Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2025

[goestoeleven]

Hi gang. Newb here and very late to the party. There are hundreds of pages here, so I hope you'll forgive the question and help a brother out:

Just picked up an LG drive from OWC. It's not currently reading UHD disks, even though the techs there said it could.

Here's what MakeMKV is reporting:

Drive Information
OS device name: \Device\CdRom1
Current profile: BD-ROM
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BH16NS40
Revision: 1.05
Serial number: <redacted>
Firmware date: 2120-05-06 13:31
Bus encryption flags: 17
Highest AACS version: 81

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible (with patched firmware)
Drive platform: MT1959
Harware support: Yes
Firmware support: No
Firmware type: Original (patched version available)
Firmware version: 1.05
DVD all regions: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw data read: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw metadata read: Possible (with patched firmware)
Unrestricted read speed: Possible (with patched firmware)

Out of the box it can read BD Audio disks, but it can't see UHD disks. It also seems to not be able to read the MLP tracks on DVD-Audio disks (just the DD content). Is there a firmware I can use to make both UHD and DVD-A ripping possible?

I'm reasonably technical and can follow a procedure if I've got the right tools.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi! were you able to get it flashed? I have the same drive

Yes, with help from Billy I am in business! Money well spent!

[sevoflurane]

ANother newbie here, though I am a long standing MakeMKV user and have been an avid ripper of CDs, DVDs of all types and SACDs for years. I have only one UHD BD, and am wondering if the following drive would be capable of ripping it so I can play the rip on my 4K TV.

Drive Information
OS device name: E:
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR-209M
Revision: 8.11
Serial number: redacted.
Firmware date: 2014-01-16
Bus encryption flags: 1B
Highest AACS version: 82

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8600
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-209
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 8.11/ID52
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

No disc inserted.

Note that the drive is in a Buffalo enclosure and was marketed at a BRXL 16U3. I have seen comments here stating that some Buffalo enclosures prevent flashing, and could remove the drive and rehouse it in the Icy Box enclosure that currently houses an older LG BD drive used for CD ripping.

I think the last time I flashed the firmware of an optical drive was over 20 years ago to make it region free, so I am somewhat out of practice. I will keep on reading the vast amount of information on this forum to educate myself further, but if anyone knows and has a quick answer it would be much appreciated!

[Coopervid]

ANother newbie here, though I am a long standing MakeMKV user and have been an avid ripper of CDs, DVDs of all types and SACDs for years. I have only one UHD BD, and am wondering if the following drive would be capable of ripping it so I can play the rip on my 4K TV.

Drive Information
OS device name: E:
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR-209M
Revision: 8.11
Serial number: redacted.
Firmware date: 2014-01-16
Bus encryption flags: 1B
Highest AACS version: 82

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8600
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-209
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 8.11/ID52
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

No disc inserted.

Note that the drive is in a Buffalo enclosure and was marketed at a BRXL 16U3. I have seen comments here stating that some Buffalo enclosures prevent flashing, and could remove the drive and rehouse it in the Icy Box enclosure that currently houses an older LG BD drive used for CD ripping.

I think the last time I flashed the firmware of an optical drive was over 20 years ago to make it region free, so I am somewhat out of practice. I will keep on reading the vast amount of information on this forum to educate myself further, but if anyone knows and has a quick answer it would be much appreciated!

PM sent.

[WackaYoshida]

I think the last time I flashed the firmware of an optical drive was over 20 years ago to make it region free, so I am somewhat out of practice. I will keep on reading the vast amount of information on this forum to educate myself further, but if anyone knows and has a quick answer it would be much appreciated!

I'm very much in the same boat. If anyone's willing to assist me on this, do let me know. Here's some info on my drive:

Drive Information
OS device name: F:
Current profile: BD-ROM
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BP71N
Revision: 1.01
Serial number: SIK01L3MC2102
Firmware date: 2120-09-07 11:43
Bus encryption flags: 1F
Highest AACS version: 82

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible (with patched firmware)
Drive platform: MT1959
Harware support: Yes
Firmware support: No
Firmware type: Original (patched version available)
Firmware version: 1.01
DVD all regions: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw data read: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw metadata read: Possible (with patched firmware)
Unrestricted read speed: Possible (with patched firmware)

[sevoflurane]

ANother newbie here, though I am a long standing MakeMKV user and have been an avid ripper of CDs, DVDs of all types and SACDs for years. I have only one UHD BD, and am wondering if the following drive would be capable of ripping it so I can play the rip on my 4K TV.

Drive Information
OS device name: E:
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR-209M
Revision: 8.11
Serial number: redacted.
Firmware date: 2014-01-16
Bus encryption flags: 1B
Highest AACS version: 82

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8600
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-209
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 8.11/ID52
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

No disc inserted.

Note that the drive is in a Buffalo enclosure and was marketed at a BRXL 16U3. I have seen comments here stating that some Buffalo enclosures prevent flashing, and could remove the drive and rehouse it in the Icy Box enclosure that currently houses an older LG BD drive used for CD ripping.

I think the last time I flashed the firmware of an optical drive was over 20 years ago to make it region free, so I am somewhat out of practice. I will keep on reading the vast amount of information on this forum to educate myself further, but if anyone knows and has a quick answer it would be much appreciated!

PM sent.

Many thanks. I have gone from the UHD BD not even being recognised to ripping it in a matter of minutes.

[MartyMcNuts]

I think the last time I flashed the firmware of an optical drive was over 20 years ago to make it region free, so I am somewhat out of practice. I will keep on reading the vast amount of information on this forum to educate myself further, but if anyone knows and has a quick answer it would be much appreciated!

I'm very much in the same boat. If anyone's willing to assist me on this, do let me know. Here's some info on my drive:

Drive Information
OS device name: F:
Current profile: BD-ROM
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BP71N
Revision: 1.01
Serial number: SIK01L3MC2102
Firmware date: 2120-09-07 11:43
Bus encryption flags: 1F
Highest AACS version: 82

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible (with patched firmware)
Drive platform: MT1959
Harware support: Yes
Firmware support: No
Firmware type: Original (patched version available)
Firmware version: 1.01
DVD all regions: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw data read: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw metadata read: Possible (with patched firmware)
Unrestricted read speed: Possible (with patched firmware)

If this is a slim drive (Buffalo maybe?) it would be a LG BU40N. If so, you can flash it to BU40N 1.03-MK

[WackaYoshida]

If this is a slim drive (Buffalo maybe?) it would be a LG BU40N.
[/quote]

It's a slim drive, Japanese Logitec. The name on the box says "LBD-LPWAWU3ND Series". It's an ultra-HD drive capable of CD, DVD and BD ripping. This one to be exact: https://www.logitec.co.jp/products/blur ... /index.php

If so, you can flash it to BU40N 1.03-MK
[/quote]

Roger that! Where can I find this firmware? And how do I perform the flashing in question?

[MartyMcNuts]

If this is a slim drive (Buffalo maybe?) it would be a LG BU40N.

It's a slim drive, Japanese Logitec. The name on the box says "LBD-LPWAWU3ND Series". It's an ultra-HD drive capable of CD, DVD and BD ripping. This one to be exact: https://www.logitec.co.jp/products/blur ... /index.php

If so, you can flash it to BU40N 1.03-MK
[/quote]

Roger that! Where can I find this firmware? And how do I perform the flashing in question?
[/quote]

First post of this thread or the first post of the SDFtool Flasher thread.

[WackaYoshida]

Thank you kindly Marty! Much appreciated!

[chronomac]

I've got a LG BP50NB40 drive that is currently on the BP60NB10 1.00 (211711211720) firmware. It's been working fine until last night when it stopped reading discs. I was going to send it to LG for repair but I want to flash the firmware back to the drive-appropriate 1.03 firmware ahead of time. I tried using the RECOVER option in SDFtool, with what I think is the 1.00 hybrid .bin file from the OP here and the clean 1.00 I found elsewhere, to no avail. It says it completed but it still shows the BP60 1.00 FW. What am I doing wrong here?

[Amos_Burton]

Hey guys!
I'm starting to look into saving my physical blu-ray collection into a digital one in order to avoid potentially losing them in the future.
As one can notice, I ended here (coming from the LTT video from a bit more than a year ago).

As a software engineer, I'm trying to understand what's behind the scene regarding all the steps that are linked in the tutorial on first page.
I do understand the need for a drive that can read Blu-Rays (duh), but then I fall a bit short on what the flashing step is supposed to be for.
Can someone explains a bit what it does? Is it to enable 4K HDR support on drives that does not have it? Is it to enable reading protected blu-rays as if they were not? Both, something else?

Also, it seems that, at least in France, most of the drives referenced in the tutorial are not available anymore to purchase.
The only exception is the Buffalo BRUHD-PU3-BK which I do find on Amazon, but it is quite expensive.
Do you have any recommandation there? It seems that the Asmcom website that would deliver pre-flashed drives is not available at the time (getting connection errors when trying to go there).

Thanks in advance

Hi, I'm from France and having the same issue here - can you PM me ? So we can discuss about it a bit

[skywinder21]

Hey guys, I'm working on getting a Buffalo housed BRXL-16U3 reading UHD disks.

Looks like it's a fully repackaged Pioneed BDR-209M running BDR-212T firmware.

Drive Information
OS device name: \Device\CdRom0
Current profile: BD-ROM
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR-209M
Revision: 8.53
Serial number:
Firmware date: 2019-03-07
Bus encryption flags: 1B
Highest AACS version: 77

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8F00
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-212T
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 8.53/ID52
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

What do I need to do to flash it for UHD?

Thanks in advance!

[Coopervid]

Hey guys, I'm working on getting a Buffalo housed BRXL-16U3 reading UHD disks.

Looks like it's a fully repackaged Pioneed BDR-209M running BDR-212T firmware.

Drive Information
OS device name: \Device\CdRom0
Current profile: BD-ROM
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR-209M
Revision: 8.53
Serial number:
Firmware date: 2019-03-07
Bus encryption flags: 1B
Highest AACS version: 77

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8F00
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-212T
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 8.53/ID52
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

What do I need to do to flash it for UHD?

Thanks in advance!

PM sent.

[xunil76]

Getting an error when trying to run SDFtool Flasher that says "ERROR: MakeMKV installation not found. Please install MakeMKV."

Thing is, I have MakeMKV v1.18.2 installed and registered

Tried to upload a screenshot, but it's saying "Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached."

[Coopervid]

Getting an error when trying to run SDFtool Flasher that says "ERROR: MakeMKV installation not found. Please install MakeMKV."

Thing is, I have MakeMKV v1.18.2 installed and registered

Probably in a non-default location. So copy SDFTool Flasher to that location. You can find it in "View" "Preferences" "General" when you run Makemkv. You made it difficult in the first place yourself.