Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2023

[Coopervid]

1-2. Go ahead.
3. google it.

[Noobie84]

Hello i am new here and hope my questions are here in the right place.

Yesterday i bought the ASUS BW-16D1HT. I put it on my computer with usb adapter and it says the firmware is 3.10
and makemkv say i can make it to libre drive. On the first site a read that mk version only can be flashed, if the original firmware is the same number because newer versions are encrypted.

I think it should work with my drive, what do you think?

My plan is to install the drive directly into my computer computer, because i dont know if flashing with the usb adapter works. Is the chance to brick high or can something go wrong? I want use the firmware which is in the all you need package. I put some pictures with the post from makemkv, what sdf flasher shows and the firmware i want to use. So process i want do is start flasher, write firmware, select the one from my picture and the start. when it works how long it tooks normaly ?

[Coopervid]

You are fine. It takes just some seconds. Reboot afterwards.

[sacdman]

Hi folks... just got another Asus BW-16D1HT.. having trouble flashing this drive. Need some help, plesase. The drive is new and made in 2023. Had some issues with this drive as I had bought one before, but I would get that previous drive freezing or it would pause momentarily while watching a movie.

I would like to be more careful with flashing this one and do it correctly. I am attempting to flash this one but I am getting a message "checksum is mismatched. drive will go to boot mode please try again". Any help with those who are more experience here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for any and all help and assistance.

Since posting, I have been able to update the firmware to 3.10 with the SDFtool Flasher and all I neede to do was set it "administrator mode" and it worked just fine. This is a new Asus drive and I am still getting freezing and/or pauses when playing a 4K UHD disc. Just now it happened again watching Touch of Evil. I am still trying to troubleshoot the problem and have been going all over the web for solutions. I have also got a good clean microfibre cloth to wipe the disc and still getting random freezes. I am going to see if my firewall is getting in the way and I will be back later to see if anyone else has had this issue with the Asus. Thanking you ahead of time for any all help or suggestions.

[Coopervid]

You should rip to hard drive / SSD either as folder or mkv and then play from that.

[MartyMcNuts]

Hi folks... just got another Asus BW-16D1HT.. having trouble flashing this drive. Need some help, plesase. The drive is new and made in 2023. Had some issues with this drive as I had bought one before, but I would get that previous drive freezing or it would pause momentarily while watching a movie.

I would like to be more careful with flashing this one and do it correctly. I am attempting to flash this one but I am getting a message "checksum is mismatched. drive will go to boot mode please try again". Any help with those who are more experience here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for any and all help and assistance.

Since posting, I have been able to update the firmware to 3.10 with the SDFtool Flasher and all I neede to do was set it "administrator mode" and it worked just fine. This is a new Asus drive and I am still getting freezing and/or pauses when playing a 4K UHD disc. Just now it happened again watching Touch of Evil. I am still trying to troubleshoot the problem and have been going all over the web for solutions. I have also got a good clean microfibre cloth to wipe the disc and still getting random freezes. I am going to see if my firewall is getting in the way and I will be back later to see if anyone else has had this issue with the Asus. Thanking you ahead of time for any all help or suggestions.

Forget about direct disc playback. The idea is to rip them then you can play the backup.

[asmcom]

You should rip to hard drive / SSD either as folder or mkv and then play from that.

Well said, this is the best solution.

Asmcom

[joelishness]

Hello, just got an LG BU40N and wanted to share a couple things...

First, this can be added to the list of known encrypted firmware:

HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_BU40N_1.02_212012011716_MO5M5VE4938

(maybe it is already know that the ending alphanumeric string doesn't have to match exactly, if so this wasn't clear to me)

I found it it was encrypted by guess & check.
First I flashed with the unencrypted command, and it reported 100% finished and done successful, but then re-check still indicated the original firmware.
So then I just tried again with the encrypted command. Same 100% finished and done successful, and this time re-check indicated the new firmware.

Also, just wanted to share some info for my situation since it needed a few modifications, in case it is helpful for anyone else.
Situation:
- Linux (headless)
- Automatic Ripping Machine docker
- LG BU40N

Here is how to from my notes:

Code: Select all

# From client (desktop linux PC), copy downloaded files to target machine
# Update for target user@hostname
scp -p HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BU40N-1.03-NM00000-211810241934.bin arm@arm-optiplex-9020:~/.
scp -p sdf.bin arm@arm-optiplex-9020:~/.

# From target machine, copy files to docker container
docker cp HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BU40N-1.03-NM00000-211810241934.bin  arm-rippers:/tmp/.
docker cp sdf.bin  arm-rippers:/tmp/.

# Enter container shell
docker exec -it arm-rippers bash

# Query drives
/usr/local/bin/makemkvcon f -l

Found 1 drives(s)
00: dev_21:1, /dev/sr0, /dev/sr0
HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_BU40N_1.02_212012011716_MO5M5VE4938

Code: Select all

# Query drive info
/usr/local/bin/makemkvcon f -d /dev/sr0 -f /tmp/sdf.bin --info

SDF.bin version: 0x0098

Drive Tool SDF present

Drive Specific SDF present

[Drive Specific SDF] Embedded Info Strings:
8000:LibreDrive Information

8013:Status
8109:Possible (with patched firmware)

8001:Drive platform
:MT1959

8010:Harware support
8100:Yes

8011:Firmware support
8101:No

8002:Firmware type
8108:Original (patched version available)

8003:Firmware version
:1.02

8005:DVD all regions
8109:Possible (with patched firmware)

8006:BD raw data read
8109:Possible (with patched firmware)

8007:BD raw metadata read
8109:Possible (with patched firmware)

8009:Unrestricted read speed
8109:Possible (with patched firmware)


[Drive Specific SDF] Embedded Status Message:
8096:LibreDrive mode for this drive is only possible with firmware upgrade (id=%1)
:BA3AA52BF4C5


Identification SDF present

[Identification SDF] Embedded Info Strings:
8000:LibreDrive Information

8013:Status
8102:Possible, not yet enabled

8001:Drive platform
:MT1959


[Identification SDF] Drive autodetect string:
mtk:19:59:BU5 :HL-DT-ST:BD-RE BU40N 1.02:R000200:-

Code: Select all

# Re-flash firmware (encrypted version)
/usr/local/bin/makemkvcon f -d /dev/sr0 -f /tmp/sdf.bin rawflash enc -i /tmp/HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BU40N-1.03-NM00000-211810241934.bin

# Recheck firmware
/usr/local/bin/makemkvcon f -l

Found 1 drives(s)
00: dev_21:1, /dev/sr0, /dev/sr0
HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_BU40N_1.03_211810241934_MO5M5VE4938

Code: Select all

# Recheck info
/usr/local/bin/makemkvcon f -d /dev/sr0 -f /tmp/sdf.bin --info

SDF.bin version: 0x0098

Drive Tool SDF present

Drive Specific SDF present

[Drive Specific SDF] Embedded Info Strings:
8000:LibreDrive Information

8013:Status
8105:Enabled

8001:Drive platform
:MT1959

8002:Firmware type
8107:Patched (microcode access re-enabled)

8003:Firmware version
:1.03

8005:DVD all regions
8100:Yes

8006:BD raw data read
8100:Yes

8007:BD raw metadata read
8100:Yes

8009:Unrestricted read speed
8100:Yes


[Drive Specific SDF] Embedded Status Message:
8099:Using LibreDrive mode (v%1 id=%2)
:06.3
:866A98CB9C4E


Identification SDF present

[Identification SDF] Embedded Info Strings:
8000:LibreDrive Information

8013:Status
8102:Possible, not yet enabled

8001:Drive platform
:MT1959


[Identification SDF] Drive autodetect string:
mtk:19:59:BU5 :HL-DT-ST:BD-RE BU40N 1.03:NM00000:-

Thanks so much!

[Tyler94]

I don't get this. Where is the firmware for WH16NS60 1.02MK. I have a WH16NS40-NS50 on version 1.05 and I'm under the impression that I can not use SDF tool to flash it. Tried it and it didn't work. I'm so lost and a lot of this info in not up to date and scattered about. What do I do?

[sizzleweet]

Hey all,

So I successfully patched my drive BP60NB10, but I'm still only getting 2x maybe a bit higher but never close to 6x read speeds... I've made the change in the conf file on linux and tried it with the registry changes on windows. Is that normal? It's like it's locked at the 2x.

For reference these are just standard blu-rays I'm working with, not UHD discs.

[dcoke22]

I don't get this. Where is the firmware for WH16NS60 1.02MK. I have a WH16NS40-NS50 on version 1.05 and I'm under the impression that I can not use SDF tool to flash it. Tried it and it didn't work. I'm so lost and a lot of this info in not up to date and scattered about. What do I do?

The very first post in this thread is kept up to date. viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19634

There's a link there to the 'all you need' firmware zip file and if you're on Windows, you should use the SDF GUI tool, which you can also find a link to.

[ActorCam]

I hope someone can help. I'm stuck on step 5: In terminal change directory "cd /Applications/MakeMKV.app/Contents/MacOS"

When I type that into Terminal, I get a "No such file or directory" message. Up until then everything seemed good and I was able to move my flash files to the /tmp directory. Anyone know how to resolve this?

Thanks in advance!

[Billycar11]

I hope someone can help. I'm stuck on step 5: In terminal change directory "cd /Applications/MakeMKV.app/Contents/MacOS"

When I type that into Terminal, I get a "No such file or directory" message. Up until then everything seemed good and I was able to move my flash files to the /tmp directory. Anyone know how to resolve this?

Thanks in advance!

Do you have makemkv installed?

[erzengel1]

Hi,

I am locking for a drive to rip my collection.
I was locking now for the BH16NS55 but this is only available from Hitachi-LG BH16NS55 and it looks different from the outside as well, does it matter? Is the Hitachi-Lg the same?
If this is not working I would go for the LG Electronics WH16NS40, because the firmware for flashing is availabale her.

Does I need to run the drive external over USB (OWC Mercury Pro 5.25) or can I install it internal in my PC as well? or is the flashing than not working?
Is this ok or is there a more recommended drive?

Thank you for your feedback

regards

Matthias

[Billycar11]

Hi,

I am locking for a drive to rip my collection.
I was locking now for the BH16NS55 but this is only available from Hitachi-LG BH16NS55 and it looks different from the outside as well, does it matter? Is the Hitachi-Lg the same?
If this is not working I would go for the LG Electronics WH16NS40, because the firmware for flashing is availabale her.

Does I need to run the drive external over USB (OWC Mercury Pro 5.25) or can I install it internal in my PC as well? or is the flashing than not working?
Is this ok or is there a more recommended drive?

Thank you for your feedback

regards

Matthias

Should work on any of those drives and any case that supports optical drives flashing should work.