100% Firmware Downgrade for ASUS BW-16D1HT and LG BH16NS55

[Woodstock]

What do you have in Preferences->General for your "MakeMKV directory"?

That's where the various MakeMKV data files should be.

[Braymatter]

yup...preferences>general data directory is set to C:/Users/<my username>/.MakeMKV

All I've got in this folder is _private_data.tar and keys_hashed.txt which I copied in there. Tried it as *.cfg instead as well. no dice.

the drive will try reading for a minute or so and then say no disc.

[lujan]

First of all, big thanks to TeddyRaspin for his awesome work.

However, I would only recommend following this guide only if you really understand what you are doing. The reason - additional information and tools would be announced in near future that would make the process easier and fool-proof. Specifically:
- any firmware can be upgraded or downgraded, on all platforms, using open-source tools (without dosflash or patched OEM flashers).
- any drive can be cross-flashed (UHD into friendly, for example).
- partially dumped firmware can be recovered.

So while this method indeed works and produces amazing results, be very careful to follow the instructions closely. If unsure - just wait for more user-friendly tools to be released. There will be another announcement on this forum.

Has there been any announcement on these "fool-proof... open-source tools"?

[fljoemon]

Pulled out my old Dell Dimension E521 from the garage .. has Windows XP on it .. but no IDE on the motherboard .. only SATA ... horrible BIOS too ... no options to set anything as per Teddy's guide ..will have to wait until Monday and use the PCs at the lab at work.

[Joe333x]

Pulled out my old Dell Dimension E521 from the garage .. has Windows XP on it .. but no IDE on the motherboard .. only SATA ... horrible BIOS too ... no options to set anything as per Teddy's guide ..will have to wait until Monday and use the PCs at the lab at work.

You actually need it to have SATA connections on the motherboard, IDE connections can not connect to the BluRay drive as it has SATA connections on it. If its old and you dont see any options in bios about compatibility or IDE it could be because the system is already running the SATA ports in IDE mode, I believe XP needs SATA ports to run in IDE mode, you can easily check if thats the case by connecting the drive and opening up DOSFLASH and seeing if its able to read the flash or not.

[aaronwt]

Hi guys,

here is my own guide to successfully dump and downgrade firmware on any "UHD Friendly" devices, such as Asus BC-12D2HT / BW-16D1HT or LG BH16NS40/NS55 (WH16NS40/NS55) (SVC Code NS50) and similar drives having MediaTek chipset inside them.


.........................

Thanks a ton for the info. I just finished flashing my Asus BW-16D1HT drive that I got this week from Amazon. It had a February 2018 manufacture date with firmware 3.02 but wouldn't recognize any UHD BDs. Now it is able to read the UHD BDs and I'm using MakeMKV to make a test MKV of my Starship Troopers: Traitors of Mars UHD BD.

[Joe333x]

Hi guys,

here is my own guide to successfully dump and downgrade firmware on any "UHD Friendly" devices, such as Asus BC-12D2HT / BW-16D1HT or LG BH16NS40/NS55 (WH16NS40/NS55) (SVC Code NS50) and similar drives having MediaTek chipset inside them.


.........................

Thanks a ton for the info. I just finished flashing my Asus BW-16D1HT drive that I got this week from Amazon. It had a February 2018 manufacture date with firmware 3.02 but wouldn't recognize any UHD BDs. Now it is able to read the UHD BDs and I'm using MakeMKV to make a test MKV of my Starship Troopers: Traitors of Mars UHD BD.

I just did the same thing today, received a drive from amazon manufactured Feb 2018 with 3.02 on it that could not be downgraded without DOSFLASH. I followed Tedys windows instructions and used my laptop which had IDE mode in BIOS i had to buy a male female connector from amazon for $5 to able to connect the drive to it but it worked flawlessly.

[fljoemon]

Hi guys,

here is my own guide to successfully dump and downgrade firmware on any "UHD Friendly" devices, such as Asus BC-12D2HT / BW-16D1HT or LG BH16NS40/NS55 (WH16NS40/NS55) (SVC Code NS50) and similar drives having MediaTek chipset inside them.


.........................

Thanks a ton for the info. I just finished flashing my Asus BW-16D1HT drive that I got this week from Amazon. It had a February 2018 manufacture date with firmware 3.02 but wouldn't recognize any UHD BDs. Now it is able to read the UHD BDs and I'm using MakeMKV to make a test MKV of my Starship Troopers: Traitors of Mars UHD BD.

I just did the same thing today, received a drive from amazon manufactured Feb 2018 with 3.02 on it that could not be downgraded without DOSFLASH. I followed Tedys windows instructions and used my laptop which had IDE mode in BIOS i had to buy a male female connector from amazon for $5 to able to connect the drive to it but it worked flawlessly.

Very curious on the male-> female connector you bought from amazon. Can you please send me a link to it? I have an old WinXP desktop that won't boot to the FREEDOS flash drive and the Windows boot disk loads will load, however I do not get any "Start" menu or "Drives" to click on the DOSFLASH programs.

[fljoemon]

Also for people trying to find a clean firmware for the ASUS BW-16D1HT drive, here's one attached that @TeddyRaspin had posted in another thread. Since this thread is about the guide to flashing, I think it is appropriate to post it here too rather than go searching for it in other threads.

ASUS_BW-16D1HT_302.ZIP

(2.96 MiB) Downloaded 1172 times

[Joe333x]

For anyone else interested in the male to female sata connector I used for my laptop heres the link.

SIENOC 22-pin (7+15) SATA Male to Female SATA and Power Combo Extension Cable https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NURHUSU/re ... 3AbSEW1VAT

Note: edited to remove SUPER SIZE picture

[giomania]

Hello. Fantastic guide. I have two drives on the way from Jet.com. In the event that I need to roll back, I have been researching this process. I was wondering if it is possible to install the EEPROM Data Mover program also on the root of the USB drive with DOSFLASH_Windows7 and execute it? Then the whole process could be done while booted into Windows 7 Live (Portable Edition).

Thanks for any information.

Mark

[fljoemon]

Hello. Fantastic guide. I have two drives on the way from Jet.com. In the event that I need to roll back, I have been researching this process. I was wondering if it is possible to install the EEPROM Data Mover program also on the root of the USB drive with DOSFLASH_Windows7 and execute it? Then the whole process could be done while booted into Windows 7 Live (Portable Edition).

Thanks for any information.

Mark

That's exactly what I did ... If you are going to boot into Windows7, then download the Dosflash_Windows7.zip file posted on the first page of this thread.

Unzip all the files in that package to the root of your USB drive. then use the 'Dosflash32.exe" file to read the ROM and dump it out of your drive, use "BH16NS40_EEPROM_Data_Mover.exe" to merge your firmware with the clean 3.02 ROM and then use Dosflash32.exe to write back the merged clean firmware to your drive.

The Windows version is very easy to use and all it requires is selecting the correct files.

[giomania]

Hello. Fantastic guide. I have two drives on the way from Jet.com. In the event that I need to roll back, I have been researching this process. I was wondering if it is possible to install the EEPROM Data Mover program also on the root of the USB drive with DOSFLASH_Windows7 and execute it? Then the whole process could be done while booted into Windows 7 Live (Portable Edition).

Thanks for any information.

Mark

That's exactly what I did ... If you are going to boot into Windows7, then download the Dosflash_Windows7.zip file posted on the first page of this thread.

Unzip all the files in that package to the root of your USB drive. then use the 'Dosflash32.exe" file to read the ROM and dump it out of your drive, use "BH16NS40_EEPROM_Data_Mover.exe" to merge your firmware with the clean 3.02 ROM and then use Dosflash32.exe to write back the merged clean firmware to your drive.

The Windows version is very easy to use and all it requires is selecting the correct files.

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

[aaronwt]

Thanks again TeddyRaspin!!

I got a second Asus BW-16D1HT. This time from Newegg. I flashed the firmware today, again using you instructions. And it is reading my UHD BDs without any issues. Just like the Asus I got from Amazon.

The Newegg drive had a February 2018 Manufacture date just like my Amazon drive had.

[lujan]

I'm going to attempt the flash downgrade this week but not sure I have the correct cable to connect Asus drive to old Dell Dimension 8250? Can I just unplug one of the existing optical drives and then use those cables to plug in the new Asus?

One of the requirements is:

A motherboard having SATA controller set as IDE (not AHCI !!!)

How can I tell if the Dell Dimension 8250 has a SATA controller on the motherboard? At first glance it appears like only IDE?