Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2026

[Mr_Orange]

Pioneers depend on the firmware currently installed... What's your drive information?

I got ya, I just saw one on eBay was going to buy, but didn't want to jump until I knew. I did pass on it because its location was China, and I don't know what Tarrifs etc would look like LOL!!

Nevermind the tariffs, ever since the drive shortage started a huge number of Chinese sellers have suddenly listed supposed 4K UHD drives on eBay and Ali Express.

Caveat emptor!

[Billycar11]

Nevermind the tariffs, ever since the drive shortage started a huge number of Chinese sellers have suddenly listed supposed 4K UHD drives on eBay and Ali Express.

Caveat emptor!

and so many of them are fake the lg/asus and pioneers
many of the lgs are 2014 or older in new cases and they cant do UHD
the pioneers they are faking the higher end models by putting new front plates on

[alec_llama]

I have a question on an LG drive I just got recently. It is an LG WH16N60 drive that is on firmware 1.03. I have succesfully ripped about 7 4K UHD discs areadly. I see the guide states to flash the firmware to 1.02. If there anything I will be missing by not flashing to 1.02?

[shamgar_bn]

Hi all! I'm not new to MakeMKV, but I am new here to the forums

I'm running a MacBook Pro (M4 chip) and just purchased a new Verbatim 43888 (guts are BD-RE BU40N). I'm trying to take my firmware from 1.05 to 1.03 as the instructions advise, but I'm running into the issue where MakeMKV 1.17.7 fails to open on my computer. I have already tried a solution of using the beta key (as advised elsewhere in the forums) as well as using my original purchased key, neither of which have solved my issue.

I would've looked through the entire thread of replies, but there are over 230 pages of responses, so I was hoping someone might have answered this already and could just put me on the right track? I would be so grateful for some help here

[Woodstock]

Important stuff is in the first couple of messages, which are edited if things change.

[mikejsc]

This evening I flashed my LG BP50NB40 NB50 to BU40N 1.0 per the advice here. MakeMKV now will rip my 4K UHDs along with my BD and DVD, but VLC Media player will no longer play BD as well as and UHD discs. MakeMKV shows my drive info as:

Drive Information
OS device name: \Device\CdRom0
Current profile: DVD-ROM
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU40N
Revision: 1.00
Serial number:
Firmware date: 2116-12-20 15:28
Bus encryption flags: 17
Highest AACS version: 61

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 1.00
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

VLC Media Player error log has the following for any/all BD and UHD discs I've tried:
-- logger module started --
main: one instance mode ENABLED
main: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
dvdnav error: DVDOpenFileUDF:UDFFindFile /VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO failed
dvdnav warning: Can't open file VIDEO_TS.IFO.
dvdnav error: vm: vm: failed to read VIDEO_TS.IFO
dvdnav warning: cannot open DVD (F:)
dvdread error: DVDOpenFileUDF:UDFFindFile /VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO failed
dvdread error: DVDOpenFileUDF:UDFFindFile /VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.BUP failed
dvdread warning: cannot open VMG info
-- logger module stopped --

Have I done something wrong? Is there a way to make VLC media player work? I also have cyberlink powerDVD 14 installed. It seems to work though it complains response may be slow and suggests I should check my drive's manufacturer site for the latest firmware update.

If I want to revert my drive back to it's original firmware, do I do that with the files in the firmware dump .tar file SDFtool Flasher created? If so, do I do each .bin file in sequence? Is there a proscribed order? Or do I just download the latest firmware file from LG and use that?

TIA for any help anyone can provide.

[MartyMcNuts]

This evening I flashed my LG BP50NB40 NB50 to BU40N 1.0 per the advice here. MakeMKV now will rip my 4K UHDs along with my BD and DVD, but VLC Media player will no longer play BD as well as and UHD discs. MakeMKV shows my drive info as:

Drive Information
OS device name: \Device\CdRom0
Current profile: DVD-ROM
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU40N
Revision: 1.00
Serial number:
Firmware date: 2116-12-20 15:28
Bus encryption flags: 17
Highest AACS version: 61

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 1.00
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

VLC Media Player error log has the following for any/all BD and UHD discs I've tried:
-- logger module started --
main: one instance mode ENABLED
main: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
dvdnav error: DVDOpenFileUDF:UDFFindFile /VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO failed
dvdnav warning: Can't open file VIDEO_TS.IFO.
dvdnav error: vm: vm: failed to read VIDEO_TS.IFO
dvdnav warning: cannot open DVD (F:)
dvdread error: DVDOpenFileUDF:UDFFindFile /VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO failed
dvdread error: DVDOpenFileUDF:UDFFindFile /VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.BUP failed
dvdread warning: cannot open VMG info
-- logger module stopped --

Have I done something wrong? Is there a way to make VLC media player work? I also have cyberlink powerDVD 14 installed. It seems to work though it complains response may be slow and suggests I should check my drive's manufacturer site for the latest firmware update.

If I want to revert my drive back to it's original firmware, do I do that with the files in the firmware dump .tar file SDFtool Flasher created? If so, do I do each .bin file in sequence? Is there a proscribed order? Or do I just download the latest firmware file from LG and use that?

TIA for any help anyone can provide.

Integrate VLC with MakeMKV in prefrences so it can be used as the on-the-fly decrypter. Once integrated, just insert a disc, once the OS has initialised it, open up MakeMKV to enable libredrive then open up VLC.

[mikejsc]

Worked for BD, though VLC complained about not having Java for menus. Couldn't get UHD to open. Thanks for the response and tip.

[MartyMcNuts]

Worked for BD, though VLC complained about not having Java for menus. Couldn't get UHD to open. Thanks for the response and tip.

You need pretty decent hardware and the right codecs to play UHD discs as they use HEVC/h265 and HD audio.