Bricked an old LG WH14NS40

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UnitOne
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2022 9:05 pm

Bricked an old LG WH14NS40

Post by UnitOne » Sat Jan 15, 2022 9:18 pm

I've done a lot of Googling so I've seen my share of threads on this topic but for a range of options. As some back story, this started with me flashing one of my two BU40Ns to rip UHD discs and that worked easily. My main system however uses a WH14NS40 purchased in 2010 which I also wanted to rip UHD discs with since it was 'faster'. It's been a reliable drive for over a decade and it's burned well over 100 BDXL discs for me, including dozens of 128GB discs. What I failed to see in my reading is that there are two kinds of WH14NS40, each with unique chipsets and yeah I followed the 'suggestion' of flashing an MKV version the WH16NS60 firmware (HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS60-1.02-NM00100-211810291936.bin) to it and that was that. Windows sees it as a 'CD/DVD' drive, it doesn't function and it can't even eject anymore. I clearly screwed up.

I'm planning to pull it from my main desktop and use some older board in IDE mode on a table to fix it up in the future, but at the time I want to make sure I know what I'm doing. I've skimmed tutorials and it seems this drive is likely salvageable, but I'm stuck at one thing I can't quite figure out: How do I get MakeMKV ripping UHD discs with an older WH14NS40? Everything assumes it's a newer version and with the difference being 'NS40 or 'NS50' but that's not the same NS40 in the model number, it's pretty search engine unfriendly.

Here's my main question now: WTF was I supposed to do? I have good understanding of where I fucked up, I flashed a firmware for an alien chipset onto the drive, and now it's barely alive. But I'm having trouble finding information on what I was supposed to flash to it and would appreciate some insight.

dcoke22
Posts: 3117
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2020 11:25 pm

Re: Bricked an old LG WH14NS40

Post by dcoke22 » Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:22 am

In the Flashing Guide, part way down the first post, in big red letters, there's a section:
IMPORTANT Before you flash:

1. Make sure your Drive was built after 2015 on label
2. Drive Platform MT1959<Most important in makemkv
3. SVC NS50+ LG only on label
4. Just because your drive is the same model number does not mean it will work, if you are unsure ask me i offer remote flashing and check everything before i flash.
5. Dont flash your dive if it does not meet these requirements if you do you will be unable to read all disks and unable to restore without dosflash that does not work on most modern computers
Undoubtedly, your WH14NS40 from 2010 doesn't satisfy those import requirements.

Drives manufactured before 2015 can not rip UHDs.

UnitOne
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2022 9:05 pm

Re: Bricked an old LG WH14NS40

Post by UnitOne » Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:44 am

dcoke22 wrote:
Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:22 am
Undoubtedly, your WH14NS40 from 2010 doesn't satisfy those import requirements.

Drives manufactured before 2015 can not rip UHDs.
Well now, I def messed that up then.

I should be able to recover this drive to it's original operation at least, right?

Billycar11
Posts: 4359
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:49 am

Re: Bricked an old LG WH14NS40

Post by Billycar11 » Sun Jan 16, 2022 2:31 am

UnitOne wrote:
Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:44 am
dcoke22 wrote:
Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:22 am
Undoubtedly, your WH14NS40 from 2010 doesn't satisfy those import requirements.

Drives manufactured before 2015 can not rip UHDs.
Well now, I def messed that up then.

I should be able to recover this drive to it's original operation at least, right?
Yeah you can recover fixed lots of them

I have a flasher that can get you half there to reenable dos flash because the new firmware disables it
Buy a UHD drive from the guide and how to video maker: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 20&t=17831
UHD Drives Guide: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 16&t=19634
Auto flash kit $25 Email me for one Billycar5924@gmail.com

UnitOne
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2022 9:05 pm

Re: Bricked an old LG WH14NS40

Post by UnitOne » Sun Jan 16, 2022 4:49 am

Billycar11 wrote:
Sun Jan 16, 2022 2:31 am
I have a flasher that can get you half there to reenable dos flash because the new firmware disables it
I saw some stuff on DOSFlasher, that's clearly step one, thankfully I have my share of older PCs around here I can use to do that once I pull the drive out of my Ryzen system. (I ordered a WH16NS60 already)

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