Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2025

[Billycar11]

hi @ all and thanks for this great project.

a friend gave me an old external LG BP55EB40 he did not have any use for any longer. It doesn't read UHD discs so he bought another device.
I checked the specs and just wanted to make sure i don't screw it up.

i made a backup with SDFtool Flasher.

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Drive Information
OS device name: D:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BP55EB40
Revision: 1.00
Serial number: MD[CENSORED]
Firmware date: 2115-04-22 15:34
Bus encryption flags: 17
Highest AACS version: 72

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 1.00
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

I unscrewed the external usb case and the drive itself says: MODEL: BU20N

i would flash "HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BP55EB40-NB50-1.03-NM00800-212005070924.bin" from this thread viewtopic.php?f=19&t=19113
using this command

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.\makemkvcon64.exe f --all-yes -d D: rawflash -i C:\Users\flashgordon\Downloads\HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BP55EB40-NB50-1.03-NM00800-212005070924.bin

is this correct or unnecessary risk?

much appreciated and have a good day

No do not flash that drive it will brick

[MartyMcNuts]

Would these drives work after flashing? They don't appear in the list of proven drives but I am unable to find any of those here in the EU

LG BH16NS40
Hitachi-LG Data Storage BH16NS55

BH16NS55 is in the list.
WH16NS40 is in the list. (WH/BH drives are the same thing)

[HotJuicyBurgers]

Hey all, been trying to flash my drive in linux, but my drive name is different than everyone elses. Anyone know what is up?

[root@8c4041fefc7c bin]# ./makemkvcon f -l
Found 1 drives(s)
00: dev_21:2, /dev/sr0, /dev/sr0
HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__WH14NS40_1.05_212005061444_KX1OC9E4345

Bumping this again just in case,

I was asking about the format of my drive name being different (dev_21:2) because when I try to flash my drive the operation never finishes, and I'm guessing it isn't finding the drive? Not sure if anyone has run into this.

When I run the command it accepts it, but then nothing ever happens essentially, but also the drive isn't bricked or anything, still works fine and is visible in makemkv.

[KingMope]

Hey all. So I bought this drive (LG WH16NS40) many years back, and until now I've only used it for regular BDs. Before I purchase my first UHD disc, I want to make sure I'll be able to rip it.

The drive was manufactured in April of 2017, has SVC NS50 on the label and meets all the other requirements specified in the first post. (See image below.)



I'm new to this process so apologies if my question is a stupid one. (I promise I searched various threads, but there are a lot of posts to sort through!) I know the OP says "All of these drives will need to be flashed to unlock UHD Reading/Ripping," but does this apply even if the drive is already on version 1.02? I just wanted to make sure flashing is still necessary before doing so (though it sounds like it's a good idea anyway if it fixes the sleep bug).

Thanks so much for your help, and to everyone who provided the tools and info to make this process simple for people like me!