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

[xmenw]

Hi guys,

Been reading here a lot, posting first time. I got a WH16NS40 (NS50)with fw 1.03 from newegg recently. I don't have a pc with a old enough motherboard that has Sata to IDE functionality. If I try to dump the firmware using AHCI mode, is there anyway to verify the firmware dump is valid i.e. not corrupt? And which method to follow to ensure chances of success are higher.

Thanks!

EDIT: I do have an older motherboard which has this functionality I believe, but its part of a headless server, and doesn't have a video card, I could potentially remove all other drives from it and boot it from a USB, however is there any chance I could SSH into it using the boot up USB and perform these steps?

[drzoidberg33]

Thank you very much for the instructions on this.

Received my BW-16D1HT this morning and it had firmware 3.02 (Purchased off Amazon - drive manufacture date is Feb 2018) but didn't read any discs.

Finally found an older PC in a cupboard that had IDE SATA support in the bios and flashing with the clean 3.02 firmware provided worked a charm.

Currently ripping my Blue Planet II discs

[giomania]

I had to resort to the DOS version for the same reason... the Windows version detected the controllers correctly, but never the attached ATAPI device.

When booted into the DOS env, I assume you've CD'd into the DOSFLASH dir? Try typing 'DOSFLASH,EXE'<enter>. As the instructions indicate, you MAY need to do this a couple of times for successful detection.

No luck. I had difficulty getting the USB to boot into DOS. After several iterations, it appears that disabling CSM in BIOS makes the thumbstick go from being recognized as USB to UEFI in the boot options. I get in a BIOS boot cycle when it is UEFI.

After changing back to CSM enabled, I can get to DOS again but I get messages of "Cannot run program in DOS".

Any other suggestions? The drive is past it's return date unfortunately. Would anybody be willing to flash the drive for me if I shipped it to them?

It sounds like you did everything you could, however, you stated you swapped SATA ports, but did you try ports 0, 1, or 2? That is one of the things folks noted in the past. I have a three ASRock MOBO's, and they all have multiple SATA controllers, as identified in the manual. Assuming your MOBO is similar, perhaps when you tried different SATA ports, you were always on one of the controllers? It's just a thought, but maybe it will help. And if you are worried about ensuring you are doing it right (seem like you are), follow the instructions I posted above.

Mark

[giomania]

Gents, I made a lot of changes to the instructions document, including more background and ripping information (still needs work) and also added the link to my signature: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EvYk8 ... EuF3y9qzwx

[jonghotti]

Gents, I made a lot of changes to the instructions document, including more background and ripping information (still needs work) and also added the link to my signature: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EvYk8 ... EuF3y9qzwx

And I'll say it again, thank you, sincerely, for doing this!

[pjr918bmw]

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.

...and another very grateful member here. Thank you so much for putting so much effort into this. I also bought a recent Asus drive with the "updated" 3.02 firmware - and would not open any UHD's. Followed your guide for Windows and it worked flawlessly.

Ripping my first UHD now!

[wesmannmsu]

@TeddyRaspin I get confused in your guide around step 8.

I have a BW-16D1HT with 3.02 (clearly the wrong 3.02 because it will not see the disks) but, can I just use the

"BH14NS40_N1.00-A4_patched.exe" in windows 10 to flash the "ASUS_BW-16D1HT_302.BIN" on to it? or do I have to do all the dump stuff?

[wesmannmsu]

Thank you very much for the instructions on this.

Received my BW-16D1HT this morning and it had firmware 3.02 (Purchased off Amazon - drive manufacture date is Feb 2018) but didn't read any discs.

Finally found an older PC in a cupboard that had IDE SATA support in the bios and flashing with the clean 3.02 firmware provided worked a charm.

Currently ripping my Blue Planet II discs

You didn't need to dump anything? just flashed the correct 3.02 and it worked?

[giomania]

@TeddyRaspin I get confused in your guide around step 8.

I have a BW-16D1HT with 3.02 (clearly the wrong 3.02 because it will not see the disks) but, can I just use the

"BH14NS40_N1.00-A4_patched.exe" in windows 10 to flash the "ASUS_BW-16D1HT_302.BIN" on to it? or do I have to do all the dump stuff?

See the detailed instructions wherein I expand upon Teddy's; it is linked in my signature.

[pjr918bmw]

Hi guys,

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.

...and another very grateful member here. Thank you so much for putting so much effort into this. I also bought a recent Asus drive with the "updated" 3.02 firmware - and would not open any UHD's. Followed your guide for Windows and it worked flawlessly.

Ripping my first UHD now!

Just out of interest - even though this worked perfectly for me - I would be interested purely from a knowledge perspective as to why you have to boot from USB and set the drive to IDE? the rest of the process is pretty straight forward and I understand what is going on. Anybody? No big deal - just interested.

[wesmannmsu]

Turns out Flashing the BW-16D1HT drive to the correct 3.0.2 was easier than it looked, Thanks for the guide (@TeddyRaspin) and the Notes (@giomania)


I found an older WH16NS40 on my son's computer with 1.0.0 on it, can I just flash that with the same process using the ASUS 3.0.2?

Or is there just a CLEAN BIN for that device out there to upgrade too?

[DerfBWH]

Just wanted to post my thanks for writing this! Got a BW-16D1HT from NewEgg that came with 3.03 preinstalled. Downgrading to 3.02 was easy as pie once I got it plugged into the correct SATA port on my motherboard, and I'm now able to rip UHD discs with MakeMKV. I appreciate it.

[pixeluk]

Hi, firstly a big thank you for providing a method of firmware downgrade.

As expected the Asus BC-12D2HT now shipping through UK Distributors has firmware 3.01 installed (drive manufacturer date Dec 28 2017)

Fortunately I still have BC-12D2HT with the older 3.00 firmware to use as a firmware donor.

I’ve followed the guide at the top of this Thread and am confident I have taken a firmware dump from both the older and newer drives (the resulting BIN files are 2,048 KB and open in WinHEX) but when I run the EEPROM_Data_Mover utility and first select the 301 firmware then the 300 firmware but get an error message “incorrect firmware file”.

Should this tool work on firmware for this drive or do I need to tackle the hex range transfer separately? I don’t mind having a go at this if that’s the case – can anyone recommend a free alternative to WinHEX?

The EEPROM Data Mover tool shows as v0.01 with a build Jan 3 2018 – is this the correct one I should use?

Thanks in advance for your help

[pixeluk]

Just a follow up – I’ve also got a LG WH14NS40 with friendly 1.02 firmware (physically identical to the Asus BC-12D2HT). I’ve taken a dump of this firmware and tried the EEPROM utility and get the same error message.

Is this expected for this drive model too? Or perhaps something else has gone wrong.

[giomania]

Just a follow up – I’ve also got a LG WH14NS40 with friendly 1.02 firmware (physically identical to the Asus BC-12D2HT). I’ve taken a dump of this firmware and tried the EEPROM utility and get the same error message.

Is this expected for this drive model too? Or perhaps something else has gone wrong.

The LG WH14NS40 is not listed on the friendly drive thread, but the Asus BC-12D2HT is, so you are saying you can rip UHD BD's with this drive? I have one in one of my PC's, but never tried because it wasn't listed on the first post of the UHD-Friendly drive thread.

Thanks.

Mark