Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2026

[mecking]

I am a newbie and have bought an LG drive: BH 16 SN40, Rev. 1.03 with the MT1939 drive platform. Firmware (v. 1.03) is displayed as original (unpatched). Can I flash this drive and with which firmware? I would like to flash an MK-firmware. Is that possible?
Thanks in advance to the team.

[kiranmehta]

Hi I am from India, I have been reading a lot of this forum and gotten very interested in ripping blurays but there are not a lot of options available here in India and those which are available are almost double the price if not more.

Initially I was interested in the latest pioneer drives (BDR xd08-umb-s) but due to firmware support for makemkv unavailable stopped pursuing it. I currently have shortlisted following options for me here in India -

lg wh14ns40 (rupees 11492 i.e USD - )
lg wh16ns40 (rupees 11492 i.e USD - )
ASUS BW-16D1HT (rupees 11492 i.e USD - )

I am leaning towards Asus as i have heard that it handles large disks well without read errors. Also Lg drive i am not sure of the svc version as the seller on amazon is not able to provide this info.

Any recommendations apart from the above are welcome

[Billycar11]

I am a newbie and have bought an LG drive: BH 16 SN40, Rev. 1.03 with the MT1939 drive platform. Firmware (v. 1.03) is displayed as original (unpatched). Can I flash this drive and with which firmware? I would like to flash an MK-firmware. Is that possible?
Thanks in advance to the team.

No that will kill it do not flash that drive

[Billycar11]

Hi I am from India, I have been reading a lot of this forum and gotten very interested in ripping blurays but there are not a lot of options available here in India and those which are available are almost double the price if not more.

Initially I was interested in the latest pioneer drives (BDR xd08-umb-s) but due to firmware support for makemkv unavailable stopped pursuing it. I currently have shortlisted following options for me here in India -

lg wh14ns40 (rupees 11492 i.e USD - )
lg wh16ns40 (rupees 11492 i.e USD - )
ASUS BW-16D1HT (rupees 11492 i.e USD - )

I am leaning towards Asus as i have heard that it handles large disks well without read errors. Also Lg drive i am not sure of the svc version as the seller on amazon is not able to provide this info.

Any recommendations apart from the above are welcome

They are all the same junky drive get the cheapest
It's just the illusion of choice

[kiranmehta]

Hi I am from India, I have been reading a lot of this forum and gotten very interested in ripping blurays but there are not a lot of options available here in India and those which are available are almost double the price if not more.

Initially I was interested in the latest pioneer drives (BDR xd08-umb-s) but due to firmware support for makemkv unavailable stopped pursuing it. I currently have shortlisted following options for me here in India -

lg wh14ns40 (rupees 11492 i.e USD - )
lg wh16ns40 (rupees 11492 i.e USD - )
ASUS BW-16D1HT (rupees 11492 i.e USD - )

I am leaning towards Asus as i have heard that it handles large disks well without read errors. Also Lg drive i am not sure of the svc version as the seller on amazon is not able to provide this info.

Any recommendations apart from the above are welcome

They are all the same junky drive get the cheapest
It's just the illusion of choice

Thanks for replying, will buy one soon!

[ShevyMate]

G'day, Ive recently started getting into the idea of backing up my physical media collection and struggling to figure out if this LG BH16NS40 manufactured in 2014 is capable of ripping. This is my first time doing this so im a bit confused on how to find the information I need. Twould greatly appreciate it if someone could let me know if my drive is compatible, Cheers!

[Woodstock]

2014 means it won't do UHD, so CD/DVD/BD are what you're limited to.

[newmkv]

Ok, bought option 3 LG from Bluntsman here and so far really happy.
-Finally out of the box, managed to rip 2-3 of my 4k discs successfully without any issues using makemkv (licensed) & for some reason, dvdfab has been unsuccessful.
-I strongly recommend Bluntsman here if someone is looking for easy solution without going through too much of hassle.

[kapqa]

hello ,

could flash a 2021 LG NS55 that has 1.05 (encrypted?) with your provided firmware and SPI Flasher
to WH16NS60 1.02 (MK)

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
Firmware type: Patched (microcode access re-enabled)
Firmware version: 1.02
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

No disc inserted

however, the drive is a WH16NS55 and not NS60, so do i need to flash another firmware on top of it to get best results?


thank you very much.

[Billycar11]

hello ,

could flash a 2021 LG NS55 that has 1.05 (encrypted?) with your provided firmware and SPI Flasher
to WH16NS60 1.02 (MK)

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
Firmware type: Patched (microcode access re-enabled)
Firmware version: 1.02
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

No disc inserted

however, the drive is a WH16NS55 and not NS60, so do i need to flash another firmware on top of it to get best results?


thank you very much.

1.02 ns60 will work and is recommend

[kapqa]

thanks,
it seem function well

it give error "scsi error - illegal request: copy protection key exchange failure - key not present' occured while issuing SCSI command A30..00xx............../6E3008AF


when entering and ripping first UHD movie, would process 60 GB File in around 40 Minutes which is fast, albeit in rather loud fashion.


Now my question for Film Aficionados:


This UHD has practically (according to MakeMKV) 2 titles, both are 58.9GB, and seem to contain the same files. Why is that so?
I have ripped only title 1.

Code: Select all

Title information
Name: G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra
Source file name: 00800.[u]mpls[/u]
Duration: 1:57:59
Chapters count: 20
Size: 58.9 GB
Segment count: 1
Segment map: 70
File name: G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra_t00.mkv

Code: Select all

Title information
Name: G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra
Source file name: 00070.[u]m2ts[/u]
Duration: 1:57:59
Size: 58.9 GB
Segment count: 1
Segment map: 70
File name: G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra_t01.mkv

[dcoke22]

They're the same segment map, so they're the same movie. Does one of the titles seem to just be English and Japanese and the other title is English and other languages?

For Disney movies, it is often the case that the title that's 00800.mpls is the English one and the other titles are other languages, but G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) is a Paramount release, so that rule of thumb doesn't necessarily apply.

[kapqa]

it has more or less the same languages, and the same subtitles, and also the codecs.,
ok , maybe disc 2 has some language less, subtitle less, but it seems the same otherwise.
i doubt that there are 2 files with each 60gb present.

the download of newest makemkv. has made the error "scsi etc." go away!

content title1
https://ibb.co/LQsxQtS
https://ibb.co/ZYvJ9rg

content title2
https://ibb.co/LpTmVCx
https://ibb.co/XsrWjts

[MartyMcNuts]

thanks,
it seem function well

it give error "scsi error - illegal request: copy protection key exchange failure - key not present' occured while issuing SCSI command A30..00xx............../6E3008AF


when entering and ripping first UHD movie, would process 60 GB File in around 40 Minutes which is fast, albeit in rather loud fashion.


Now my question for Film Aficionados:


This UHD has practically (according to MakeMKV) 2 titles, both are 58.9GB, and seem to contain the same files. Why is that so?
I have ripped only title 1.

Code: Select all

Title information
Name: G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra
Source file name: 00800.[u]mpls[/u]
Duration: 1:57:59
Chapters count: 20
Size: 58.9 GB
Segment count: 1
Segment map: 70
File name: G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra_t00.mkv

Code: Select all

Title information
Name: G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra
Source file name: 00070.[u]m2ts[/u]
Duration: 1:57:59
Size: 58.9 GB
Segment count: 1
Segment map: 70
File name: G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra_t01.mkv

Look at the "source file name". On BD/UHD discs, you have both playlist files (.mpls) and the actual video filles (m2ts). Now, often a movie consists of multiple movie (m2ts) files, therefore, you should only be focusing on the playlist files (.mpls) as these contain the complete segment map and also contain any chapter information.

[kapqa]

thank you, understood.

on first page it is written

"The recommended drives are Pioneer's they are much better than Asus and LG but sadly they cant be flashed currently you will have to buy ones with old firmware from sellers for now."

In what way are Pioneer much better, when atleast according to information on page 1 they seem aswell slower?
(at least that is suggestion one gets if consulting the section "drives that currently work are" below the recommendation for Pioneer drives.