Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2026

[Coopervid]

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum, but have been using MakeMKV for many years with my Pioneer BDR-UD03 1.05.
I would like to upgrade now to an external UHD player/master always slim to connect to my 2018 Mac Mini with Monterey 12.6.4 to read, rip and burn BD UHD.
What do you recommend me to buy to be problem free and start immediately?
Thank you.
Kind regards.

Send me a PM. Most guys just disappear. Therefore I want you to take the lead in this conversation.

[asmcom]

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum, but have been using MakeMKV for many years with my Pioneer BDR-UD03 1.05.
I would like to upgrade now to an external UHD player/master always slim to connect to my 2018 Mac Mini with Monterey 12.6.4 to read, rip and burn BD UHD.
What do you recommend me to buy to be problem free and start immediately?
Thank you.
Kind regards.

Please see our seller page below we have a large choice of drives for you to choose from. Some special deals available to.

viewtopic.php?t=19387

Hayley

[alericcio66]

Thank you, I have seen it, a very large amount of drives! I'll buy it one in the next few days. Thank you again.

[ndgame]

I upgraded my PC to a Mac and I am looking at the Pioneer BDR-XS07TUHD. I did all my own flashing on my Asus internal on my desktop and been using it for years.

The very first post on this thread is a little confusing on the Pioneer drives. If I pick up a Pioneer BDR-XS07TUHD will it work out of the box or do I need to find one with a manufacturing date older than 2023?

Thanks for your help with this.

[MartyMcNuts]

I upgraded my PC to a Mac and I am looking at the Pioneer BDR-XS07TUHD. I did all my own flashing on my Asus internal on my desktop and been using it for years.

The very first post on this thread is a little confusing on the Pioneer drives. If I pick up a Pioneer BDR-XS07TUHD will it work out of the box or do I need to find one with a manufacturing date older than 2023?

Thanks for your help with this.

Date must be older than December 2022. Good luck trying to find one!!

[Coopervid]

I upgraded my PC to a Mac and I am looking at the Pioneer BDR-XS07TUHD. I did all my own flashing on my Asus internal on my desktop and been using it for years.

The very first post on this thread is a little confusing on the Pioneer drives. If I pick up a Pioneer BDR-XS07TUHD will it work out of the box or do I need to find one with a manufacturing date older than 2023?

Thanks for your help with this.

Let me know what your country of residence is.

[asmcom]

I upgraded my PC to a Mac and I am looking at the Pioneer BDR-XS07TUHD. I did all my own flashing on my Asus internal on my desktop and been using it for years.

The very first post on this thread is a little confusing on the Pioneer drives. If I pick up a Pioneer BDR-XS07TUHD will it work out of the box or do I need to find one with a manufacturing date older than 2023?

Thanks for your help with this.

Date must be older than December 2022. Good luck trying to find one!!

We have plenty of these drives with firmware 1-02.

Hayley

UHD Friendly Drive Team

[ndgame]

So I got a Pioneer BD-RW- BDR-Xd07U
and it has revision 1.01 and the firmware date is fro 12-03-2018.

Should I upgrade it to 1.05 or leave it be?

Thanks

[d00zah]

So I got a Pioneer BD-RW- BDR-Xd07U
and it has revision 1.01 and the firmware date is fro 12-03-2018.

Should I upgrade it to 1.05 or leave it be?

Thanks

IF IT WORKS, LEAVE IT ALONE!!!

Pioneer firmware update February 2023

[Billycar11]

So I got a Pioneer BD-RW- BDR-Xd07U
and it has revision 1.01 and the firmware date is fro 12-03-2018.

Should I upgrade it to 1.05 or leave it be?

Thanks

Leave it unless you want to ruin it

[ndgame]

So does anyone know how to make this his work with DVDFab? I use that to make ISO’s.

[Billycar11]

So does anyone know how to make this his work with DVDFab? I use that to make ISO’s.

Depends on the drive
But usually one of the de firmware from my pack

[kululu]

Hello
Anyone can use Pioneer BDR-X13J-S in MKVmaker?Change Rom after can’t use it to rip 4K UHD, Thanks

Drive Information
OS device name: E:
Current profile: BD-ROM
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR -X13U
Revision: 1.03
Firmware date: 2022-12-12
Bus encryption flags: 18
Highest AACS version: 78
LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible, not yet enabled Drive platform: Pioneer RS9401
Firmware version: ID43

[dcoke22]

Hello
Anyone can use Pioneer BDR-X13J-S in MKVmaker?Change Rom after can’t use it to rip 4K UHD, Thanks

Drive Information
OS device name: E:
Current profile: BD-ROM
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR -X13U
Revision: 1.03
Firmware date: 2022-12-12
Bus encryption flags: 18
Highest AACS version: 78
LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible, not yet enabled Drive platform: Pioneer RS9401
Firmware version: ID43

There's a whole thread about recent Pioneer firmware specifically disabling MakeMKV support. At the moment, once a Pioneer drive gets on the recent firmware, you're stuck.

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=30383

[trleith]

STOP READ BEFORE FLASHING
IMPORTANT Before you flash:

• 1. Make sure your Drive was built after 2016 on label or late 2015 if you want to risk it.
  2. Drive Platform MT1959<Most important in makemkv
  3. SVC NS50+ LG only on label for NB drives NB50+
  4. Just because your drive is the same model number does not mean it will work, if you are unsure ask me i offer remote flashing and check everything before i flash.
  5. Dont flash your dive if it does not meet these requirements if you do you will be unable to read all disks and unable to restore without dosflash that does not work on most modern computers

Alrighty then. (tiny bit of reformatting for readability) On Linux (inside Docker)
Note I'm using sdfTool because that's what was already in the Docker image with MakeMKV
It would be possible to put sdf.bin in there. Is it necessary?

Code: Select all

root@176acc477e6a:/usr/local/bin# ./sdftool --version
LibDriveIo/SdfTool version: 2.6
root@176acc477e6a:/usr/local/bin# ./sdftool  --drive=dev_21:2 --info
SDF.bin version: 0x0097
Drive Tool SDF present
Drive Specific SDF present
[Drive Specific SDF] Embedded Info Strings:
8000:LibreDrive Information
8013:Status
8109:Possible (with patched firmware)
[b][i]8001:Drive platform :MT1959[/i][/b]
8010:Harware support
8100:Yes
8011:Firmware support
8101:No
8002:Firmware type
8108:Original (patched version available)
8003:Firmware version:1.05
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):36338EC9581D

Identification SDF present
[Identification SDF] Embedded Info Strings:
8000:LibreDrive Information
8013:Status
8102:Possible, not yet enabled
[b][i]8001:Drive platform :MT1959[/i][/b]
[Identification SDF] Drive autodetect string:mtk:[b][i]19:59[/i][/b]:JB8 :HL-DT-ST:BD-RE  WH16NS40 1.05:N000900:-
root@176acc477e6a:/usr/local/bin#

WH16NS40 on any Firmware directly to > WH16NS60 1.02MK

So, apparently I can do a flash to enable LibreDrive, and even though the WH16NS40 is a BDXL drive, doing this will fix the Sleep Bug because WH16NS60 is a UHD "official" drive.

First, save the existing firmware

Code: Select all

./sdftool f --device=dev_21:2 dump --out=./HL-DT-ST-BD-RE _WH16NS40-1.05-N000900.bin

Then flash the drive

Code: Select all

./sdftool f --device=dev_21:2 [b]enc[/b] --in=./HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS60-1.03-NM00600-212005081010.bin <<== from the mk-firmware-pack-20200720

The command "enc" I am guessing at from examples. Neither is mentioned in sdftool --help

Have I got all this correct?

Thanks,

t