Bricked LG BU40N - Stuck in Boot Mode

[ai0verflow]

Howdy,

I'll just get down to it, I don't know what came over me, but I used an official LG firmware update package on my BU40N, and for some reason that rendered my drive completely unusable. The disk tray won't even open, but it does show up, just with a 'BOOT' suffix. I tried to use the SDF tool to flash it again, but it doesn't recognize it as an mt1959 drive. I also tried the patched LG update tool, but it just complains about a checksum error and says the drive will return to boot mode. I haven't tried the dosflash method yet, I'm still looking into it, but I was just wondering if anyone smarter than I would have any advice for this situation. Is it still recoverable or just FUBAR now?

FINAL UPDATE:

I would really recommend RTFM instead of just trying stuff and panicking. I watched the video about using DOSFlash to recover bricked drives, and I was able to fully recover the drive. The crucial step I missed in my reply was using the data mover EXE on my rom dump to copy the drive specific data to the new MK rom. And thankfully I actually dumped the original 'broken' rom before flashing the drive, otherwise I really would have been SOL. Using that video, the drive serial number now reports properly, LiberDrive works, and am currently ripping my 4k release of Interstellar.

So, just as a lesson to people watching this trainwreck: DO NOT USE THAT LG FIRMWARE UPDATE, AND MAKE BACKUPS OF YOUR STUFF BEFORE YOU FLASH

[ai0verflow]

UPDATE:

So I was able to partially recover the drive using dosflash...I was able to flash the 1.03MK firmware with it. It now shows up in MakeMKV with LibreDrive enabled, however it will not read a disc, it behaves as if there's nothing in the drive. The serial number is also blank in MakeMKV, and I believe these two are related. I hear there's calibration data in the original firmware that probably isn't in the 1.03MK file, however I did make a backup of the stock firmware in SDF tool, and I also made a backup of the borked firmware before I flashed it in dosflash. If there's anyone that can help fully recover this thing I would be eternally grateful.

[MartyMcNuts]

Howdy,

I'll just get down to it, I don't know what came over me, but I used an official LG firmware update package on my BU40N, and for some reason that rendered my drive completely unusable. The disk tray won't even open, but it does show up, just with a 'BOOT' suffix. I tried to use the SDF tool to flash it again, but it doesn't recognize it as an mt1959 drive. I also tried the patched LG update tool, but it just complains about a checksum error and says the drive will return to boot mode. I haven't tried the dosflash method yet, I'm still looking into it, but I was just wondering if anyone smarter than I would have any advice for this situation. Is it still recoverable or just FUBAR now?

Try the old modified ASUS flasher and use the BU40N 1.03-MK firmware. viewtopic.php?p=70766#p70766

There is really never any need to update optical drive firmware. Updates usually only affect disc writing, not reading.

[ai0verflow]

I think that was the actually the one thing I didn't try, was the asus flasher. But, writing media is what spawned this whole mess. I would like to burn some 50GB dual layer discs, and I've only heard of all the lovely firmware issues with them things. I thought maybe I could use the LG update to bring it back to the original firmware in case I had issues, but I guess I really learned my lesson on that. In case you see this before my edited post, I was able to fully recover the drive using DOSFlash, though it remains to be seen how the 1.03MK firmware handles burning dual layer disks. If there's issues I'll probably just get another drive.

[dcoke22]

But, writing media is what spawned this whole mess. I would like to burn some 50GB dual layer discs, and I've only heard of all the lovely firmware issues with them things. … though it remains to be seen how the 1.03MK firmware handles burning dual layer disks. If there's issues I'll probably just get another drive.

Pioneer drives are considered pretty good for actually burning discs. Depending on where you are in the world, you might still be able to get one. Any new one you get will probably have firmware on it that's too new to rip UHDs, but it should still rip DVDs and regular blu-rays out of the box. If it is a model that supports UHDs, Mike has said that eventually it will be supported, regardless of the firmware.

[ai0verflow]

I’ll have to look into them, since I don’t really know the first thing about them. I’m in the US, if there’s any models you would recommend in particular, 5.25” or slim type, I’m open to that.

[Wldulikesometoast]

Hi guys, it seems I have encountered a similar problem here.

I have a verbatim 48888 (LGBU40N internals) which is only six weeks old. When I bought the drive, I followed the (excellent) guides in the forum and used SDF tool to flash the recommended 1.03 FW.

The flash went by without a hitch and the drive worked generally well for the first month. I did encounter the odd issue with one UHD disc here and a few blu ray there, some of which were resolved using isopropyl alcohol whilst others I couldn't extract (all using makemkv).

I encounted a few issues within the first two weeks and replaced the included usb C-A cable into the also provided A-C convertor with a single full spec usb C-C cable into my M4 Mac Mini. This improved ripping outcomes.

Things went down hill between weeks 4-6 when the drive started failing rips more and more, making mechanical seeking noises in the last 10-15% of a rip which often resulted in failure due to SCSI error.

It has got to the stage that I've decided to attempt to return the drive as I think it's dying. I decided I better re-flash the lg 1.05 FW and so downloaded the LG tool (you can see where this is going) and it borked 48% through the flash and now is stuck in boot mode.

I'm thinking of now following the findings here, is there any other advice anyone can share please? I've researched heavily since my cock up of flashing using the lg tool and only found this thread....

Cheers - love this place, it's a great community resource - my physical collection continues to grow!

P.S. any recommendations as to a new drive to replace this, regardless of my return attempt? Ideally I want to rip blu ray and uhd but I'm seeking a lot saying pioneer drives have a tricky firmware currently that precludes them from ripping UHD at this time....