Flashing LG WH16NS58DUP

[Robbie56]

Hi. I just got what seems to be an unusual LG WH16NS58DUP I've only found mentioned a few times in these forums. MakeMKV's report on it matches up with about 99% of what member Yarci reported for this model drive that he successfully flashed back in 2024:

Drive Information
OS device name: E:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH16NS58
Revision: 1.V9
Serial number: <xxx>
Firmware date: 2122-03-30 14:54
Bus encryption flags: 17

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

Could someone confirm this drive might flash to WH16NS60_1.02_MK or WH16NS60_1.00 successfully as I detail below, and maybe offer some feedback on a few other things I'm trying to work out?

1) The label on the drive shows it was manufactured on June 25, 2025. With "Drive platform: MT1959" reported, and as an 5.25" internal drive, it seems all requirements to be a candidate for flashing are met.

2) The 1st thing I did after it arrived was to create a firmware dump to have as a backup. I've been waiting for a OWC Mercury Pro I've ordered to connect the drive to my Beelink SER8 mini PC. So connected via SATA in an old Windows 7 desktop, I managed to do a firmware dump. The SDFtool Flasher returned an error not finding sdftool64.exe which doesn't seem to install in W7. ChatGPT had me run this for sdftool.exe from command prompt within the app's folder:

• sdftool -d E: dump -o C:\FirmwareDump

That ran without errors so I'm guessing a valid dump file was created. I'm hoping I can use this to flash back if I run into problems with the recommended one(s) from the All You Need Firmware Pack.

3) SiliconDragon reported here that WH16NS60_1.02_MK worked for this drive, though his MakeMKV report specs were a slightly different than mine, and the error he encountered is a bit unnerving. Seems WH16NS60_1.00 could be a candidate too.

4) From what I've read it seems this WH16NS58, along with the majority of new LG drives today, has the sleep bug before flashing.

5) For flashing I have 2 options:

• (A) With the drive mounted in the OWC Mercury Pro and connected to my Beelink SER8, run the SDFtool Flasher.

• (B) With the drive mounted and connected inside my old Windows 7 case, run commands in a terminal I've yet to track down.

I'm guessing folks here would recommend (A).

6) I'm wondering if anyone has reported loss of BDXL, M-DISC, or any DUP-specific functionality for this drive after flashing.

7) Would it be a good idea to repeat making a dump for the drive's existing firmware once I get it mounted in the OWC and connected to my SER8, and then compare it to the one made on the W7 PC?

Apologies for such a long post.

Thanks for any feedback on all this.

[MartyMcNuts]

Hi. I just got what seems to be an unusual LG WH16NS58DUP I've only found mentioned a few times in these forums. MakeMKV's report on it matches up with about 99% of what member Yarci reported for this model drive that he successfully flashed back in 2024:

Drive Information
OS device name: E:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH16NS58
Revision: 1.V9
Serial number: <xxx>
Firmware date: 2122-03-30 14:54
Bus encryption flags: 17

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

Could someone confirm this drive might flash to WH16NS60_1.02_MK or WH16NS60_1.00 successfully as I detail below, and maybe offer some feedback on a few other things I'm trying to work out?

1) The label on the drive shows it was manufactured on June 25, 2025. With "Drive platform: MT1959" reported, and as an 5.25" internal drive, it seems all requirements to be a candidate for flashing are met.

2) The 1st thing I did after it arrived was to create a firmware dump to have as a backup. I've been waiting for a OWC Mercury Pro I've ordered to connect the drive to my Beelink SER8 mini PC. So connected via SATA in an old Windows 7 desktop, I managed to do a firmware dump. The SDFtool Flasher returned an error not finding sdftool64.exe which doesn't seem to install in W7. ChatGPT had me run this for sdftool.exe from command prompt within the app's folder:

• sdftool -d E: dump -o C:\FirmwareDump

That ran without errors so I'm guessing a valid dump file was created. I'm hoping I can use this to flash back if I run into problems with the recommended one(s) from the All You Need Firmware Pack.

3) SiliconDragon reported here that WH16NS60_1.02_MK worked for this drive, though his MakeMKV report specs were a slightly different than mine, and the error he encountered is a bit unnerving. Seems WH16NS60_1.00 could be a candidate too.

4) From what I've read it seems this WH16NS58, along with the majority of new LG drives today, has the sleep bug before flashing.

5) For flashing I have 2 options:

• (A) With the drive mounted in the OWC Mercury Pro and connected to my Beelink SER8, run the SDFtool Flasher.

• (B) With the drive mounted and connected inside my old Windows 7 case, run commands in a terminal I've yet to track down.

I'm guessing folks here would recommend (A).

6) I'm wondering if anyone has reported loss of BDXL, M-DISC, or any DUP-specific functionality for this drive after flashing.

7) Would it be a good idea to repeat making a dump for the drive's existing firmware once I get it mounted in the OWC and connected to my SER8, and then compare it to the one made on the W7 PC?

Apologies for such a long post.

Thanks for any feedback on all this.

The drive likely has encrypted firmware (2020+) so sdftool would have created a 70kb tar file which only contains the important drive cal data.

You can flash it to WH16NS60 1.02-MK and leave it there or then flash it to WH16NS60 1.00 if you want to use other ripping software besides MakeMKV and Xreveal.

The original 1.V9 firmware is good for disc quality scanning, so you would lose that but gain UHD compatibility.

SDFtool flasher requires Windows 11 64 bit plus MakeMKV (v1.15.2 - v1.18.4) and is the easiest way to flash.

[Robbie56]

The drive likely has encrypted firmware (2020+) so sdftool would have created a 70kb tar file which only contains the important drive cal data.

So since the 70kb tar firmware dump file only contains the important drive cal data, I'm guessing that'll preclude restoring any BDXL or M-DISC functionality. Okay.

You can flash it to WH16NS60 1.02-MK and leave it there or then flash it to WH16NS60 1.00 if you want to use other ripping software besides MakeMKV and Xreveal.

Thanks for explaining that.

The original 1.V9 firmware is good for disc quality scanning, so you would lose that but gain UHD compatibility.

Okay. 4K UHD playback/ripping was really the only reason I had for upgrading my drive.

Thanks MartyMcNuts. I'll report back after I get everything sorted. Meanwhile I'm eager to see my namesake again in full 4K UHD this time.

[AstralWanderer]

...MakeMKV's report on it matches up with about 99% of what member Yarci reported for this model drive that he successfully flashed back in 2024:

Drive Information
OS device name: E:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH16NS58
Revision: 1.V9
Serial number: <xxx>
Firmware date: 2122-03-30 14:54
Bus encryption flags: 17

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

Could someone confirm this drive might flash to WH16NS60_1.02_MK or WH16NS60_1.00 successfully as I detail below...

This almost exactly matches the drive I purchased from Amazon back in February 2026 (getting one of the last ones available).

I was able to flash it to DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02_MK.bin using makemkvcon.exe from the Command Prompt as follows (after having copied the firmware .bin file into the MakeMKV program folder to simplify matters - all you should need to change is the drive letter from I to E):

Original:

Drive Information
OS device name: I:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH16NS58
Revision: 1.V9
Serial number: KX1O<blah>
Firmware date: 2122-03-30 14:54
Bus encryption flags: 17
Highest AACS version: 82

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

No disc inserted

D:\Program Files\MakeMKV>makemkvcon.exe f --all-yes -d I: rawflash enc -i DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02_MK.bin

Reading input file DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02_MK.bin
Flashing flags = 0x0 : 0 0 0 0 : ---- ---- ---- ----
Sending image in encrypted format
Current Drive ID: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__WH16NS58_1.V9_212203301454_KX1O<blah>
Ready to write drive flash memory. (auto confirmed)
Operation started: Sending flash image to drive
100% Operation finished
Operation started: Programming flash
100% Operation finished
Done successfully

Post-flash:

Drive Information
OS device name: I:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH16NS60
Revision: 1.02
Serial number: KX1O<blah>
Firmware date: 2118-10-29 19:36
Bus encryption flags: 17
Highest AACS version: 82

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: MT1959
Firmware type: Patched (microcode access re-enabled)
Firmware version: 1.02
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes

No disc inserted

[Robbie56]

This almost exactly matches the drive I purchased from Amazon back in February 2026 (getting one of the last ones available).

Yup! That's just about the exact same listing as the one for the drive I bought on Amazon here in the US.

I was able to flash it to DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02_MK.bin using makemkvcon.exe from the Command Prompt as follows (after having copied the firmware .bin file into the MakeMKV program folder to simplify matters - all you should need to change is the drive letter from I to E):

D:\Program Files\MakeMKV>makemkvcon.exe f --all-yes -d I: rawflash enc -i DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02_MK.bin

Reading input file DE_LG_WH16NS60_1.02_MK.bin
Flashing flags = 0x0 : 0 0 0 0 : ---- ---- ---- ----
Sending image in encrypted format
Current Drive ID: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__WH16NS58_1.V9_212203301454_KX1O<blah>
Ready to write drive flash memory. (auto confirmed)
Operation started: Sending flash image to drive
100% Operation finished
Operation started: Programming flash
100% Operation finished
Done successfully

Thanks so much for your feedback on this AstralWanderer. It's encouraging to hear this drive flashed for you successfully. I see you're pretty active in these forums, so I'm guessing the basic framework of those commands was something you confirmed from other information on the forums before actually running them.

I'm wondering if you've been able to check to see if all the drive's original functions were still functional after flashing. When martymcnuts wrote above that the 70kb tar file sdftool created only contains the important drive cal data, I may have gotten the wrong idea that probably meant I would loose any BDXL or M-DISC functionality. Google Gemini suggests that should not be the case.

[Billycar11]

Thanks so much for your feedback on this AstralWanderer. It's encouraging to hear this drive flashed for you successfully. I see you're pretty active in these forums, so I'm guessing the basic framework of those commands was something you confirmed from other information on the forums before actually running them.

I'm wondering if you've been able to check to see if all the drive's original functions were still functional after flashing. When martymcnuts wrote above that the 70kb tar file sdftool created only contains the important drive cal data, I may have gotten the wrong idea that probably meant I would loose any BDXL or M-DISC functionality. Google Gemini suggests that should not be the case.

you only lose the disc checking function
and you can get it back by flashing back to wh16ns58 fw

[Robbie56]

you only lose the disc checking function
and you can get it back by flashing back to wh16ns58 fw

Okay, thanks Billycar11. I found HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS58-1.V5-NM00900-211802070957.bin in the download link for an older mk-firmware-pack-20200720.zip on mike admin's old post here that seems to be the fw you mention if for some reason I may need it.

[AstralWanderer]

...I'm guessing the basic framework of those commands was something you confirmed from other information on the forums before actually running them.

The command syntax is outlined in the (now very long) first post in the Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide.... Since I'm running a 32-bit OS, I used makemkvcon.exe - if you're running a 64-bit OS you can use either makemkvcon.exe or makemkvcon64.exe (as per that thread's examples).

...I may have gotten the wrong idea that probably meant I would loose any BDXL or M-DISC functionality. Google Gemini suggests that should not be the case.

I've not tested M-DISC - I have successfully ripped Blade Runner 2049 (which is a triple-layer BluRay) plus another non-UHD BluRay, but due to my current boycott of the film industry, I don't have a significant library to test against (this was the first BluRay drive I purchased, and solely due to the "now or never" situation with UHD drives generally).

you only lose the disc checking function
and you can get it back by flashing back to wh16ns58 fw

As an aside (and something I noted in the UHD Flashing Guide thread), the original firmware spins the drive up twice at the BIOS screen and twice more during Windows startup, adding about 30 seconds to Windows startup time - the flashed firmware removes this nonsense.

[Robbie56]

So after 2 or 3 failed dyslexia-fueled head-banging issues attempting to run the SDFtool Flasher GUI, I ended up successfully flashing the drive by running the commands AstralWanderer posted in a terminal. Thanks so very much for the link pointing me back to the main guide where I confirmed them AW!

I'd read the tools instructions earlier, but missed remembering the requirement of an older MM app installer, and neglected to re-read them mistakenly thinking the tool would work out-of-the-box like many unzipped stand-alone apps.

At some point it'd be nice if someone could add information about the SDFtool Flasher to the main UHD flashing guide thread. Then on the tool's page, maybe put what seems an unusual requirement of 1st installing an older MM version in a red font. Then down where the download links are, a link to where compatible older versions can be downloaded.

I did eventually get the tool to work in MM v2.0.0 after Gemini suggested making a copy of sdtool.exe in the program's folder and naming it sdftool64.exe. With that, and moving the tool's exe out of the program folder where Windows was blocking its creating a sub-folder, I was able to create a dump file of the flashed fw as a test.

Before executing command line options to flash the drive, I also managed to create another dump of the drive's factory fw via Windows 11's terminal that matched 'bit-perfect' the one I made in Windows 7 last week. Though I'm wondering if ChatGPT's insisting I do it is really useful after finding the archived wh16ns58, HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS58-1.V5-NM00900-211802070957.bin Billycar11 mentioned.

I've not tested M-DISC - I have successfully ripped Blade Runner 2049 (which is a triple-layer BluRay) plus another non-UHD BluRay, but due to my current boycott of the film industry, I don't have a significant library to test against (this was the first BluRay drive I purchased, and solely due to the "now or never" situation with UHD drives generally).

That "now or never" situation with the dwindling numbers of available UHD drives for purchase, along with the months-long prospect of purchasing my 1st 4K Blu-Ray movie, a just-released copy of my all-time favorite sci-fi movie, was exactly why I rushed to get my hands on one AW! I've not been contributing much to the the film industry either with so many movies available in the local county library system.

With info I found in the forums, I managed to enable Kodi's "Show Blu-Ray menu" option by installing JRE 8, letting me check exactly what's listed there vs what's in MakeMKV's backup files.

Thanks for everyone's help getting all this sorted!

[AstralWanderer]

Thanks for the update and good to hear all went well finally, Robbie56. Happy ripping!

With regard to libraries, I've found some charity shops (thrift shops) can have a surprisingly good selection of second-hand DVD/BD/UHD-BD discs, which can be purchased in clear conscience, as they then support a charitable cause rather thn the MPAAfia...