www.makemkv.com

Hello,

I've been reading and researching through the forums and started flashing my drive. I'm wondering if I'm only "half done"...

I have:
LG WH16NS40
SVC CODE: NS50
MFG: January 2017

I was previously running firmware 1.03.

I downloaded the "Downgrade Enabled Firmware V.2" file and flashed with the "DE_flash_HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_WH16NS40_1.02_NS50.bin" file.

MakeMKV now reports: I also downloaded the "(Modified) ASUS ODD FW Changer + UHD Friendly Firmwares (24.08.2019)" file and tried to flash the bin "MK\HL-DT-ST\WH16NS40-NS50\HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS40-NS50-1.03-NM00600-211711211653.bin", but the flasher gave the following message after selecting the bin file: Note that I did reboot after flashing the DE firmware.

I did not go any further even though if I click OK on the error message, it gives me the option to "Start" the flash, but the drive shows as "0:" (number zero)

My question(s):
- Am I done?
- Did I miss a second step or grab the wrong bin download?

I was under the assumption that to get the drive fully flashed, I needed to do the DE firmware followed by the MK firmware?

Any help or guidance is greatly appreciated!
Steve

@SickPup404,

You don't have to flash the DE firmware to flash the MK firmware. You can flash either DE or MK firmware at any time.

The MK firmwares are generally the latest versions of firmware that have been modified to allow downgrading and enable LibreDrive. The DE firmwares are what the community has extracted and enabled downgrading to allow flashing.

EG: Your (SVC NS50) drive came with 1.03, you could flash 1.03 MK or DE 1.02. Other common options are DE WH16NS60 1.00, WH16NS60 1.01 MK, BW-16D1HT 3.10 MK.

Anyway, I'm not sure why you got that error but if you are happy with DE 1.02 and UHD's are working OK, then you can leave it as is.

Cheers!

Awesome! Thanks very much for the explanation and clarification!

I found my issue.

On my first flash (the DE version), I used the HL Data Storage flasher.

On my second flash, I used the ASUS ODD flasher that was part of the Zip file.

I've successfully flashed the MK 1.03 using the HL flasher like I was supposed to in the first place and drive info now shows: So the error meant the ASUS flasher couldn't find an ASUS drive - well duh! LOL!

I reread several of the basic sticky posts from Mike to fully understand the MK/DE differences, and am sitting fat and happy now!

Thanks for all the work you guys do!
Steve

Actually the ASUS modified flasher should flash anything so that doesn't quite make sense. Other than it quite clearly didn't work on your machine, which is definitely strange. The point being it SHOULD have worked to flash your drive.

SamuriHL wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 11, 2019 1:15 pm

Actually the ASUS modified flasher should flash anything so that doesn't quite make sense. Other than it quite clearly didn't work on your machine, which is definitely strange. The point being it SHOULD have worked to flash your drive.

Correct. There are a lot of folk that have used the modified ASUS flasher without a hitch so not sure what happened when you tried it but glad you got your drive sorted either way!

SamuriHL wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 11, 2019 1:15 pm

Actually the ASUS modified flasher should flash anything so that doesn't quite make sense. Other than it quite clearly didn't work on your machine, which is definitely strange. The point being it SHOULD have worked to flash your drive.

I haven't tried the absolute latest ASUS modified flasher (it was released like 2-3 days after I flashed my drives) so I don't know if it can circumvent the newer downgrade protections.

However, I got the same LG 1.03 and it wouldn't downgrade to NS40 1.02 DE or NS60 1.00 directly. Had to go LG 1.04 MK first before I can flash the desired firmware.

Worked beautifully on ASUS 3.03 -> 3.02 DE, though.

The firmware flasher doesn't bypass the protection. The firmware does. Which means if you flash the LG 1.04 MK version with the ASUS flasher first, it would work. Then you could flash the DE version if you so choose after that. So, it's the same process regardless of which flasher you use.

SamuriHL wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 11, 2019 3:03 pm

The firmware flasher doesn't bypass the protection. The firmware does. Which means if you flash the LG 1.04 MK version with the ASUS flasher first, it would work. Then you could flash the DE version if you so choose after that. So, it's the same process regardless of which flasher you use.

Then that's probably why the ASUS flasher failed the first time. OP tried to flash LG 1.02 DE on LG 1.03 instead of 1.03 MK or higher. Nothing wrong with the flasher, just used the wrong firmware.