Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2025

[MasterControl]

wow a $250 optical drive sure lol don't think there will be many buyers though.
do these get faster than 4x read speed on UHD?

Yep, was rather expensive... Unfortunately it wouldn't rip any faster than 4x. Will try and tweak it through the Pioneer BD Drive Utility to see if i can increase read speed.

[asmcom]

wow a $250 optical drive sure lol don't think there will be many buyers though.
do these get faster than 4x read speed on UHD?

Yep, was rather expensive... Unfortunately it wouldn't rip any faster than 4x. Will try and tweak it through the Pioneer BD Drive Utility to see if i can increase read speed.

Who cares when you know it will perform 100% every disc. Time is not a problem when you have 100% reliability to read every 4K disc.

Asmcom

[MasterControl]

Asmcom wrote:
Who cares when you know it will perform 100% every disc. Time is not a problem when you have 100% reliability to read every 4K disc.

So true!!! I have tried to rip "Solo: A Star Wars Story 4K" a number of times on my WH16NS40 and WH16NS60 and no-go every time. Tried once on the Pioneer, and ripped with out error.

[asmcom]

Asmcom wrote:
Who cares when you know it will perform 100% every disc. Time is not a problem when you have 100% reliability to read every 4K disc.

So true!!! I have tried to rip "Solo: A Star Wars Story 4K" a number of times on my WH16NS40 and WH16NS60 and no-go every time. Tried once on the Pioneer, and ripped with out error.

I had 17 discs in total that would not rip out of my 2000 disc collection.most of these were BD100 discs

Some of them I had marked as faulty, but still did not throw them out as I could not let go and instead put them in my top drawer in my desk, where most of my junk and weird and wonderful items end up.

The Pioneer read every single last disc and copied all of them without error. I must give it 10/10 for performance.

Discs like John Wick 3 would take a very long time to load with my BU40N.

Once I put the same disc in the Pioneer drive it read the disc within 5 seconds which I am trying to get my head around.

Obviously the laser pickup is much better and the design is awesome

So I am looking forward to testing my new Pioneer models

Asmcom

[crossv]

I bought a new LG WH16NS40, the only 5.25 one out of the list I could find to buy in my country.
I tried patching it to both WH16NS60 1.02MK and WH16NS60 1.00DE but I got problems reading an UHD disk with both firmwares.
I'm more interested in playback than in ripping so I tried to play it in VLC with libmmbd and I got video glitches every few seconds. I tried backing it up and ripping it with MakeMKV but I got a bunch of errors:

Backup with makemkv, it was fine for a while and than I got errors:

Code: Select all

Hash check failed for file 00003.m2ts at offset 8104962048, file is corrupt.
Hash check failed for file 00003.m2ts at offset 8149788672, file is corrupt.
Hash check failed for file 00003.m2ts at offset 8151951360, file is corrupt.
Hash check failed for file 00003.m2ts at offset 8194025472, file is corrupt.
Hash check failed for file 00003.m2ts at offset 8356030464, file is corrupt.
Too many hash check errors in file 00003.m2ts.

Rip with makemkv, I got errors just after a few seconds of ripping:

Code: Select all

The source file '/BDMV/STREAM/00004.m2ts' is corrupt or invalid at offset 77002752, attempting to work around
Hash check failed for file 00004.m2ts at offset 77064192, file is corrupt.
The source file '/BDMV/STREAM/00004.m2ts' is corrupt or invalid at offset 77002752, attempting to work around
The source file '/BDMV/STREAM/00004.m2ts' is corrupt or invalid at offset 77033472, attempting to work around
and hundreds more

The offsets are completely different every time I try to read the disk. I also tried to clean the disk several times even though it was clean to begin with.

I currently only own this single UHD BD but it's scratch-free and plays fine in a hardware player. Could my drive be faulty? Reading HD Blu-rays seems to be completely fine though.

EDIT:
I've read this comment in a post on the redfox forums:

UPDATE 13.06.22: For 3-layer discs - if you have issues with ripping those - flash WH16NS60 1.03.

I've updated from WH16NS60 1.02MK to WH16NS60 1.03MK and my issues with this 3-layer UHD BD seem to be gone. It's also now ripping with 4.8X instead of ~3X and falling down to 0.1X every few seconds to try to correct read errors.
Not sure why this guide in the first post recommends 1.02MK.

[z55575]

Hi, Now, I am considering to purchase Buffalo BRUHD-PU3-BK.
I am wondering if the latest version of BRUHD-PU3-BK can be downgraded?

I heard that the model is end of life, so I think I should obtain one.

Don't spend the extra on it it's just a BU40N in a case
Get the archgon

Hi
Looping to this comment. I am looking for an external USB drive. The BRUHD-PU3-BK seems like the best choice.

The Archgon is hard to find, I've checked ebay and amazon, and it's quite expensive on ebay (about CAD $200 from GBP)

The alternative is BDR-XD07J-UHD used for also CAD $200 but Pioneer seems to make better drives. Many available in stock all over online

Otherwise the Buffalo is CAD $165 direct shipped from Japan. Also in stock all over Japanese stores or ebay from Japan.

So what is the recommended option for an external 4K UHD drive now? For backing up HD and 4K UHD discs, and burning BD100 and BDXL 128GB discs. I am leaning to the Buffalo or the Pioneer, but also unsure if either can be downgraded or upgraded to needed firmware now.

Thank you

[Billycar11]

Hi, Now, I am considering to purchase Buffalo BRUHD-PU3-BK.
I am wondering if the latest version of BRUHD-PU3-BK can be downgraded?

I heard that the model is end of life, so I think I should obtain one.

Don't spend the extra on it it's just a BU40N in a case
Get the archgon

Hi
Looping to this comment. I am looking for an external USB drive. The BRUHD-PU3-BK seems like the best choice.

The Archgon is hard to find, I've checked ebay and amazon, and it's quite expensive on ebay (about CAD $200 from GBP)

The alternative is BDR-XD07J-UHD used for also CAD $200 but Pioneer seems to make better drives. Many available in stock all over online

Otherwise the Buffalo is CAD $165 direct shipped from Japan. Also in stock all over Japanese stores or ebay from Japan.

So what is the recommended option for an external 4K UHD drive now? For backing up HD and 4K UHD discs, and burning BD100 and BDXL 128GB discs. I am leaning to the Buffalo or the Pioneer, but also unsure if either can be downgraded or upgraded to needed firmware now.

Thank you

if thats the case for you then yeah go for that one they are the same drive just different case

[z55575]

Don't spend the extra on it it's just a BU40N in a case
Get the archgon

Hi
Looping to this comment. I am looking for an external USB drive. The BRUHD-PU3-BK seems like the best choice.

The Archgon is hard to find, I've checked ebay and amazon, and it's quite expensive on ebay (about CAD $200 from GBP)

The alternative is BDR-XD07J-UHD used for also CAD $200 but Pioneer seems to make better drives. Many available in stock all over online

Otherwise the Buffalo is CAD $165 direct shipped from Japan. Also in stock all over Japanese stores or ebay from Japan.

So what is the recommended option for an external 4K UHD drive now? For backing up HD and 4K UHD discs, and burning BD100 and BDXL 128GB discs. I am leaning to the Buffalo or the Pioneer, but also unsure if either can be downgraded or upgraded to needed firmware now.

Thank you

if thats the case for you then yeah go for that one they are the same drive just different case

Thanks! One other question, I have found some BDR-XD07J-UHD ( from Japan) used online that seem in good condition for about the same sale price (ignoring shipping) as the Buffalo. Would it be worth getting a Pioneer drive? They seem to get high praise, but for that model, I am unsure the reliability VS Buffalo. And, the same with buying a used drive, but from Japan most used products I get are carefully labelled in condition.

I re-read the first post, and the Pioneers need no flashing it seems which is good.

[Wildjoker327]

I don't know if I screwed up or not lol. I have the LG BP50NB40 - NB52. I flashed it and I'm seeing in my MakeMKV the LibreDrive status is Enabled. But I only have one UHD 4k bluray, and it's not being read by my drive. But it is also a marvel movie and I've heard they pick problems as well. Has anyone had any issues with Doctor Strange MoM?

[Billycar11]

I don't know if I screwed up or not lol. I have the LG BP50NB40 - NB52. I flashed it and I'm seeing in my MakeMKV the LibreDrive status is Enabled. But I only have one UHD 4k bluray, and it's not being read by my drive. But it is also a marvel movie and I've heard they pick problems as well. Has anyone had any issues with Doctor Strange MoM?

whats the makemkv drive info section say if it still says bp50nb40 you did it wrong

[MartyMcNuts]

I don't know if I screwed up or not lol. I have the LG BP50NB40 - NB52. I flashed it and I'm seeing in my MakeMKV the LibreDrive status is Enabled. But I only have one UHD 4k bluray, and it's not being read by my drive. But it is also a marvel movie and I've heard they pick problems as well. Has anyone had any issues with Doctor Strange MoM?

As Billy said, if MakeMKV still shows the drive as BP50NB40 then you did it wrong. Below is the process for the BP50NB40 SVC: NB52

Here is what to do using SDFtool Flasher:

1. Flash your BP50NB40-NB52-1.03 to BP50NB40-NB50-1.03-MK.
2. For the second flash it is a little different. Select the recovery option.
3. In the popup select the same firmware file that you just previously flashed.
4. Now in the normal firmware selection dropdown box select the firmware you want on the drive (I use either BP60NB10 1.00-MK or DE BU40N 1.00).
5. Press START and wait around 30 seconds until the process has fully completed and the flasher says "Ready..."


That's it! Easy peasy!!

[Wildjoker327]

I don't know if I screwed up or not lol. I have the LG BP50NB40 - NB52. I flashed it and I'm seeing in my MakeMKV the LibreDrive status is Enabled. But I only have one UHD 4k bluray, and it's not being read by my drive. But it is also a marvel movie and I've heard they pick problems as well. Has anyone had any issues with Doctor Strange MoM?

As Billy said, if MakeMKV still shows the drive as BP50NB40 then you did it wrong. Below is the process for the BP50NB40 SVC: NB52

Here is what to do using SDFtool Flasher:

1. Flash your BP50NB40-NB52-1.03 to BP50NB40-NB50-1.03-MK.
2. For the second flash it is a little different. Select the recovery option.
3. In the popup select the same firmware file that you just previously flashed.
4. Now in the normal firmware selection dropdown box select the firmware you want on the drive (I use either BP60NB10 1.00-MK or DE BU40N 1.00).
5. Press START and wait around 30 seconds until the process has fully completed and the flasher says "Ready..."


That's it! Easy peasy!!

That was it, thank you

[Pan2022]

First post here and need help to double check two things.

I bought two BP60NB10 external drives. So far I only flashed the first drive to run some sanity testing. Here is what I did:

STEP 1: Backup the firmware.
Note: As the stock firmware is 1.02 (File Name: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_BP60NB10_1.02_212107081556.bin) encrypted, so it just created a 71KB dump file.
STEP 2: Using sfdtool-flasher to flash BP60NB10 1.02 from the MK firmware pack (Folder name: mk-firmware-pack-20200720, File: HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BP60NB10-1.02-NM00800-212005070935.bin), with the "enc" option checked.
STEP 3: Using sfdtool-flasher to flash BP60NB10 1.00 (File Name: HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BP60NB10-1.00-NM00200-211711211720) from the "old" folder in the MK firmware pack (C:\mk-firmware-pack-20200720\MK\old\) with the "enc" option unchecked.
STEP 4: Sanity testing via backup or playback UHD disk.

So far exporting UHD disks to mkv file always working fine. Observed one thing interesting when playing back UHD movie on my PCs directly, the playback stuck for 1 to 2 second for very few times. Because the UHD Movie disks are brand new, also this happened on multiple Windows 10 laptops including the one with powerful CPU and RTX card. I am not sure whether this is due to UHD drive ran out of buffer/cache somewhere as it happened to multiple brand new UHD movie disks. So I have the following two questions need help:

Question#1: Did anyone run into this problem before?

Question#2: Under C:\mk-firmware-pack-20200720\MK\old\, besides HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BP60NB10-1.00-NM00200-211711211720.bin, we also have HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BP60NB10-1.01-NM01801-211905031534.bin, should I use HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BP60NB10-1.01-NM01801-211905031534 for STEP 3?

Thanks very much in advance!

[MartyMcNuts]

First post here and need help to double check two things.

I bought two BP60NB10 external drives. So far I only flashed the first drive to run some sanity testing. Here is what I did:

STEP 1: Backup the firmware.
Note: As the stock firmware is 1.02 (File Name: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_BP60NB10_1.02_212107081556.bin) encrypted, so it just created a 71KB dump file.
STEP 2: Using sfdtool-flasher to flash BP60NB10 1.02 from the MK firmware pack (Folder name: mk-firmware-pack-20200720, File: HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BP60NB10-1.02-NM00800-212005070935.bin), with the "enc" option checked.
STEP 3: Using sfdtool-flasher to flash BP60NB10 1.00 (File Name: HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BP60NB10-1.00-NM00200-211711211720) from the "old" folder in the MK firmware pack (C:\mk-firmware-pack-20200720\MK\old\) with the "enc" option unchecked.
STEP 4: Sanity testing via backup or playback UHD disk.

So far exporting UHD disks to mkv file always working fine. Observed one thing interesting when playing back UHD movie on my PCs directly, the playback stuck for 1 to 2 second for very few times. Because the UHD Movie disks are brand new, also this happened on multiple Windows 10 laptops including the one with powerful CPU and RTX card. I am not sure whether this is due to UHD drive ran out of buffer/cache somewhere as it happened to multiple brand new UHD movie disks. So I have the following two questions need help:

Question#1: Did anyone run into this problem before?

Question#2: Under C:\mk-firmware-pack-20200720\MK\old\, besides HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BP60NB10-1.00-NM00200-211711211720.bin, we also have HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BP60NB10-1.01-NM01801-211905031534.bin, should I use HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BP60NB10-1.01-NM01801-211905031534 for STEP 3?

Thanks very much in advance!

No, stick with the 1.00 firmware. We generally don't use our drives for direct playback, so hard to comment on your issue. You could try cleaning the discs and see i f that helps, but in general, don't playback the discs, play the MKV file you create.

[Pan2022]

No, stick with the 1.00 firmware. We generally don't use our drives for direct playback, so hard to comment on your issue. You could try cleaning the discs and see i f that helps, but in general, don't playback the discs, play the MKV file you create.

Thanks very much for help!! Marty

I will flash the second BP60NB10 then run the testing to compare with the first BP60NB10.