UHD Drive Overview Requested

[wcndave]

I have been using MKV for years to back up TV Shows from DVD.
Movies are done with RedFox AnyDVD HD running, and then just copy/paste the VIDEO_TS
Blu-Ray the same, however it creates BDMV directory.

I now got my first UHD, and found it doesn't work in my BR drive (BH10LS30)
So I guessed I needed a UHD capable player, searched, and arrived here.
I then read the Flashing Guide by billycar11 as that came up a lot in searches.
Being new to this, there's a few things I don't quite feel clear about.

The thread says "these drives will need to be flashed to unlock UHD Reading".

1. Why would a UHD reader need to be unlocked to read?
2. When it says "these drives", does that mean other drives don't need to be flashed?
3. Or that these drives are the only ones that can be flashed, which is required?
4. Is this only relevant for using MKV, or for any software?

The part about Newer Firmware and Encrypted is a bit confusing.
I can't see what the impact of encrypted is, and newer firmware suggests you have to sidegrade to the version that were recommended earlier on anyway, so I can't see there's any difference. Is this only relevant if you want to flash firmware for a different model?

Finally, what's the difference between using the SDF tool, the Asus/LG flasher, or the MK firmware flasher? Is the end result of all 3 methods exactly the same?

Many thanks in advance, I certainly can see that a lot of effort has gone into what's here, so apologies if my noob questions seem silly!

[Woodstock]

UHD FAQ right at the top of the UHD section.

[wcndave]

Thanks, I had tried to read that.

I read everything again a few times, and watched some more videos.

In the end I took an Asus 16D1HT, and used GUI SDF to flash MK3.10 and it seems to work.

Having done that, I read the guide again, and whilst it's really good (and I appreciate it's a personal effort of someone's time and knowledge), it's still a bit confusing or overwhelming for a complete beginner.

What was not clear, was that in general UHD drives don't let you read UHD discs (which seems mad, even by copy protection standards), and that this list are those for which known firmware patches exist that allow one to use MKV (and presumably other software).

Newer Firmware and encrypted, still wasn't clear about that, as I could find no way to read the FW (MakeMKV reported "can be patched", and the flashing tools didn't report the firmware). In the end I realised I could have done a FW dump, however I just assumed a drive manufactured in late 2020 must have one of the enc ones.
I couldn't anyway see what difference it made, as sidegrade to 3.10MK was the same recommendation as if it was not encypted.

I couldn't tell which flasher I should choose. I guess MK FW is the command line one, and the rest seem to be a FE for that, or using a brand flasher. I tried the asus one, and it stopped halfway through and wouldn't move for hours. Was worried I'd bricked it, however then used the SDF GUI and it worked. Maybe the Asus one didn't have the "enc" option so that was the reason, however I though it would autodetect...

I got there in the end though, so thanks to everyone who's clearly put in a lot of time and effort to make this all possible - thank you!



DE_ASUS_BW-16D1HT_3.02.bin
ASUS-BW-16D1HT-3.10-WM01601-211901041014.bin