Asus BW-16D1HT for quality scanning QL BD-Rs

Discussion of LibreDrive mode, compatible drives and firmwares
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mreru
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2026 2:47 pm

Asus BW-16D1HT for quality scanning QL BD-Rs

Post by mreru »

Hello,
perhaps slightly off-topic but...
Has anyone here flashed Asus BW-16D1HT (original firmware 3.11) to the WH16NS58-1.V5 quality scanner firmware (via the 3.10MK FW I guess), and then successfully used it to quality scan 128GB (quad layer) BD-Rs?

I know it's technically possible but I'm interested if someone can confirm that the crossflashed drive still reads QL BD as well as before. I read that apparently some Asus-vs-LG-crossflashed drives may have trouble writing discs, but I don't need that capability.
Coopervid
Posts: 4348
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 10:32 pm

Re: Asus BW-16D1HT for quality scanning QL BD-Rs

Post by Coopervid »

mreru wrote:
Mon Mar 09, 2026 4:59 pm
Hello,
perhaps slightly off-topic but...
Has anyone here flashed Asus BW-16D1HT (original firmware 3.11) to the WH16NS58-1.V5 quality scanner firmware (via the 3.10MK FW I guess), and then successfully used it to quality scan 128GB (quad layer) BD-Rs?

I know it's technically possible but I'm interested if someone can confirm that the crossflashed drive still reads QL BD as well as before. I read that apparently some Asus-vs-LG-crossflashed drives may have trouble writing discs, but I don't need that capability.
Sure. It works. The patched LG BH16NS58 MK firmware has issues regarding burning but there is also an original version. It doesn't matter anyway if you don't want to burn with it and you should always use a Pioneer to burn. I have everything necessary but first you need to flash your drive to 3.10 MK or WH16NS60. Then flash in a second step to this firmware. Let me know.
mreru
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2026 2:47 pm

Re: Asus BW-16D1HT for quality scanning QL BD-Rs

Post by mreru »

Coopervid wrote:
Mon Mar 09, 2026 5:20 pm
Sure. It works. The patched LG BH16NS58 MK firmware has issues regarding burning but there is also an original version. It doesn't matter anyway if you don't want to burn with it and you should always use a Pioneer to burn. I have everything necessary but first you need to flash your drive to 3.10 MK or WH16NS60. Then flash in a second step to this firmware. Let me know.
Thanks. I guess I'll go with this path if it's correct:
original 3.11 (enc) -> ASUS-BW-16D1HT-3.10-WM01601-211901041014.bin (from The all you need firmware pack) -> HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS58-1.V5-NM00900-211802070957.bin (from the mk-firmware-pack) and then it should work in qpxtool?

Have you tried reading quad layer blurays (SONY-NQ1) with that setup, or do you just know that they will still work perfectly, regardless of current alignments of lasers and planets and whatnot? :) Just want to be sure the perhaps older LG/Vinpower firmware plays nicely with the newer Asus drive's calibration data etc.

What did you mean by original version? Flashing the official non-MK firmware? Does it allow burning then or does it have some other benefits?
And is it possible/bad idea to flash some newer official firmware update, if available from somewhere, on top of a MK firmware (WH16NS58-1.V5-NM00900)?
Coopervid
Posts: 4348
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 10:32 pm

Re: Asus BW-16D1HT for quality scanning QL BD-Rs

Post by Coopervid »

mreru wrote:
Mon Mar 09, 2026 10:36 pm
Coopervid wrote:
Mon Mar 09, 2026 5:20 pm
Sure. It works. The patched LG BH16NS58 MK firmware has issues regarding burning but there is also an original version. It doesn't matter anyway if you don't want to burn with it and you should always use a Pioneer to burn. I have everything necessary but first you need to flash your drive to 3.10 MK or WH16NS60. Then flash in a second step to this firmware. Let me know.
Thanks. I guess I'll go with this path if it's correct:
original 3.11 (enc) -> ASUS-BW-16D1HT-3.10-WM01601-211901041014.bin (from The all you need firmware pack) -> HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS58-1.V5-NM00900-211802070957.bin (from the mk-firmware-pack) and then it should work in qpxtool?

Have you tried reading quad layer blurays (SONY-NQ1) with that setup, or do you just know that they will still work perfectly, regardless of current alignments of lasers and planets and whatnot? :) Just want to be sure the perhaps older LG/Vinpower firmware plays nicely with the newer Asus drive's calibration data etc.

What did you mean by original version? Flashing the official non-MK firmware? Does it allow burning then or does it have some other benefits?
And is it possible/bad idea to flash some newer official firmware update, if available from somewhere, on top of a MK firmware (WH16NS58-1.V5-NM00900)?
The unmodified firmware was extracted from the flasher and can't read UHDs. The MK firmware has issues with burning discs. Otherwise stick just with the MK.

And check this posted by kitahoshi:

https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=185539&page=19
mreru
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2026 2:47 pm

Re: Asus BW-16D1HT for quality scanning QL BD-Rs

Post by mreru »

Coopervid wrote:
Tue Mar 10, 2026 9:05 am
The unmodified firmware was extracted from the flasher and can't read UHDs. The MK firmware has issues with burning discs. Otherwise stick just with the MK.
So for reference, this would be the "original" 1.V5 non-MK firmware you were talking about, right?
[1] / [2](same file)
Looking with hex editor, I see it has the downgrade enable byte set (0xDE at 0x1ec056).
It could be flashed using the normal SDFtool Flasher over 3.10MK, right?

I also spotted WH16NS58_1.V7.exe installer on ixbt forum. As well as some 1.V9 installer but whether that one works with quality scan or at all seems a bit questionable.
I guess I'll go with the MK version, however.
Coopervid
Posts: 4348
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 10:32 pm

Re: Asus BW-16D1HT for quality scanning QL BD-Rs

Post by Coopervid »

mreru wrote:
Wed Mar 11, 2026 11:35 am
Coopervid wrote:
Tue Mar 10, 2026 9:05 am
The unmodified firmware was extracted from the flasher and can't read UHDs. The MK firmware has issues with burning discs. Otherwise stick just with the MK.
So for reference, this would be the "original" 1.V5 non-MK firmware you were talking about, right?
[1] / [2](same file)
Looking with hex editor, I see it has the downgrade enable byte set (0xDE at 0x1ec056).
It could be flashed using the normal SDFtool Flasher over 3.10MK, right?

I also spotted WH16NS58_1.V7.exe installer on ixbt forum. As well as some 1.V9 installer but whether that one works with quality scan or at all seems a bit questionable.
I guess I'll go with the MK version, however.
Correct regarding 1.V5.

As far as I know - but I could be wrong - the newer firmwares don't work for quality scanning. I use 1.V5.
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