Cross-flashing LG WP50NB40?

[tillig]

The recovery process outlined there worked for my WP50NB40 as well. The flasher tool is awesome. I will say, the recovery process, while simple, is not super obvious what it's for. Maybe the name had me confused - I wasn't really "recovering" anything in the sense that I'd "lost something to recover." Is the tool on GitHub somewhere? I could throw in a PR with some tool tips or something to help.

[MartyMcNuts]

The recovery process outlined there worked for my WP50NB40 as well. The flasher tool is awesome. I will say, the recovery process, while simple, is not super obvious what it's for. Maybe the name had me confused - I wasn't really "recovering" anything in the sense that I'd "lost something to recover." Is the tool on GitHub somewhere? I could throw in a PR with some tool tips or something to help.

Yes, the recovery process works for these drives but was not really what it was meant for. It's actually there to recover old drives incorrectly flashed but now has many uses.

[uhd_explorer]

Hi @MartyMcNuts,

one question I have - having just successfully cross-flashed a new WP50NB40 to DE_LG BU40N_1.00.bin...
(which went very smoothly without a hitch btw!!!)

what exactly is the state of the drive in the "intervening" period after you do the first flash to DE_LG_WP50NB40-NB50_1.03_MK.bin

'normally' it was my understanding that an MK firmware would unlock LibreDrive and so mean that the drive could read a UHD disc, but clearly that is not the case with this unit???
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=19113

Hence, the subsequent "special" step of RECOVER-flashing to a 3rd FW is required (BU40N/BP60NB10).
Is this anything to do with why this drive (or at least the BP50NB40 variant) is listed as "UHD Officialish" in the overall guide?
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19634

Any light (missing detail) you can shed on this would be greatly received.

[MartyMcNuts]

Hi @MartyMcNuts,

one question I have - having just successfully cross-flashed a new WP50NB40 to DE_LG BU40N_1.00.bin...
(which went very smoothly without a hitch btw!!!)

what exactly is the state of the drive in the "intervening" period after you do the first flash to DE_LG_WP50NB40-NB50_1.03_MK.bin

'normally' it was my understanding that an MK firmware would unlock LibreDrive and so mean that the drive could read a UHD disc, but clearly that is not the case with this unit???
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=19113

Hence, the subsequent "special" step of RECOVER-flashing to a 3rd FW is required (BU40N/BP60NB10).
Is this anything to do with why this drive (or at least the BP50NB40 variant) is listed as "UHD Officialish" in the overall guide?
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19634

Any light (missing detail) you can shed on this would be greatly received.

The first flash to the WP50NB40 1.03-MK firmware is done to remove the firmware's encryption. This then allows the cross-flash to work.

Your assumptions are incorrect. LibreDrive does not equal UHD readability. That is not what libredrive is for. It stops your drive's certificate from being revoked when you insert a disc containing a newer AACS version than what MakeMKV can currently handle.

Some desktop drive firmware versions were capable of reading UHD discs (UHD friendly) but not slim drives variants. I don't know why so can't go further into that.

[uhd_explorer]

Many thanks Marty - I didn't know/appreciate that detail about LibreDrive. I guess a line from this page suggested otherwise in my mind?
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=19113
"For BDXL compatible drives MK patch would re-enable ability to read UHD discs"

Only other remaining unknown - having removed the encryption with the first flash (allowing a subsequent flash to work), what aspect of the drive's state is the follow-on "RECOVER" flash addressing (vs just a "WRITE")?

Presumably in other scenarios (for other drives), once you've removed the encryption, a follow-on flash would be just another "WRITE" phase, rather than recover, so was just wondering about that last part!

And kind of in keeping with that theme... now that the drive is flashed with its final-target DE BU40N firmware:

• is its CURRENTLY reported MakeMKV LibreDrive Enabled status something that was inherited purely as a result of the first-stage MK FW flash? or is that capability also a feature of the DE BU40N FW which was applied subsequently?
• is it essentially now in a state from which ANY same-genre firmware could be applied (via regular SDFtool "WRITE") if desired (i.e. keeping within the same-genre/class bounds of slim/LG/etc)? - it currently reports as "Firmware type: Original (unpatched)", so I'm assuming it's as if it IS a BU40N drive with original/old/constraint-less FW - as if from the manufacturer

I doubt I would ever have call to further change the FW of course!

Like I said, the process, if nothing else, was very straightforward and hassle-free, and it is such a great resource to have makemkv.com to provide this utility and knowledge base.

Cheers.

[MartyMcNuts]

Many thanks Marty - I didn't know/appreciate that detail about LibreDrive. I guess a line from this page suggested otherwise in my mind?
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=19113
"For BDXL compatible drives MK patch would re-enable ability to read UHD discs"

Only other remaining unknown - having removed the encryption with the first flash (allowing a subsequent flash to work), what aspect of the drive's state is the follow-on "RECOVER" flash addressing (vs just a "WRITE")?

Presumably in other scenarios (for other drives), once you've removed the encryption, a follow-on flash would be just another "WRITE" phase, rather than recover, so was just wondering about that last part!

And kind of in keeping with that theme... now that the drive is flashed with its final-target DE BU40N firmware:

• is its CURRENTLY reported MakeMKV LibreDrive Enabled status something that was inherited purely as a result of the first-stage MK FW flash? or is that capability also a feature of the DE BU40N FW which was applied subsequently?
• is it essentially now in a state from which ANY same-genre firmware could be applied (via regular SDFtool "WRITE") if desired (i.e. keeping within the same-genre/class bounds of slim/LG/etc)? - it currently reports as "Firmware type: Original (unpatched)", so I'm assuming it's as if it IS a BU40N drive with original/old/constraint-less FW - as if from the manufacturer

I doubt I would ever have call to further change the FW of course!

Like I said, the process, if nothing else, was very straightforward and hassle-free, and it is such a great resource to have makemkv.com to provide this utility and knowledge base.

Cheers.

The "RECOVER" sends different commands/information to the drive allowing the cross-flash to happen. "WRITE" does not allow the cross-flash on these slim drives.

Libredrive was enabled after the first flash. The BU40N is an official UHD drive therefore it's firmware, once flashed, enables UHD ripping.

Yes, you can now flash any BU40N firmware by using WRITE, although BU40N 1.00 is recommended. If you wanted to use another model firmware such as BP60NB10, you would use the RECOVER process.

[uhd_explorer]

Marty,
thanks again for the more-than-useful detail in your answers.

Last Q I promise

I see a lot of times you advocate flashing the base version (e.g. v1.00) of a device's firmware (as indeed you just did: "although BU40N 1.00 is recommended"), whereas for example a "newer" 1.03 or 1.04 MK version of the same FW might be available. Case in point: the mk-firmware-pack-20200720.zip has "HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BU40N-1.04-NM00500-212005061142.bin" for the BU40N.

Is that (v1.00 recommendation) purely for compatibility reasons with some particular SW? Are the newer revisions not adding anything useful to the mix (i.e. are they more about rolling out lockdown constraints to limit the owner/customer, rather than improved performance)?

And alternatively, what would be the point of choosing one compatible FW family (BP60NB10) over the other (BU40N)?

Many thanks yet again.

[MartyMcNuts]

Marty,
thanks again for the more-than-useful detail in your answers.

Last Q I promise

I see a lot of times you advocate flashing the base version (e.g. v1.00) of a device's firmware (as indeed you just did: "although BU40N 1.00 is recommended"), whereas for example a "newer" 1.03 or 1.04 MK version of the same FW might be available. Case in point: the mk-firmware-pack-20200720.zip has "HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BU40N-1.04-NM00500-212005061142.bin" for the BU40N.

Is that (v1.00 recommendation) purely for compatibility reasons with some particular SW? Are the newer revisions not adding anything useful to the mix (i.e. are they more about rolling out lockdown constraints to limit the owner/customer, rather than improved performance)?

And alternatively, what would be the point of choosing one compatible FW family (BP60NB10) over the other (BU40N)?

Many thanks yet again.

Yes, with regards to UHD discs, BU40N 1.00 is compatible with all popular ripping software, whereas MK firmware only works with MakeMKV and AnyDVD. This is also why BU40N 1.00 is recommended over any BP60NB10 firmware as there are only MK versions.

No, newer firmware does not mean better firmware. BU40N 1.03-MK + doesn't bring anything extra to the table, certainly not any improvements.

[uhd_explorer]

One remaining point of confusion though...

If the DE_LG_BU40N_1.00.bin FW is "DE" FW (supposedly "official firmware image with a single byte changed, so this firmware can be flashed over the latest firmware"), how is it that "ending up" on that version after the (2-stages of) flashing, it can now read UHD discs?

Or is it the LibreDrive aspect from the 1st stage MK flash that, in combination with the 1.00 FW, now allows that?

Or is it that 1.00 FW just doesn't (didn't originally) restrict UHD reading/ripping anyway (and later versions did). I'm still confused over the difference between "official firmware"/"official drive" vs the ability to rip/read. If you had bought a BU40N from the manufacturer that came with BU40N 1.00 FW on it, would that have already been able to read UHD discs straight out of the box? (and newer "official" BU40N firmware "upgrades" from the manufacturer disabled that?)

I also have a couple of BU40N drives, one of which I previously flashed to HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BU40N-1.03-NM00000-211810241934.bin MK FW (from mk-firmware-pack-20191206.zip) which is working well with MakeMKV right now, having previously used the "ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer_(Modified).exe" flasher from here:
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=18933
Would I be better served (at least in terms of maximum compatibility) flashing/"downgrading" that to the DE 1.00 FW now? Is that just a "WRITE" with SDFtool from the state it's in now?

Thanks so much.

[MartyMcNuts]

One remaining point of confusion though...

If the DE_LG_BU40N_1.00.bin FW is "DE" FW (supposedly "official firmware image with a single byte changed, so this firmware can be flashed over the latest firmware"), how is it that "ending up" on that version after the (2-stages of) flashing, it can now read UHD discs?

Or is it the LibreDrive aspect from the 1st stage MK flash that, in combination with the 1.00 FW, now allows that?

Or is it that 1.00 FW just doesn't (didn't originally) restrict UHD reading/ripping anyway (and later versions did). I'm still confused over the difference between "official firmware"/"official drive" vs the ability to rip/read. If you had bought a BU40N from the manufacturer that came with BU40N 1.00 FW on it, would that have already been able to read UHD discs straight out of the box? (and newer "official" BU40N firmware "upgrades" from the manufacturer disabled that?)

I also have a couple of BU40N drives, one of which I previously flashed to HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BU40N-1.03-NM00000-211810241934.bin MK FW (from mk-firmware-pack-20191206.zip) which is working well with MakeMKV right now, having previously used the "ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer_(Modified).exe" flasher from here:
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=18933
Would I be better served (at least in terms of maximum compatibility) flashing/"downgrading" that to the DE 1.00 FW now? Is that just a "WRITE" with SDFtool from the state it's in now?

Thanks so much.

Yes, the single byte was changed so we could downgrade to it. All BU40N drives regardless of firmware version can perform UHD disc playback. It's one of their main features! For ripping UHD discs, MakeKV uses the hashed keys which are downloaded when necessary. Libredrive also helps as the drive certificate won't get revoked.

If you only use the other BU40N with MakeMKV then you can leave it as is. If you want to use it with other software then yes, simply WRITE BU40N 1.00 to the drive.

[uhd_explorer]

Thanks again @MartyMcNuts for all the helpful responses to my many tedious questions