Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2025

[TomEd90]

Could I get some advice on drives please? I'm in England and looking to purchase a drive (likely from Asmcom?) for ripping my large 4k and 3D /blu ray collection. I'll be using a Lenovo Yoga 9i, 2 in 1 laptop, and I'm hoping to use makemkv and remux part of my 3D collection with Atmos with a NAS/Zidoo.

I've not had any of this equipment before so recommendations (or things to avoid) would be appreciated. Are there any particular recommended devices? It seems like pioneer is best but these vary from £100 to £400. What is the benefit of going for a more expensive drive over say the Verbatim 43888 with pioneer drive at £100? And are drives with enclosures any different to slimline drives? Faster, quieter? Etc. I'd prefer to keep it in the lower part of the price bracket, but if the step up from the verbatim to other pioneer devices in the £200 bracket are worth the jump in will certainly consider them.

Please let me know if any other info would be useful, or if there is somewhere with this info already that I'm missing. The start of this thread does recommend a big list of drives but not much in the way of info between them for me to research the best drive for the money/use case. Many thanks

[asmcom]

Based on our experience, the Verbatim drive hasn't been the most reliable, with about a 5% failure rate. We wouldn’t recommend this model.

For a dependable option, any of the retail Pioneer drives would be a great choice. The Pioneer BDR-XD07TB/S, in particular, will work perfectly for your needs.

I assume you'll be copying to ISO to preserve all your full menus and extras, then mounting the ISO container with your Zidoo. That sounds like a solid setup!

For your convenience, here's a link to a top-loader drive that’s slightly more expensive than the Verbatim but offers significantly better reliability:
BDR-XD07TS with BDR-XD07TUHD

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further advice!

Kind regards,
Asmcom
UHD Friendly Drives Team"

https://shop.uhdfriendlydrives.co.uk/pr ... r-xd07tuhd

[prickelpit68]

Hi everybody,
I am new to this board and primarily interested in converting my blurays and 4K discs into 3D with Owl3D.
For ripping my 4K´s to harddisk I bought a Verbatim 43888 on Amazon Germany, but it does not seem to be able to work with makemkv or anydvd.
Makemkv shows "HL-DT-ST" (Hitachi?) and I read through this thread but feel very unsure about how to flash the drive to make it work with makemkv.
Could anybody help me find the fitting software and maybe write me a little instruction of how to flash the drive? Would be very appreciated, so thank you very much in advance for your help.

[mirto]

How to install libredrive using Linux?

All the utilities I have seen are for Windows.

Any instructions on installing libredrive on a supported BH16NS55 drive using Linux?

[Mr_Orange]

Based on our experience, the Verbatim drive hasn't been the most reliable, with about a 5% failure rate. We wouldn’t recommend this model.

For a dependable option, any of the retail Pioneer drives would be a great choice. The Pioneer BDR-XD07TB/S, in particular, will work perfectly for your needs.

I assume you'll be copying to ISO to preserve all your full menus and extras, then mounting the ISO container with your Zidoo. That sounds like a solid setup!

For your convenience, here's a link to a top-loader drive that’s slightly more expensive than the Verbatim but offers significantly better reliability:
BDR-XD07TS with BDR-XD07TUHD

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further advice!

Kind regards,
Asmcom
UHD Friendly Drives Team"

https://shop.uhdfriendlydrives.co.uk/pr ... r-xd07tuhd

Why would you be promoting Leawo on your site given this: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1514.

[asmcom]

Based on our experience, the Verbatim drive hasn't been the most reliable, with about a 5% failure rate. We wouldn’t recommend this model.

For a dependable option, any of the retail Pioneer drives would be a great choice. The Pioneer BDR-XD07TB/S, in particular, will work perfectly for your needs.

I assume you'll be copying to ISO to preserve all your full menus and extras, then mounting the ISO container with your Zidoo. That sounds like a solid setup!

For your convenience, here's a link to a top-loader drive that’s slightly more expensive than the Verbatim but offers significantly better reliability:
BDR-XD07TS with BDR-XD07TUHD

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further advice!

Kind regards,
Asmcom
UHD Friendly Drives Team"

https://shop.uhdfriendlydrives.co.uk/pr ... r-xd07tuhd

Why would you be promoting Leawo on your site given this: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1514.

We don't sell Leawo software. We do sell MakeMKV licenses. Do you want one?

[TomEd90]

Based on our experience, the Verbatim drive hasn't been the most reliable, with about a 5% failure rate. We wouldn’t recommend this model.

For a dependable option, any of the retail Pioneer drives would be a great choice. The Pioneer BDR-XD07TB/S, in particular, will work perfectly for your needs.

I assume you'll be copying to ISO to preserve all your full menus and extras, then mounting the ISO container with your Zidoo. That sounds like a solid setup!

For your convenience, here's a link to a top-loader drive that’s slightly more expensive than the Verbatim but offers significantly better reliability:
BDR-XD07TS with BDR-XD07TUHD

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further advice!

Kind regards,
Asmcom
UHD Friendly Drives Team"

https://shop.uhdfriendlydrives.co.uk/pr ... r-xd07tuhd

Much appreciated. Yeah, that's is the rough plan! Although the steps I have are for remuxing the 3D and Atmos tracks using mkvtoolnix was for MKV files, unsure if the process is the same using ISO files.

I think in that case I might grab the Pioneer BDR-XD08TB/S/D model for the USB 3.2 and more common USB A/C connectors. Hopefully the newer version will last a little better and have some improvements over the older model.

Could you advise is there still a makemkv user discount available? Or are items just priced as per the website now? Thanks again

[asmcom]

Based on our experience, the Verbatim drive hasn't been the most reliable, with about a 5% failure rate. We wouldn’t recommend this model.

For a dependable option, any of the retail Pioneer drives would be a great choice. The Pioneer BDR-XD07TB/S, in particular, will work perfectly for your needs.

I assume you'll be copying to ISO to preserve all your full menus and extras, then mounting the ISO container with your Zidoo. That sounds like a solid setup!

For your convenience, here's a link to a top-loader drive that’s slightly more expensive than the Verbatim but offers significantly better reliability:
BDR-XD07TS with BDR-XD07TUHD

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further advice!

Kind regards,
Asmcom
UHD Friendly Drives Team"

https://shop.uhdfriendlydrives.co.uk/pr ... r-xd07tuhd

Much appreciated. Yeah, that's is the rough plan! Although the steps I have are for remuxing the 3D and Atmos tracks using mkvtoolnix was for MKV files, unsure if the process is the same using ISO files.

I think in that case I might grab the Pioneer BDR-XD08TB/S/D model for the USB 3.2 and more common USB A/C connectors. Hopefully the newer version will last a little better and have some improvements over the older model.

Could you advise is there still a makemkv user discount available? Or are items just priced as per the website now? Thanks again

We have done a special price on the bundles and it also displays special offer.

Kind Regards

Asmcom

[asmcom]

Hi everybody,
I am new to this board and primarily interested in converting my blurays and 4K discs into 3D with Owl3D.
For ripping my 4K´s to harddisk I bought a Verbatim 43888 on Amazon Germany, but it does not seem to be able to work with makemkv or anydvd.
Makemkv shows "HL-DT-ST" (Hitachi?) and I read through this thread but feel very unsure about how to flash the drive to make it work with makemkv.
Could anybody help me find the fitting software and maybe write me a little instruction of how to flash the drive? Would be very appreciated, so thank you very much in advance for your help.

We heard from verbatim europe that they will be making new drives with Hitachi internals due to Pioneer no longer supplying verbatim. You must have been supplied one of the new models.

Certainly interesting, hopefully it will be a BU40N or BP55 inside. Please send screenshot of information Panel on right hand side when you 1st open MakeMKV
Asmcom

[FluffySloth]

The Vantec CB-ST00U3 adapter seems to work with flashing now at least with the LG WH14NS40 drive

[MartyMcNuts]

Hi everybody,
I am new to this board and primarily interested in converting my blurays and 4K discs into 3D with Owl3D.
For ripping my 4K´s to harddisk I bought a Verbatim 43888 on Amazon Germany, but it does not seem to be able to work with makemkv or anydvd.
Makemkv shows "HL-DT-ST" (Hitachi?) and I read through this thread but feel very unsure about how to flash the drive to make it work with makemkv.
Could anybody help me find the fitting software and maybe write me a little instruction of how to flash the drive? Would be very appreciated, so thank you very much in advance for your help.

We heard from verbatim europe that they will be making new drives with Hitachi internals due to Pioneer no longer supplying verbatim. You must have been supplied one of the new models.

Certainly interesting, hopefully it will be a BU40N or BP55 inside. Please send screenshot of information Panel on right hand side when you 1st open MakeMKV
Asmcom

The Verbatim 43888 now comes with a BU40N inside. This change happened a couple of months ago. I have a few of these in stock and I have 1 remaining with the Pioneer BDR-UD04 inside.

[prickelpit68]

Hi everybody,
I am new to this board and primarily interested in converting my blurays and 4K discs into 3D with Owl3D.
For ripping my 4K´s to harddisk I bought a Verbatim 43888 on Amazon Germany, but it does not seem to be able to work with makemkv or anydvd.
Makemkv shows "HL-DT-ST" (Hitachi?) and I read through this thread but feel very unsure about how to flash the drive to make it work with makemkv.
Could anybody help me find the fitting software and maybe write me a little instruction of how to flash the drive? Would be very appreciated, so thank you very much in advance for your help.

We heard from verbatim europe that they will be making new drives with Hitachi internals due to Pioneer no longer supplying verbatim. You must have been supplied one of the new models.

Certainly interesting, hopefully it will be a BU40N or BP55 inside. Please send screenshot of information Panel on right hand side when you 1st open MakeMKV
Asmcom

The Verbatim 43888 now comes with a BU40N inside. This change happened a couple of months ago. I have a few of these in stock and I have 1 remaining with the Pioneer BDR-UD04 inside.

Can the BU40N be flashed???

[dcoke22]

Can the BU40N be flashed???

Yes. See the first post in this thread for instructions and links to the necessary tools.

[VantecSupport]

I just want to clear up some misunderstandings about flashing firmware on any SATA drive (optical or hard drive or SSD).
The right way to flash firmware is to follow the manufacturer's instructions closely so that the firmware can be flashed correctly.
Not all firmware flashing programs are designed the same. It depends on the person who wrote it.
Moreover, engineering that writes Flashing tools is not like writing programs for end-users where there are error traps and you can undo them.
It is either flash or brick (dead).

IF (big IF) the engineer who wrote the Flashing tool ASSUMING that your optical is directly connected to a SATA controller, he can write it at a lower level communication via a unique instruction set to the Optical drive registers via the SATA command to the optical drive directly.
And if you are trying to use the Flashing tool to flash the firmware via a SATA to USB bridge (like a USB enclosure for a SATA device), it will MAY NOT WORK CORRECTLY.
Many times you end up with a brick optical drive.

IF (big IF) the engineer wrote the Flashing tool knowing that your optical could be connected to a SATA controller OR a USB to SATA bridge chipset, he can write it at a higher level communication via standard SATA command to the Optical drive registers, it will work.

I see these issues all the time not just with optical drives, but also HDD, SSD, and discreet devices.

Please Please follow the flashing instructions closely. If the original design is a SATA optical drive, you can easily assume you need to connect to a SATA controller directly to flash it correctly.
Also make sure of your OS compatibility, like some older flashing tools may not work correctly using Windows 11 due to the tighter device security on the drivers of the device.
ALL Flashing firmware does not even let you undo it, it will only brick your drive.

Do it with care.

I am writing to you as a person with 44 years of PC experience, before the IBM PC, before the Apple II, before the Commodore 64, and before the TRS-80. Take my advice.

[devnuil]

Can this made compatible with UHD ?

Drive Information
OS device name: D:
Current profile: BD-ROM
Manufacturer: ASUS
Product: BW-16D1H-U
Revision: E116
Serial number: ...
Firmware date: 2020-07-21
Bus encryption flags: 1B

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8F00
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-212T
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: E116/ID71
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes