Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2024

[temmi]

I bumped into an used Asus bw-16d1ht, manufacture June 2014. Do you guys think this could be flashed with the firmware?

[Woodstock]

used Asus bw-16d1ht, manufacture June 2014.

No reason too - it won't grant you any additional features. 2014 is too old for UHD.

[Camacho]

I am a bit confused in one section it says pioneers are not supported and another says they are, are they currently supported? If so what makes them more superior to the other drives listed?
I was scoping out a WH16NS40 ,for UHD ripping, that is 60 US, or should I hold out for a pioneer?

[dcoke22]

I am a bit confused in one section it says pioneers are not supported and another says they are, are they currently supported? If so what makes them more superior to the other drives listed?
I was scoping out a WH16NS40 ,for UHD ripping, that is 60 US, or should I hold out for a pioneer?

For ripping UHDs, a subset of Pioneer drives are supported. Recently, Pioneer released firmware updates for those drives specifically to disable MakeMKV. So, most likely, if you buy a new Pioneer drive, even if it is model that could support UHD ripping, it will have too new of firmware and MakeMKV won't be able to rip UHDs with it. Regular blu-rays or DVDs should work though.

If you want a Pioneer drive, one of the sellers here on this forum might have one that they have tested to work with MakeMKV. That is currently the most reliable way to get a Pioneer drive that works with MakeMKV.

Hopefully, in the future, MakeMKV will be updated to overcome the current Pioneer firmware and getting a Pioneer will become easier. No ETA on when that might happen however.

The sellers on this forum report a very low incidence of bad drives with the Pioneers (they test every drive they sell). And, if you're interested in burning optical media, the reports are that the Pioneers are much better than the other brands. With something like the LG WH16NS40 you might get one that works fine, perhaps for years. But you might also get a bad drive right out of the box. Or you might get one that fails at a young age. In these post pandemic times, the sellers report that the quality of those drives has seemed to go down. If you go that route, be sure to buy from a place with a decent return policy.

In my experience, some discs just don't like some drives. I have 3 drives, one LG, one ASUS (which is made by LG), and one Pioneer. When I have trouble with a disc in my 'main' drive, it usually works in one of the others. I think folks with extensive collections often end up with multiple drives since they give you an extra chance at a successful rip with problematic discs and, since MakeMKV can use more than one optical drive at the same time, can speed up the process of ripping a pile of discs (like TV shows, for example).

Pioneers are great. The LG might work fine. No one drive is going to be perfect.

[Camacho]

Ah I see, Ill try out for one of the LGs and if it craps the bed ill contact a seller about one, Thanks for the run down

[roflmaonowhow]

I just wanted to pop in here and say thank you to those who have contributed to the guide and all the updates they've made. Kudos to the youtube video walkthrough and GUI tool and all the countless answers contributed here. I'm always in awe of this community and the help offered.

I do have a question or suggestions if anyone has any. I got the LG-WH16NS60 drive from one of the resellers here after many recommendations about 3 1/2 years ago. It's served me well and I think now finally has begun to show major signs of dying. Almost every single 4k disk was giving some or the other error and not sure why it took me so long to realize it could be the drive that was failing. Maybe it threw me off because a few discs in between had no issues and a majority of the blu-ray discs ripped just fine.

It was only when the drive wouldn't even acknowledge the new Top Gun Maverick 4k disc that I started looking out for a new drive. I got the WH16NS40 on sale from amazon like some others have mentioned and flashed it to the WH16NS60 1.02 version. Flashing was such a fast and effortless task and now am happily ripping all those troublesome discs without any issues.

So question is with my old WH16NS60 drive, what do people normally do when you're having issues ripping with it. I'm quite sure it will do playback just fine for regular blu-ray and DVDs. I see it came with the 1.00 version of the firmware, does reflashing to the 1.02 version offer any benefits? Is there anything else that can be tried to maybe salvage it for UHD ripping?

I'd like to hear suggestions if any.

I might also just get a few more drives as backups, maybe get a Pioneer drive down the line. Probably won't hurt.

Thanks in advance.

[bill_w]

I saw someone elsewhere mention running a Pioneer BDR-212V patched for UHD support, but I haven't been able to find more information. Does anyone know? Simple as cross flashing with another version?

[wyzxvnv]

Hi guys

I have an 'interesting' firmware version in LG BU40N drive. Can I safely flash it with MK firmware to enable LibreDrive support? I recently bought this drive in Japan, sold as an external drive I-O Data BRP-UC6K. Eternal enclosure is similar (basically identical) as Verbatim 43888 (Pioneer BDR-UD4 drive).

Code: Select all

Drive Information
OS device name: O:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU40N
Revision: DN15
Serial number: XXXXXXXXXX
Firmware date: 2121-05-31 10:19
Bus encryption flags: 1F
Highest AACS version: 19

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible, not yet enabled
Drive platform: MT1959

No disc inserted

Yeah, you should be able to flash it. Start with BU40N 1.03-MK firmware. Once flashed, you can then flash BU40N 1.00 if you use software other than MakeMKV and AnyDVD.

MartyMcNuts thank you!

I just want to confirm and let other guys know that I tried to flash this drive directly with "HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BU40N-1.04-NM00500-212005061142.bin" firmware and everything went smooth.

Current status after firmware upgrade:

Code: Select all

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
Firmware type: Patched (microcode access re-enabled)
Firmware version: 1.04
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

[wyzxvnv]

I saw someone elsewhere mention running a Pioneer BDR-212V patched for UHD support, but I haven't been able to find more information. Does anyone know? Simple as cross flashing with another version?

I found it for you:
viewtopic.php?f=16&p=137702

[bill_w]

Thanks - that is one clue closer at least.

[Buzzlite1926]

My LG BP50NB40
Svc: NB52
7/2023
Is all the Info correct for flash?

[gej80]

Hi,

and please forgive me if this question has been asked a zillion times. I’m new to this ripping and flashing thing. And even after reading the guide, I’m still puzzled.

I have successfully ripped one (!) BD, but trying to rip another one (FullHD), I am getting lots of errors (MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading).

I still don’t know if my drive needs flashing and if this is the reason of these errors. Is it? Does "enabled" here mean the copy protection is enabled or does it mean the drive has been enabled to read BD’s?

Code: Select all

   Firmware date: 2018-11-28
   Status: Enabled
   Drive platform: RS8A10
   Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-US04
   Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
   Firmware version: 1.11

Code: Select all

./makemkvcon f -l
Found 1 drives(s)
00: /IOBDServices/DFA601A1, /dev/rdisk2, /dev/rdisk2
  PIONEER_BD-RW___BDR-UD04_1.11_TEDL038041WL

Could anyone tell me how to proceed? Where to download firmware (if needed)?

Thanks a lot,

gc

[Woodstock]

Clean the disk. No firmware change is required, just a disk without errors.

[Billycar11]

Hi,

and please forgive me if this question has been asked a zillion times. I’m new to this ripping and flashing thing. And even after reading the guide, I’m still puzzled.

I have successfully ripped one (!) BD, but trying to rip another one (FullHD), I am getting lots of errors (MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading).

I still don’t know if my drive needs flashing and if this is the reason of these errors. Is it? Does "enabled" here mean the copy protection is enabled or does it mean the drive has been enabled to read BD’s?

Code: Select all

   Firmware date: 2018-11-28
   Status: Enabled
   Drive platform: RS8A10
   Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-US04
   Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
   Firmware version: 1.11

Code: Select all

./makemkvcon f -l
Found 1 drives(s)
00: /IOBDServices/DFA601A1, /dev/rdisk2, /dev/rdisk2
  PIONEER_BD-RW___BDR-UD04_1.11_TEDL038041WL

Could anyone tell me how to proceed? Where to download firmware (if needed)?

Thanks a lot,

gc

dont need to be flashed.
those errors are usually caused by a bad or dirty disc.
clean the disc
replace the disc
clean the drive lasers.

[ghostserverd]

Any reason not to pick up this BP50NB40 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lg-8x-exte ... Id=9243009 with an expectation to be able to flash it to rip UHD Bluray disks via makemkv?

Is the only way to determine "SVC NS50+ LG only on label for NB drives NB50+" to buy it and make sure it only has the LG label on it? Or is there something in the listing I should be looking for?