Is this revision UHD compatible? BP50NB40 NB50 (Rev 1.01, Oct 2025) - No LibreDrive Information shown in MakeMKV.

[Zombiciego]

Hi again Zombiciego,

Thank you for this.

Also, is there any recommended way to back up the original Buffalo firmware before flashing? or this is not necessary/possible?

You could try but I believe there would be no point. It is extremely likely your firmware is indeed encrypted, so only a non-flashable user data area would get dumped.

Before I continue, do you think I should simply follow your flashing guide exactly as written for this drive, or would you recommend checking or changing anything else first?

You can proceed. Try flashing DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02_MK.bin with a regular WRITE with encryption, it should work on your first try. Again, no bootloader flash nor RECOVER.

Also, feel free to post the BRXL-PUS6U3B-TAA information whenever you are ready.

EDIT : And I can confirm that DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02_MK.bin likely won't work with DVDFab, so you will probably need to use the slim drive with the correct firmware when it comes to this software.

SUCCESS! The firmware flashing process worked and my desktop drive was able to perform a complete backup of a UHD disk without any issues, and very quickly and silently! Thank you so much!


I have now gathered the MakeMKV info from the SLIM drive:

Model:
BRXL-PUS6U3B-TU

Información de unidad de disco
Nombre del SO del dispositivo: E:
Fabricante: BUFFALO
Producto: Optical Drive
Revisión: BN14
Número de serie: MZFQ1HJ4150
Fecha del firmware: 2121-06-21 13:33
Marcas de cifrado bus: 1F
Highest AACS version: 76

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


Additional information from SDFTool Flasher:
E: BUFFALO_Optical_Drive_BN14_212106211333_MZFQ1HJ4150

MT1959 Platform: detected (green check)
Encrypted Firmware: detected (green check)
"Include boot loader?" is unchecked.

Behavior is identical to the desktop drive before flashing:
Regular Blu-rays are detected and read correctly.
UHD discs spin up but are never detected.
Windows also doesn't recognize an inserted UHD disc.


Just in case, could you please confirm the firmware from Marty's pack that I should use for this slim model?

EDIT: Regarding the firmware compatibility with the DVDFab player, I would like to have at least one of the drives capable of playing UHD BR directly from the disc if possible. Just in case I need it in the future.

Thank you again!

[Sayaka]

SUCCESS! The firmware flashing process worked and my desktop drive was able to perform a complete backup of a UHD disk without any issues, and very quickly and silently! Thank you so much!

You're welcome !

Just in case, could you please confirm the firmware from Marty's pack that I should use for this slim model?

Sure thing !

The lower drop-down menu will allow you to select the firmware. For the BRXL-PUS6U3B-TAA, select DE_LG_BU40N_1.03_MK.bin from the Slim External Drives folder inside Marty's All You Need Firmware Pack. (EDIT : Also, please make sure there is no disc inside the drive before you begin flashing.) When you are ready, click on START. Wait until SDFTool Flasher says "Ready" again and *do not unplug the drive during the flashing process*.

After each flash, close SDFtool Flasher, and unplug the drive and leave it unplugged for a minute. Then plug it back in, and check the MakeMKV information to make sure the flash succeeded.

For the second flash for the same drive (for DVDFab compatibility), the process is the same except encryption is not needed and the correct firmware is DE_LG_BU40N_1.00.bin from the Slim External Drives folder.

So basically it's :

0) Eject the disc and remove it if there is one, then close the tray,
1) Flash DE_LG_BU40N_1.03_MK.bin with encryption with a regular WRITE (no bootloader, no RECOVER),
2) Unplug the drive and wait one minute (30 seconds should be enough though, I just said "one minute" to be 100% on the safe side in case you didn't have a nearby way to measure the elapsed time)
3) Check with MakeMKV that the flash was successful,
4) If it was, flash DE_LG_BU40N_1.00.bin without encryption with WRITE - again, no bootloader, no RECOVER (this firmware is *probably* slightly less efficient for some Blu-rays but it has DVDFab compatibility)
5) Unplug the drive and wait one minute,
6) Check with MakeMKV that the flash was successful,
7) If it was, please enjoy having LibreDrive, ripping UHD Blu-rays and using DVDFab/PlayerFab.

That's what I did for the non-TAA variant and it worked like a charm. The BN14 firmware was exactly the same, too, so I 99.99999999999% expect this to succeed without any issues.

Also please make sure the drive has enough power, if you connect it to a laptop please don't be afraid to use the USB-A to USB-C adapter that should hopefully be with the drive.

[Zombiciego]

SUCCESS! The firmware flashing process worked and my desktop drive was able to perform a complete backup of a UHD disk without any issues, and very quickly and silently! Thank you so much!

You're welcome !

Just in case, could you please confirm the firmware from Marty's pack that I should use for this slim model?

Sure thing !

The lower drop-down menu will allow you to select the firmware. For the BRXL-PUS6U3B-TAA, select DE_LG_BU40N_1.03_MK.bin from the Slim External Drives folder inside Marty's All You Need Firmware Pack. (EDIT : Also, please make sure there is no disc inside the drive before you begin flashing.) When you are ready, click on START. Wait until SDFTool Flasher says "Ready" again and *do not unplug the drive during the flashing process*.

After each flash, close SDFtool Flasher, and unplug the drive and leave it unplugged for a minute. Then plug it back in, and check the MakeMKV information to make sure the flash succeeded.

For the second flash for the same drive (for DVDFab compatibility), the process is the same except encryption is not needed and the correct firmware is DE_LG_BU40N_1.00.bin from the Slim External Drives folder.

So basically it's :

0) Eject the disc and remove it if there is one, then close the tray,
1) Flash DE_LG_BU40N_1.03_MK.bin with encryption with a regular WRITE (no bootloader, no RECOVER),
2) Unplug the drive and wait one minute (30 seconds should be enough though, I just said "one minute" to be 100% on the safe side in case you didn't have a nearby way to measure the elapsed time)
3) Check with MakeMKV that the flash was successful,
4) If it was, flash DE_LG_BU40N_1.00.bin without encryption with WRITE - again, no bootloader, no RECOVER (this firmware is *probably* slightly less efficient for some Blu-rays but it has DVDFab compatibility)
5) Unplug the drive and wait one minute,
6) Check with MakeMKV that the flash was successful,
7) If it was, please enjoy having LibreDrive, ripping UHD Blu-rays and using DVDFab/PlayerFab.

That's what I did for the non-TAA variant and it worked like a charm. The BN14 firmware was exactly the same, too, so I 99.99999999999% expect this to succeed without any issues.

Also please make sure the drive has enough power, if you connect it to a laptop please don't be afraid to use the USB-A to USB-C adapter that should hopefully be with the drive.

Hi Sayaka,

Just wanted to give you an update and say thank you!

Everything worked exactly as you described.

I successfully flashed both drives:

Buffalo BRXL-16U3 (desktop) → works perfectly with UHD Blu-rays. LibreDrive is enabled, and I've already completed several UHD backups successfully.
Buffalo BRXL-PU6U3B-TU (slim) → after following your two-step flashing procedure (1.03 MK → 1.00), it also works perfectly. LibreDrive is enabled, UHD discs are detected correctly, and I've already completed several successful UHD backups with it as well.

Your instructions were great and useful!

Regarding playback, I ended up with a bit of a mixed experience. The drives themselves work perfectly and can read every Blu-ray and UHD disc I have tested. Standard Blu-rays work fine from disc, backup and MKV in PowerDVD, PlayerFab and VLC. UHD playback software, however, has been much more inconsistent. At the moment I'm using Plex for MKV files, PowerDVD for full Blu-ray backups, and VLC for full UHD backups. I still haven't found a single player that handles every format perfectly, but the drives themselves have been flawless so I will keep investigating.

Thank you for taking the time to guide me through the process and for answering all my questions so quickly. I really appreciate your help.

Hopefully this thread will also be useful for other people who own these Buffalo drives.

Thanks again for everything!

[Sayaka]

Hi Zombiciego,

I am glad to have been of help. Thank you for letting me know how it went.

I still haven't found a single player that handles every format perfectly

I agree completely, even for regular Blu-ray discs, actually.

As an example :

VLC is very good overall, sometimes handles Blu-ray menus more elegantly than even Kodi (formerly XMBC), but does not like Dolby Atmos/TrueHD audio (its biggest weakness IMO) and will not handle HDR properly without some tweaking.

Some regular Blu-ray discs have menus that are so troublesome that only PowerDVD can handle them properly.

The K-Lite Codec Pack with MPC-HC on Windows or mpv (if properly configured) on Linux can handle just about anything, but are not compatible with Blu-ray menus.

Kodi is the best overall player I have found, but does not handle Blu-ray menus as well as VLC *sometimes* (unlike what I thought previously, Kodi is actually better with some contextual menus that you can trigger during movie playback), and as another example, does not like Disney's Frozen 4K and Frozen II 4K.

Some UHD Blu-rays, such as those two, cannot seem to fully work with anything. VLC does not like Dolby Atmos and struggles with switching from one m2ts file to another, Kodi handles Atmos fine (as well as the UHD menus) but will outright have a bug with the m2ts transitions, mpv and the K-Lite codec pack can play the movie just fine but without the Blu-ray menus. As for PowerDVD, well, good luck getting anything like a UHD disc or a full UHD backup to work with it.

I might write a guide on the overall topic of Blu-ray playback at some point !