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Hello all,

Bit of a weird question for you

I've an Archgon External UHD Drive, model ‎MD-8107S-U3YC-UHDB-S, which I flashed back in 2020 when I got it to enable Libre mode
The drive itself has by and large been grand other than a few random stop starts when ripping movies

It became more of an issue recently but after giving the drive a bit of a clean it's seems to be OK so far.
I was reading through the forums including the ultimate flashing guide 2023 to see if there might be other solutions I wasn't considering.

My current firmware is HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_BU40N_1.00_211612201528_MO6K6OD3720 which is probably 3+ years old now

I was just wondering if there's any merit in re-flashing it to the HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BU40N-1.03-NM00000-211810241934 firmware in the 'all you need firmware pack'.

Does that improve reliability for doing UHD rips? I'm currently able to do it MOST of the time but just want to try and keep my drive alive and working as desired for as long as possible.

Any help is appreciated

Thanks

Question 1: Is it working?
Question 2: There really isn't a question 2.

If it is working, why update?

I guess my worry is that it's not working as reliably anymore. It's crapping out about 1 out 3 times and thought the newer firmware might help a bit. I'm a relative novice with this stuff so don't know if it'll help or not.

What it is reading isn't different, so firmware change doesn't help anything. What is possible is that the lens is getting dirty, or the mechanism is getting inaccurate, which firmware won't help. Cleaning the lens assembly is probably the biggest issue, but that's mostly when it stops reading ANY disk.

It used to be that you could buy "cleaning disks" for cleaning the lens. (You may still be able to, it's been so many years since I needed one that I don't know anymore.) Main thing is dusting, which can be done more simply with drives like the BU40... the lenses come out every time you open the drive. You're more likely to see any lint or other "stuff" when you're changing a disk before it needs physical cleaning, and giving it a blast of air is safest, rather than touching it.

Did a good clean of the lens and all is working as intended. Simple problem with a simple solution
Will keep that in mind going forward if I run into issues again.
Makes sense regarding the firmware stuff, will just stick with what works as you'd suggested.

Thanks for the advice all the same.