Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2025

[Toscaclarinet]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like flashing it twice is the best of both worlds.

Will the SDFtool Flasher (v1.3.6) handle the Flashing to BW-16D1HT 3.02 if I can find it? Or would WH16NS60 1.00 add more capability /stability instead?

I just found "All You Need Firmware Pack (MartyMcNuts)" from 2023. It has DE_ASUS_BW-16D1HT_3.02.bin and DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.00.bin. Are they suitable?

Perhaps you are not up on PowerDVD 24 Ultra? They claim 4K Ultra HD with Hardware Acceleration: Intel 3rd generation Core i5. They claim 8K Video Playback with an Intel 7th Generation Core i7 (Kaby Lake) with HD (UHD) Graphics 630.

https://www.cyberlink.com/products/powe ... en_US.html

Thanks again.

Regards,

Jim

Either of those firmware files will work. The WH16NS60 1.00, being official UHD drive firmware, will also remove the sleep bug but you may have trouble if you want to burn discs. If you don't care about writing disccs and are only interested in ripping discs (like 99% of us!) it will be fine.

Don't forget to flash the drive to either BW-16D1HT 3.10-MK (or WH16NS60 1.02-MK) first to remove the existing firmware encryption.

So UHD playback is still in PowerDVD but only for those older Intel CPU's from about 6-7 years ago?!? A Lot of folk use more modern PC's nowadays! I did read somewhere a while back that UHD playback was removed from PowerDVD and only works in an older version of it.

Marty, I think PowerDVD is being misleading in what they are advertising. New versions of PowerDVD will not play UHD discs directly. Older versions of 22 played UHD discs via the "official" SGX method (8th-10th gen Intel cpus), but patches towards the end of 2023 removed capability, and now unless you have a system already set up and don't update PowerDVD, change BIOS or change CPU there is no way of activating official UHD playback due to the Intel servers being terminated. The UHD playback advertised seems to refer to 4k files rather than discs, and that is not CPU specific.

[MartyMcNuts]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like flashing it twice is the best of both worlds.

Will the SDFtool Flasher (v1.3.6) handle the Flashing to BW-16D1HT 3.02 if I can find it? Or would WH16NS60 1.00 add more capability /stability instead?

I just found "All You Need Firmware Pack (MartyMcNuts)" from 2023. It has DE_ASUS_BW-16D1HT_3.02.bin and DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.00.bin. Are they suitable?

Perhaps you are not up on PowerDVD 24 Ultra? They claim 4K Ultra HD with Hardware Acceleration: Intel 3rd generation Core i5. They claim 8K Video Playback with an Intel 7th Generation Core i7 (Kaby Lake) with HD (UHD) Graphics 630.

https://www.cyberlink.com/products/powe ... en_US.html

Thanks again.

Regards,

Jim

Either of those firmware files will work. The WH16NS60 1.00, being official UHD drive firmware, will also remove the sleep bug but you may have trouble if you want to burn discs. If you don't care about writing disccs and are only interested in ripping discs (like 99% of us!) it will be fine.

Don't forget to flash the drive to either BW-16D1HT 3.10-MK (or WH16NS60 1.02-MK) first to remove the existing firmware encryption.

So UHD playback is still in PowerDVD but only for those older Intel CPU's from about 6-7 years ago?!? A Lot of folk use more modern PC's nowadays! I did read somewhere a while back that UHD playback was removed from PowerDVD and only works in an older version of it.

Marty, I think PowerDVD is being misleading in what they are advertising. New versions of PowerDVD will not play UHD discs directly. Older versions of 22 played UHD discs via the "official" SGX method (8th-10th gen Intel cpus), but patches towards the end of 2023 removed capability, and now unless you have a system already set up and don't update PowerDVD, change BIOS or change CPU there is no way of activating official UHD playback due to the Intel servers being terminated. The UHD playback advertised seems to refer to 4k files rather than discs, and that is not CPU specific.

Ah, ok, 4k files. That makes sense. I thought they removed UHD disc playback a few versions ago!

[osvii]

Hello

So i have a BH16NS55 which i have flashed (connected directly to SATA and power) and works.
But since my Case doesn't support a drive bay i want to connect the drive via USB, its a pain every time to take the back of the case out and connect the drive.
I'm from Romania so the suggested "USB enclosures/sata adapters that work with optical drives and flashing" are very expensive with the transport + vat + taxes.

I have two options
1. Will this work for everything else other than flashing (since its already flashed)
https://www.vinted.ro/items/6867158701- ... er=catalog
2. An SATA Data/Power Extension cable and find a way to get it out from the back of the case, but will look so bad. Maybe find and print an enclosure
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001155 ... 02335147_2

What are your suggestions

[EScars]

Since i´ve flashed my Asus BW 16d1ht Firmware, it won´t burns any Bluray Disc, by starting the Burning it spins up and down a few times and then i get error message lie "unable to write on disc, put in a emty disc"

Any solutions?

[-Jim-]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like flashing it twice is the best of both worlds.

Will the SDFtool Flasher (v1.3.6) handle the Flashing to BW-16D1HT 3.02 if I can find it? Or would WH16NS60 1.00 add more capability /stability instead?

I just found "All You Need Firmware Pack (MartyMcNuts)" from 2023. It has DE_ASUS_BW-16D1HT_3.02.bin and DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.00.bin. Are they suitable?

Perhaps you are not up on PowerDVD 24 Ultra? They claim 4K Ultra HD with Hardware Acceleration: Intel 3rd generation Core i5. They claim 8K Video Playback with an Intel 7th Generation Core i7 (Kaby Lake) with HD (UHD) Graphics 630.

https://www.cyberlink.com/products/powe ... en_US.html

Thanks again.

Regards,

Jim

Either of those firmware files will work. The WH16NS60 1.00, being official UHD drive firmware, will also remove the sleep bug but you may have trouble if you want to burn discs. If you don't care about writing disccs and are only interested in ripping discs (like 99% of us!) it will be fine.

Don't forget to flash the drive to either BW-16D1HT 3.10-MK (or WH16NS60 1.02-MK) first to remove the existing firmware encryption.

So UHD playback is still in PowerDVD but only for those older Intel CPU's from about 6-7 years ago?!? A Lot of folk use more modern PC's nowadays! I did read somewhere a while back that UHD playback was removed from PowerDVD and only works in an older version of it.

Marty, I think PowerDVD is being misleading in what they are advertising. New versions of PowerDVD will not play UHD discs directly. Older versions of 22 played UHD discs via the "official" SGX method (8th-10th gen Intel cpus), but patches towards the end of 2023 removed capability, and now unless you have a system already set up and don't update PowerDVD, change BIOS or change CPU there is no way of activating official UHD playback due to the Intel servers being terminated. The UHD playback advertised seems to refer to 4k files rather than discs, and that is not CPU specific.

First of all, a big Thank-you MartyMcNuts for your assistance and patience. I received my new Asus BW-16D1HT Blu-Ray Burner, and I decided I'd install it in my son's recently (okay, it's been a year and a bit...) retired Gamer Box which I've updated to Windows 11 in anticipation of retiring my wife's Windows 10 machine in October. (I built my son a new higher powered Gamer Box so he's happy.)

Anyway, I decided to use it for testing, and Flashing the firmware to allow this UHD Friendly Drive to read 4K UHD Blu-ray disks. Once MakeMKV was installed your current version of the flasher worked to perfection. Thank-you!

I inserted (at random) a 4K UHD version of The Blues Brothers (It was one of my first Dolby Atmos Movies), and the Asus read it no problem. However, my version of CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra 24 wouldn't play the movie as you predicted. It did play the regular Blu-Ray no problem, but with the UHD version it said the disk was unrecognized. I was able to Integrate VLC Player into MakeMKV, and it plays the 4K UHD version but griped about needing JAVA to have Menus. I pulled down JAVA 8 but haven't installed it. (I thought JAVA was dead due to security issues some time ago.)

I decided to try out MakeMKV with all the default settings and the Box is creating it now, but it seems to be struggling with lots of errors posted. It's been going at it for quite a while, and I need to go to sleep. So I'll leave it on overnight and see what I find in the morning.

By the way the CPU in this Box is an Intel i5-8600K with 16 Gigs of Ram, not a dog, but barely suitable (according to Microsoft) for Windows 11. What can I expect when I transfer the Asus BW-16D1HT to my main Rig (a 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700K with 64 Gigs of Ram) or put it in a Case and use a USB 3 connection instead so the Family can share it? The new Gamer box, for example, doesn't have any openings even for an Optical Drive.

As always, Thanks for the assist.

Regards,

Jim

[MartyMcNuts]

Either of those firmware files will work. The WH16NS60 1.00, being official UHD drive firmware, will also remove the sleep bug but you may have trouble if you want to burn discs. If you don't care about writing disccs and are only interested in ripping discs (like 99% of us!) it will be fine.

Don't forget to flash the drive to either BW-16D1HT 3.10-MK (or WH16NS60 1.02-MK) first to remove the existing firmware encryption.

So UHD playback is still in PowerDVD but only for those older Intel CPU's from about 6-7 years ago?!? A Lot of folk use more modern PC's nowadays! I did read somewhere a while back that UHD playback was removed from PowerDVD and only works in an older version of it.

Marty, I think PowerDVD is being misleading in what they are advertising. New versions of PowerDVD will not play UHD discs directly. Older versions of 22 played UHD discs via the "official" SGX method (8th-10th gen Intel cpus), but patches towards the end of 2023 removed capability, and now unless you have a system already set up and don't update PowerDVD, change BIOS or change CPU there is no way of activating official UHD playback due to the Intel servers being terminated. The UHD playback advertised seems to refer to 4k files rather than discs, and that is not CPU specific.

First of all, a big Thank-you MartyMcNuts for your assistance and patience. I received my new Asus BW-16D1HT Blu-Ray Burner, and I decided I'd install it in my son's recently (okay, it's been a year and a bit...) retired Gamer Box which I've updated to Windows 11 in anticipation of retiring my wife's Windows 10 machine in October. (I built my son a new higher powered Gamer Box so he's happy.)

Anyway, I decided to use it for testing, and Flashing the firmware to allow this UHD Friendly Drive to read 4K UHD Blu-ray disks. Once MakeMKV was installed your current version of the flasher worked to perfection. Thank-you!

I inserted (at random) a 4K UHD version of The Blues Brothers (It was one of my first Dolby Atmos Movies), and the Asus read it no problem. However, my version of CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra 24 wouldn't play the movie as you predicted. It did play the regular Blu-Ray no problem, but with the UHD version it said the disk was unrecognized. I decided to try out MakeMKV with all the default settings and the Box is creating it now, but it seems to be struggling with lots of errors posted. It's been going at it for quite a while, and I need to go to sleep. So I'll leave it on overnight and see what I find in the morning.

By the way the CPU in this Box is an Intel i5-8600K with 16 Gigs of Ram, not a dog, but barely suitable (according to Microsoft) for Windows 11. What can I expect when I transfer the Asus BW-16D1HT to my main Rig (a 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700K with 64 Gigs of Ram) or put it in a Case and use a USB 3 connection instead so the Family can share it? The new Gamer box, for example, doesn't have any openings even for an Optical Drive.

As always, Thanks for the assist.

Regards,

Jim

Yeah, PowerDVD won't play UHD discs. Apparently it will play 4k files though, so a 4k MKV file etc should play as it would in any other player too since it'd be already decrypted. I seriously don't recommend using PowerDVD at all. On my PC, I use MPC-HC (installed with the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack) and can play pretty much everything.

You shouldn't expect any difference with the drive's performance in your new rig. It takes very little computing power to rip a disc. A crappy old Pentium 4 with 4GB of ram would still be able to rip discs just fine. Actually playing back the files, yes, the more powerful PC the better. UHD uses h265/HEVC codecs which do require some more serious PC specs.

If you end up with lots of errors and the resulting file doesn't work or whatever, copy and paste the MakeMKV log window here so we can help further.

[-Jim-]

Before I went to bed last night I noticed MakeMKV had finished, but there was only two files in the Folder. I played the largest one with VLC. It was one of the "extras" and there was no movie to be found.

Not one to give up early, I decided to reboot the Box and try again. This time, once finished, there were 20 files / 129 GB total. Wow that's pretty big. You certainly need to shrink that down if you wanted to keep it.

I had VLC play the Folder and it looks like it's all there. I did get a warning that the connected TV (monitor in my case) wasn't 4KUHD so the picture would be as good as it could be. There doesn't seem to be a Menu, which I'm assuming is because JAVA isn't installed.

But all & all, I'm calling it a success.

[MartyMcNuts]

Before I went to bed last night I noticed MakeMKV had finished, but there was only two files in the Folder. I played the largest one with VLC. It was one of the "extras" and there was no movie to be found.

Not one to give up early, I decided to reboot the Box and try again. This time, once finished, there were 20 files / 129 GB total. Wow that's pretty big. You certainly need to shrink that down if you wanted to keep it.

I had VLC play the Folder and it looks like it's all there. I did get a warning that the connected TV (monitor in my case) wasn't 4KUHD so the picture would be as good as it could be. There doesn't seem to be a Menu, which I'm assuming is because JAVA isn't installed.

But all & all, I'm calling it a success.

It sounds like you have ripped everything to mkv files, which is not really the idea...

MakeMKV has 2 main options.

The big button with the disc drive image opens the disc so you can choose which title(s) to rip to a MKV file. If you press this button, you only want to rip the main movie. If you have JAVA installed on your PC, MakeMKV can use it to help determine which playlist is for the main feature. Some discs have multiple playlists that are the same size. Some of these have different languages etc and some are just fakes, jumbled up to make it harder to find the correct movie playlist.

The other option is the little button with a folder icon in the top menu which allows MakeMKV to perform a complete disc backup to a decrypted folder.

[warwolf7]

Hi,

Is there anyone selling to Canada other than Bluntman ?(viewtopic.php?f=20&t=21354) I tried, but I did not get any answer (PM and email)
I'm looking for a pioneer as my LG seems to be unable to rip certain discs. It works on almost all UHD and Bluray, but I have a few discs that didn't worked that I would like to rip.
If I need to flash the drive, that's fine, but I have read that newer than 2022 pioneer drives can't be flashed. If anyone have an option for me that would be greatly appreciated

Thank you

[-Jim-]

Before I went to bed last night I noticed MakeMKV had finished, but there was only two files in the Folder. I played the largest one with VLC. It was one of the "extras" and there was no movie to be found.

Not one to give up early, I decided to reboot the Box and try again. This time, once finished, there were 20 files / 129 GB total. Wow that's pretty big. You certainly need to shrink that down if you wanted to keep it.

I had VLC play the Folder and it looks like it's all there. I did get a warning that the connected TV (monitor in my case) wasn't 4KUHD so the picture would be as good as it could be. There doesn't seem to be a Menu, which I'm assuming is because JAVA isn't installed.

But all & all, I'm calling it a success.

It sounds like you have ripped everything to mkv files, which is not really the idea...

MakeMKV has 2 main options.

The big button with the disc drive image opens the disc so you can choose which title(s) to rip to a MKV file. If you press this button, you only want to rip the main movie. If you have JAVA installed on your PC, MakeMKV can use it to help determine which playlist is for the main feature. Some discs have multiple playlists that are the same size. Some of these have different languages etc and some are just fakes, jumbled up to make it harder to find the correct movie playlist.

The other option is the little button with a folder icon in the top menu which allows MakeMKV to perform a complete disc backup to a decrypted folder.

Thanks for the post. I'm hesitant to install JAVA as my understanding is it was discontinued due to it being porous from a Security aspect. Is that still the case or is there a new version available that is secure from Hackers?

[Coopervid]

Before I went to bed last night I noticed MakeMKV had finished, but there was only two files in the Folder. I played the largest one with VLC. It was one of the "extras" and there was no movie to be found.

Not one to give up early, I decided to reboot the Box and try again. This time, once finished, there were 20 files / 129 GB total. Wow that's pretty big. You certainly need to shrink that down if you wanted to keep it.

I had VLC play the Folder and it looks like it's all there. I did get a warning that the connected TV (monitor in my case) wasn't 4KUHD so the picture would be as good as it could be. There doesn't seem to be a Menu, which I'm assuming is because JAVA isn't installed.

But all & all, I'm calling it a success.

It sounds like you have ripped everything to mkv files, which is not really the idea...

MakeMKV has 2 main options.

The big button with the disc drive image opens the disc so you can choose which title(s) to rip to a MKV file. If you press this button, you only want to rip the main movie. If you have JAVA installed on your PC, MakeMKV can use it to help determine which playlist is for the main feature. Some discs have multiple playlists that are the same size. Some of these have different languages etc and some are just fakes, jumbled up to make it harder to find the correct movie playlist.

The other option is the little button with a folder icon in the top menu which allows MakeMKV to perform a complete disc backup to a decrypted folder.

Thanks for the post. I'm hesitant to install JAVA as my understanding is it was discontinued due to it being porous from a Security aspect. Is that still the case or is there a new version available that is secure from Hackers?

That's old information. If you are paranoid cut Internet access completely. Otherwise follow the recommendation.

[-Jim-]

I'm not paranoid, just reasonably cautious.

I've reimaged numerous computers that folks have inadvertently clicked on the wrong link, or downloaded the wrong software, only to brick their machine with ransomware or some really ugly malware or virus.

[Lizard]

Hello

So i have a BH16NS55 which i have flashed (connected directly to SATA and power) and works.
But since my Case doesn't support a drive bay i want to connect the drive via USB, its a pain every time to take the back of the case out and connect the drive.
I'm from Romania so the suggested "USB enclosures/sata adapters that work with optical drives and flashing" are very expensive with the transport + vat + taxes.

I have two options
1. Will this work for everything else other than flashing (since its already flashed)
https://www.vinted.ro/items/6867158701- ... er=catalog
2. An SATA Data/Power Extension cable and find a way to get it out from the back of the case, but will look so bad. Maybe find and print an enclosure
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001155 ... 02335147_2

What are your suggestions

While there is a recommendation on the main page to keep SATA directly attached; I’ve not had issues with enclosures like your showing since they use external power.

Using SATA extension is totally fine. 3D printing an enclosure is not a bad idea, and certainly a step up from just leaving the case open like many of us do. But it’s just more cosmetic than anything; so wouldn’t be a technical problem preventing you ripping.

[Mr_Orange]

Before I went to bed last night I noticed MakeMKV had finished, but there was only two files in the Folder. I played the largest one with VLC. It was one of the "extras" and there was no movie to be found.

Not one to give up early, I decided to reboot the Box and try again. This time, once finished, there were 20 files / 129 GB total. Wow that's pretty big. You certainly need to shrink that down if you wanted to keep it.

I had VLC play the Folder and it looks like it's all there. I did get a warning that the connected TV (monitor in my case) wasn't 4KUHD so the picture would be as good as it could be. There doesn't seem to be a Menu, which I'm assuming is because JAVA isn't installed.

But all & all, I'm calling it a success.

It sounds like you have ripped everything to mkv files, which is not really the idea...

MakeMKV has 2 main options.

The big button with the disc drive image opens the disc so you can choose which title(s) to rip to a MKV file. If you press this button, you only want to rip the main movie. If you have JAVA installed on your PC, MakeMKV can use it to help determine which playlist is for the main feature. Some discs have multiple playlists that are the same size. Some of these have different languages etc and some are just fakes, jumbled up to make it harder to find the correct movie playlist.

The other option is the little button with a folder icon in the top menu which allows MakeMKV to perform a complete disc backup to a decrypted folder.

Thanks for the post. I'm hesitant to install JAVA as my understanding is it was discontinued due to it being porous from a Security aspect. Is that still the case or is there a new version available that is secure from Hackers?

Java in web browsers got cancelled. Java, as a standalone, still exists and is updated fairly regularly.