Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2026

[MartyMcNuts]

Hi, need a little help. I got way ahead of myself and flashed my WH14NS40 - NS40 1.0 Circa 2013 to a WH14NS40/NS50 MK firmware. I have read the posts that it is not garbage, but in this post there is a mention of "NS40 Recovery Image" is that for the NS40 that really is a NS40 that was flashed to a NS50, and no calibration was saved? (my case)

I booted the image, but there does not seem to be a NS40 1.0 firmware, they all are NS50. I have the clean firmware from LG, for the old drive, but no calibration data. Is there any chance of a rescue?

Once you have booted into the image, you need to:

1. Use dosflash to extract the current firmware from your drive. (Even though it is a NS50 firmware, it still has your original NS40 calibration data).

2. Then you need to use the EEPROM data mover to create a new firmware using the clean firmware you downloaded and the firmware you just extracted in the previous step.

3. Then use dosflash to flash the newly created firmware to your drive.

All programs are located in a folder on the desktop. There are also start menu shortcuts.

Cheers

[Prophet4NO1]

Hello. I have an LG WH16NS40, brand new with the 1.4 firmware. I have been up and down these forums, have the Asus and LG cross flash tools and a pile of firmwares. None seem to work. I read a thread about cross flashing an Asus firmware and then back to the LG. Tried that, bricked the drive. obviously I messed up someplace along the way.

From what I read, these drives have to be cross flashed to work. I obviously misread something, so before I brick a second drive I am looking for a sanity check. Quick bullet points on what firmware to flash in order and what tools, please. Someone, please save me from myself.

[MartyMcNuts]

Hello. I have an LG WH16NS40, brand new with the 1.4 firmware. I have been up and down these forums, have the Asus and LG cross flash tools and a pile of firmwares. None seem to work. I read a thread about cross flashing an Asus firmware and then back to the LG. Tried that, bricked the drive. obviously I messed up someplace along the way.

From what I read, these drives have to be cross flashed to work. I obviously misread something, so before I brick a second drive I am looking for a sanity check. Quick bullet points on what firmware to flash in order and what tools, please. Someone, please save me from myself.

First thing is to make sure that the drive is SVC: NS50 (check drive label). I assume it is as you mentioned it is a brand new drive. If the drive is SVC: NS50 then:

• Flash the drive with firmware BH16NS55 1.04 MK from the MK firmware pack

• Now you can flash whatever firmware you want to use.

Easy Peasy!

Cheers

[Prophet4NO1]

Hello. I have an LG WH16NS40, brand new with the 1.4 firmware. I have been up and down these forums, have the Asus and LG cross flash tools and a pile of firmwares. None seem to work. I read a thread about cross flashing an Asus firmware and then back to the LG. Tried that, bricked the drive. obviously I messed up someplace along the way.

From what I read, these drives have to be cross flashed to work. I obviously misread something, so before I brick a second drive I am looking for a sanity check. Quick bullet points on what firmware to flash in order and what tools, please. Someone, please save me from myself.

First thing is to make sure that the drive is SVC: NS50 (check drive label). I assume it is as you mentioned it is a brand new drive. If the drive is SVC: NS50 then:

• Flash the drive with firmware BH16NS55 1.04 MK from the MK firmware pack

• Now you can flash whatever firmware you want to use.

Easy Peasy!

Cheers

Thank you! It is working now. Is there a particular firmware that has better rip speeds? Doing a test rip now and 12.6 M/s. Seems a bit slow. I remember reading on an older thread that some firmware versions ripped faster. But, I could be wrong.

[MartyMcNuts]

Hello. I have an LG WH16NS40, brand new with the 1.4 firmware. I have been up and down these forums, have the Asus and LG cross flash tools and a pile of firmwares. None seem to work. I read a thread about cross flashing an Asus firmware and then back to the LG. Tried that, bricked the drive. obviously I messed up someplace along the way.

From what I read, these drives have to be cross flashed to work. I obviously misread something, so before I brick a second drive I am looking for a sanity check. Quick bullet points on what firmware to flash in order and what tools, please. Someone, please save me from myself.

First thing is to make sure that the drive is SVC: NS50 (check drive label). I assume it is as you mentioned it is a brand new drive. If the drive is SVC: NS50 then:

• Flash the drive with firmware BH16NS55 1.04 MK from the MK firmware pack

• Now you can flash whatever firmware you want to use.

Easy Peasy!

Cheers

Thank you! It is working now. Is there a particular firmware that has better rip speeds? Doing a test rip now and 12.6 M/s. Seems a bit slow. I remember reading on an older thread that some firmware versions ripped faster. But, I could be wrong.

The 2 fastest (about 15% faster),in order, are WH16NS60 1.00 and BH16D1HT 3.10-MK.

Just be mindful that the NS60 firmware is an "official UHD" firmware and is not compatible with other software such as AnyDVD and the ASUS firmware can cause burn issues, so if you plan to write discs and/or use AnyDVD, then stick with the WH16NS40 firmware.

Cheers

[Prophet4NO1]

First thing is to make sure that the drive is SVC: NS50 (check drive label). I assume it is as you mentioned it is a brand new drive. If the drive is SVC: NS50 then:

• Flash the drive with firmware BH16NS55 1.04 MK from the MK firmware pack

• Now you can flash whatever firmware you want to use.

Easy Peasy!

Cheers

Thank you! It is working now. Is there a particular firmware that has better rip speeds? Doing a test rip now and 12.6 M/s. Seems a bit slow. I remember reading on an older thread that some firmware versions ripped faster. But, I could be wrong.

The 2 fastest (about 15% faster),in order, are WH16NS60 1.00 and BH16D1HT 3.10-MK.

Just be mindful that the NS60 firmware is an "official UHD" firmware and is not compatible with other software such as AnyDVD and the ASUS firmware can cause burn issues, so if you plan to write discs and/or use AnyDVD, then stick with the WH16NS40 firmware.

Cheers

Thanks for the info! This drive is strictly used for ripping disks for my plex server. Now that I have a 4K TV I am going through all my combo boxes that came with a 4k disk and ripping those.

[Prophet4NO1]

So, ripped a few disks, no issues until Avengers Endgame. I get this error every time for four attempts now.

Saving 1 titles into directory D:/Video/MARVEL'S AVENGERS- ENDGAME
Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00055.m2ts' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'OS error - STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR' occurred while reading '\Device\CdRom0' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'OS error - STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR' occurred while reading '\Device\CdRom0' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'OS error - STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR' occurred while reading '\Device\CdRom0' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'OS error - STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR' occurred while reading '\Device\CdRom0' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'OS error - STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR' occurred while reading '\Device\CdRom0' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'Scsi error - HARDWARE ERROR:TIMEOUT ON LOGICAL UNIT' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00055.m2ts' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00055.m2ts' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00055.m2ts' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00055.m2ts' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'OS error - The I/O device reported an I/O error' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00055.m2ts' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'OS error - The I/O device reported an I/O error' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00055.m2ts' at offset '29532420096'
Failed to save title 0 to file D:/Video/MARVEL'S AVENGERS- ENDGAME/MARVEL'S AVENGERS- ENDGAME_t00.mkv
Encountered 10 errors of type 'Read Error' - see http://www.makemkv.com/errors/read/
0 titles saved, 1 failed

It is like it gets stuck at a particular sector. Bad disk maybe? Something else?

[MartyMcNuts]

So, ripped a few disks, no issues until Avengers Endgame. I get this error every time for four attempts now.

Saving 1 titles into directory D:/Video/MARVEL'S AVENGERS- ENDGAME
Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00055.m2ts' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'OS error - STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR' occurred while reading '\Device\CdRom0' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'OS error - STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR' occurred while reading '\Device\CdRom0' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'OS error - STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR' occurred while reading '\Device\CdRom0' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'OS error - STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR' occurred while reading '\Device\CdRom0' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'OS error - STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR' occurred while reading '\Device\CdRom0' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'Scsi error - HARDWARE ERROR:TIMEOUT ON LOGICAL UNIT' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00055.m2ts' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00055.m2ts' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00055.m2ts' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'Scsi error - MEDIUM ERROR:L-EC UNCORRECTABLE ERROR' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00055.m2ts' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'OS error - The I/O device reported an I/O error' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00055.m2ts' at offset '29532420096'
Error 'OS error - The I/O device reported an I/O error' occurred while reading '/BDMV/STREAM/00055.m2ts' at offset '29532420096'
Failed to save title 0 to file D:/Video/MARVEL'S AVENGERS- ENDGAME/MARVEL'S AVENGERS- ENDGAME_t00.mkv
Encountered 10 errors of type 'Read Error' - see http://www.makemkv.com/errors/read/
0 titles saved, 1 failed

It is like it gets stuck at a particular sector. Bad disk maybe? Something else?

First thing to try is cleaning the disc. (Yes, even if it looks spotless!) Often, this solves the issue. However, in saying that, there are a couple of threads with people having issues with the same movie. I never had any problem ripping mine. It worked first go with no errors on my NS60.

[fitbrit]

I take it there is no current way to flash a SLIM official drive to a friendly one?

[Billycar11]

I take it there is no current way to flash a SLIM official drive to a friendly one?

You can falsh the BU40N any fw
The bp drives need 1.00 to be flashed

Edit:
Auto correct messed up that post

[MartyMcNuts]

I take it there is no current way to flash a SLIM official drive to a friendly one?

What model and what firmware?

[Allistah]

Hey all --

Thanks to those that created this guide and have continually contributed.

I think I've settled on a drive but I wanted to get a real-time check on it to see if there was something that I needed to know before I buy it. I have MacBook Pros at home and I'm looking at getting the "LG BU40N, UHD Official Internal Slim Sata 9.5mm" from the first post in this thread and a slim case that works with flashing.

is there any info I need to know about this drive before I commit and buy it? Are there any reasons why I wouldn't want this drive at all? Would like to just know all the facets of it before I get it and learn some unknown weird thing that I didn't know. I mainly want it for ripping and the small size is good for being mobile. I guess the drive comes with a Y cable? So I have to plug it into two USB ports or supply power some way?

Are there any issues with flashing that I should be aware of? Any other info that you would have wanted to know if you were going to buy it would be greatly appreciate if someone could share it with me. So much info spread across quite a few threads.. Thanks in advance!

[Billycar11]

Hey all --

Thanks to those that created this guide and have continually contributed.

I think I've settled on a drive but I wanted to get a real-time check on it to see if there was something that I needed to know before I buy it. I have MacBook Pros at home and I'm looking at getting the "LG BU40N, UHD Official Internal Slim Sata 9.5mm" from the first post in this thread and a slim case that works with flashing.

is there any info I need to know about this drive before I commit and buy it? Are there any reasons why I wouldn't want this drive at all? Would like to just know all the facets of it before I get it and learn some unknown weird thing that I didn't know. I mainly want it for ripping and the small size is good for being mobile. I guess the drive comes with a Y cable? So I have to plug it into two USB ports or supply power some way?

Are there any issues with flashing that I should be aware of? Any other info that you would have wanted to know if you were going to buy it would be greatly appreciate if someone could share it with me. So much info spread across quite a few threads.. Thanks in advance!

you cant flash it on a mac and fully passing it through a vm can be annoying that's a thing to know
and the dive is not usb its sata but the vantec slim case has a y cable

[Allistah]

Yeah I’ll be flashing it on a VM.

What are the drawbacks between these two drives, outside of cost?

LG WH16NS60, UHD Official Internal 5.25
LG BU40N, UHD Official Internal Slim Sata 9.5mm

Are their speeds the same or is the NS60 the best one? I’d prefer the slim one for portability and it’s a bit cheaper but not if I gimp myself out on drive abilities. Hope that makes sense... Any insight is appreciated.

[fitbrit]

I take it there is no current way to flash a SLIM official drive to a friendly one?

What model and what firmware?

Hi Marty
Thanks for the response!
I have a couple of external LG BP60NB10 drives with ROM ver 1.00. I've managed to use the MK firmware on these. However I would like to be able to use them with AnyDVD-HD as well like I can with the flashed non-slim drives. And that ability requires a friendly drive, not an official one.

More important would be the ability to use LG BU40N drives this way. ROM version: 1.03