Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2024

[Billycar11]

I only recommend the BU40N now

[Billycar11]

Ok I see now was just having difficulty with how some of it was worded.

The part that says
"LG 1.04+ / BU40N 1.03 / Asus 3.10+ and similar
The newer OEM firmwares cannot be flashed easily due to the additional downgrade checks implemented by the drive/firmware manufacturer. If your drive has one of these firmwares, and there is no MK version of the same firmware/drive model or higher number, you will have to sidegrade to Asus 3.10MK "

Since my firmware is 3.10 and there's a 3.10 MK I'm good to go - download the MK firmware pack and flash using the ASUS BW-16D1HT .bin file? I can use the SDFtool instead of command line right? (not using the "enc" option)

Yes

[atrus821]

Thank you Billy - that is super helpful. I've been looking for a BU40N and had a few questions if you have time to answer:

1. Where do you obtain your BU40N from? Several drives on Amazon claim this model number in their title, but it looks like this might be the real deal from LG & Hitachi: https://www.amazon.com/HLDS-BU40N-Inter ... 432&sr=8-3

2. Do you have a preferred/recommended enclosure? This Vantech one looks effective, but just curious what you've found effective: https://www.amazon.com/Vantec-Optical-D ... 0KKO&psc=1

3. Do you go entirely off of a single USB 3 connection or do you use a double headed cable for added power?

4. When you rip, do you limit the speed (to something like 2x) to reduce power draw?

These are essentially all aspects I've seen posted in these forums as workarounds to rip errors, so just asking because this might help to start with the proper config in the first place.

Thank you!

[jonghotti]

Hi all - I wanted ask some of the resident experts here what combo of drives you use as your go-to for blu-ray mkv rips. I have been using an LG BP50NB40, which is a usb powered drive. I've recently added the ASUS BW-16D1HT with an OWC Mercury Pro 5.25" Optical Drive External Enclosure. I'm also considering adding an LG WH16NS60 to the mix as well. I am only ripping my Blu Rays and no UHDs at this point (so flashing has not been relevant for me yet).

So, what drives to you all regularly use? Are any more tolerant/effective? How to you mount these - external enclosures or internal in a PC? There are many posts here about long lists of compatible drives, but I'd love to know which specific models the most frequent posters use.

ASUS BW-16D1HT in Vantec enclosure is my goto rig with BU40N in Vantec also getting use. Last but not least the LG WH16NS60 in the OWC Mercury Pro enclosure likes to hang out with the BU40N slim drive and tease him about being so small. Every so often when the slim drive has heard enough he faces off with NS60 and says "yo yo yo you may be bigger but bitch i'm USB BUS powered eat this!"as he starts smacking the shit out of the bigger drive with his double ended USB cable

[MartyMcNuts]

Hi all - I wanted ask some of the resident experts here what combo of drives you use as your go-to for blu-ray mkv rips. I have been using an LG BP50NB40, which is a usb powered drive. I've recently added the ASUS BW-16D1HT with an OWC Mercury Pro 5.25" Optical Drive External Enclosure. I'm also considering adding an LG WH16NS60 to the mix as well. I am only ripping my Blu Rays and no UHDs at this point (so flashing has not been relevant for me yet).

So, what drives to you all regularly use? Are any more tolerant/effective? How to you mount these - external enclosures or internal in a PC? There are many posts here about long lists of compatible drives, but I'd love to know which specific models the most frequent posters use.

BP50NB40 cross-flashed to BP60NB10 1.00 MK is my go to drive.

[Billycar11]

BP50NB40 cross-flashed to BP60NB10 1.00 MK is my go to drive.

im getting the felling its very similar to the BU40N?
i see you have it working crossflashed as one thats a new development?

[Mr_Orange]

What's with the obsession with slim drives? Aren't they less reliable than a full-sized internal SATA drive?

[MartyMcNuts]

BP50NB40 cross-flashed to BP60NB10 1.00 MK is my go to drive.

im getting the felling its very similar to the BU40N?
i see you have it working crossflashed as one thats a new development?

Nothing new. We've been able to cross-flash them for about 15 months now....

I find it quite good. Haven't had a disc not work, yet!! (touch wood)

[Billycar11]

What's with the obsession with slim drives? Aren't they less reliable than a full-sized internal SATA drive?

well i have had 50+ desktop drives fail and 1 slim fail so no in my experience the slims are way better.
but this is for 1 brand the UHD drives LG/ASUS same drives.
other brand desktop drives could be way better and i hope they are.
i really hope the pioneer drives are supported soon even though it will probably put us drive sellers out of business

[Mr_Orange]

What's with the obsession with slim drives? Aren't they less reliable than a full-sized internal SATA drive?

well i have had 50+ desktop drives fail and 1 slim fail so no in my experience the slims are way better.
but this is for 1 brand the UHD drives LG/ASUS same drives.
other brand desktop drives could be way better and i hope they are.
i really hope the pioneer drives are supported soon even though it will probably put us drive sellers out of business

Interesting. I got the impression from a number posts that slim drives were troublesome.

My LG BH16NS55 has been rock solid (touches wood) so far.

[garmin123]

Thanks for the reply.

1) When you say the SDFTool, is it the one in the MakeMKV program directory? Is it the SDFTool or the SDFTool64?

2) Must the SATA channel be set to IDE in the BIOS?

1. No it's linked on first page sdftool
2.no leave it as default

It all worked very seamlessly and quickly. When I first flashed it with the modified firmware, I was a bit confused because I was expecting to see multiple versions of modified firmware, but what was provided was the latest firmware.

And after it was flashed, it suddenly occured to me the firmware the same version, but also disables the limitations in terms of being able to read UHD disks, eliminating revocation, and/or giving the drive full functionality without going back to an old version of the firm ware.

Thanks for your help.

[smush]

Just ripped my first UHD HDR disk and all went well. I did notice the MKV file when played back did appear more grainy though?
Is the sleep bug just simply an annoyance or does it affect the ripping process/output?

[Billycar11]

Just ripped my first UHD HDR disk and all went well. I did notice the MKV file when played back did appear more grainy though?
Is the sleep bug just simply an annoyance or does it affect the ripping process/output?

Makemkv copy's the movie exactly as it is no change at all.

You may have seen it before the rip on a tv or player that had alot of processing effects on and that could remove the grain.

[asmcom]

What's with the obsession with slim drives? Aren't they less reliable than a full-sized internal SATA drive?

well i have had 50+ desktop drives fail and 1 slim fail so no in my experience the slims are way better.
but this is for 1 brand the UHD drives LG/ASUS same drives.
other brand desktop drives could be way better and i hope they are.
i really hope the pioneer drives are supported soon even though it will probably put us drive sellers out of business

Interesting. I got the impression from a number posts that slim drives were troublesome.

My LG BH16NS55 has been rock solid (touches wood) so far.

Yes the BH16NS55, WH16NS60 & the BH16NS40, NS51 are all amazing drives.

BU40N also a very good drive, pity it cannot handle speed control. This new problem with the circular scratches is very concerning.

Asmcom

[Breach]

Just registered to get your advice. I've done quite a bit of reading on this forum - impressive work guys! My situation is that I'm moving to Ryzen which precludes watching officially any UHD BD content with PowerDVD (insane situation with that SGX requirement, but that's another story).

For my use case I plan to rip with MakeMKV and also use AnyDVD HD for PowerDVD. I considered WH16NS60 and BU40N, but the first is almost impossible to find in Europe and both are UHD official drives, hence won't work with AnyDVD.

So, I'm buying an LG BH16NS55.

Questions:
1) There actually seem to be BH16NS55 drives under both LG and Hitachi branding (the front panel is different). Does anyone know whether there is a hardware difference...?

2) I will probably get a v1.05 official firmware, so if understand correctly, I'll just need to flash the BH16NS55 v1.05 MK firmware with 'enc' selected in the flasher, correct?

3) Then, I understand I can cross-flash to the latest WH16NS60 MK firmware (without 'enc') to fix the sleep bug, etc.
- Is there any reason NOT to go to the latest latest available WH16NS60 MK firmware (I think 1.03)
- Would WH16NS60 MK flashed BH16NS55 work with AnyDVD [Edit: I understand that's a 'no'... so it's either no AnyDVD and no sleep bug (WH16NS60 MK), or AnyDVD and sleep bug (BH16NS55 MK), right?]

Thanks!