Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2025

[theredsox]

Just providing an update for anyone looking for recent info on the Verbatim Ultra HD 4K External Slimline Blu-Ray Writer, bought on Amazon. It came with the BD-RE HL-DT-ST BU40N with firmware from April 2024 version 1.05. I could find this info by opening the MakeMKV software, choosing the drive, and looking at the info on the right hand side. Also it said:

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible, not yet enabled
Drive platform: MT1959

I tried ripping a 4K Blu-Ray out of the box, it failed because LibreDrive wasn't enabled. So I downloaded:

- SDF Tool Flasher @ viewtopic.php?f=16&t=22896
- "The all you need firmware pack" also @ viewtopic.php?f=16&t=22896

1) Unzip both downloads to the current directory.
2) Run SDFtool Flasher.exe
3) Choose your drive in the dropdown at the top
4) Choose 'Write Firmware'
5) Navigate to '.\The all you need firmware pack\LG slim BU40N\' directory
6) Select the only BIN file in the folder, the 1.03
7) Click 'start'
8) Once done, restart MakeMKV

The drive should now be labeled 'BD-RE HL-DT-ST BD-RE BU40N 1.03'. Tried a 4K Blu-Ray after and it was successful. So you can downgrade the 1.05 firmware version to 1.03MK.

NOTE: I also found a 1.04MK version @ viewtopic.php?f=19&t=19113 in the mk-firmware-pack, but because this thread said "BU40N on any Firmware directly to > BU40N 1.03MK" I went with the 1.03MK and it works. Cheers.

[trooperdadon87]

Hallo,

ich bin neu hier im Forum. Nutze bisher Makemkv v.a. für meine Blurays um diese zusätzliche auf eine externe Festplatte zu sichern. Hat bisher auch immer wunderbar funktioniert.
Ich möchte allerdings zeitnah auf 4k UHD umsteigen und daher meine Frage:

Geht dies grundsätzlich mit meinem BR-Laufwerk "Techpulse 120" BD-XL M-Disc und 4K UHD steht vorne drauf?
Muss ich dies zuerst flashen? Wie gehe ich hier vor? Meine Englisch Kenntnisse sind leider etwas dürftig.

Vielen Dank für eure Hilfe und hoffentlich bin ich im richtigen Beitrag.

Grüße trooper

I'm new to the forum. I've been using Makemkv primarily for my Blu-rays to back them up to an external hard drive. It's always worked great so far.

However, I want to switch to 4k UHD soon and so my question is:

Is this generally possible with my BR drive "Techpulse 120" BD-XL M-Disc and 4K UHD is written on the front?

Do I have to flash this first? How do I go about this? Unfortunately, my English skills are a bit poor.

Thank you for your help and I hope I'm in the right post.

Greetings, trooper

[Coopervid]

Hallo,

ich bin neu hier im Forum. Nutze bisher Makemkv v.a. für meine Blurays um diese zusätzliche auf eine externe Festplatte zu sichern. Hat bisher auch immer wunderbar funktioniert.
Ich möchte allerdings zeitnah auf 4k UHD umsteigen und daher meine Frage:

Geht dies grundsätzlich mit meinem BR-Laufwerk "Techpulse 120" BD-XL M-Disc und 4K UHD steht vorne drauf?
Muss ich dies zuerst flashen? Wie gehe ich hier vor? Meine Englisch Kenntnisse sind leider etwas dürftig.

Vielen Dank für eure Hilfe und hoffentlich bin ich im richtigen Beitrag.

Grüße trooper

I'm new to the forum. I've been using Makemkv primarily for my Blu-rays to back them up to an external hard drive. It's always worked great so far.

However, I want to switch to 4k UHD soon and so my question is:

Is this generally possible with my BR drive "Techpulse 120" BD-XL M-Disc and 4K UHD is written on the front?

Do I have to flash this first? How do I go about this? Unfortunately, my English skills are a bit poor.

Thank you for your help and I hope I'm in the right post.

Greetings, trooper

Post the Makemkv info. This forum is English only!

[rlentz2024]

The flasher tool kept giving me errors so I went to the command line. I can't find the original dump i did of the drive. I think the laser may have started to fail. Can I use the recovery from another of the exact drive? Want to sent in to have warrantied.

[Billycar11]

The flasher tool kept giving me errors so I went to the command line. I can't find the original dump i did of the drive. I think the laser may have started to fail. Can I use the recovery from another of the exact drive? Want to sent in to have warrantied.

just use the official LG updater dont think lg checks anyway

[redmarple]

I found a local facebook marketplace seller who is willing to sell me a BDR-209D for cheap. I take a look before I buy to verify the firmware version/date. @coopervid may I also get a PM with the flasher? I once flashed a UD-03 successfully.

[trooperdadon87]

I'm new to the forum. I've been using Makemkv primarily for my Blu-rays to back them up to an external hard drive. It's always worked great so far.

However, I want to switch to 4k UHD soon and so my question is:

Is this generally possible with my BR drive "Techpulse 120" BD-XL M-Disc and 4K UHD is written on the front?

Do I have to flash this first? How do I go about this? Unfortunately, my English skills are a bit poor.

Thank you for your help and I hope I'm in the right post.

Greetings, trooper

[indigo9]

Thanks for the guides. I purchased an LG WH16NS40 and was able to flash it with ease.

[knotReuben]

Want to say thanks for these tools. I followed the guide in the first post for macOS. I have a Verbatim 43888 that came with the v1.05 firmware code. Using the guide I used the encrypted command to flash the v1.03 firmware. Now I'm off to the races! Thanks again for all the folks working on these programs, firmware, guides, and video. It's appreciated!

[MartyMcNuts]

I'm new to the forum. I've been using Makemkv primarily for my Blu-rays to back them up to an external hard drive. It's always worked great so far.

However, I want to switch to 4k UHD soon and so my question is:

Is this generally possible with my BR drive "Techpulse 120" BD-XL M-Disc and 4K UHD is written on the front?

Do I have to flash this first? How do I go about this? Unfortunately, my English skills are a bit poor.

Thank you for your help and I hope I'm in the right post.

Greetings, trooper

Post your MakeMKV drive & Libredrive info.

[spamtom]

Hi, new to this so appologies. Having read most of the guides and the firs5 post i am still missing some basics and want to check what i think is correct. If i purchased a new BDR-XS07TUHD from Amazon this will not work with makemkv as the firmware is going to be unpatchable. Instead I need to find one for sale that’s older. Do these drives ever get patched as in are people working on patching them/finding exploits? Do any new external drives work straight off the shelf

No new Pioneer external drives work for UHD at all. They all have post 11/2022 unpatchable firmware. This has been worked on for 2+ years now without success. It's not looking good.

The only external drive that still currently works OOTB is the Verbatim 43888 (Pioneer BDR-UD04 version). The Verbatim 43888 (LG BU40N version can be flashed).

Thanks MartyMcNuts, purchased the 43888 on amazon and makemkv reports unpatched drive. However now it appears the new hobbit AUJ UHD won't rip as volume key unknown. Added public keydb file no joy, assume I just need to submit that file to get the key added?

[MartyMcNuts]

Hi, new to this so appologies. Having read most of the guides and the firs5 post i am still missing some basics and want to check what i think is correct. If i purchased a new BDR-XS07TUHD from Amazon this will not work with makemkv as the firmware is going to be unpatchable. Instead I need to find one for sale that’s older. Do these drives ever get patched as in are people working on patching them/finding exploits? Do any new external drives work straight off the shelf

No new Pioneer external drives work for UHD at all. They all have post 11/2022 unpatchable firmware. This has been worked on for 2+ years now without success. It's not looking good.

The only external drive that still currently works OOTB is the Verbatim 43888 (Pioneer BDR-UD04 version). The Verbatim 43888 (LG BU40N version can be flashed).

Thanks MartyMcNuts, purchased the 43888 on amazon and makemkv reports unpatched drive. However now it appears the new hobbit AUJ UHD won't rip as volume key unknown. Added public keydb file no joy, assume I just need to submit that file to get the key added?

If this is a new release disc then yeah, possibly. If it's been out for a couple of months, it may be something else.

Ensure MakeMKV has internet access as it needs to download the hashed keys database for UHD discs.

Also, do you see any mention in the log window about "HK download failed"?? Often, the download is blocked as the server is based in Russia. You may have to run MakeMKV through a VPN.

[spamtom]

Slightly nervous about having an app making and pulling files from a Russian server as obv there is a reputation associated with servers hosted in certain country’s which is why I went with pulling a public keydb file myself manually and vetting the file. Would prefer to do that each time. I followed a guide on here on how to add the keydb file I assume that’s still supported option. Any ideas on how you submit to the public keydb file? Cheers

[Mr_Orange]

Slightly nervous about having an app making and pulling files from a Russian server as obv there is a reputation associated with servers hosted in certain country’s which is why I went with pulling a public keydb file myself manually and vetting the file. Would prefer to do that each time. I followed a guide on here on how to add the keydb file I assume that’s still supported option. Any ideas on how you submit to the public keydb file? Cheers

We have all been using MakeMKV's SDF file for years without any issues, no matter where it has been hosted. Do you really think the software would be so widely used if it was routinely infecting people's computers?

Each to their own though. Grab the dump file that MakeMKV creates, send it to the relevant MakeMKV email address and create a post with the details of the film and the dump file. You can also attach the dump file to the post and one of the folks who help maintain the public KeyDB will grab it and add the key.

[spamtom]

Slightly nervous about having an app making and pulling files from a Russian server as obv there is a reputation associated with servers hosted in certain country’s which is why I went with pulling a public keydb file myself manually and vetting the file. Would prefer to do that each time. I followed a guide on here on how to add the keydb file I assume that’s still supported option. Any ideas on how you submit to the public keydb file? Cheers

We have all been using MakeMKV's SDF file for years without any issues, no matter where it has been hosted. Do you really think the software would be so widely used if it was routinely infecting people's computers?

Each to their own though. Grab the dump file that MakeMKV creates, send it to the relevant MakeMKV email address and create a post with the details of the film and the dump file. You can also attach the dump file to the post and one of the folks who help maintain the public KeyDB will grab it and add the key.

It's great that MakeMKV and its SDF download has been reliable for many years. However, relying solely on past experience or wide availability are not foolproof cybersecurity strategies (In fact the greater install base the more attractive it is to bad actors). Threats, such as supply chain attacks, are becoming more common and sophisticated, posing risks to even well-regarded software. Unfortunately, servers and communications originating from certain regions can also present higher risks of these attacks.

Perhaps my background in secops has heightened my awareness of these risks, but it doesn't hurt to stay vigilant and proactive in protecting yourself. A good example is Notepad++, where the update process was hijacked to distribute malicious installers of the StrongPity malware. Similarly, there are numerous documented cases of supply chain attacks in GitHub repositories. The Notepad++ and most of the GitHub supply chain attacks didn't involve the creators or maintainers of the software, so trusting them and their past work would have provided false reassurance in those cases.

For my own use, I prefer the zero trust strategy, anything that’s been downloaded from the internet gets throughly vetted first before using them, no auto updates etc. If others prefer automatic updates and are comfortable doing that, that's their choice. However, I don't mind the small inconvenience of manually obtaining files from time to time and doing my own checks—after all, better safe than sorry.

I appreciate your advice on sending the dump to the email. Cheers!