Flashing firmware on a Mac for LibreDrive

[dfhsff8]

Thanks all - this worked great over here as well on a macOS Big Sur and LG BU40N with factory 1.04 model. I first flashed to 1.04MK (using the ‘enc’ option) and then to 1.03MK (without ‘enc’ option) and seems good so far.

I also took a gamble on a cheap £9 case off Amazon having been inspired by a previous poster using one from aliexpress. It worked just fine. The one I used was this 9.5mm EHZ-SHOP model: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B077D2HS6W

[sobarber]

It also worked flawlessly for me on my WH16NS40 drive. Happy Holidays, be safe and well.

[appleguy]

I ordered an LG BU40N from newegg.com but they sent me a HL version instead of LG. it goes through the flashing process but isn't actually applying either. it has this...

Drive Information
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU40N
Revision: 1.04
Serial number: **********
Firmware date: 2120-05-06 11:42
Bus encryption flags: 17

will this work with the enc option? where do I put enc in the terminal command?

thanks!

[Billycar11]

I ordered an LG BU40N from newegg.com but they sent me a HL version instead of LG. it goes through the flashing process but isn't actually applying either. it has this...

Drive Information
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU40N
Revision: 1.04
Serial number: **********
Firmware date: 2120-05-06 11:42
Bus encryption flags: 17

will this work with the enc option? where do I put enc in the terminal command?

thanks!

Use enc see my guide

[appleguy]

ok, so instead of ./makemkvcon f -d '/IOBDServices/D5D25996' -f /tmp/sdf.bin rawflash main -i /tmp/your firmware filename here

I used ./makemkvcon f -d '/IOBDServices/D5D25996' -f /tmp/sdf.bin rawflash enc -i /tmp/your firmware filename here

and that worked! thanks. so now it says...

Drive Information
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU40N
Revision: 1.03
Serial number: ********
Firmware date: 2118-10-24 19:34
Bus encryption flags: 17

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
Firmware type: Patched (microcode access re-enabled)
Firmware version: 1.03
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

so I am all set? time to try a UHD disk? thanks for all your help!

[Billycar11]

Yeah just unplug it for a min before using it.

[appleguy]

Yeah just unplug it for a min before using it.

awesome! now to try to find a uhd disk, lol. headed out to walmart

[Cuddy2977]

Would flashing my blu-ray drive enable it to read 4k blu-rays?

[Coopervid]

Would flashing my blu-ray drive enable it to read 4k blu-rays?

We will try to use our psychic powers to determine. However, if you would post a Makemkv status from the GUI even people without those could answer your question and give recommendations.

[Cuddy2977]

Would flashing my blu-ray drive enable it to read 4k blu-rays?

We will try to use our psychic powers to determine. However, if you would post a Makemkv status from the GUI even people without those could answer your question and give recommendations.

Right, I’ve got a Pioneer BDR-UD04: one that — in theory — can read 4k Blu-ray disks. I’ve got MakeMKV 1.16.4.

Will I be able to read 4k blu-rays, or will I need to flash the drive?

[Billycar11]

Right, I’ve got a Pioneer BDR-UD04: one that — in theory — can read 4k Blu-ray disks. I’ve got MakeMKV 1.16.4.

Will I be able to read 4k blu-rays, or will I need to flash the drive?

yeah if you update to the latest makemkv

[Cuddy2977]

I had some 'fun' figuring this out, this might be helpful for other Mac users to allow LibreDrive to work with the drive. I actually did it because the Region had not been set on the drive (It came with ZERO software) and some of the other software I was using was complaining that the region was not set. This killed 2 birds with one stone in that after the drive was flashed the LibreDrive functionality is available and the drive is now Region set as well (Region set to 'all')

I am on macOS Catalina 10.15.6 on a MacBook Pro 2020 and was able to successfully flash my MD-8107-U3 using titbits of info from this forum and elsewhere.

You can leave the files where you would like and not copy them as I did (Step 4) and not even change into the application direct (Step 5.) - it just means you will have to add the paths to where they are located for you in step 8.

Steps taken
1. download sdf.bin
2. download mk-firmware-pack-YYYYMMDD
- where YYYYMMD is the date of the latest firmware pack

3. Extract the file you need for your drive from mk-firmware-pack-YYYYMMDD -> In my case this was -> HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BU40N-1.04-NM00500-212005061142.bin

4. then in terminal on the MacBook
- I then copied sdf.bin and the firmware file I extracted from the mk-firmware-pack-YYYYMMDD into my /tmp folder .
(this only to make sure both files in same place and nice easy path to type).


5. then in terminal change directory - > cd /Applications/MakeMKV.app/MacOS/Contents

6. type -> ls - al

you should see a directory listing and one of the objects in the listing is 'makemkvcon'
this step just confirms you are in the right directory


7. the type -> ./makemkvcon f -l

This will allow you to find your drive identifier, in my case -> ''/IOBDServices/D5D25996'
from the following output:
Found 1 drives(s)
00: /IOBDServices/D5D25996, /dev/rdisk3, /dev/rdisk3
HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_BU40N_1.01_211910161032_MOFK6283224


8. to actually perform the update, type -> ./makemkvcon f -d '/IOBDServices/D5D25996' -f /tmp/sdf.bin rawflash main -i /tmp/HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BU40N-1.04-NM00500-212005061142.bin

you will then be prompted to type in 'yes' to flash the firmware;

Reading input file /tmp/HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BU40N-1.04-NM00500-212005061142.bin
Flashing flags = 0x0 : 0 0 0 0 : ---- ---- ---- ----
Current Drive ID: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_BU40N_1.01_211910161032_MOFK6283224
Ready to write drive flash memory.
Type "yes" to continue, "no" to abort
yes

9. Once you type in yes and hit Enter - you should get the following output:

Operation started: Sending flash image to drive
100% Operation finished
Operation started: Programming flash
100% Operation finished
Done successfully

After hitting Enter the upload and flashing took about 20 seconds.


Hope this helps other Mac users!

Where do we download the sdf.bin — and the other package — from?

[Cuddy2977]

yeah if you update to the latest makemkv

OK, I tried updating: and it didn’t do a dicky bird!

[Coopervid]

yeah if you update to the latest makemkv

OK, I tried updating: and it didn’t do a dicky bird!

You have a Pioneer drive that doesn't need to be flashed! the mentioned procedure is only necessary for LG type drives. All you need to do is install the newest version of Makemkv 1.17.3 and to rip UHDs you have to allow internet access for Makemkv. That's it. Sdf.bin is part of the Makemkv package and internet access is needed a) to update sdf.bin b) to get the keys for UHD decrytion.

[Cuddy2977]

You have a Pioneer drive that doesn't need to be flashed! the mentioned procedure is only necessary for LG type drives. All you need to do is install the newest version of Makemkv 1.17.3 and to rip UHDs you have to allow internet access for Makemkv. That's it. Sdf.bin is part of the Makemkv package and internet access is needed a) to update sdf.bin b) to get the keys for UHD decrytion.

OK, I’ve retried: and managed to get a 4k DVD ripped.

Cheers!