SDFtool Flasher

[Billycar11]

If I could "do it better", do you actually believe I'd be here asking these questions?

lets stop cluttering martys thread here
but if you cant do it better then dont complain
just ask your questions and move on not say the guide is not readable and all that

[seamus]

If I could "do it better", do you actually believe I'd be here asking these questions?

lets stop cluttering martys thread here
but if you cant do it better then dont complain
just ask your questions and move on not say the guide is not readable and all that

This thread is already at 117 pages, and you've done more to add clutter here than I ever could.

Complain? All I said - and it was said to you individually - is that the guide IS NOT WRITTEN CLEARLY to my reading. You may disagree, but you're not having to read it to learn how things work... I have NO DOUBT that you have some expertise in this area; all I'm saying is that you are not communicating that expertise CLEARLY to me. Perhaps English is not your first language - I have no idea - there could be many reasons for your lack of clarity.

Finally, I will stop asking questions when I get the answers I need... deal with it, or have me "banned" from the forum if you can. I really don't care - I'm here b/c this is the best source I've found for information on MakeMKV, but I will not kow-tow to your belligerent, bullying BS. I told you very politely that your answers were not helping me, and I tried to explain why in as non-offensive a way as I could. So - why don't you just take a clue, and STFU??? Why do you feel the need to continue to "hound" me???

~S

[zittrig]

I don't know, if you both had private contact with PM but nothing in the posting history points to something that should bring you (@seamus) to such rage and indiscutable choice of words. Billy didn't assault you anywhere in person.

Btw.: Marty has also answered you in the last days, but no reaction from you as far as I can read.

Please calm down and let us enjoy a peacefull life here.

BTT: You haven't to read 117 pages. As Billy wrote you can find what you need here in the initial posting. If there is to much information to sort out, feel free for asking friendly step by step.

Sorry to interfere, but that's not what I and others need if we want to read here in the morning with coffee. Even if I should be wrong, the dispute can / should be played by PM ....

[seamus]

... The "specs" on both drives as displayed in MakeMKV are provided below... Note that the Buffalo drive says that Libre drive is "Possible, not yet enabled". But I do not recall doing anything to enable the Asus drive! I guessed that this happened "automatically"??

Asus:

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Drive Information
Manufacturer: ASUS
Product: BW-16D1X-U
Revision: E113
Serial number: DIDL123365WL
Firmware date: 2020-07-21
Bus encryption flags: 1B
Highest AACS version: 82

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8F00
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-212T
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: E113/ID76
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

Buffalo:

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Drive Information
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BH16NS58
Revision: 1.03
Serial number: KX1OA8I3438
Firmware date: 2120-05-08 09:33
Bus encryption flags: 1F
Highest AACS version: 82

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

Your ASUS actually contains a Pioneer BDR-212 drive inside. There is no publicly available flasher for Pioneer drives. Billy can sell you a flasher for this drive if you want to be able to rip UHD discs with it. If not, you can leave it as is.

Your Buffalo contains a LG drive inside which can be flashed using SDFtool Flasher on windows or via the command line on Linux/Mac. The Ultimate UHD Drive Guide 2026 (first post) contains CLI instructions. The recommended firmware for this drive is WH16NS60 1.02-MK.

Marty,
First - Thanks for an answer that I can understand! I've reached out to Billy for help w/ flashing the Asus.
Second - Apologies for not replying sooner, but I overlooked your post somehow.
Third - WRT the Status: listing under "LibreDrive Information" for the Buffalo drive in my OP:

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Status: Possible, not yet enabled

Can you explain how I could go about enabling LibreDrive for this (Buffalo) drive?

If it makes any difference: As I said in my OP, I do not recall doing anything to "enable" LibreDrive for the Asus drive. It was the first one I connected (the Buffalo came a few weeks later). I've used the Buffalo primarily to rip some "problem" DVDs that the Asus could not handle. Both Asus and Buffalo drives have been connected to the same Mac for months now... I don't understand why the Asus got LibreDrive-enabled, but the Buffalo didn't.

Best Rgds,
~S

[MartyMcNuts]

... The "specs" on both drives as displayed in MakeMKV are provided below... Note that the Buffalo drive says that Libre drive is "Possible, not yet enabled". But I do not recall doing anything to enable the Asus drive! I guessed that this happened "automatically"??

Asus:

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Drive Information
Manufacturer: ASUS
Product: BW-16D1X-U
Revision: E113
Serial number: DIDL123365WL
Firmware date: 2020-07-21
Bus encryption flags: 1B
Highest AACS version: 82

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8F00
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-212T
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: E113/ID76
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

Buffalo:

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Drive Information
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BH16NS58
Revision: 1.03
Serial number: KX1OA8I3438
Firmware date: 2120-05-08 09:33
Bus encryption flags: 1F
Highest AACS version: 82

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

Your ASUS actually contains a Pioneer BDR-212 drive inside. There is no publicly available flasher for Pioneer drives. Billy can sell you a flasher for this drive if you want to be able to rip UHD discs with it. If not, you can leave it as is.

Your Buffalo contains a LG drive inside which can be flashed using SDFtool Flasher on windows or via the command line on Linux/Mac. The Ultimate UHD Drive Guide 2026 (first post) contains CLI instructions. The recommended firmware for this drive is WH16NS60 1.02-MK.

Marty,
First - Thanks for an answer that I can understand! I've reached out to Billy for help w/ flashing the Asus.
Second - Apologies for not replying sooner, but I overlooked your post somehow.
Third - WRT the Status: listing under "LibreDrive Information" for the Buffalo drive in my OP:

Code: Select all

Status: Possible, not yet enabled

Can you explain how I could go about enabling LibreDrive for this (Buffalo) drive?

If it makes any difference: As I said in my OP, I do not recall doing anything to "enable" LibreDrive for the Asus drive. It was the first one I connected (the Buffalo came a few weeks later). I've used the Buffalo primarily to rip some "problem" DVDs that the Asus could not handle. Both Asus and Buffalo drives have been connected to the same Mac for months now... I don't understand why the Asus got LibreDrive-enabled, but the Buffalo didn't.

Best Rgds,
~S

The ASUS (Pioneer) was automatically libredrive enabled once MakeMKV's internal SDF was updated to include that firmware version. With the Buffalo (LG), that firmware version is not natively supported by MakeMKV so it must be flashed to enable libredrive and UHD readability.

You can do this yourself using the CLI/Terminal. The first post (toward the bottom) of the Ultimate UHD Drive Guide 2026 has some commands. There are other threads where people have posted the command they used too. Just use the search function. You can also download the firmware pack from the Ultimate Guide too or you can download my firmware pack from the first post of this very thread. The recommended firmware for your Buffalo is DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02-MK.

You can also run SDFtool Flasher if you are using a good VM such as Parallels. Just ensure you use Windows 11 64 bit and that MakeMKV is installed and the drive is accessible from within the VM.

[tomty89]

I do not recall doing anything to "enable" LibreDrive for the Asus drive

"Enabled" here mostly means that the firmware accepts "vendor commands" that allows MakeMKV to perform volatile "microcode update" on the drive (i.e. "hacking" the firmware temporarily, more or less) so that it can use a "bypass" to read AACS VID for VUK calculation and disable bus encryption and so on.

All the LibreDrive supporting ("enabled") Pioneer firmware has never been made to reject those "vendor commands". In other words, they are "inheritly Libre". FWIW, that's what "Firmware type: Original (unpatched)" means btw -- "patch" here refers to "MK-isation" of some of the newer LG firmware.

And as I just mentioned, newer LG ("HL-DT-ST") firmware has been made to reject those "vendor commands" and therefore drive comes with such firmware requires to be flashed with an MK firmware (or older firmware that is "similar" to Pioneer firmware) to be Libre -- NOT necessarily one for the exact same model. (Therefore, in some sense "Enabled" also means "flashed with an MK firmware", hence "Possible, not yet enabled" -- with the "Possible" mainly refers to "Drive platform: MT1959".)

(FWIW, AFAICT the "vendor commands" is still just a standard SCSI command. "Vendor" here really refers to "arguments" that may be blocked. I could be wrong though.)

P.S. Probably we have "met" on an SE site. If that's truly the case, here I am greeting you with my verbiage again

[seamus]

Can you explain how I could go about enabling LibreDrive for this (Buffalo) drive?

The ASUS (Pioneer) was automatically libredrive enabled once MakeMKV's internal SDF was updated to include that firmware version. With the Buffalo (LG), that firmware version is not natively supported by MakeMKV so it must be flashed to enable libredrive and UHD readability.

You can do this yourself using the CLI/Terminal. The first post (toward the bottom) of the Ultimate UHD Drive Guide 2026 has some commands. There are other threads where people have posted the command they used too. Just use the search function. You can also download the firmware pack from the Ultimate Guide too or you can download my firmware pack from the first post of this very thread. The recommended firmware for your Buffalo is DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02-MK.

You can also run SDFtool Flasher if you are using a good VM such as Parallels. Just ensure you use Windows 11 64 bit and that MakeMKV is installed and the drive is accessible from within the VM.

OK - more clarification if you don't mind:
1. What is "MakeMKV's internal SDF "? what does SDF stand for?
2. Is there any difference between flashing the Buffalo for basic "LibreDrive" compatibility, and flashing it for 4K/UHD compatibility? IOW, if I flash it for LibreDrive, do I "automatically" get 4K/UHD support also?

And yeah - Years ago, I ran Windows under Mac (pre-VM), but today, Parallels is the ticket for Win VM. In fact I checked on prices earlier... I'm a bit "put off" by the cost: Parallels is ~$65/yr, and the Win 11 license can run up to $200. I'm going to try the CLI or this solution first.

And thanks for clearing up the "myth" that MakeMKV automatically recognizes any drive, and downloads the LibreDrive for it... that seems to be widely posted! I was also surprised to learn that my Asus has Pioneer "guts". I'd be interested in reading more on how that was discovered - if it's available.

So - thanks again - it feels like the fog is lifting

~S

[Sayaka]

2. Is there any difference between flashing the Buffalo for basic "LibreDrive" compatibility, and flashing it for 4K/UHD compatibility? IOW, if I flash it for LibreDrive, do I "automatically" get 4K/UHD support also?

There is a difference between flashing a drive for "mere" LibreDrive compatibility and flashing it for UHD compatibility. In your case, if you flash your Buffalo drive to DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02-MK, you should automatically get 4K/UHD support also.

I was also surprised to learn that my Asus has Pioneer "guts". I'd be interested in reading more on how that was discovered - if it's available.

The firmware name in the drive info you posted says so :

Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-212T

EDIT : Basically with the CLI you would need to do something like this I believe :

Download sdf.bin and place it inside the /tmp/ folder

https://makemkv.com/sdf.bin

Then download this https://www.mediafire.com/file/bpl3pz2b ... 9.zip/file

Unzip it. Go to the "Internal Desktop Drives" folder, place DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02_MK.bin into the /tmp/ folder.

Then do this

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cd /Applications/MakeMKV.app/Contents/MacOS

Then

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./makemkvcon f -l

Get the drive path.

your drive identifier should look similar to this ''/IOBDServices/D5D25996'

Afterwards :

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./makemkvcon f -d 'REPLACE-THIS-WITH-THE-BUFFALO-DRIVE-PATH-FROM-THE-PREVIOUS-COMMAND' -f /tmp/sdf.bin rawflash enc -i '/tmp/DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02_MK.bin'

[tomty89]

1. What is "MakeMKV's internal SDF "? what does SDF stand for?

More verbiage to come!

No idea what SDF stands for. Google (AI) tells me it's Secure Drive Firmware LOL. (Kinda doubt that.)

Reference / Source (NOT verbiage!)

(Verbiage begins)

Basically (if I understand correctly) it's a "handbook" for LibDriveIO (MakeMKV). Like when MakeMKV "says": "I want to activate LibreDrive for drive X!", then LibDriveIO looks for the suitable (for firmware in drive X) SCSI command and payload ("microcode") from it, or when MakeMKV "says": "I want to read AACS VID (without using a host cert/key a.k.a. the Libre way) from the disc in drive Y", then again LibDriveIO looks for the suitable (for firmware in drive Y) SCSI command ("the bypass") from it. (Command here more like CDB, i.e. the "full command".)

It (probably) contains all the necessary SCSI commands and payloads related to LibreDrive / the Libre way™.

---

Speaking of which, according to my recent "investigation", it seems that the activation of LibreDrive is not "once per disc insert" (at least not for all "functions"). Apparently MakeMKV needs to do what I call "activation" repeatedly (with different microcode / payload?), like once per command / "switching hacks". What I really want to say is, maybe the word "activation" is not really a good choice...(Gotcha! It's just more verbiage!) "Preparation(s)", perhaps?

(Verbiage ends.)

[Sayaka]

No idea what SDF stands for. Google (AI) tells me it's Secure Drive Firmware LOL. (Kinda doubt that.)

I always assumed it just meant Supported Drive Firmware, just like HK seems to refer to Hashed Keys. I could be wrong though.

[zittrig]

I think it stands for Scrambled Data File.

[Coopervid]

I think it stands for Scrambled Data File.

Nomen est omen. Don't care. Mike just picked something.