Libredrive and Verbatim 43888

[C45890]

Hi, Thanks for taking the time to look at this post.

I recently acquired two of the Verbatim 43888 both with LG drives, and I decided I would test out the 1.03MK version on one of the for ripping my Blu Rays (Non UHD). This worked for many older Blu Rays, however when i found that some discs particularly Marvel discs where not reading i thought there was either something wrong with the disk drive or maybe something to do with advanced protection on these discs. The disc's would just spin for ages and then show no disk in the drive, i also tried cleaning them till the were spotless with distilled water and a microfiber cloth, but unfortunately this didn't work. Now my next step was stupid on my part, I thought the disk drive might be broken so i tried to flash back to the original firmware and made a royal mess of it all by bricking the drive, it now says Boot unfortunately, I'm guessing I might be able to do something with dosFlash, but I will leave this for another thread.

My Questions are to get some info on what might have happened regarding the discs not being read, to ensure I am following the right process for flashing the firmware, and if I even need to flash as I am only doing 1080p Blu Rays only.

1. Does AACS have the capacity to block drives from playing that disc and others? Does the Libredrive prevent this by bypassing that?

2. Is the firmware flash to BU40N_1.03MK Needed for normal Blu-Rays 1080p, and will downgrading from the drives original firmware stop newer disc being readable?
On the flip side will not having it flashed cause issues, such as unplayable discs or some sort of ban on the drive being able to play Blu-Rays.

3. is it possible to backup the original firmware to return to it once its flashed with 1.03MK?

If Anyone could give me advice on this i would appreciate it.

[MartyMcNuts]

Hi, Thanks for taking the time to look at this post.

I recently acquired two of the Verbatim 43888 both with LG drives, and I decided I would test out the 1.03MK version on one of the for ripping my Blu Rays (Non UHD). This worked for many older Blu Rays, however when i found that some discs particularly Marvel discs where not reading i thought there was either something wrong with the disk drive or maybe something to do with advanced protection on these discs. The disc's would just spin for ages and then show no disk in the drive, i also tried cleaning them till the were spotless with distilled water and a microfiber cloth, but unfortunately this didn't work. Now my next step was stupid on my part, I thought the disk drive might be broken so i tried to flash back to the original firmware and made a royal mess of it all by bricking the drive, it now says Boot unfortunately, I'm guessing I might be able to do something with dosFlash, but I will leave this for another thread.

My Questions are to get some info on what might have happened regarding the discs not being read, to ensure I am following the right process for flashing the firmware, and if I even need to flash as I am only doing 1080p Blu Rays only.

1. Does AACS have the capacity to block drives from playing that disc and others? Does the Libredrive prevent this by bypassing that?

2. Is the firmware flash to BU40N_1.03MK Needed for normal Blu-Rays 1080p, and will downgrading from the drives original firmware stop newer disc being readable?
On the flip side will not having it flashed cause issues, such as unplayable discs or some sort of ban on the drive being able to play Blu-Rays.

3. is it possible to backup the original firmware to return to it once its flashed with 1.03MK?

If Anyone could give me advice on this i would appreciate it.

1 & 2: By flashing the drive and enabling libredrive, MakeMKV will then ignore any drive certificate revoking caused by newer AACS revisions. If you insert a blu-ray disc that contains a newer AACS revision than what the drive has previously seen, the drive will update itself with the new revocation lists and your drive may be revoked, meaning you can't use it with MakeMKV to rip blu-ray discs until a new MakeMKV update has been provided. Now when libredrive is enabled, the drive revocation lists are still updated but MakeMKV simply doesn't care and ignores any revocation allowing you to continue to use the drive to rip blu-ray discs.

3: No. All firmware versions from 2020 are encrypted therefore we can only backup the important cal data. Firmware versions prior to 2020 can be fully backed up.

[C45890]

Thanks for the response,

Just so i'm clear on things as to how they function, if i was to test my other drive that has never been used with the marvel disk to check it plays, which then applies the AACS, your saying that if i then flash the drive i wont have any issues with it revoking as libre bypass's it entirely.

1, Is it possible for the marvel films to play on 1.05 and not 1.03MK, so when i flash i wont be able to read the disc? Does specific firmware or the libredrive firmware prevent reading newer discs like marvels.
I ask as this because i would like to test to see if the drive will even read the discs first before flashing, or would this cause problems later when i decide to flash down to 1.03MK.

2, Also with the backing up, the 1.05 i see that its was 2024 so i understand what you are saying, once i flash its irreversible and i would not be able to return it.

3, basically if the drive dose not read the blue rays, just native play in a media player, then there is a strong chance that the drive just cant read that media. I understand that some micro scratches can cause issues, but it just seemed like certain more modern films had a lot more trouble to play, Every time i opened these discs i got No disk after a long read, or a constant spinning disk, with errors eventually.

If the drive is no good from testing a film in a media player, i would rather know upfront before flashing as i could at least return it.

Thanks for your help.

[MartyMcNuts]

Thanks for the response,

Just so i'm clear on things as to how they function, if i was to test my other drive that has never been used with the marvel disk to check it plays, which then applies the AACS, your saying that if i then flash the drive i wont have any issues with it revoking as libre bypass's it entirely.

1, Is it possible for the marvel films to play on 1.05 and not 1.03MK, so when i flash i wont be able to read the disc? Does specific firmware or the libredrive firmware prevent reading newer discs like marvels.
I ask as this because i would like to test to see if the drive will even read the discs first before flashing, or would this cause problems later when i decide to flash down to 1.03MK.

2, Also with the backing up, the 1.05 i see that its was 2024 so i understand what you are saying, once i flash its irreversible and i would not be able to return it.

3, basically if the drive dose not read the blue rays, just native play in a media player, then there is a strong chance that the drive just cant read that media. I understand that some micro scratches can cause issues, but it just seemed like certain more modern films had a lot more trouble to play, Every time i opened these discs i got No disk after a long read, or a constant spinning disk, with errors eventually.

If the drive is no good from testing a film in a media player, i would rather know upfront before flashing as i could at least return it.

Thanks for your help.

1. The firmware has nothing to do with whether the disc reads or not. If it won't read, the disc most likely needs cleaning (even if it looks pristine). No, the firmware does not prevent reading newer discs. As far as trying the disc before flashing, it depends on how old the Marvel disc is. If it's a pre 2025 release you should be fine. If the drive certificate does happen to get revoked, just flash the drive and you should be ok. Your issue with the Marvel disc is not AACS related. I have all of the Marvel discs on BD/UHD and have not had any issues ripping them. 99% of the time if a disc fails to show or get's read errors, cleaning it usually resolves it.

2. You can download the original LG BU40N 1.05 flasher from LG's website and restore the drive back to the original firmware that way.

3. As silly as it sounds, simply put, some drives just don't like some discs and either won't read them or will struggle with them. This is why most of us have multple drives. I have 5 drives myself (3 x Pioneer, 2x LG) although I really only use the 3 Pioneer's now. Before I got the Pioneer's, when I used to use the LG's, if a disc wouldn't read, even after a clean, it would usually work in the other drive. I don't have that issue at all with the Pioneer's. I've never had a disc not read since switching to them.



The Verbatim enclosures can be a little power hungry so you should use USB ports direct from the motherboard (not case ports) or use an AC self-powered USB hub of at least 24w. If your cable has 2 x USB-A plugs, ensure both are connected. Also, when you insert a blu-ray disc, you should always ensure you let the OS initialise the disc so you can see it in explorer before opening the MakeMKV application.

[C45890]

Ah ok, that all makes sense, ty for the information, really clears a lot up.

I will definitely look into getting a pioneer drive as well, so ill have a look at some of the options that the forums recommend.

Thanks.

[Justabackup]

Very interesting.

I just got into backing up my blu-rays and hope to do my UHDs too with all the talk of disc rot. I've managed to rip one blu-ray today using an ancient Plextor PX-B120U BD-ROM USB drive I had laying around boxed and unused since I bought it in 2013 (and that was a clearance line - the drrive itself says it was made in 2010!). It worked first time on an equally ancient Windows 7 laptop with latest Makemkv.

Now I've bought one of these Verbatim 43888 drives, as they are on sale on Amazon UK for £100 today.

As I understand it, do I have to flash it with BU40N_1.03MK to rip UHDs as well as blu-rays?

If I do have to flash it and enable Libredrive to rip my movies, does that mean it won't function as a "normal" BD-ROM/burner any more while it's got that firmware on it? I saw the reply that said you can revert to the OEM 1.l05 firmware with the LG flash utility. I'm not that bothered if the drive becomes useful for ripping only as that's the reason I'm buying it. Jusrt curious what will happen.

[MartyMcNuts]

Very interesting.

I just got into backing up my blu-rays and hope to do my UHDs too with all the talk of disc rot. I've managed to rip one blu-ray today using an ancient Plextor PX-B120U BD-ROM USB drive I had laying around boxed and unused since I bought it in 2013 (and that was a clearance line - the drrive itself says it was made in 2010!). It worked first time on an equally ancient Windows 7 laptop with latest Makemkv.

Now I've bought one of these Verbatim 43888 drives, as they are on sale on Amazon UK for £100 today.

As I understand it, do I have to flash it with BU40N_1.03MK to rip UHDs as well as blu-rays?

If I do have to flash it and enable Libredrive to rip my movies, does that mean it won't function as a "normal" BD-ROM/burner any more while it's got that firmware on it? I saw the reply that said you can revert to the OEM 1.l05 firmware with the LG flash utility. I'm not that bothered if the drive becomes useful for ripping only as that's the reason I'm buying it. Jusrt curious what will happen.

Yes, it needs to be flashed to rip UHD discs.

No, nothing changes except for the added ability to rip UHD discs. It still has the exact same features/ability that it did before flashing but can also rip UHD discs.

[Justabackup]

Got my Verbatim 43888 this morning. It's a BU40N v1.05 alright. After a quick test with some regular data discs to make sure it worked fine, flashed the BU40N_1.03MK firmware. No problems and now its LibreDrive enabled and unlocked

Drive Information
OS device name: D:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU40N
Revision: 1.03
Serial number:
Firmware date: 2118-10-24 19:34
Bus encryption flags: 17
Highest AACS version: 28

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
Firmware type: Patched (microcode access re-enabled)
Firmware version: 1.03
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

First UHD rip, I saw a ton of errors to do with copyright protection in MakeMKV:

MakeMKV v1.18.3 win(x64-release) started
Using LibreDrive mode (v06.3 id=866A98CB9C4E)
Using direct disc access mode
Evaluation version, 29 day(s) out of 30 remaining
Loaded content hash table, will verify integrity of M2TS files.
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..0020..03F to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A40..0020..03F to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A30..0020..07F to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A40..0020..07F to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'

Finally ending in this:

Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occurred while issuing SCSI command A40..002000800 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occurred while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Can't read AACS VID from disc - most likely current AACS host certificate is revoked by your drive
Downloading latest HK to C:\Users\*****/.MakeMKV ...
Saved AACS dump file as C:\Users\*****/.MakeMKV/MKB20_v77_The_Terminator_(1984)_EB07.tgz
The volume key is unknown for this disc - video can't be decrypted
Failed to open disc

So what do I do now? Is it just this movie disc has protection that MakeMKV hasn't been able to get around, or do I need to do something else to get it to rip?

[Coopervid]

You should try the keydb.cfg file for that disc. See SamuriHL's post.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=16883&start=30

On Windows his tool makes it real easy.

KeyDB Helper (Windows Only)

https://www.mediafire.com/file/i0zkya2c ... .1.7z/file