sdftool not working - Ubuntu 24.04.4, makemkv 1.18.1

[rcollins0618]

Hello,

I have an internal blu-ray drive, WH16NS40 rev. 1.05. I'm using Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS. I have no windows computer, so I can't use the GUI flasher.

My drive can't read 4K UHD Blu-Rays (I could have swore it could before, maybe I'm wrong. I have two drives. the other one works just fine). I thought I already flashed this drive a while back on another computer but here's the info seen in makemkv:

Drive Information
OS device name: /dev/sr0
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH16NS40
Revision: 1.05
Serial number: ...
Firmware date: 2120-05-06 14:40
Bus encryption flags: 17
Highest AACS version: 61

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible (with patched firmware)
Drive platform: MT1959
Harware support: Yes
Firmware support: No
Firmware type: Original (patched version available)
Firmware version: 1.05
DVD all regions: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw data read: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw metadata read: Possible (with patched firmware)
Unrestricted read speed: Possible (with patched firmware)

Given that firmware date, doesn't that mean it's flashed? Yet, the LibreDrive info shows that it's still got original firmware.

Anyway, I'm trying to flash it. I have the HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS40-NS50-1.05-NM00900-212005061440.bin file and sdf.bin as well. But when I go and try to use sdftool, some of the commands just hang with a blinking cursor until I press Ctrl+C.

$ "sdftool -l" works. here's the output:
Found 1 drives(s)
00: dev_21:0, /dev/sr0, /dev/sr0
HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__WH16NS40_1.05_212005061440_KLGNBGG2052

$ "sdftool -d /dev/sr0 --info" works.

$ "sdftool -v -d /dev/sr0 help all" hangs and (with the -v switch) only says: "Loaded SDF.bin version 0x98" with a blinking cursor below it.

$ "sdftool -v -d /dev/sr0 dump -o /tmp/" hangs like previously stated command. I wanted to try and dump the ROM before flashing a new one.

I'm afraid to try and flash the drive if it would even work. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

[JumpyGrumpy]

Can you run the "help all" on the drive that does work OK?

I don't have a definitive answer, but I do have something to try: downgrading to MakeMKV 1.17.7.

I'm on Fedora 42 and have that drive (though it has been cross-flashed), and am able to do the "sdftool -v -d /dev/sr0 help all", and "...dump auto" on v 1.17.7. That drive will also read discs with MakeMKV on 1.17.7 and later.

However, I have an unflashed Pioneer drive that will hang up the GUI on anything > 1.17.7, but works OK on 1.17.7. So, I'm wondering if there's something with flashed vs. unflashed drives on Linux and > 1.17.7, or something else, but there's definitely an issue going on.

If you're running flatpak it's easy to "update":

$ sudo flatpak update --commit=ce23b3e362e485c067d049deaabbe58caf89885987cd8e6d37c50f07a56f885a com.makemkv.MakeMKV

And if you want to go back to latest:

$ sudo flatpak update com.makemkv.MakeMKV

Sorry, I'm not sure about other install methods...

Not saying that it will make a difference, but A) it should be easy enough to try, and B) it might give some additional data for troubleshooting the 1.17.8+ issue.

Cheers!