BDR 212V UHD Guide

[Coopervid]

Hello Coopervid,

I just received the following drive:

Drive Information
OS device name: F:
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR-212V
Revision: 1.02
Serial number: DGDL027890WL
Firmware date: 2022-05-31
Bus encryption flags: 13
Highest AACS version: 76

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible, not yet enabled
Drive platform: Pioneer RS8F00
Firmware version: ID06

I have seen very similar drive information posted by others in this thread. Given your responses to them it appears as if this drive can be flashed to read UHD disks.

I also recently acquired a Pioneer BDR-212DBK drive a few weeks ago. You gave me the flasher and firmware for flashing that drive. (Thanks again. That drive works perfectly!)

The pre-flash BDR-212DBK drive info was:
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR-212D
Revision: 1.02
Firmware Date: 2022-03-16

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8F00
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-212T
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 1.02/ID61

Just to be sure, can my new BDR-212V drive be flashed? If so, should the BDR-212V drive be flashed using the same flasher and firmware as the BDR-212-DBK drive? If not, would you please PM me with the right stuff again?

As always, I'm very grateful for all of the guidance and help you are willing to provide!

Yes. Go ahead.

[TnEGuy]

Cool! I'd thought maybe so after reading the tutorial.

One other question if I may? I realize that this might be a bit outside of the forum's scope.

Does the current Vinpower firmware on this BDR-212V drive make a real-world quality difference when burning disks? I'm considering using optical disks as low-volume backup media so my most critical files can easily, securely, and reliably be stored off-site. Totally retro, huh?

If this drive can actually burn "better" disks as is, I might not flash it.

Unfortunately, I don't understand the technical info that's shown on the sales websites well enough to discern a meaningful context. They all show the exact same pictures.

With all of the reverse engineering that some people on this forum have done, maybe they'd have an opinion about this they're willing to share?

Thanks again for all of the help so far.

[Coopervid]

Cool! I'd thought maybe so after reading the tutorial.

One other question if I may? I realize that this might be a bit outside of the forum's scope.

Does the current Vinpower firmware on this BDR-212V drive make a real-world quality difference when burning disks? I'm considering using optical disks as low-volume backup media so my most critical files can easily, securely, and reliably be stored off-site. Totally retro, huh?

If this drive can actually burn "better" disks as is, I might not flash it.

Unfortunately, I don't understand the technical info that's shown on the sales websites well enough to discern a meaningful context. They all show the exact same pictures.

With all of the reverse engineering that some people on this forum have done, maybe they'd have an opinion about this they're willing to share?

Thanks again for all of the help so far.

No, the 212V has just some mechanical modifications / benefits that makes it more robust. Write strategies among the Pioneer drives are pretty much identical. If you burn to multi-layer discs you should read what I link here. Not necessary for single layer discs.

kitahoshi posted a copy from the Redfox forum.

https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=185539&page=19

P.S.: I have also 212V firmware to flash it back when converted to UHD.