Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2026

[Billycar11]

thank you, understood.

on first page it is written

"The recommended drives are Pioneer's they are much better than Asus and LG but sadly they cant be flashed currently you will have to buy ones with old firmware from sellers for now."

In what way are Pioneer much better, when atleast according to information on page 1 they seem aswell slower?
(at least that is suggestion one gets if consulting the section "drives that currently work are" below the recommendation for Pioneer drives.

They are better in alot of ways but the main ones are

More reliable get less read errors on hard to read discs
They don't constantly die
They dont eat discs
They don't need to be rebooted because they get in weird modes
They are quieter
There's more too but yeah I would even consider an LG or Asus drive as long as pioneers are available with old fw

[kapqa]

would that mean that if one buy one of those 5 5.25 listed here as Bluray Drive (2 of them mentioned on page1 if i am not mistaken)

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA ... ter+Drives


it would be difficult to Flash them because of the newer Firmware they operate?


(previous models seem list quite some more models from Pioneer)

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA ... s.Archived

[Billycar11]

would that mean that if one buy one of those 5 5.25 listed here as Bluray Drive (2 of them mentioned on page1 if i am not mistaken)

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA ... ter+Drives


it would be difficult to Flash them because of the newer Firmware they operate?


(previous models seem list quite some more models from Pioneer)

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA ... s.Archived

You can't flash them you would need to buy one with old fw from a seller

[waitin_outside]

Hi I am from India, I have been reading a lot of this forum and gotten very interested in ripping blurays but there are not a lot of options available here in India and those which are available are almost double the price if not more.

Initially I was interested in the latest pioneer drives (BDR xd08-umb-s) but due to firmware support for makemkv unavailable stopped pursuing it. I currently have shortlisted following options for me here in India -

lg wh14ns40 (rupees 11492 i.e USD - )
lg wh16ns40 (rupees 11492 i.e USD - )
ASUS BW-16D1HT (rupees 11492 i.e USD - )

I am leaning towards Asus as i have heard that it handles large disks well without read errors. Also Lg drive i am not sure of the svc version as the seller on amazon is not able to provide this info.

Any recommendations apart from the above are welcome

I have all 3 of them. My recommendation - go with the Asus.

[tylers1121]

I have problem with my ASUS BW-16D1HT disconnecting when it tries to seek on regular Blu-ray disc and fails. I tried crossflashing it with BH16NS60 1.02 and WH16NS58 1.V5 trying to seek FW that will work better on it. Still have no success. Has anyone encountered this problem? (probably yes and I just can't find the answer)

[Billycar11]

I have problem with my ASUS BW-16D1HT disconnecting when it tries to seek on regular Blu-ray disc and fails. I tried crossflashing it with BH16NS60 1.02 and WH16NS58 1.V5 trying to seek FW that will work better on it. Still have no success. Has anyone encountered this problem? (probably yes and I just can't find the answer)

try cleaning the laser

[jonghotti]

My name needs to be added back to the list of approved sellers and should have never been removed.
Thank you,

Alex Coluzzi

[tylers1121]

I have problem with my ASUS BW-16D1HT disconnecting when it tries to seek on regular Blu-ray disc and fails. I tried crossflashing it with BH16NS60 1.02 and WH16NS58 1.V5 trying to seek FW that will work better on it. Still have no success. Has anyone encountered this problem? (probably yes and I just can't find the answer)

try cleaning the laser

I actually have two of them. And second one is new. New one also does that and more often. Same problem with dirt on laser optics?

[jkr2008]

@billycar11
I was reading through your whole guide and there was a stop sign at least until I posted my question here. There is an excerpt from your guide which pertains to my drive.

"The newer OEM firmwares cannot be flashed easily due to the additional downgrade checks implemented by the drive/firmware manufacturer. If your drive has one of these firmwares, and there is no MK version of the same firmware/drive model or higher number, you will have to sidegrade to Asus 3.10MK (for compatible ASUS 5.25 drives ONLY) or (LG WH16NS60 1.02MK for compatible LG 5.25) or (BU40N 1.03MK LG Slim drives ONLY) respectively. (Note: MK firmware is available for firmware versions mentioned above.) Keeping the flashing of firmware in these scenarios within their respective family of drives/firmware (e.g ASUS firmware for ASUS drives and LG firmware for LG drives) at this stage of flashing. Then afterwards if that initial flash is successful you can move to different firmware respectively if you would like a different and compatible firmware version for the drive in question.

As previously stated in this guide. DO NOT crossflash between ASUS and LG firmware for slim drives like the LG BU40N for example. It will brick your drive. You’ve now been warned twice within this guide regarding this."

Will I still be able to flash my drive? I am including all the info off the label.
BP50NB40
Service code: NB52
Manufacturing Date: June 2023
Rom Ver 1.03

And the SDF Flash tool confirms its encrypted

[jkr2008]

@billycar11
I went back reread the post last night and flashed according to this.

BP50NB40 to > BP50NB40-NB50-1.03MK then to > BP60NB10 1.02MK or 1.00MK
NB52 to > BP50NB40-NB50-1.03MK with enc > BP50NB40-NB50-1.03MK with bootloader/full flash >BP60NB10 1.00_HBD from Marty download/file.php?id=2143

It was successful. I'm assuming that's all I need to do.

Only thing I'm seeing now is serious buffer issues if I attempt playback and I'm thinking thats because the damn drive is usb 2.0 or if its something with the disk I made yesterday. And tbh the disc I made initially was before the flash.

[Billycar11]

I have problem with my ASUS BW-16D1HT disconnecting when it tries to seek on regular Blu-ray disc and fails. I tried crossflashing it with BH16NS60 1.02 and WH16NS58 1.V5 trying to seek FW that will work better on it. Still have no success. Has anyone encountered this problem? (probably yes and I just can't find the answer)

try cleaning the laser

I actually have two of them. And second one is new. New one also does that and more often. Same problem with dirt on laser optics?

It's possible there is a reason I stopped selling those 4+ years ago they are so unreliable.

I only recommend pioneers now

[Billycar11]

@billycar11
I went back reread the post last night and flashed according to this.

BP50NB40 to > BP50NB40-NB50-1.03MK then to > BP60NB10 1.02MK or 1.00MK
NB52 to > BP50NB40-NB50-1.03MK with enc > BP50NB40-NB50-1.03MK with bootloader/full flash >BP60NB10 1.00_HBD from Marty download/file.php?id=2143

It was successful. I'm assuming that's all I need to do.

Only thing I'm seeing now is serious buffer issues if I attempt playback and I'm thinking thats because the damn drive is usb 2.0 or if its something with the disk I made yesterday. And tbh the disc I made initially was before the flash.

USB 2 is more than enough for playback
I would not test with a disc you made I would try with an official discs before calling it an issue LGS/asus are known not to be good burners compared to pioneers

[schraube08]

I've been trying to update the firmware using the flasher tool, but always get an error 0xff056103.

I got the error message 0xff056103 when a disc was in the drive - after removing the disc the firmware update was possible

[Ghosty32]

Hey guys! New here.

I’m looking to see if I can flash either of my Pioneer drives to rip TL UHD disks, but have seen some conflicting (or outdated) info and wanted to confirm the latest.

Specs below:
BDR-209D
- FW Name: PIONEER BDR-209
- FW Version: 1.10/ID61
- FW Date: 2013-09-10

BDR-212DBK
- FW Name: PIONEER BDR-212T
- FW Version: 1.02/ID61
- FW Date: 2022-03-16

Appreciate your help!

[poppo]

I have just received a new LG BD rewriter WH14NS40 (firmware 1.05; manufacture date: 2023).

Running MakeMKV 1.17.6 on Windows 10 x64, the drive information is as follows:
------------
drive information:
manufactturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH14NS40
revision: 1.05
serial number: XXXXXXXXXXX
firmware date: 2120-05-06 14:44
bus encryption flags: 17

LibreDrive information:
Status: possible (with patched firmware)
Drive platform: MT1959
hardware support: yes
firmware support: no
firmware type: Original (patrched version available)
firmware version: 1.05
DVD all regions: possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw data read: possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw metadata read: possible (with patched firmware)
unrestricted read speed: possible (with patched firmware)
------------
No info on "Highest AACS version".

What would be the best firmware version to flash this drive so that I can play and rip UHD disc via MakeMKV?

Should it be:
1) HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS60-1.02-NM00100-211810291936.bin (The all you need firmware pack)
from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HRnbXi ... sp=sharing

or

2) DE_LG_WH14NS40-NS50_1.02.bin (All You Need Firmware Pack (MartyMcNuts))
from: https://www.mediafire.com/file/ph1ap2eg ... 9.zip/file

or

3)HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH14NS40-NS50-1.05-NM00900-212005061444.bin (MK firmware)
from:https://www.makemkv.com/download/mk-fir ... 200720.zip

or some other versions?

Where is the version of WH16NS60 1.02MK


Thanks.