Archgon MD-8107-US-UHD (LG BU40N external slim) stopped working

[rinim]

My Archgon MD-8107-US-UHD (a slim external enclosure for the LG BU40N drive) suddenly stopped working today. I bought it about 3 years ago and have been using it to rip/backup my 1080p/4K collection for the last few years without problems.

As of right now, if I plug the drive in, I hear the usual sound in Windows that a USB device was added. Also, if I open MakeMKV, it recognizes that the drive is attached, but simply says "No Disc Inserted." More troubling is that when the drive is connected, the disc does not spin up, the light on the front doesn't flash, and the eject button won't eject the disc (there's currently a disc in there). Yet, MakeMKV still recognizes that the drive is there.

I've already tried different USB ports and different USB cables (although I've only tried the ones included since I don't have any other SATA>USB cables). I normally use the SATA>USB-C cable that was included, but when this happened I also tried the SATA>USB-A cable (same problem).

When this first started happening, I had inserted a disc in the drive, but MakeMKV wasn't recognizing it (simply said "No Disc Inserted"). This has happened before, so I unplugged the drive and restarted the computer (which has fixed this issue in the past). However, this time, this new problem happened where the drive doesn't seem to respond at all...again, even though MakeMKV recognizes it's attached.

I don't know if it's relevant or not, but here's what I see in the info panel:

Drive Information
OS device name: F:
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: 78

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

No disc inserted

I'm not really sure what else to do or how else to troubleshoot. Any suggestions or thoughts?

[MartyMcNuts]

My Archgon MD-8107-US-UHD (a slim external enclosure for the LG BU40N drive) suddenly stopped working today. I bought it about 3 years ago and have been using it to rip/backup my 1080p/4K collection for the last few years without problems.

As of right now, if I plug the drive in, I hear the usual sound in Windows that a USB device was added. Also, if I open MakeMKV, it recognizes that the drive is attached, but simply says "No Disc Inserted." More troubling is that when the drive is connected, the disc does not spin up, the light on the front doesn't flash, and the eject button won't eject the disc (there's currently a disc in there). Yet, MakeMKV still recognizes that the drive is there.

I've already tried different USB ports and different USB cables (although I've only tried the ones included since I don't have any other SATA>USB cables). I normally use the SATA>USB-C cable that was included, but when this happened I also tried the SATA>USB-A cable (same problem).

When this first started happening, I had inserted a disc in the drive, but MakeMKV wasn't recognizing it (simply said "No Disc Inserted"). This has happened before, so I unplugged the drive and restarted the computer (which has fixed this issue in the past). However, this time, this new problem happened where the drive doesn't seem to respond at all...again, even though MakeMKV recognizes it's attached.

I don't know if it's relevant or not, but here's what I see in the info panel:

Drive Information
OS device name: F:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU40N
Revision: 1.00
Serial number: MO9K6OD5434
Firmware date: 2116-12-20 15:28
Bus encryption flags: 17
Highest AACS version: 78

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

No disc inserted

I'm not really sure what else to do or how else to troubleshoot. Any suggestions or thoughts?

It's possible that the blue laser has died or the enclosure's circuit board has issues.

To find out, try to remove the drive from the enclosure. If you can get it out, use a mini SATA connection adaptor and a powered USB to SATA adaptor and see if the drive works that way.

[rinim]

I appreciate it! I think I've determined it's beyond me wanting to repair, so I decided to get a new one. This new one seems to be FW 1.02

This is what I see in the info panel now:

Drive Information
OS device name: \Device\CdRom0
Current profile: BD-ROM
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU40N
Revision: 1.02
Serial number:
Firmware date: 2120-12-01 17:16
Bus encryption flags: 1F
Highest AACS version: 78

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible (with patched firmware)
Drive platform: MT1959
Harware support: Yes
Firmware support: No
Firmware type: Original (patched version available)
Firmware version: 1.02
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)

Does this one need to be flashed (or can it be)? I think what confuses me is that all these notes in the info panel say "with patched firmware," and I'm also reading that 1.04 is the encrypted FW for the slim BU40N drive. In addition, the "The all you need firmware pack" from the UHD flashing guide only has 1.03... So would I need to change to 1.03? Wouldn't that be upgrading the FW rather than downgrading?

[MartyMcNuts]

I appreciate it! I think I've determined it's beyond me wanting to repair, so I decided to get a new one. This new one seems to be FW 1.02

This is what I see in the info panel now:

Drive Information
OS device name: \Device\CdRom0
Current profile: BD-ROM
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU40N
Revision: 1.02
Serial number:
Firmware date: 2120-12-01 17:16
Bus encryption flags: 1F
Highest AACS version: 78

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible (with patched firmware)
Drive platform: MT1959
Harware support: Yes
Firmware support: No
Firmware type: Original (patched version available)
Firmware version: 1.02
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)

Does this one need to be flashed (or can it be)? I think what confuses me is that all these notes in the info panel say "with patched firmware," and I'm also reading that 1.04 is the encrypted FW for the slim BU40N drive. In addition, the "The all you need firmware pack" from the UHD flashing guide only has 1.03... So would I need to change to 1.03? Wouldn't that be upgrading the FW rather than downgrading?

Yeah, the Archgon's have Taiwan BU40N 1.02 which is encrypted. Flash it to BU40N 1.03-MK. You can leave it on 1.03-MK (if you only use MakeMKV) or then flash it to BU40N 1.00 for greater software compatibility.

[rinim]

Am I right in reading going down to 1.00 would mainly be for DVD compatibility? Otherwise, thank you!

[MartyMcNuts]

Am I right in reading going down to 1.00 would mainly be for DVD compatibility? Otherwise, thank you!

No, it's for software compatibility with UHD discs. 1.00 works with all popular rippers such as DVDFab, MakeMKV, AnyDVD etc, whereas the 1.03-MK only works with MakeMKV and AnyDVD.