Modern Blu-ray drives can now rip GameCube, Wii, and Xbox 360 games to PC

https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/console-gaming/modern-blu-ray-drives-can-now-rip-gamecube-wii-and-xbox-360-games-to-pc-third-party-firmware-unlocks-game-rips-from-physical-media-on-select-players

Comments

anonymousiamMay 26, 2026, 10:46 PM
Twenty years ago, I bought two Wii consoles for my family when they first came out. Being concerned about the rough treatment my family gave the discs, I eventually modded both of the Wiis so they could read normal discs, and I purchased a HP 410125-200 drive, which I used to back up the more costly titles.

https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-those-recommended-dvd-...

pipersweMay 26, 2026, 7:56 PM
I'm assuming this firmware also functions as a LibreDrive firmware for use with MakeMKV?
cosmoticMay 26, 2026, 8:51 PM
My understanding is that LibreDrive leverages a bug in the drives firmware such that decryption keys for Blu-ray was accessible. This OmniDrive seems to have little to do with decryption.
rainernotfoundMay 26, 2026, 9:30 PM
LibreDrive only works on certain firmwares that have the bug or are patched to expose it.

OmniDrive is one of the latter.

musicaleMay 27, 2026, 3:43 AM
Ripping those tiny GameCube discs is interesting!
mmmlinuxMay 26, 2026, 8:58 PM
Who uses a green X for not supported.

edit: (on the github readme)

krackersMay 26, 2026, 10:50 PM
red-green colorblind folks?
bozharkMay 26, 2026, 10:24 PM
Yes, we absolutely don’t support this one, we should make it super duper clear how certain we are that we know we don’t support this one.

Maybe a X shape?

rolphMay 26, 2026, 10:29 PM
maybe an :-( emoticon ?
reactordevMay 27, 2026, 3:45 AM
Stop sign?
nomMay 26, 2026, 7:34 PM
tl;dr

https://github.com/RibShark/OmniDrive

hypferMay 26, 2026, 8:55 PM
It is unclear to me why OP linked to an article that linked to a video that talks about the repo (I guess? Didn't click) instead of just.. you know.. LINKING THE REPO.

Thank you.

charcircuitMay 26, 2026, 10:41 PM
[flagged]
theandrewbaileyMay 26, 2026, 10:57 PM
This firmware is code, and code is speech[0]. Any law making speech illegal is unconstitutional. I'm puzzled as to why the DMCA (or this part of it) hasn't been overturned yet.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junger_v._Daley

charcircuitMay 26, 2026, 11:57 PM
It hasn't been overturned for the same reason copyright hasn't been despite it restricting people's speech.
bit-anarchistMay 27, 2026, 2:35 AM
In other words, this is a law that still ought to be overturned by a better Supreme Court.
piratesMay 26, 2026, 10:48 PM
We all do illegal things all the time, I’m fine knowing that this one goes in the “bad” pile. I’m sure something terrible will happen to me soon.
charcircuitMay 26, 2026, 10:55 PM
It's not just you who you are affecting, but also all the people who worked on the game, Nintendo and Microsoft, and even the entire video game industry by doing things like this.
whycomeMay 26, 2026, 11:26 PM
Continuing to play discontinued games and sharing that joy with new people and generations seems like a good way of strengthening an industry
ASalazarMXMay 27, 2026, 12:06 AM
Well, yes I guess, but will it create short-term value for shareholders? Mountains of it if possible?
charcircuitMay 27, 2026, 4:01 AM
And there are legal ways to do so like buying the discontinued game physically.
isidisjcisjcudMay 27, 2026, 12:09 AM
Yeah, Nintendo AND Microsoft of all companies really do deserve all the pity they can get, seeing as they’re such pro-consumer, fan-friendly, not-at-all monopolistic, completely altruistic entities. Right?
charcircuitMay 27, 2026, 4:05 AM
Nintendo and Microsoft have enabled a ton of value to be created in the video game market and they should be highly respected.
CursedSiliconMay 27, 2026, 12:38 AM
Won't someone think of the multi billion dollar corporations?!

If peop- THIEEEVES can just download old games forever, how will these companies make money by selling new games? Or reselling the old games in their half-baked emulation offerings!

Truly the author behind this software deserves a special place in hell for creating such an evil!

(Obligatory reminder the above is to be taken as hyperbolic sarcasm. The very idea that someone would jump to defend corporations against software designed for cultural preservation is saddening)

cindyllmMay 27, 2026, 12:40 AM
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theandrewbaileyMay 26, 2026, 11:00 PM
We already had copyright law for that. We didn't need to make some code illegal, too.
charcircuitMay 27, 2026, 4:03 AM
The world already tried that. In response to continuing violations things were made more restrictive.
fortysevenMay 26, 2026, 11:12 PM
Oh no!
altairprimeMay 27, 2026, 12:26 AM
The legality is subject to the court’s opinion, and a court is not compelled to interpret the situation the same way you do. Their job is to interpret written laws using their opinions and available case law, and also to pass human judgments on laws that aren’t encoded in machine-parseable structures (such as fair use rights). Declaring this particular instance illegal this early requires more case law references than you’ve provided.
tacticalturtleMay 26, 2026, 11:20 PM
Is it actually breaking DRM? Or is it just creating a 1:1 copy of a proprietary format?

> Game consoles that are supported include the original Xbox, Xbox 360, GameCube, Wii, and Dreamcast. Physical media from other consoles, such as PlayStation 3, 4, 5, and the Xbox One/Series consoles, technically work, but the content on physical media for these consoles is encrypted.

Breaking encryption is definitely “illegal” - but backing up a binary format is not. I can backup my GBA cartridges ROMs for personal archival use if I have a device that can read them.

charcircuitMay 26, 2026, 11:23 PM
I would consider changing the format of a disc to prevent it from being copied by a regular drive to be considered a protection measure. The content is still encrypted so if not the disc, it would be the emulator decrypting it which would be the problem.
juananiMay 27, 2026, 7:13 AM
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