Original firmware for HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH40N (FW GA05) after failed WH16NS60 flash

[Kokoro111]

Hi everyone,

I recently bought this drive from Lenovo:
Lenovo Part Lookup

According to the sticker, it is an HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH40N.
When I opened MakeMKV, it identified the chipset as MT1939.

Curious, I opened up the drive and found that it actually has a MT1959UWDN chipset.
So, I attempted to flash it with the WH16NS60 firmware. The flashing process completed successfully, but now the drive no longer reads Blu-rays.

I found someone in this thread who had the exact same issue:
Forum Thread, but I have firmware GA05 instead.

I also tried flashing the same firmware mentioned in that thread, but nothing changed – the drive still doesn’t work.

Does anyone have the original firmware for GA05? I have searched everywhere but couldn’t find anything.

I have attached some images that might help:

Normally, I can fix these things myself, but I’m really stuck this time. Thanks in advance for any help!

[Kokoro111]

Hey everyone . . .

I think I may have inadvertently created a paperweight or a coaster with my Blu-ray drive.
I've tried every possible combination to fix it, but nothing has worked.
If anyone has the original firmware (GA05) or any other suggestions, I would greatly appreciate your help!

Thanks!

[Coopervid]

You should have believed what Makemkv said. These early 1959 chips had only 1939 functionality.

[Billycar11]

Hey everyone . . .

I think I may have inadvertently created a paperweight or a coaster with my Blu-ray drive.
I've tried every possible combination to fix it, but nothing has worked.
If anyone has the original firmware (GA05) or any other suggestions, I would greatly appreciate your help!

Thanks!

You don't need the original fw just mt1939 fw
See recovery section of guide below it has links to some mt1939 fw
But your biggest issue is you need a 32 bit os and a sata controller that supports ide mode.

[swboos21]

Hello, I know this is a now dead thread most likely, but i have a newer year drive than yours but same make and model. I dont unfortunately have the same firmware but i do have the new. Idk if they would work bc im not super knowledgeable about this stuff.
The firmware i have is A1B2. I dont know if bootloader is needed so i dumped one with and one without
A1B2 With Boot Loader:

HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__BH40N_A1B2 With Bootloader.tar

(70.5 KiB) Downloaded 13 times

A1B2 Without Boot Loader:

HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__BH40N_A1B2_No Boot Loader.tar

(70.5 KiB) Downloaded 11 times

[MartyMcNuts]

Hello, I know this is a now dead thread most likely, but i have a newer year drive than yours but same make and model. I dont unfortunately have the same firmware but i do have the new. Idk if they would work bc im not super knowledgeable about this stuff.
The firmware i have is A1B2. I dont know if bootloader is needed so i dumped one with and one without
A1B2 With Boot Loader: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__BH40N_A1B2 With Bootloader.tar
A1B2 Without Boot Loader: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__BH40N_A1B2_No Boot Loader.tar

These dumps are only the importatnt cal data not the full firmware.

[Kokoro111]

Hello, I know this is a now dead thread most likely, but i have a newer year drive than yours but same make and model. I dont unfortunately have the same firmware but i do have the new. Idk if they would work bc im not super knowledgeable about this stuff.
The firmware i have is A1B2. I dont know if bootloader is needed so i dumped one with and one without
A1B2 With Boot Loader: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__BH40N_A1B2 With Bootloader.tar
A1B2 Without Boot Loader: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__BH40N_A1B2_No Boot Loader.tar

These dumps are only the importatnt cal data not the full firmware.

First of all, thanks @swboos21 for creating an account and taking the time to dump the firmware, it’s much appreciated!

If I understand this correctly, since this is a newer drive, those files only contain the important calibration data and not the full firmware image. Is that right?

In that case, does this mean there is still no way to recover the original GA05 firmware for this drive?

[MartyMcNuts]

Hello, I know this is a now dead thread most likely, but i have a newer year drive than yours but same make and model. I dont unfortunately have the same firmware but i do have the new. Idk if they would work bc im not super knowledgeable about this stuff.
The firmware i have is A1B2. I dont know if bootloader is needed so i dumped one with and one without
A1B2 With Boot Loader: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__BH40N_A1B2 With Bootloader.tar
A1B2 Without Boot Loader: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__BH40N_A1B2_No Boot Loader.tar

These dumps are only the importatnt cal data not the full firmware.

First of all, thanks @swboos21 for creating an account and taking the time to dump the firmware, it’s much appreciated!

If I understand this correctly, since this is a newer drive, those files only contain the important calibration data and not the full firmware image. Is that right?

In that case, does this mean there is still no way to recover the original GA05 firmware for this drive?

Correct.

[oldelmer]

Hello, I know this is a now dead thread most likely, but i have a newer year drive than yours but same make and model. I dont unfortunately have the same firmware but i do have the new. Idk if they would work bc im not super knowledgeable about this stuff.
The firmware i have is A1B2. I dont know if bootloader is needed so i dumped one with and one without
A1B2 With Boot Loader: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__BH40N_A1B2 With Bootloader.tar
A1B2 Without Boot Loader: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__BH40N_A1B2_No Boot Loader.tar

These dumps are only the importatnt cal data not the full firmware.

The BH40N, from its label, just looks like a BH16NS40 with Dell/Lenovo/HP firmware (and restrictions).

Like the BH16NS40 itself, later production BH40N drives appear to be using the LG's BH16NS40-NS50 hardware with the MT1959 on a JB8 motherboard.

I should be able to post more information when the drive that I have bought arrives.

In the meantime, this thread here shows someone successfully flashing one of the newer drives to enable UHD ... viewtopic.php?f=16&t=36417

FWIW, if you want to see the full offical OEM A1B2 firmware, the update (with LG flasher) is available on Dell's support site here ... https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us ... erid=6wv1m

I'm sorry to the original poster, but none of this helps your search for the GA05 firmware for your older model of BH40N drive.

[oldelmer]

Urrgghh ... the A1B2 flasher seems to contain the 2MByte firmware within itself, so I can't take a look at it.

I'm going to guess that you gurus are used to that with recent LG flashing software.

I did find an old A1B1 update from 2017, and that has a DOS directory that contains the 2MByte firmware as a seperate file if someone wishes to see that, at 48KB into the binary it contains the signature "MT1959 Boot JB8".

[OneDay]

Kokoro111

I have a LG WH14NS40 (built date of June 2013) that is missing the sled face plate and also a LG WH16NS40 (built date January 2015) that are collecting dust. If your located in the US I can ship it to you. You just have to pay for shipping.