Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Forum for discussions about UHD-capable dives
novice121
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2023 2:30 am

Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by novice121 »

Hello, I read the flashing guide, but am still lost with some questions: I have a PC with an Intel i5-4670, and GTX1060.

My drive has NEVER been flashed WH16NS40 ROM Ver: 1.02 NS50 Manufactured May 2016. I use a OWC Mercury Pro 5.25" Optical Drive External Enclosure.

With this drive, I am able to playback on my PC 4K UHD, and regular Bluray disks using PlayerFab, but not with PowerDVD; I read everywhere that 4K playback on PC is NOT possible with this drive, but it works just, and pretty fast with that software.

With this drive, I am able to rip its content using DVDFab (have not tried MakeMKV yet) just fine with 4K UHD disks, and regular Bluray disks.

My question is: Do I need to flash this drive? If so, what would be the benefit, and how could I do it? Do I simply download the 'All you need firmware pack' + SDFtoll Flasher v1.3.5, and select the bin inside 'LG 5.25 desktop' folder, and click Start?

Thanks for any help!

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Billycar11
Posts: 4297
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:49 am

Re: Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by Billycar11 »

No you don't need to but you can remove the sleep bug with WH16NS60 1.00 and continue to you that other software
Buy a UHD drive from the guide and how to video maker: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 20&t=17831
UHD Drives Guide: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 16&t=19634
Auto flash kit $25 Email me for one Billycar5924@gmail.com
novice121
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2023 2:30 am

Re: Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by novice121 »

Billycar11 wrote:
Wed Sep 13, 2023 7:58 pm
No you don't need to but you can remove the sleep bug with WH16NS60 1.00 and continue to you that other software
Thank you! Sorry for the dumb question, but is it as simple as using the flasher tool, load the HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS60-1.02-NM00100-211810291936 bin, and flash?
Billycar11
Posts: 4297
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:49 am

Re: Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by Billycar11 »

novice121 wrote:
Thu Sep 14, 2023 1:32 am
Billycar11 wrote:
Wed Sep 13, 2023 7:58 pm
No you don't need to but you can remove the sleep bug with WH16NS60 1.00 and continue to you that other software
Thank you! Sorry for the dumb question, but is it as simple as using the flasher tool, load the HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS60-1.02-NM00100-211810291936 bin, and flash?
No use 1.00 or you won't be able to use your programs you have been using
Buy a UHD drive from the guide and how to video maker: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 20&t=17831
UHD Drives Guide: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 16&t=19634
Auto flash kit $25 Email me for one Billycar5924@gmail.com
novice121
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2023 2:30 am

Re: Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by novice121 »

Billycar11 wrote:
Thu Sep 14, 2023 7:41 pm
novice121 wrote:
Thu Sep 14, 2023 1:32 am
Billycar11 wrote:
Wed Sep 13, 2023 7:58 pm
No you don't need to but you can remove the sleep bug with WH16NS60 1.00 and continue to you that other software
Thank you! Sorry for the dumb question, but is it as simple as using the flasher tool, load the HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS60-1.02-NM00100-211810291936 bin, and flash?
No use 1.00 or you won't be able to use your programs you have been using
Thanks so much! I flashed successfully. Now on to learn proper ripping options for best quality at around 12gigs per movie for my tiny NAS :)
novice121
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2023 2:30 am

Re: Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by novice121 »

I spoke too soon :( my drive does not work anymore.

I downloaded 'DE_LG WH16NS60_1.00.bin' from this thread

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=18873#p70284

Then, I flashed it using SDFtool v1.3.5 from this thread

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=22896

And now my drive doesn't recognize any bluray or 4k discs anymore like it used to.

Did I flash the wrong bin? Is my drive salvageable?
Billycar11
Posts: 4297
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:49 am

Re: Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by Billycar11 »

novice121 wrote:
Fri Sep 15, 2023 3:20 am
I spoke too soon :( my drive does not work anymore.

I downloaded 'DE_LG WH16NS60_1.00.bin' from this thread

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=18873#p70284

Then, I flashed it using SDFtool v1.3.5 from this thread

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=22896

And now my drive doesn't recognize any bluray or 4k discs anymore like it used to.

Did I flash the wrong bin? Is my drive salvageable?
Turn it off for 5 mins
Buy a UHD drive from the guide and how to video maker: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 20&t=17831
UHD Drives Guide: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 16&t=19634
Auto flash kit $25 Email me for one Billycar5924@gmail.com
novice121
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2023 2:30 am

Re: Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by novice121 »

It's still not reading or recognizing any disks.

Could someone please tell me if my drive can be recovered? :(
Billycar11
Posts: 4297
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:49 am

Re: Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by Billycar11 »

novice121 wrote:
Fri Sep 15, 2023 12:09 pm
It's still not reading or recognizing any disks.

Could someone please tell me if my drive can be recovered? :(
You can try flashing it back to 1.02 don't see how 1.00 could kill it
Buy a UHD drive from the guide and how to video maker: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 20&t=17831
UHD Drives Guide: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 16&t=19634
Auto flash kit $25 Email me for one Billycar5924@gmail.com
novice121
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2023 2:30 am

Re: Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by novice121 »

I flashed 1.02 from the "All you need firmware pack" "LG 5.25 desktop" folder, and it went back to 1.02, but still doesn't recognize 4K or Bluray disks, windows sees no disk inside everytime :( This sucks because it was working like a dream before my first time flashing. I am an idiot
novice121
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2023 2:30 am

Re: Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by novice121 »

Hello, I revived my old PC, and set it on IDE, then proceeded to install a 32 bit copy of Windows on it, but the dosflash tool can't find my drive. I also tried the WinPE version of Windows provided here, but it can't find the drive either.

I tried the drive on, and off, rebooted, and tried on all SATA ports, not just SATA1, but still no go.

I get the message "MTK Vendor to intro on port 0x2468 failed"

Or message "No known flash chip on this port!"

I tried rebooting multiple times, on multiple SATA ports, but same messages following this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXgybNfHhcg

Any advise?

https://imgur.com/a/D4ju3xs

Image
Billycar11
Posts: 4297
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:49 am

Re: Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by Billycar11 »

novice121 wrote:
Tue Oct 17, 2023 1:22 am
Hello, I revived my old PC, and set it on IDE, then proceeded to install a 32 bit copy of Windows on it, but the dosflash tool can't find my drive. I also tried the WinPE version of Windows provided here, but it can't find the drive either.

I tried the drive on, and off, rebooted, and tried on all SATA ports, not just SATA1, but still no go.

I get the message "MTK Vendor to intro on port 0x2468 failed"

Or message "No known flash chip on this port!"

I tried rebooting multiple times, on multiple SATA ports, but same messages following this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXgybNfHhcg

Any advise?

https://imgur.com/a/D4ju3xs

Image
you have to full flash back to wh16ns60 1.00 first to reenable dosflash use the lg flasher for that its the easiest
Buy a UHD drive from the guide and how to video maker: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 20&t=17831
UHD Drives Guide: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 16&t=19634
Auto flash kit $25 Email me for one Billycar5924@gmail.com
novice121
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2023 2:30 am

Re: Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by novice121 »

Billycar11 wrote:
Tue Oct 17, 2023 1:27 am

you have to full flash back to wh16ns60 1.00 first to reenable dosflash use the lg flasher for that its the easiest

Thank you, that worked, after flashing wh16ns60 1.00 the dosflasher tool finally recognized my drive. I then followed the youtube video dumping its firmware, and using data mover with success choosing the bin I just read, and then choosing 'flash_HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_WH16NS40_1.02_NS50' from the clean fw folder since my drive is a WH16NS40 NS50 from May 2016.

I took my drive to my PC, and it didn't recognize any disks just like before, but when I fired up DVDFab, it gave me a message never seen before saying my drive is UHD 4K compatible, and to use its proprietary tool to downgrade its firmware to be able to back up 4K disks... I don't have a license for that tool, so no go.

I then tried to dump its firmware again, but when I use Data Mover, I just get the message 'Incorrect firmware file' to any firmware I read off my drive.
Billycar11
Posts: 4297
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:49 am

Re: Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by Billycar11 »

novice121 wrote:
Wed Oct 18, 2023 12:06 am
Billycar11 wrote:
Tue Oct 17, 2023 1:27 am

you have to full flash back to wh16ns60 1.00 first to reenable dosflash use the lg flasher for that its the easiest

Thank you, that worked, after flashing wh16ns60 1.00 the dosflasher tool finally recognized my drive. I then followed the youtube video dumping its firmware, and using data mover with success choosing the bin I just read, and then choosing 'flash_HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_WH16NS40_1.02_NS50' from the clean fw folder since my drive is a WH16NS40 NS50 from May 2016.

I took my drive to my PC, and it didn't recognize any disks just like before, but when I fired up DVDFab, it gave me a message never seen before saying my drive is UHD 4K compatible, and to use its proprietary tool to downgrade its firmware to be able to back up 4K disks... I don't have a license for that tool, so no go.

I then tried to dump its firmware again, but when I use Data Mover, I just get the message 'Incorrect firmware file' to any firmware I read off my drive.
you never needed to do this if your drive was built in 2016
you drive is just dead or deflective then
Buy a UHD drive from the guide and how to video maker: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 20&t=17831
UHD Drives Guide: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 16&t=19634
Auto flash kit $25 Email me for one Billycar5924@gmail.com
novice121
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2023 2:30 am

Re: Help flashing new WH16NS40 why is 4K playback possible with mine?

Post by novice121 »

Billycar11 wrote:
Wed Oct 18, 2023 12:16 am

you never needed to do this if your drive was built in 2016
you drive is just dead or deflective then

:( I was afraid so, thank you for the help, I hope this thread is a cautionary tale for those who may brick a perfectly working drive in the future.
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