Noob here. Question about BDR-UD03D

[skim32]

Sorry. Noob here.  But I've spent some time looking through the forums.  But can someone tell me if I am correct. LibreDrive is separate from UHD Drive.  Just because LibreDrive is enabled, doesn't mean I can do UHD.  I would still need to flash a custom firmware to enable UHD support.

I bought a cheap no name brand external drive (NEXT-309ODD-BR) that is branded NEXTU. However inside is a Pioneer BDR-UD03D.  It comes in a very generic looking enclosure that is brushed metal with a Micro USB 3.0 port on it.  When I run MakeMKV it says LibreDrive enabled. So far it works great playing DVDs and Blu-rays.  I was wondering if I should try enabling UHD support.  But before I do, I had a few questions:

1. I've been reading that not all enclosures support flashing.  And I run the risk of bricking if I try to flash.  Is there a way to safely find out if the enclosure will support flashing? The sticker on the back says "SUPER SLIM DRIVE-USB3.0. MODEL NO: ODP95-SU3". Not sure if that is helpful at all.

2.  Are there any drawbacks to flashing?  I've read that all UHD flashed drives suffer from a sleep bug.  Is this true?  How much of a problem is this really?  All you have to do is eject and re-insert the disc, correct?  Are there any other bugs or issues I can expect if I flash? Are all of the other functionality retained? Like can I still burn disc and etc?

3. If I decide to flash but I find the drawbacks to be annoying, is it possible to go back to the original firmware?

4. Does flashing allow for UHD playback or just extraction?

Really, I bought this drive to burn data.  Backup my NAS data onto optical media.  Playing the occasional movie is just a bonus. And I don't have a UHD Blu-ray player, so it would be nice to have one.  But not imperative.  Any thoughts and recommendations from the experts would be greatly appreciated.

Drive Info:
Drive Information
OS device name: D:
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR-UD03D
Revision: 1.00
Serial number: QBDLXXXXXXXXX
Firmware date: 2014-05-14
Bus encryption flags: 1B
Highest AACS version: 72

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8510
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-US03
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 1.00/ID84
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

No disc inserted

[dcoke22]

1. I've been reading that not all enclosures support flashing.  And I run the risk of bricking if I try to flash.  Is there a way to safely find out if the enclosure will support flashing? The sticker on the back says "SUPER SLIM DRIVE-USB3.0. MODEL NO: ODP95-SU3". Not sure if that is helpful at all.

I don't know, but others on this forum might.

2.  Are there any drawbacks to flashing?  I've read that all UHD flashed drives suffer from a sleep bug.  Is this true?  How much of a problem is this really?  All you have to do is eject and re-insert the disc, correct?  Are there any other bugs or issues I can expect if I flash? Are all of the other functionality retained? Like can I still burn disc and etc?

I don't think any Pioneer drives have the sleep bug.

As for burning performance, others here know more about that than I do.

3. If I decide to flash but I find the drawbacks to be annoying, is it possible to go back to the original firmware?

As I understand it, cross-flashing a Pioneer is a delicate and brittle process. I think the technical answer to your question is yes, you could flash back. I think the practical answer is no, you should flash once and be done with it.

4. Does flashing allow for UHD playback or just extraction?

It should allow for both. The strong recommendation from the forum, however, is to NOT do UHD playback. Just do rips and watch your rips. This minimizes the wear and tear on the drive to make it last as long as possible.

Really, I bought this drive to burn data. Backup my NAS data onto optical media. Playing the occasional movie is just a bonus. And I don't have a UHD Blu-ray player, so it would be nice to have one. But not imperative. Any thoughts and recommendations from the experts would be greatly appreciated.

As I understand it, high quality media to burn data to is hard if not impossible to come by these days. And the cost/GB is pretty high. You're probably better off making backups onto a spinning hard drive.