NEW OPTION: 'UHD Friendly' Firmware Downgrade / Cross-Flash Using Official (Modified) ASUS Flasher for ASUS & LG Drives

[MartyMcNuts]

MartyMcNuts, thank you sooooo much for making this! I'm ripping my very first UHD on my brand new WH16NS60. Plus I just ripped a regular blu-ray that my old Pioneer BDR-XD04 would choked on.

You're welcome!

[StoneMkv]

can not find any tool to downgrade BC-12D2HT from 3.11 to 3.10 at this location. Might be removed.
Any other resource available?
ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer_(Modified).exe is always throwing Error #4

You just flash the bw16d1ht 3.10 and if you don't want that firmware then flash your firmware of choice it the only way to drown grade for now if you have 3.10 or higher on Asus drives

Unfortunately the AUSU tool BW-16D1HT FW Updater 3.10_20190306.exe ends with an ERRROR "No Target".
Any idea where to get a tool which is able to cross flash BC-12D2HT ?

[StoneMkv]

can not find any tool to downgrade BC-12D2HT from 3.11 to 3.10 at this location. Might be removed.
Any other resource available?
ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer_(Modified).exe is always throwing Error #4

You just flash the bw16d1ht 3.10 and if you don't want that firmware then flash your firmware of choice it the only way to drown grade for now if you have 3.10 or higher on Asus drives

I managed to flash BC-12D2HT from 3.1 to BW-16D1HT 3.10 now. Seems to support Lib Drive mode now. THANK YOU.
If I try to flash another FW is now throwing Error #5

[hansolo]

What would be the best FW option for my LG BH16NS55 drive (EU) with original 1.02 fw. Currently it works flawlessly and LibreDrive is supported. Would upgrade/sidegrade/downgrade to some other fw offer improvements like even faster ripping speed or no "sleep bug"? Any suggestions?

[MartyMcNuts]

What would be the best FW option for my LG BH16NS55 drive (EU) with original 1.02 fw. Currently it works flawlessly and LibreDrive is supported. Would upgrade/sidegrade/downgrade to some other fw offer improvements like even faster ripping speed or no "sleep bug"? Any suggestions?

There are a couple of good options for you.

1. The ASUS BW-16D1HT 3.02 or 3.10 firmware are both approx 15% faster. Also, 3.10 supposedly has a fix for the sleep bug.

2. If you don't use the drive with Redfox AnyDVD at all, then WH16NS60 1.00 firmware would be my choice. It is about 1% faster than the ASUS firmwares mentioned and since it is an official UHD firmware, there is also no sleep bug.

[jonghotti]

About 1%? Dang sign me up that’s smokin’ fast


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[BluRay444]

A few questions, please:

What is the "Sleep bug"?
(It seems from what I've been able to find that some drives will, after ripping a disc, become un-responsive to further commands, and may need to have the tray manually ejected and closed to get them to become responsive again, or something similar)...
Does this affect LG drives only? UHD-Friendly drives? LibreDrive? Both?

Please correct any misconceptions I have about how this all works below:

The ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer_(Modified).exe from MartyMcNut's "NEW OPTION: 'UHD Friendly' Firmware Downgrade / Cross-Flash Using Official (Modified) ASUS Flasher for ASUS & LG Drives' thread works for both manufacturers (ASUS & LG)??

The DE BIOS bins are official factory bins with only 1 byte changed to enable Downgrading and Cross-Flashing ASUS & LG drives??

The MK BIOS bins have the same 1 byte changed to enable Downgrading and Cross-Flashing, but have additional code for LibreDrive operation by enabling loading of addition code extensions into the drive's volatile memory that dumps the discs raw output prior to stream protection checks??

The ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer_(Modified).exe is also used with the MK BIOS bins??

Using the above flasher and BIOS bins does not affect the drive's calibration table??

To maintain compatibility with AnyDVD HD on the Asus BW-16D1HT drive when enabling LibreDrive, the drive must not be flashed with higher than an MK 3.02 BIOS (if one exists)... Upgrading to the MK 3.10 BIOS will result in the drive no longer being 'UHD-Friendly' drive and compatibility with AnyDVD HD will be lost, and the drive will only work in LibreDrive mode??


Am I on the right track?

[SamuriHL]

You have some misconceptions there.

Sleep bug, yes, UHD Friendly drives will spin down after putting a disc in. Once that happens it'll make a very nasty noise trying to spin back up and won't be successful. Irritating.

Yes to the firmware flasher.

NO to the MK 3.10 not being UHD friendly on the ASUS drive. It remains UHD friendly. it's the version I use and I use it with AnyDVD just fine.

[BluRay444]

Thank you for the reply...
Does that sleep bug happen with all models of drives and (UHD friendly) firmware versions?
I ripped about 54 UHD's with one of the Asus BW16D1HT (factory firmware) I have, and never had anything like that happen. When it does happen, do you have to do anything to make it stop, or does it stop on it's own? Also, I read some firmware versions do not have the sleep problem... true?

Re: the MK 3.10 firmware on the BW16D1HT... I bought a bunch of these drives that had firmware versions that were known to be UHD friendly... I think they were all 3.01 and 3.02; the latest version (at the time) was known to be UHD-friendly on some drives, but not on others. I tested all the drives to see if I could rip with factory firmware, and returned the ones with firmware versions that didn't work. As I recall, of the drives I had with ver 3.02, the ones that were manufactured at the end of one year worked, and the ones that were manufactured in the beginning of the following year were not UHD friendly because Asus started rolling out the modified firmware that blocked drives from being UHD friendly, but continued to used the same old (UHD friendly) firmware version. That's why I'm surprised that MK 3.10 is UHD friendly... how did that happen???

Yeah, not surprised I had a few misconceptions, there's not any one place you can get all the answers. I spent most of yesterday reading various threads (old and new) and trying to piece together how everything works, and part of today documenting where and what I found. Things have gotten substantially simpler and safer since I bought my drives. Bravo!

I have these model drives:
Asus BW16D1HT firmware 3.01? & 3.02? not 100% certain this is correct (UHD friendly from factory)
LG WH14NS40 NS50 firmware 1.02 (UHD friendly from factory)
LG WH16NS40 NS50 firmware 1.03 (not UHD friendly from factory)

Do you have any specific recommendations for the firmware revisions to use when I install MK firmware?
(Bear in mind I would like to remain AnyDVD HD backwards compatible if possible)
Thanks!

[SamuriHL]

You appear to be a little confused still and that's ok. We'll clear this up.

You are correct that ASUS "revisited" 3.02 for the BW-16D1HT and that the new version of it is not UHD friendly. 3.03 is not UHD friendly. 3.10 is not UHD friendly. I can picture you now going "BUT BUT you said MK 3.10 is friendly?!?!!? WTF?!" LOL That's right, _*MK*_ 3.10 IS friendly but that is *NOT* a stock ASUS firmware. It's been modified by Mike to restore the functionality that ASUS removed. It is not true that ALL MK firmware make ALL drives friendly again, but, the MK firmware will make the drives LibreDrive compatible which is "friendly as far as MakeMKV is concerned." The distinction in what I'm saying is that while they can always be used with MakeMKV, it doesn't necessarily mean they can be used with other programs. In the case of the BW-16D1HT, it just so happens that it restores full friendliness. Mike stated that wasn't intentional but a happy situation nonetheless.

If you've not encountered the sleep bug, that's great. AnyDVD put a "fix" of sorts in for drives that have it but it honestly drives me nuts cause it keeps the drive spinning constantly. What's needed if you do encounter it is to open the tray and close it again and that should work around the issue. The LG official drives do not have this issue. The MK 3.10 firmware doesn't, either.

For the BW-16D1HT I recommend MK 3.10 as it improves reading triple layer discs and whacks the sleep bug. If you're using AnyDVD in addition to MakeMKV, that's why you've not encountered it. MK 3.10 will keep AnyDVD friendly compatibility and is what I use on my drive.

The NS40 NS50 with 1.02 - Leave it alone
The NS40 NS50 with 1.03 - You can either install MK 1.03 OR use a Downgrade Enabled version of 1.02 to downgrade it to make it exactly like your other drive. Either option is valid. I don't know enough about those drives to know what the "better" option is but I suspect downgrading it to 1.02 would be just fine and make it identical to your other drive. Hope this helps!

[BluRay444]

Thank you SamuriHL,
I hadn't read that little tidbit about MK v3.1 anywhere before now... an unintentional 'feature'... and a happy one indeed.

Thank you for your patience with my lifelong affliction of wanting to know not only what works, but why.

[SamuriHL]

I'm like you on that so no worries. Happy to share when I can. Yea, Mike's goal with the MK firmware was to restore LibreDrive functionality. He wasn't targeting "friendly" but in the case of MK 3.10 it just worked out that way and everyone was happy. LOL If there's any other questions let us know. There's a lot of very knowledgeable people around here that are always happy to help.

[xxcalibur]

hey fellas. just bought a new drive as shown below. whats my best option?
Drive Information
OS device name: D:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH16NS60
Revision: 1.01
Serial number: M68ICI93319
Firmware date: 2117-11-20 20:00
Bus encryption flags: 17

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible (with patched firmware)
Drive platform: MT1959
Harware support: Yes
Firmware support: No
Firmware type: Original (patched version available)
Firmware version: 1.01
DVD all regions: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw data read: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw metadata read: Possible (with patched firmware)
Unrestricted read speed: Possible (with patched firmware)

No disc inserted

when trying to read 4k disc i get "illegal request" error as well as "Can't read AACS VID from disc - most likely current AACS host certificate is revoked by your drive
Saved AACS dump file as C:\Users\tkolt/.MakeMKV/MKB20_v61_Die_Hard_B96D.tgz
LibreDrive compatible drive is required to open this disc - video can't be decrypted.
Failed to open disc"

thanks mates

[Billycar11]

hey fellas. just bought a new drive as shown below. whats my best option?
Drive Information
OS device name: D:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH16NS60
Revision: 1.01
Serial number: M68ICI93319
Firmware date: 2117-11-20 20:00
Bus encryption flags: 17

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible (with patched firmware)
Drive platform: MT1959
Harware support: Yes
Firmware support: No
Firmware type: Original (patched version available)
Firmware version: 1.01
DVD all regions: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw data read: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw metadata read: Possible (with patched firmware)
Unrestricted read speed: Possible (with patched firmware)

No disc inserted

when trying to read 4k disc i get "illegal request" error as well as "Can't read AACS VID from disc - most likely current AACS host certificate is revoked by your drive
Saved AACS dump file as C:\Users\tkolt/.MakeMKV/MKB20_v61_Die_Hard_B96D.tgz
LibreDrive compatible drive is required to open this disc - video can't be decrypted.
Failed to open disc"

thanks mates

WH16NS60 1.00 or MK1.01 no point cross flashing it if you only use makemkv use mk if not use de1.00

[BluRay444]

Downgraded two LG WH16NS40 SVC CODE NS50 drives from Rom ver 1.03 to DE_LG_WH16NS40_1.02_NS50.bin today. Flasher and .bins downloaded from first page of this thread on 06-15-2019.

Instructions 1 through 3 went normally.
Instruction 4- Hit "START" button. Drive tray opened as expected. Drive LED began flashing. After 25-30 seconds LED turned off. Tray still out, no further activity. After about 5 minutes, still no further activity. Task Manager shows two processes still running:
ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer.exe *32
ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer_(Modified).exe

Closed ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer_(Modified).exe from GUI ('X') (both radio buttons greyed out and non-functional).
Ran ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer_(Modified).exe again and it showed that the firmware now at 1.02.

UHD disc loaded and ripped to ISO normally.
ISO rips from both drives generated same MD5

With the exception of the tray never closing when new firmware finished writing as noted in the instructions when downgrading both drives, the operation appears to be successful.

Does this happen often?