Eventual success flashing a March 2020 WH16NS40
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 5:41 pm
I just bought an LG WH16NS40-NS50 drive from Amazon (March 2020 - v1.04), along with a Vantec NexStar USB 3.0 enclosure (model NST-536S3-BK) and with some effort I was able to successfully flash for LibreDrive Support.
Disclaimer: This is all new to me and there was plenty of fumbling around to get this done. It didn't work "out of the box" so I thought that it might be helpful to post what I did to get this done.
NOTE that these are the final working steps - it took a while to sort this out:
- I watched the "How To" video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfpf6HoMMis
- I downloaded the patched flasher from https://forum.cdrinfo.pl/f29/crossflash ... s58-96313/
- I downloaded Mike's patched Firmware from https://www.makemkv.com/download/mk-fir ... 200415.zip
- I ran the flasher and chose "flash_HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_WH16NS40_1.02.bin" that CAME with the patched flasher download.
- I got the error "WRITE DRAM NG 05/26/03"
- I Googled and found a post from MartyMcNuts saying "Flash BH16NS55 1.04 MK first. Then whatever firmware you want to use." (https://makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... &start=330) The question was actually about a WH14NS40, but I figured Close Enough and was able to successfully flash the drive with that - MakeMKV showed the change.
- I ran the flasher again and this time chose Mike's firmware for my specific drive and that was successful now: "HL-DT-ST- BD-RE_WH16NS40-NS50-1.03-NM00600-211711211653.bin" Again, MakeMKV showed the change.
> BEFORE - Drive freshly installed in the enclosure
Drive Information
OS device name: G:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH16NS40
Revision: 1.04
Serial number: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Firmware date: 2119-01-04 13:48
Bus encryption flags: 17
LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible, not yet enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
> AFTER - Drive flashed to Mike's 1.03: HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS40-NS50-1.03-NM00600-211711211653.bin
Drive Information
OS device name: G:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH16NS40
Revision: 1.03
Serial number: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Firmware date: 2117-11-21 16:53
Bus encryption flags: 17
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
Disclaimer: This is all new to me and there was plenty of fumbling around to get this done. It didn't work "out of the box" so I thought that it might be helpful to post what I did to get this done.
NOTE that these are the final working steps - it took a while to sort this out:
- I watched the "How To" video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfpf6HoMMis
- I downloaded the patched flasher from https://forum.cdrinfo.pl/f29/crossflash ... s58-96313/
- I downloaded Mike's patched Firmware from https://www.makemkv.com/download/mk-fir ... 200415.zip
- I ran the flasher and chose "flash_HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_WH16NS40_1.02.bin" that CAME with the patched flasher download.
- I got the error "WRITE DRAM NG 05/26/03"
- I Googled and found a post from MartyMcNuts saying "Flash BH16NS55 1.04 MK first. Then whatever firmware you want to use." (https://makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... &start=330) The question was actually about a WH14NS40, but I figured Close Enough and was able to successfully flash the drive with that - MakeMKV showed the change.
- I ran the flasher again and this time chose Mike's firmware for my specific drive and that was successful now: "HL-DT-ST- BD-RE_WH16NS40-NS50-1.03-NM00600-211711211653.bin" Again, MakeMKV showed the change.
> BEFORE - Drive freshly installed in the enclosure
Drive Information
OS device name: G:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH16NS40
Revision: 1.04
Serial number: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Firmware date: 2119-01-04 13:48
Bus encryption flags: 17
LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible, not yet enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
> AFTER - Drive flashed to Mike's 1.03: HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS40-NS50-1.03-NM00600-211711211653.bin
Drive Information
OS device name: G:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH16NS40
Revision: 1.03
Serial number: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Firmware date: 2117-11-21 16:53
Bus encryption flags: 17
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