Redfox (AnyDVD et all) appears to be gone

[magician]

Originally Posted by prozistka

I think I will stick with 2.6.0

I think the free program has a timebomb so at some point you will have to adjust your system clock back to keep using the old versions.

[DrinkLyeAndDie]

Originally Posted by magician

I think the free program has a timebomb so at some point you will have to adjust your system clock back to keep using the old versions.

For the free version, the official releases expire 90 days from release. Beta versions expire 30 days from release. After the expiration the latest release needs to be installed.

[coopervid]

Originally Posted by DrinkLyeAndDie

For the free version, the official releases expire 90 days from release. Beta versions expire 30 days from release. After the expiration the latest release needs to be installed.

And that information is available where?

[DrinkLyeAndDie]

Originally Posted by coopervid

And that information is available where?

The website: https://www.xreveal.com/pro.html

[prozistka]

Originally Posted by magician

I think the free program has a timebomb so at some point you will have to adjust your system clock back to keep using the old versions.

I've noticed that, so I rolled back to 2.5.0 which does not have a timebomb, and it works fine for MGVC blu-rays.

[chris198810]

If RedFox is no longer available or functioning, you might consider alternatives like MakeMKV, which you're already using, or tools like DumboFab, which offers similar functionality for ripping and bypassing encryption on DVDs and Blu-rays. HandBrake, combined with MakeMKV for decryption, also works for a lossless DVD-to-MP4 conversion process.

[George++]

I am not a power user, neither am I concerned with backing up my rather meager collection of 4K/UHD discs for whatever reason or usage. All I am concerned with is being able to do what AnyDVD did. Decrypt a disc and rip so I can either burn it to a blank, or if need be do some processing of the disc to remove streams I don't want on my back up. The AnyDVD feature to automatically remove annoying titles and clips from menus I really like for Blu-ray discs. I have manual tools I can use on DVD for finer grained processing of DVDs. Making a protected ISO is not something that concerns me.

I tried the free version of Xreveal and liked it enough to make a lifetime purchase. So the current Xreveal version doesn't have the remove titles/clips features yet. I've only used Xreveal with newer Blu-ray discs I purchased after RedFox disappeared. I tried AnyDVD to decrypt the discs and obviously it failed. Fire up Xreveal and and bingo-bango-bongo! Success with decrypting!

As a "let's see what happens" curiosity test I decided to mount the ripped ISOs and see if AnyDVD would now process the decrypted BDs. Well, hosannas! AnyDVD happily "decrypted" the mounted BDs, doing the "remove annoying stuff" magic. Reripped the ISO to another ISO and now I have a BD rip the way I want. I have yet to try using Xreveal to deal with a BD that has cinavia. I may make a test on a disc I know that has cinavia to see if Xreveal/AnyDVD/CloneBD can still work.

I am currently using AnyDVD to rip some DVDs without using Xreveal. So far no problems. The "single license usable on 3 PCs" will hopefully never need to be needed. If at some future date there is a DVD that AnyDVD can't successfully decrypt but Xreveal does buying an additional new lifetime license is an option. The pricing for a lifetime license is quite reasonable IMO.

[kurkosdr]

Originally Posted by GiorgioV

Like all of you, I'm a Redfox orphan. Namely, I've been using AnyDVD(HD) for over a decade, purchased two lifetime licenses, etc... I used to rip the occasional video Blu-ray but, most of all, to rip the hi-res/surround audio from Blu-ray discs, both audio and video.
I keep reading here and there suggestions of DVDFab Passkey as a valid replacement and I beg to differ. Here's my experience with those guys.

Without first testing the software (I'll admit that was very stupid of me, but I never had a single issue with AnyDVD so that probably made me careless), in the aftermath of Redfox's disappearance I purchased a DVDFab Passkey lifetime license. Well, the very first Blu-ray I tested it with (SDE's Wham! 'Make it big'), it wouldn't load. Reading error.

I contacted their customer 'service', who gave me the usual series of questions/tests that never solve a thing. Then they asked me to send me a series of files from the disc. And the waiting started.
Meanwhile, I could see that MakeMKV (for which I purchased a license a lifetime ago) could load that very same disc without any issue whatsoever.
Later on, I decided to buy the Xreveal Pro license. Surprise! Xreveal could also read that Wham! disc.

So I got in touch with DVDFab customer 'service' again, informed them about my findings, and, with the occasion, I also told them that Passkey could not read two more recently released blu-ray discs that I had meanwhile purchased: Fish 'Vigil in a wilderness of mirrors' and 'Internal exile'. But, guess what?, Xreveal and MakeMKV could read those too. No issue. Again. So I send them the files from those two discs too.

Time has passed (I'm talking months); Passkey has had several new releases but those three discs remain unreadable by that junk software. And hear this: when I tried to ask DVDFab for an update on my ticket I found out that... I could not! Somehow they had blocked the 'reply' feature within my still pending ticket. I made sure of that since I tried with other PCs / browsers. Now, that was a stroke of genius. I was officially baffled.
What I did was to open a new ticket (I know, why bother?) to inform them (like they wouldn't know) that those three Blu-ray discs still wouldn't load, and that I had realized they had blocked me from replying.

Bottom line: as long as there's an alternative, I would not consider DVDFab software as a Redfox replacement. It's junk. It may work, but then again it may not. Be advised.

Back when the Redfox forums existed, I had come across the exact opposite: Someone complaining that AnyDVD HD couldn't decrypt a DVD (yes, DVD, it would spin the disc but nothing would happen), while DVDFab could, to the point the RedFox mods called him "an infomercial for our biggest competitor".

None of those tools are guaranteed to work with every disc, and any talk about refunds can be best summarized with "hahaha... good luck with that".

This is why I am still sad Redfox is gone, it's pays to have multiple tools just in case your favorite doesn't work. Now we are one less tool.

[DaveO88]

@coopervid

well then here is another mod from the RedFox Guild

[cubicibo]

Originally Posted by kurkosdr

Back when the Redfox forums existed, I had come across the exact opposite: Someone complaining that AnyDVD HD couldn't decrypt a DVD (yes, DVD, it would spin the disc but nothing would happen), while DVDFab could, to the point the RedFox mods called him "an infomercial for our biggest competitor".

VideoHelp is plagued by ghost users who reply "xyzFab" to random question, even users register to just recommend DVDFab before disappearing in oblivion. Their infomercial practices are definitely real.

[kurkosdr]

Originally Posted by cubicibo

VideoHelp is plagued by ghost users who reply "xyzFab" to random question, even users register to just recommend DVDFab before disappearing in oblivion. Their infomercial practices are definitely real.

Sure, but the guy in the RedFox forums sounded genuinely frustrated, in a way that's hard for your average DVDFab shill to replicate (especially if they are an ESL speaker from China).

But anyway, my point is, no tool is guaranteed to work with every disc.

[DaveO88]

How could it be otherwise, since no software, no matter how good, can handle structural errors such as pressing errors or other errors that occur during production

[coopervid]

Originally Posted by DaveO88

How could it be otherwise, since no software, no matter how good, can handle structural errors such as pressing errors or other errors that occur during production

Hi Buddy! Read my PM.

[hajj_3]

updated versions of clonebd, clonedvd and virtual clonedrive have been released: https://www.elby.ch/products/clonebd.html

[walstib]

Question about XReveal and playlist obfuscation (largely Lionsgate): for full backups to Folder, MakeMKV doesn’t “fix” this problem. AnyDVD did. And it appears that DVDFab does as well. Curious if xreveal does? So locating the appropriate playlist (.mpls) doesn’t help as I do full backups. I would assume that AnyDVD and DVDFab modify some java class file and/or removed/change some other file(s) to fix this.

EDIT:

Testing this now w/XReveal Pro (figured in any case, $45 to support a good cause is worth it) - testing on The Hunger Games BD which from MakeMKV full disc bacup throws up the copyright thing around the 8 min mark.

Will also test DVDFab to see if they deal with it (they dealt with John Wick just fine, so fingers crossed...)


EDIT 2:

XReveal Pro removed ScreenPass/Playlist Obfuscation for The Hunger Games Excellent!

[DrinkLyeAndDie]

Originally Posted by hajj_3

updated versions of clonebd, clonedvd and virtual clonedrive have been released: https://www.elby.ch/products/clonebd.html

Merely a security update although CloneDVD has a nebulous "Some minor changes and improvements" line in the changelog.

On one hand this is a good sign that Elby updated the software but on the other hand I figured they were long dead and buried already. No real releases in forever even before RedFox ceased to exist. No CloneBD update in over a year and the previous update was a beta with the last official release dating back to 2022. No CloneDVD update in 5 years. No Virtual CloneDrive in 5 years.

[SamuriHL]

And yes CloneBD still can't beat MakeMKV for handling Dolby Vision titles...

[coopervid]

Originally Posted by SamuriHL

And yes CloneBD still can't beat MakeMKV for handling Dolby Vision titles...

I think CloneBD is still a great program if you want to just rip the main movie to folder or ISO or if you want / need to compress the video. Sadly their original developers are not with the company anymore and the new guys just lack knowledge to modernize or upgrade the software. In addition the market for CloneBD has shrunk since more and more people don't burn discs anymore and store on hard disks. Furthermore the company is working mainly on other projects which are more profitable. I tested their latest beta and it was truly a mess. Finally Redfox removed all Elby software links from its site because they were also frustrated. This happened shortly before Redfox ceased to exist.

[SamuriHL]

Yea, it's a shame because I truly loved CloneBD and really waned it to succeed. After years of asking for one feature that they continuously failed to deliver, I gave up even trying. I shared Redfox's frustration even though I believe the core technology they had was superior to anything else on the market. They just couldn't deliver a finished product, unfortunately.

[kurkosdr]

Originally Posted by coopervid

Furthermore the company is working mainly on other projects which are more profitable.

What other projects? AFAIK, all their paid software is CloneDVD and CloneBD and they haven't announced any upcoming products.