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BD-RE BH40N Will not play BD's in windows

Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2024 12:44 am
by dudegod
Hey all new account but have browsed the forum for a long time.

I recently got two (2) of these BD-RE BH40N (Manufacture date for both is 2017, both have firmware ver. A1B0, MT1959), as im trying to upgrade my setup for UHD.
My current setup is Windows 11 x64 with a Vantec CB-ST00U3 and a HP CH30L

The problem I'm having is that I can not get this drive to play 4K discs in windows with VLC.
I've already got VLC setup for BD playback, it works fine playing regular BD's on my older drive (CH30L)

MakeMKV showed LibreDrive was supported on firmware A1B0. I have tried firmware updating one of them to A1B2, but still no playback.
VLC will briefly show an image and then loads forever and the drive will stop spinning/reading.
What am I doing wrong?

Re: BD-RE BH40N Will not play BD's in windows

Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2024 11:48 am
by MartyMcNuts
dudegod wrote:
Wed Dec 25, 2024 12:44 am
Hey all new account but have browsed the forum for a long time.

I recently got two (2) of these BD-RE BH40N (Manufacture date for both is 2017, both have firmware ver. A1B0, MT1959), as im trying to upgrade my setup for UHD.
My current setup is Windows 11 x64 with a Vantec CB-ST00U3 and a HP CH30L

The problem I'm having is that I can not get this drive to play 4K discs in windows with VLC.
I've already got VLC setup for BD playback, it works fine playing regular BD's on my older drive (CH30L)

MakeMKV showed LibreDrive was supported on firmware A1B0. I have tried firmware updating one of them to A1B2, but still no playback.
VLC will briefly show an image and then loads forever and the drive will stop spinning/reading.
What am I doing wrong?
UHD discs require libredrive. You need to flash a UHD capable firmware that will enable libredrive. I don’t know what a BH40N is. If it is the same thing as a BU40N, then use BU40N 1.03-Mk firmware.

Re: BD-RE BH40N Will not play BD's in windows

Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2024 11:59 am
by Yethidran
BH40N is not able to play UHD Discs.
See the reply in the link attached below. it was posted in 2023 in this forum itself.

viewtopic.php?t=31034

Re: BD-RE BH40N Will not play BD's in windows

Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2024 3:27 pm
by dudegod
MartyMcNuts wrote:
Wed Dec 25, 2024 11:48 am
dudegod wrote:
Wed Dec 25, 2024 12:44 am
Hey all new account but have browsed the forum for a long time.

I recently got two (2) of these BD-RE BH40N (Manufacture date for both is 2017, both have firmware ver. A1B0, MT1959), as im trying to upgrade my setup for UHD.
My current setup is Windows 11 x64 with a Vantec CB-ST00U3 and a HP CH30L

The problem I'm having is that I can not get this drive to play 4K discs in windows with VLC.
I've already got VLC setup for BD playback, it works fine playing regular BD's on my older drive (CH30L)

MakeMKV showed LibreDrive was supported on firmware A1B0. I have tried firmware updating one of them to A1B2, but still no playback.
VLC will briefly show an image and then loads forever and the drive will stop spinning/reading.
What am I doing wrong?
UHD discs require libredrive. You need to flash a UHD capable firmware that will enable libredrive. I don’t know what a BH40N is. If it is the same thing as a BU40N, then use BU40N 1.03-Mk firmware.
Here is Libredrive enabled on the other drive, and a pic of the sticker

Re: BD-RE BH40N Will not play BD's in windows

Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2024 9:49 pm
by MartyMcNuts
dudegod wrote:
Thu Dec 26, 2024 3:27 pm
MartyMcNuts wrote:
Wed Dec 25, 2024 11:48 am
dudegod wrote:
Wed Dec 25, 2024 12:44 am
Hey all new account but have browsed the forum for a long time.

I recently got two (2) of these BD-RE BH40N (Manufacture date for both is 2017, both have firmware ver. A1B0, MT1959), as im trying to upgrade my setup for UHD.
My current setup is Windows 11 x64 with a Vantec CB-ST00U3 and a HP CH30L

The problem I'm having is that I can not get this drive to play 4K discs in windows with VLC.
I've already got VLC setup for BD playback, it works fine playing regular BD's on my older drive (CH30L)

MakeMKV showed LibreDrive was supported on firmware A1B0. I have tried firmware updating one of them to A1B2, but still no playback.
VLC will briefly show an image and then loads forever and the drive will stop spinning/reading.
What am I doing wrong?
UHD discs require libredrive. You need to flash a UHD capable firmware that will enable libredrive. I don’t know what a BH40N is. If it is the same thing as a BU40N, then use BU40N 1.03-Mk firmware.
Here is Libredrive enabled on the other drive, and a pic of the sticker
Ok, so it's an internal desktop drive. Not a slim drive like a BU40N. I've never heard of this model before.

What you need to remember is libredrive does not equal UHD readability. There are lots of Blu-ray drives that have libredrive enabled that can't read UHD discs.

If you are willing to risk bricking one of them, you could try cross-flashing it to WH16NS60 1.02-MK firmware. I suggest testing this on the other one that doesn't have libredrive enabled. The main thing is the manufacturing date is 2016 or newer and the drive platform is MT1959.

Re: BD-RE BH40N Will not play BD's in windows

Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2024 1:50 am
by dudegod
MartyMcNuts wrote:
Thu Dec 26, 2024 9:49 pm
dudegod wrote:
Thu Dec 26, 2024 3:27 pm
MartyMcNuts wrote:
Wed Dec 25, 2024 11:48 am


UHD discs require libredrive. You need to flash a UHD capable firmware that will enable libredrive. I don’t know what a BH40N is. If it is the same thing as a BU40N, then use BU40N 1.03-Mk firmware.
Here is Libredrive enabled on the other drive, and a pic of the sticker
Ok, so it's an internal desktop drive. Not a slim drive like a BU40N. I've never heard of this model before.

What you need to remember is libredrive does not equal UHD readability. There are lots of Blu-ray drives that have libredrive enabled that can't read UHD discs.

If you are willing to risk bricking one of them, you could try cross-flashing it to WH16NS60 1.02-MK firmware. I suggest testing this on the other one that doesn't have libredrive enabled. The main thing is the manufacturing date is 2016 or newer and the drive platform is MT1959.
I'll give this a shot a report back, thanks

Re: BD-RE BH40N Will not play BD's in windows

Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2025 5:47 pm
by dudegod
So far so good! It took the WH16NS60 1.03-MK firmware flash just fine and testing now copying a UHD, let me know if there is any info i can provide for the community :D

Re: BD-RE BH40N Will not play BD's in windows

Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2025 12:53 am
by dudegod
Actually the problem now seems to be with my adapter, Vantec CB-ST00U3, as I can't load any UHD disc through the adapter but straight to sata works fine

Re: BD-RE BH40N Will not play BD's in windows

Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2025 4:15 am
by MartyMcNuts
dudegod wrote:
Sat Jan 11, 2025 12:53 am
Actually the problem now seems to be with my adapter, Vantec CB-ST00U3, as I can't load any UHD disc through the adapter but straight to sata works fine
Perhaps it died or has a dodgy USB or power cable? Can you try a different cable? I had a Unitek powered adapter where the power cable died after about 2 years.

Re: BD-RE BH40N Will not play BD's in windows

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2025 3:38 pm
by dudegod
will try a new usb cable and see, but here it is through sata working great. Highest speed i saw was 33.0 M/s 7.7x
Screenshot 2025-02-16 102848.png
Screenshot 2025-02-16 102848.png (68.61 KiB) Viewed 1715 times