Asus BW-16D1X-U

[Billycar11]

just a warning to everyone these drives are a gamble
there are still alot of drives out there that are not an lg or asus inside just got 3 emails yesterday about that
they are presumed to be pioneer and they can not do UHD at all ever

[ham6817]

I couldn't get the drive to flash on my Mac. Admittedly, I'm not great in terminal. Even copying and pasting the commands from the step by step thread did not work for me.
I busted out my old windows laptop running Windows 10. I downloaded and used the flashing tool. The flashing tool would not open unless I ran it as an administrator. The Asus firmware would not flash onto the drive. I ended up using the WH16NS60 1.02 firmware and it worked like a champ. Libre mode is enabled and I'm ripping 4K discs! Also, currently ripping Solo: A Star Wars Story with no problems!

Why not just purchase the correct drive and be done with it.

[mcsands59]

I recently picked up one of these drives from a MicroCenter near me. Got it hooked up, and MakeMKV said the drive was LibreDrive compatible with the correct firmware. I backed up the current firmware and flashed the BW-16D1HT firmware like a few of the others on this forum. Everything went smoothly, and I've ripped several UHD disks so far. I do have two questions, though:

1. For those of you who opened up the enclosure of this drive to verify that it was an Asus drive instead of a Pioneer, how did you actually manage to open the enclosure? I didn't see any obvious way to get it open. I tried prying the top of the enclosure off starting from the back, but the plastic pins were firmly locked and I didn't want to break them. In the end, it didn't matter. I flashed the drive based on MakeMKV identifying the drive as a MT1959 platform, but I'm still curious what the trick to the enclosure is.

2. I made a firmware backup of the original BW-16D1XU just in case. The .tgz file that was created as part of the firmware dump contains several .bin files. Which .bin is the correct file to flash back to stock? I don't expect that I'll need to flash back to stock ever, but again, just curious which file is correct. I did note that one file is much larger than the others (64KB vs 1KB), so I suspect it's this one.

[NCRobino]

mcsands59, I have the same ASUS BW-16D1X-U drive. I have not done anything to the drive firmware since I bought it and just recently things are no longer working with MakeMKV, getting copy protection errors. I'm on a Mac, how did you upgrade your firmware on yours to the HT version? And does everything continue to work using that firmware? I have not done any Libredrive update either, any steps and links you could help with would be greatly appreciated!

[NCRobino]

Hey Billycar11, I have the same ASUS BW-16D1X-U drive. I have not done anything to the drive firmware since I bought it and just recently things are no longer working with MakeMKV, getting copy protection errors. I'm on a Mac, how does one upgrade their firmware Asus HT version which has been reported to work on this drive? I have not done any Libredrive update either, any steps and links you could help with would be greatly appreciated! total Noob here, so sorry but any help is appreciated.

[Woodstock]

There are two major versions of the -U. One (old version) cannot do UHD. The other can.

MakeMKV can tell them apart if you run it with the drive plugged in.

[Billycar11]

Hey Billycar11, I have the same ASUS BW-16D1X-U drive. I have not done anything to the drive firmware since I bought it and just recently things are no longer working with MakeMKV, getting copy protection errors. I'm on a Mac, how does one upgrade their firmware Asus HT version which has been reported to work on this drive? I have not done any Libredrive update either, any steps and links you could help with would be greatly appreciated! total Noob here, so sorry but any help is appreciated.

If power cycling the drive does not fix it, it may be dead in plug from power and of for a few mins and see if it comes back.
Or your aacs version is to new what does makemkv d
Say the drive aacs version is
Does the os see the drive?

[iBypass]

Hello everyone,

Just want to share my experience with the ASUS BW-16D1X-U that I purchased on 2022-04-08 from Amazon.
A sticker under the unit read "Manufactured Oct. 2021".

Original firmware version: A104
Standard Blu-ray movie ripping test = Passed!
4K UHD Blu-ray ripping test = Failed! (no disc detected)

From there, I followed your instructions and downloaded the SDFtool Flasher's utility to update the drive's firmware.
I did select the following file from the latest MK firmware pack and the process went through flawlessly.

"ASUS-BW-16D1H-U-A204-WM01001-211901041044.bin"

Be advised: The drive's label will also be updated to "ASUS BW-16D1H-U" instead of the original "ASUS BW-16D1X-U".

Updated firmware version: A204
LibreDrive Status: Enabled!
Standard Blu-ray movie ripping test = Passed!
4K UHD Blu-ray ripping test = Passed!

That's it, this very nice external drive is now capable of reading 4K UHD Blu-ray discs !
I hope this article will help some people to update their player just like I did.

Regards, iBypass

[dbtayag]

4K ripping depends on the manufacturing date of the drive, correct? Anything pre-2020 will not work, correct? I looked at the date underneath and it's November 2017.

[dcoke22]

4K ripping depends on the manufacturing date of the drive, correct? Anything pre-2020 will not work, correct? I looked at the date underneath and it's November 2017.

Are you asking in general or about a specific drive?

The Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2022 says 2015 or later, platform MT1959 and SVC NS50+ on the label.

[dbtayag]

4K ripping depends on the manufacturing date of the drive, correct? Anything pre-2020 will not work, correct? I looked at the date underneath and it's November 2017.

Are you asking in general or about a specific drive?

The Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2022 says 2015 or later, platform MT1959 and SVC NS50+ on the label.

No, for this particular drive. The ASUS BW-16D1X-U.

[dcoke22]

No, for this particular drive. The ASUS BW-16D1X-U.

I don't have one of these drives, so I don't have firsthand experience. Can you post a screenshot of what MakeMKV says about your drive? It seems that the actual innards of that drive might any number of things, some of which might work and some won't.

[eagle2990]

Hi! Just joined this forum to confirm that (at least mine) was able to be flashed.
Your might be able to work if opening the lid, you can see the "m-disc" and "e-green" label. Removing the case also helps, mine was manufactured in Apr 2021, so it seems SOME of this USB drives DO support being flashed. It would be great if the guide would be updated as I was about to buy another one in disappointment

[Billycar11]

Hi! Just joined this forum to confirm that (at least mine) was able to be flashed.
Your might be able to work if opening the lid, you can see the "m-disc" and "e-green" label. Removing the case also helps, mine was manufactured in Apr 2021, so it seems SOME of this USB drives DO support being flashed. It would be great if the guide would be updated as I was about to buy another one in disappointment

The drive is to hit and miss to tell people to buy it but the guide already says if your drive is mt1959 you can flash it

[Samicidal]

I have the same drive - did you end up flashing it on the Mac or did you have to do it in WIndows? (I have a Mac)