--- title: Networked DVD Ripping with Raspberry Pi and iSCSI description: A homelab enthusiast sets up a networked DVD ripping workflow using a Raspberry Pi as an iSCSI target, exposing a USB optical drive as a block device over the... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/networked-dvd-ripping-with-raspberry-pi-and-iscsi-crh3k3e1q twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Networked DVD Ripping with Raspberry Pi and iSCSI | daily.dev og:description: A homelab enthusiast sets up a networked DVD ripping workflow using a Raspberry Pi as an iSCSI target, exposing a USB optical drive as a block device over the... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/networked-dvd-ripping-with-raspberry-pi-and-iscsi-crh3k3e1q og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/crh3K3E1Q.png og:image:alt: Networked DVD Ripping with Raspberry Pi and iSCSI og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Networked DVD Ripping with Raspberry Pi and iSCSI **[apalrd's adventures](https://daily.dev/sources/apalrd)** · 13 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A homelab enthusiast sets up a networked DVD ripping workflow using a Raspberry Pi as an iSCSI target, exposing a USB optical drive as a block device over the network to a Linux VM. The post covers iSCSI vs SMB trade-offs, configuring the `tgt` iSCSI target on Raspberry Pi OS, testing initiators on both Windows and Linux, and evaluating the Automatic Ripping Machine (ARM) software. Windows performance was poor (under 1 Mbps), while MakeMKV on Linux achieved 30–40 Mbps — close to the physical drive's speed limit. Handbrake failed entirely over iSCSI, but MakeMKV worked reliably. The conclusion is that iSCSI passthrough of a SCSI optical drive is viable on Linux with MakeMKV, but the software stack matters significantly. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Can I use iSCSI to share a USB DVD drive from a Raspberry Pi to a Linux VM for ripping? Yes, iSCSI passthrough of a USB optical drive from a Raspberry Pi works reliably on Linux. Using the `tgt` package on the Pi and exposing the raw SCSI device (/dev/sg0) as an iSCSI target, MakeMKV on a Linux initiator achieved 30–40 Mbps — fast enough to rip a full DVD in under 30 minutes, which is roughly the physical drive's speed limit. _Homelab builders sharing optical drive ripping setups and iSCSI configs discuss their results on daily.dev._ ### Why does Handbrake fail to rip a DVD from an iSCSI-attached optical drive? Handbrake produces IO device read errors and fails entirely when the DVD drive is connected via iSCSI, on both Windows and Linux. MakeMKV, by contrast, handles the iSCSI block device without errors on Linux. The issue appears to be in how Handbrake issues SCSI commands rather than a fundamental iSCSI limitation, since MakeMKV succeeds on the same setup. _Developers troubleshooting media ripping pipelines over networked storage find relevant comparisons on daily.dev._ ### What is the difference between sharing a drive over iSCSI vs SMB for DVD ripping? iSCSI exposes a raw block device, giving the initiator full SCSI command access including drive eject and volume header reads — necessary for DVD decryption. SMB only shares a mounted filesystem, so the remote client cannot issue SCSI commands, read raw sectors, or control the drive. For DVD ripping, iSCSI is required; SMB cannot substitute. _Engineers deciding between iSCSI and SMB for block-level storage access track these trade-offs on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [The cheapest upgrade to my media library wasn't a hard drive — it was a disc drive](https://daily.dev/posts/the-cheapest-upgrade-to-my-media-library-wasn-t-a-hard-drive-it-was-a-disc-drive-trtas3jbc) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I ditched my Raspberry Pi and built a DIY NAS with a cheap rival SBC](https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-raspberry-pi-and-built-a-diy-nas-with-a-cheap-rival-sbc-ffrrlnmwj) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Making Davinci Resolve Faster: Speeding Up SMB Reads From MacOS to Linux](https://daily.dev/posts/making-davinci-resolve-faster-speeding-up-smb-reads-from-macos-to-linux-s3o8qngpa) · scottstuff.net · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Using FireWire on a Raspberry Pi](https://daily.dev/posts/using-firewire-on-a-raspberry-pi-phxjugbfg) · Jeff Geerling · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [iSCSI vs. NVMe/TCP: The ultimate storage showdown for Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization](https://daily.dev/posts/iscsi-vs-nvme-tcp-the-ultimate-storage-showdown-for-red-hat-openshift-virtualization-chlfm9pk4) · Red Hat Developer · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#raspberry-pi](https://daily.dev/tags/raspberry-pi), [#homelab](https://daily.dev/tags/homelab) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/networked-dvd-ripping-with-raspberry-pi-and-iscsi-crh3k3e1q) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Networked DVD Ripping with Raspberry Pi and iSCSI","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/networked-dvd-ripping-with-raspberry-pi-and-iscsi-crh3k3e1q","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/networked-dvd-ripping-with-raspberry-pi-and-iscsi-crh3k3e1q"},"datePublished":"2026-08-11T08:53:56.692Z","dateModified":"2026-08-11T09:18:07.329Z","description":"A homelab enthusiast sets up a networked DVD ripping workflow using a Raspberry Pi as an iSCSI target, exposing a USB optical drive as a block device over the...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/99d7ea9ad9f85493a9e34cf51946a88f?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/99d7ea9ad9f85493a9e34cf51946a88f?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"apalrd's adventures","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"apalrd's adventures","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--4zkx8dRj--/f_auto,q_auto/v1786438309/logos/apalrd?_a=BAMAMicg0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/apalrd"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/networked-dvd-ripping-with-raspberry-pi-and-iscsi-crh3k3e1q","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"linux,raspberry-pi,homelab","timeRequired":"PT13M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"apalrd's adventures","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/apalrd"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Networked DVD Ripping with Raspberry Pi and iSCSI"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/networked-dvd-ripping-with-raspberry-pi-and-iscsi-crh3k3e1q#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Can I use iSCSI to share a USB DVD drive from a Raspberry Pi to a Linux VM for ripping?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, iSCSI passthrough of a USB optical drive from a Raspberry Pi works reliably on Linux. 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