Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2026

[austeros]

Has anyone successfully done
Ashoka Season 1 UHD
Loki Season 2 UHD
Mandalorian Season 3 UHD
Hawkeye Season 1 UHD

Thank you

yes to all.

[mm13579]

Is it a problem if the disc says have never been played in a 4k player before trying to do them?
As I stated they show up but then once they spin down it says no disc. But I can do other 4K movies like labyrinth, Jumanji and Deadpool versus wolverine.

And I have zero issues with any Blu-ray or DVD?

[dcoke22]

Is it a problem if the disc says have never been played in a 4k player before trying to do them?

No. I rip 4K movies all the time. I don't even own a 4K disc player.

[Mr_Orange]

Is it a problem if the disc says have never been played in a 4k player before trying to do them?

No. I rip 4K movies all the time. I don't even own a 4K disc player.

Same. I have never owned a UHD player.

[Cubedxd]

Hello, I am very new at this and am a little confused on what drive to purchase.
I am currently looking at purchasing a drive but it looks like they are all sold out on amazon.

Any tips on which one to buy that is currently in stock?

Thanks!

[dcoke22]

Hello, I am very new at this and am a little confused on what drive to purchase.
I am currently looking at purchasing a drive but it looks like they are all sold out on amazon.

Any tips on which one to buy that is currently in stock?

Thanks!

I've answered this question a couple of times recently, so I'll just link those posts.

https://forum.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=170199#p170199
https://forum.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=170492#p170492

[Titanic]

Is there likely to ever be a way to downgrade the firmware of Pioneer drives made post 2022 or does it seem to be an insurmountable technical barrier that will make it forever impossible?

[nawfal07]

Hi everyone, first of all thank you so much for this wonderful thread, you guys are amazing.

I’m very new, I have thousands of BDs, a good number of them is 4K UHD and now I decided to back them up into MKV with bit-perfect quality. Found out about MakeMKV, which is also a superb software and plan to buy it if I can get a working drive.

Want to buy a pre-flashed drive, particularly from Asmcom but his eBay page says he’s away and the products seem to be out of stock. Other sellers here don’t ship to my country.

Been reading this thread the last couple of days, got until page 23 but I’ve found an LG WH16NS60 drive with special price that will end in a few hours so I need to find out the answer quickly I can’t wait until I finish reading the entire thread.

It says this in the description:

“New LG WH16NS60 Super Multi Blue Internal SATA 16x Blu-ray Disc Rewriter
LG WH16NS40 Flashed to WH16NS60 Firmware v1.00 4K UHD FRIENDLY UNLOCKED Discs- Bare Internal Drive”

Asked the seller he said all he knows it can play 4K UHD discs but no idea if it can rip them.

So my question is, can it rip discs right out the box? Or do I still need to flash the firmware?

Thank you in advance for any help!

The drive just arrived, my country not so far from China usually arrives in one week but this time it took 20 days with tracking barely active after a week got me scared a bit. But the drive is brand new, looks very well made.

Best thing is that it’s 100% plug & play, connect with a powered SATA-USB adapter (5-year-old UGREEN, just lazy to open the CPU), detected in seconds. I put the ARRIVAL UHD disc and just start ripping. Took 35 minutes, not sure if that’s slow but good enough for me. I’m finally ripping UHD discs!

[Billycar11]

Hi everyone, first of all thank you so much for this wonderful thread, you guys are amazing.

I’m very new, I have thousands of BDs, a good number of them is 4K UHD and now I decided to back them up into MKV with bit-perfect quality. Found out about MakeMKV, which is also a superb software and plan to buy it if I can get a working drive.

Want to buy a pre-flashed drive, particularly from Asmcom but his eBay page says he’s away and the products seem to be out of stock. Other sellers here don’t ship to my country.

Been reading this thread the last couple of days, got until page 23 but I’ve found an LG WH16NS60 drive with special price that will end in a few hours so I need to find out the answer quickly I can’t wait until I finish reading the entire thread.

It says this in the description:

“New LG WH16NS60 Super Multi Blue Internal SATA 16x Blu-ray Disc Rewriter
LG WH16NS40 Flashed to WH16NS60 Firmware v1.00 4K UHD FRIENDLY UNLOCKED Discs- Bare Internal Drive”

Asked the seller he said all he knows it can play 4K UHD discs but no idea if it can rip them.

So my question is, can it rip discs right out the box? Or do I still need to flash the firmware?

Thank you in advance for any help!

The drive just arrived, my country not so far from China usually arrives in one week but this time it took 20 days with tracking barely active after a week got me scared a bit. But the drive is brand new, looks very well made.

Best thing is that it’s 100% plug & play, connect with a powered SATA-USB adapter (5-year-old UGREEN, just lazy to open the CPU), detected in seconds. I put the ARRIVAL UHD disc and just start ripping. Took 35 minutes, not sure if that’s slow but good enough for me. I’m finally ripping UHD discs!

seen this one other time not sure whats up with that pretty sure they are re stickered

[austeros]

Can a Pioneer BDR-XS07 with 2020-09-03 firmware be flashed to work with UHD?

I know there is a UHD version of this drive, but sadly I purchased the grey model back in 2021. The drive does work with BDXL discs but it does not mount the UHD Blu-ray disc. Thanks in advance.

Drive Information
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR-XS07
Revision: 1.01
Serial number: ...
Firmware date: 2020-09-03
Bus encryption flags: 13
Highest AACS version: 77

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8E20
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-BDS7
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 1.01
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

[Coopervid]

Can a Pioneer BDR-XS07 with 2020-09-03 firmware be flashed to work with UHD?

I know there is a UHD version of this drive, but sadly I purchased the grey model back in 2021. The drive does work with BDXL discs but it does not mount the UHD Blu-ray disc. Thanks in advance.

Drive Information
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR-XS07
Revision: 1.01
Serial number: ...
Firmware date: 2020-09-03
Bus encryption flags: 13
Highest AACS version: 77

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8E20
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-BDS7
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 1.01
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

PM sent.

[mm13579]

Figured out my issue got another bu40n and it works for everything my old one was manufactured in 2019 I think it was just burned out because of age new drive is 2024 dated.

Thank you everyone for assistance

[Shermin3656]

I'm having issues with one of my drives. It's a Pioneer BDR-XD05 and won't read any discs. I have tried multiple blu rays and dvds but it still won't read anything. I don't even hear the discs spin and the laser try to read them. I have used both included cable, a micro b to usb A cable, and a micro b to usb-c cable. Nothing has worked so far. The drive will power on but won't read anything.
Drive Information
OS device name: D:
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR-XD05
Revision: 3.10
Serial number:
Firmware date: 2017-06-22
Bus encryption flags: 1B
Highest AACS version: 81

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8232
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-XD05
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 3.10/ID34
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

No disc inserted

[TomEd90]

Could I get some advice on drives please? I'm in England and looking to purchase a drive (likely from Asmcom?) for ripping my large 4k and 3D /blu ray collection. I'll be using a Lenovo Yoga 9i, 2 in 1 laptop, and I'm hoping to use makemkv and remux part of my 3D collection with Atmos with a NAS/Zidoo.

I've not had any of this equipment before so recommendations (or things to avoid) would be appreciated. Are there any particular recommended devices? It seems like pioneer is best but these vary from £100 to £400. What is the benefit of going for a more expensive drive over say the Verbatim 43888 with pioneer drive at £100? And are drives with enclosures any different to slimline drives? Faster, quieter? Etc. I'd prefer to keep it in the lower part of the price bracket, but if the step up from the verbatim to other pioneer devices in the £200 bracket are worth the jump in will certainly consider them.

Please let me know if any other info would be useful, or if there is somewhere with this info already that I'm missing. The start of this thread does recommend a big list of drives but not much in the way of info between them for me to research the best drive for the money/use case. Many thanks

[asmcom]

Based on our experience, the Verbatim drive hasn't been the most reliable, with about a 5% failure rate. We wouldn’t recommend this model.

For a dependable option, any of the retail Pioneer drives would be a great choice. The Pioneer BDR-XD07TB/S, in particular, will work perfectly for your needs.

I assume you'll be copying to ISO to preserve all your full menus and extras, then mounting the ISO container with your Zidoo. That sounds like a solid setup!

For your convenience, here's a link to a top-loader drive that’s slightly more expensive than the Verbatim but offers significantly better reliability:
BDR-XD07TS with BDR-XD07TUHD

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further advice!

Kind regards,
Asmcom
UHD Friendly Drives Team"

https://shop.uhdfriendlydrives.co.uk/pr ... r-xd07tuhd