Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2023

[matterno]

Hey guys,

I just bought a BH16NS55 with 1.03 firmware. What exactly are my options for UHD support?
I think this is all very confusing.
In the pack there are following options:
- BH16NS55 1.05
- WH16NS60 1.03
- (old) BH16NS55 1.03
- (old) BH16NS55 1.04
- (old) WH16NS60 1.01
- (old) WH16NS60 1.02

In the first post there is the WH16NS60 1.02 mentioned as recommended. But there are new versions?

[Mr_Orange]

Hey guys,

I just bought a BH16NS55 with 1.03 firmware. What exactly are my options for UHD support?
I think this is all very confusing.
In the pack there are following options:
- BH16NS55 1.05
- WH16NS60 1.03
- (old) BH16NS55 1.03
- (old) BH16NS55 1.04
- (old) WH16NS60 1.01
- (old) WH16NS60 1.02

In the first post there is the WH16NS60 1.02 mentioned as recommended. But there are new versions?

Flash 1.03MK, then flash WH16NS60 1.02MK. The latter is supposedly the fastest firmware for this drive.

[Coopervid]

Do so if you only use Makemkv. Otherwise cross-flash it later to ASUS BW-16D1HT 3.10MK. Works with AnyDVD and the monkey. WH16NS60 will only work with Makemkv.

[Billycar11]

Hey guys,

I just bought a BH16NS55 with 1.03 firmware. What exactly are my options for UHD support?
I think this is all very confusing.
In the pack there are following options:
- BH16NS55 1.05
- WH16NS60 1.03
- (old) BH16NS55 1.03
- (old) BH16NS55 1.04
- (old) WH16NS60 1.01
- (old) WH16NS60 1.02

In the first post there is the WH16NS60 1.02 mentioned as recommended. But there are new versions?

Do exactly as the guide says it is up-to-date flash directly to WH16NS60 1.02mk from the all you need firmware pack

[cugrz]

@Billycar11

Hi Billy,

I tried emailing you to purchase a disc drive, but it said your email was unreachable.

The email address I sent it to was Billycar5924@gmail.com.

-Matt

[wwwhana]

i have bu40n(firmware BW42).

i try flash de 1.00 firware and mk 1.04 firmware. flash it

[bachelorbob]

i have bu40n(firmware BW42).

i try flash de 1.00 firware and mk 1.04 firmware. flash it

Are you asking what to do or announcing success at what you did?

[Billycar11]

@Billycar11

Hi Billy,

I tried emailing you to purchase a disc drive, but it said your email was unreachable.

The email address I sent it to was Billycar5924@gmail.com.

-Matt

Must have been when Gmail was down try resending it

[incans]

"Command produced error code 0x8f05c103"

Just getting started on the idea of ripping my video discs. I bought a new LG BH16NS55 which worked fine in Windows out of the box. Details:

Drive Information

Code: Select all

OS device name: D:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BH16NS55
Revision: 1.04
Serial number: KLGK2PD4225
Firmware date: 2119-01-04 13:42
Bus encryption flags: 17
Highest AACS version: 23

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible (with patched firmware)
Drive platform: MT1959
Harware support: Yes
Firmware support: No
Firmware type: Original (patched version available)
Firmware version: 1.04
DVD all regions: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw data read: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw metadata read: Possible (with patched firmware)
Unrestricted read speed: Possible (with patched firmware)

Following the instructions (I believe correctly) in this thread I installed the SDFtool Flasher. I used this to take a backup of my drive firmware. That created a tar file in the Firmware_Dumps subfolder as expected.

I then tried to flash the firmware file

Code: Select all

HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS60-1.02-NM00100-211810291936.bin

from the "The all you need firmware pack" using the "enc" (encoded) option.

I have tried to run the firmware patch 5 times now. 3 times it stopped right at the beginning with the error shown above-

Code: Select all

Command produced error code 0x8f05c103

Twice it appeared to run to completion. However when I run MakeMKV again it still shows the original firmware version (1.04). Just in case, I rebooted the PC after one of the apparrently good writes, but the firmware on the drive still reports as being the BH16NS55 v1.04, so it looks like the new firmware has not stuck.

Firstly, am I doing something obvious wrong? and secondly, are repeated attempts to overwrite the firmware increasing the risk of bricking my brand new drive?

I used the SDFTool because I wanted to back up the existing formware. As I understand it this uses the command-line firmware patcher underneath the GUI, but would I get different results from the command line patch tool?

[Mr_Orange]

1.04 is not encrypted so don't tick the 'enc' box and try again.

[incans]

1.04 is not encrypted so don't tick the 'enc' box and try again.

Gaah <slaps forehead...> I was convinced I'd read that the drives currently shipping all had encrypted firmware.

Just tried it, loks good. Thanks

[Billycar11]

1.04 is not encrypted so don't tick the 'enc' box and try again.

Gaah <slaps forehead...> I was convinced I'd read that the drives currently shipping all had encrypted firmware.

Just tried it, loks good. Thanks

only use the enc command or check box if your firmware is listed as encrypted in the first post the makemkv developer updates that for me.

[BurnsBA]

ahhhh, I was so confused about enc firmware or not, but I got it working (first try)! Thanks to Billycar11 and MartyMcNuts!

(background/summary/tldr: bought new OEM LG drive and got it flashed without problems)

Only bug encountered was with the SDFtool Flasher, I had an older version of MakeMKV so the SDFtool Flasher found the MakeMKV folder, but threw an exception and wouldn't start. I upgraded to latest version of MakeMKV and the SDFtool Flasher was able to start. (there was no sdftool.exe in my MakeMKV program files).

Now, my point of confusion. First, I'm using a brand new LG WH16NS60 (MakeMKV says "Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST Product: BD-RE WH16NS60"). The guide says

The newer OEM firmwares cannot be flashed easily due to the additional downgrade checks implemented by the drive/firmware manufacturer. If your drive has one of these firmwares, and there is no MK version of the same firmware/drive model or higher number, you will have to sidegrade to Asus 3.10MK (for compatible ASUS 5.25 drives ONLY) or (LG WH16NS60 1.02MK for compatible LG 5.25) or (BU40N 1.03MK LG Slim drives ONLY) respectively. (Note: MK firmware is available for firmware versions mentioned above.)

So I thought I had to start by downgrading to LG WH16NS60 1.02MK, but maybe not? It does says **and there is no MK version**? So the first flash off of factory firmware isn't really clear to me. Can I jump straight to 1.02 MK or do I need to start with 1.03 MK? I'm not sure. Here's what I *did* do:

Download the MK firmware pack. Then I used SDFTool Flasher with firmware

HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS60-1.03-NM00600-212005081010.bin -- with "enc" box **checked**

Then I downloaded the "all you need firmware pack" and used SDFTool Flasher with firmware

HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS60-1.02-NM00100-211810291936.bin -- with "enc" box clear (not checked)

Previously MakeMKV said LibreDrive status: with firmware upgrade, now it says:

Drive Information
OS device name: D:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH16NS60
Revision: 1.02
Serial number: ----------------
Firmware date: 2118-10-29 19:36
Bus encryption flags: 17

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
Firmware type: Patched (microcode access re-enabled)
Firmware version: 1.02
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

Everything seems to be working now, I'm testing with The Big Lebowski Limited Edition. Thanks for the great community resource everyone.

[Moe247365]

Thank you for the guide! I'll update after I get a few movies ripped. For now I both a wh16ns60, and 40. I have both on 1.02 running on a VM Ubuntu, running on Proxmox. Not bad for a complete quadruped with ALS. Right?

[Chrizzi]

My CH12NS40 can After Patch read 4k Blu-rays

Hi, I also have a CH12NS40 , where can I find information on how to do this patch to enable 4K read?

Hi, I've been trying for hours now to get my LG CH12NS40 to play 4K Blu-rays but I can't get it to work. Have you guys found a solution for 4K on this player? What firmware do I need to flash....
If anyone can help me, I would be very grateful.