Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2026

[MartyMcNuts]

I ended up returning the drive. I think this one was a bit complicated for me. Do you have any recommendations on drives below $200 USD? I don't really have the budget to buy one alr flashed so I will have to deal with one I need to flash on my own. I was looking at getting the BP60NB10 or an actual BU40 instead. Thoughts?

Verbatim 43887 (normally a Pioneer BDR-UD03), 43888 (contains a LG BU40N), 43889 (contains a LG BU40N) or 43890 (can be either a Pioneer BDR-UD03 or a LG BU40N).

Tried looking for some of these online and it doesn't seem like any are available right now and all are on back order. Any other recommendations?

Well, it is going to be quite difficult to find anything these days, as I said, none of them are being manufactured and the worrld's supply is dwindling extremely fast!

Maybe the ASUS BW-16D1X-U would be the best bet. It may contain either a Pioneer or a LG drive inside. I have no idea on the price though. You might just have to bite the bullet and pay the extra for a Pioneer BDR-XD08 from Billycar11 while he still has some left. At least these are already prepared and tested for UHD so you know it will work for you out of the box.

[austincummings0324]

Verbatim 43887 (normally a Pioneer BDR-UD03), 43888 (contains a LG BU40N), 43889 (contains a LG BU40N) or 43890 (can be either a Pioneer BDR-UD03 or a LG BU40N).

Tried looking for some of these online and it doesn't seem like any are available right now and all are on back order. Any other recommendations?

Well, it is going to be quite difficult to find anything these days, as I said, none of them are being manufactured and the worrld's supply is dwindling extremely fast!

Maybe the ASUS BW-16D1X-U would be the best bet. It may contain either a Pioneer or a LG drive inside. I have no idea on the price though. You might just have to bite the bullet and pay the extra for a Pioneer BDR-XD08 from Billycar11 while he still has some left. At least these are already prepared and tested for UHD so you know it will work for you out of the box.

I thought ASUS drives were ASUS manufactured. I don't see it on the main page of drives. Is it like the verbatim drives where they just encase the main drive with their branding and sell it as their own? The price is manageable for me but I think I may agree with you in possibly needing to bite the bullet and get one from Billycar...

[MartyMcNuts]

Tried looking for some of these online and it doesn't seem like any are available right now and all are on back order. Any other recommendations?

Well, it is going to be quite difficult to find anything these days, as I said, none of them are being manufactured and the worrld's supply is dwindling extremely fast!

Maybe the ASUS BW-16D1X-U would be the best bet. It may contain either a Pioneer or a LG drive inside. I have no idea on the price though. You might just have to bite the bullet and pay the extra for a Pioneer BDR-XD08 from Billycar11 while he still has some left. At least these are already prepared and tested for UHD so you know it will work for you out of the box.

I thought ASUS drives were ASUS manufactured. I don't see it on the main page of drives. Is it like the verbatim drives where they just encase the main drive with their branding and sell it as their own? The price is manageable for me but I think I may agree with you in possibly needing to bite the bullet and get one from Billycar...

ASUS don't make drives, they OEM them from LG & Pioneer just like Verbatim. I assume pretty soon, that will be it for Verbatim and ASUS too as they won't be able to source any more drives.

I've noticed over the past few days, people have found some Verbatim's (the 43890 I think) at Staples (not online but at a physical store) and Office Depot stores. You could try there...

There's also one on Amazon called XrtFore which has a LG BU40N inside. No idea on the quality of the enclosure though... viewtopic.php?p=192551#p192551

[TechSmid]

Good evening,

I'm trying to figure out how to flash my Verbatim.
I've looked at all the descriptions and videos, but I don't understand which flasher I should use.
This is my drive info:

Drive Information
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU40N
Revision: 1.05
Serial number: ****
Firmware date: 2124-04-23 13:47
Bus encryption flags: 17
Highest AACS version: 82

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

Kind regards,
Rick

I think I have the exact same drive as you, also a Verbatim with the exact same drive information.
I found this repo which worked for me: https://github.com/nxyzo/Flashing-Verba ... -to-1.03MK

I am now on Revision 1.03 with fully enabled libredrive

Thank you very much, it worked!

[mutoad]

Worked like a charm!
Many thanks!

[mannduro]

hi, this is my Drive (external USB 3.0 Drive)

Laufwerksinformation
OS-Gerätename: E:
Produzent: ASUS
Produkt: BW-16D1H-U
Revision: A101
Serienummer: K92F3JC0726
Firmware-Datum: 2114-12-08 09:59
Markierungen der Bus-Verschlüsselung: 1F
Highest AACS version: 68

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1939
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 0.A101W
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Partial
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

How do i make this read UHD discs ?

You don't it's 12+ years old
Don't flash it. It will die

I am saddened to the ground... What a waste of money...SHIT

[mannduro]

hi, this is my Drive (external USB 3.0 Drive)

Laufwerksinformation
OS-Gerätename: E:
Produzent: ASUS
Produkt: BW-16D1H-U
Revision: A101
Serienummer: K92F3JC0726
Firmware-Datum: 2114-12-08 09:59
Markierungen der Bus-Verschlüsselung: 1F
Highest AACS version: 68

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1939
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 0.A101W
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Partial
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

How do i make this read UHD discs ?

You don't it's 12+ years old
Don't flash it. It will die

The packaging gives me different information.

[MartyMcNuts]

hi, this is my Drive (external USB 3.0 Drive)



How do i make this read UHD discs ?

You don't it's 12+ years old
Don't flash it. It will die

The packaging gives me different information.

You've been scammed. One pic shows BW-16D1X-U and another shows BW-16D1H-U which are different models. The other pic shows manufactured in 2016 yet the firmware is from 2014 and it has the old, incompatible MT1939 drive platform which ended in 2015 when they switched to the newer MT1959 drive platform.

[austincummings0324]

Well, it is going to be quite difficult to find anything these days, as I said, none of them are being manufactured and the worrld's supply is dwindling extremely fast!

Maybe the ASUS BW-16D1X-U would be the best bet. It may contain either a Pioneer or a LG drive inside. I have no idea on the price though. You might just have to bite the bullet and pay the extra for a Pioneer BDR-XD08 from Billycar11 while he still has some left. At least these are already prepared and tested for UHD so you know it will work for you out of the box.

I thought ASUS drives were ASUS manufactured. I don't see it on the main page of drives. Is it like the verbatim drives where they just encase the main drive with their branding and sell it as their own? The price is manageable for me but I think I may agree with you in possibly needing to bite the bullet and get one from Billycar...

ASUS don't make drives, they OEM them from LG & Pioneer just like Verbatim. I assume pretty soon, that will be it for Verbatim and ASUS too as they won't be able to source any more drives.

I've noticed over the past few days, people have found some Verbatim's (the 43890 I think) at Staples (not online but at a physical store) and Office Depot stores. You could try there...

There's also one on Amazon called XrtFore which has a LG BU40N inside. No idea on the quality of the enclosure though... viewtopic.php?p=192551#p192551

There’s no Office Depot near me that Carry’s them. I just stopped by the ones on my route home from work to check. The XRTfore is available on Amazon for $99. I assume the enclosure is just the case and not the actual drive itself that you’re refer to about unknown quality. I’ll look into that one as well as double check the asus one you recommended too. I saw Billy offers remote flashing so I plan on reaching out to him and seeing what that’s about as it may be a way I can still get a safe product while staying in my budget. I appreciate the help!!!

[mannduro]

You don't it's 12+ years old
Don't flash it. It will die

The packaging gives me different information.

You've been scammed. One pic shows BW-16D1X-U and another shows BW-16D1H-U which are different models. The other pic shows manufactured in 2016 yet the firmware is from 2014 and it has the old, incompatible MT1939 drive platform which ended in 2015 when they switched to the newer MT1959 drive platform.

Well I'm new to these things. I will be more cautious about Modells and version numbers..
Thanks for explanation

[comadose]

I was able to get mine unlocked for free by asking nicely over on the cdrinfo.pl forum. Saved myself $80.

[jjgarcia]

Hey everyone,

My Pioneer drive sometimes is unable to rip certain blurays.

Is there a firmware flash for the libreDrive?

Is this related to also the ability to read UHD discs or is that something else?

Any help would be much appreciated. Here is my drive info from MakeMKV

Thanks in advance,

Drive Information
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Product: BD-RW BDR-XD05
Revision: 3.01
Serial number: PBDL028907UC
Firmware date: 2014-12-26
Bus encryption flags: 1B
Highest AACS version: 70

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8231
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-XD05
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: 3.01/ID34
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

[kawabago]

Hi billy
for linux you say don't use any sdf.bin version later than 1.17 but the only download is 1.18 so is it now safe to flash under linux with the 1.18 version?
Also the only firmware file was the BU40N-1.04 in the download bundle. Is that the one to use? There is a BU40N-1.03 in the OLD folder. I'm being extra careful as I don't want to brick my drive.
Thank you!

[Billycar11]

Hi billy
for linux you say don't use any sdf.bin version later than 1.17 but the only download is 1.18 so is it now safe to flash under linux with the 1.18 version?
Also the only firmware file was the BU40N-1.04 in the download bundle. Is that the one to use? There is a BU40N-1.03 in the OLD folder. I'm being extra careful as I don't want to brick my drive.
Thank you!

for some 1.18+ does not work on linux but for others it is fine.
it is safe to try and flash worst case it just hangs and nothing happens.
the all you need fw pack has 1.03

[mannduro]

I was able to get mine unlocked for free by asking nicely over on the cdrinfo.pl forum. Saved myself $80.

Was this recommendation about my ODD ?