Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2026

[babayaga]

I am hoping someone can explain what I might have done wrong. I have a LG Slim Portable Bluray (model WP50NB40), manufactured January 2025 with ROM Version 1.03.

I run Debian Linux and had MakeMKV 1.18.1 and 1.17.3 on my machine, following the guides linux instructions pointed me at the following:

• All You Need Firmware
  sdf.bin

I extracted out the All you need firmware and under 'Slim External Drives' I found the firmware: DE_LG_WP50NB40-NB50_1.03_MK.bin I copied this and sdf.bin to /tmp
I confirmed via MakeMKV I had Drive platform: MT1959. Running the following command:

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/opt/makeMKV/makemkv-bin-1.17.3/bin/amd64/makemkvcon f -l
Found 1 drives(s)
00: dev_21:0, /dev/sr0, /dev/sr0
 HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_WP50NB40_1.03_212005070929_SIM03P1ED4008

Allowed me to then come up with this command:

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/opt/makeMKV/makemkv-bin-1.17.3/bin/amd64/makemkvcon f -d 'dev_21:0' -f /tmp/sdf.bin rawflash main -i /tmp/DE_LG_WP50NB40-NB50_1.03_MK.bin
Reading input file /tmp/DE_LG_WP50NB40-NB50_1.03_MK.bin
Flashing flags = 0x0 : 0 0 0 0 : ---- ---- ---- ----
Current Drive ID: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_WP50NB40_1.03_212005070929_SIM03P1ED4008
DEBUG: Code 117637252 at WE.XL2l#sw!$NUIlW7VJ4r~ Qxq02oRB:213132261
Desktop drive handshake failed with error=0x07030084, trying slim drive handshake...
Ready to write drive flash memory.
Type "yes" to continue, "no" to abort
yes
Operation started: Sending flash image to drive
100% Operation finished                                 
Operation started: Programming flash
100% Operation finished                                 
Done successfully

I have 4 different 4k Bluray films (bought at various times with the standard Bluray), inserting the standard Bluray, makemkv is able to see and rip from the disc, inserting any 4k BluRay results in the disc being spun and restarted multiple times until no disc has been found.
MakeMKV is telling me the firmware is installed:

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Drive Information
OS device name: /dev/sr0
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WP50NB40
Revision: 1.03
Serial number: SIM03P1ED4008
Firmware date: 2120-05-07 09:29
Bus encryption flags: 17
Highest AACS version: 81

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
Firmware type: Patched (microcode access re-enabled)
Firmware version: 1.03
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

No disc inserted

I've read through the instructions and noticed the post above saying I'm at the half way point, but after the linux instructions it goes to troubleshooting for errors I am not seeing. I also tried watching a few of the videos but I can't see what I have done wrong.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I'm not sure, but was or wasn't your firmware encrypted to begin with?

not sure this works better, but maybe

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/opt/makeMKV/makemkv-bin-1.17.3/bin/amd64/makemkvcon f -d /dev/sr0 -f /tmp/sdf.bin rawflash enc -i /tmp/DE_LG_WP50NB40-NB50_1.03_MK.bin

[justForThisOnePost]

The guide in the first post is great. I deeply appreciate the effort and work BillyCar, MartyMyNuts, et all put in. Really excellent. But it's also very generalized. So here is what I did, using their work, to get my specific drive working. The hope is just to help people with the same setup have more specific directions. (Or maybe just for me if I have to do it again ever)

The drive is a WP50NB40 "LG Super Multi Blue Slim Portable", service code NB52. Flashing from a Mac on Tahoe 26.2.

This zip file has all required files. (MakeMkv 17.7, the two firmwares, sdf.bin). Copied out of the first post, just the ones you need, in one place. - https://drive.proton.me/urls/1HPEN2MT1W#9N7T0ZFU5SdL

1. Install the old (17.7) version of MakeMkv. Try to open it, get the security warning, bypass the warning in "System Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Open Anyway".
1.b. It won't actually run after that. Just crashes when you try. Doesn't matter. We're just going to be using a utility installed with it, from the command line. When we're finished with the flashing, we can remove this old version and use the current version.

2. Open the terminal. Change your working directory to /Applications/MakeMKV.app/Contents/MacOS/ ( "cd /Applications/MakeMKV.app/Contents/MacOS/" )

3. Run the command "./makemkvcon f -l", copy the part that says "/IOBDServices/XXXXXXXX" to notepad.

4. Copy the two firmwares and sdf.bin (from attached zip) to /tmp ( "cp 'path to where you extracted them' /tmp" )

5. Flash the first firmware, "HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BP50NB40-NB50-1.03-NM00800-212005070917.bin". The current firmware is encrypted, so the command is the second one in the guide.
5.b. It's easier to write the command in notepad, and copy it into the terminal. So copy this, replace the XXXXXXX with the numbers you copied earlier, and then paste into the terminal.

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./makemkvcon f -d '/IOBDServices/XXXXXXXX' -f /tmp/sdf.bin rawflash enc -i /tmp/HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_BP50NB40-NB50-1.03-NM00800-212005070917.bin

6. Unplug the drive, wait 5 seconds, plug it back in.

7. Run "./makemkvcon f -l" again, if the numbers changed, copy them into notepad again.

8. Flash the second firmware, "DE_LG_BP60NB10_1.00_MK_HBD.bin". It's no longer encrypted, so use the first command from the guide.
8.b. Do the whole copy it into notepad, paste into the terminal dance again.

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./makemkvcon f -d /IOBDServices/XXXXXXXX -f /tmp/sdf.bin rawflash main -i /tmp/DE_LG_BP60NB10_1.00_MK_HBD.bin

9. Unplug the drive, wait 5 seconds, plug it back in.

10. Install the latest version of MakeMkv, see your UHD.