

[PeterP]

Re: iTunes is seeing the CD but dbPa isn't. Any idea why?

Thank you very much for the drive offer.

Let's for now investigate it on your end. These issues tend to have many factors to them, including specific of individual Mac machine & Mac OS version/configuration, it could be that the same drive won't have this problem with another Mac.

I made a new dBpoweramp beta with additional debug logging of disc drive enumeration and table-of-contents reading:

https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?44049-dBpoweramp-Music-Converter-for-Mac-Release-16-7-beta

Please run it, recreate the issue, then look for AppLog.txt & AppLog-previous.txt in ~/Library/dBpoweramp folder; send these files to peter@dbpoweramp.com for analysis.

Thanks.