www.makemkv.com

MartyMcNuts wrote: Tue Jan 06, 2026 5:55 am

Noob123 wrote: Tue Jan 06, 2026 5:12 am

Mr_Orange wrote: Tue Jan 06, 2026 4:49 am

No, you aren't, not by a long stretch. The original versions came with a native UHD Pioneer drive inside. The current versions come with an LG BU40N, which needs flashing with SDFTool Flasher.

That was my assumption. It has already been flashed. I am wondering if those who have already flashed this model has experienced a similar issue or if they were able to read UHD discs with the supplied USB cable without any issues. It would also be helpful to know if anyone has used a duplex USB cable with this drive before.

First thing to do when getting read errors is to clean the disc(s), even if they look pristine. If that still doesn't help, then look at the power. The Verbatims can be a bit power hungry. Don't use PC case ports. Use USB ports (USB-C if possible) direct from the motherboard if you can, otherwise get yourself an AC self-powered hub of at least 30w. This is especially true with laptops as often laptops don't supply enough constant power to the USB ports.

Noob123 wrote: Tue Jan 06, 2026 12:58 pm According to the sticker on the drive, the Verbatim 43888 (LG BU40N) has a power requirement of 15W (5
V 3A) and my laptops USB C port has a max 15W output.

There does not appear to exist any AC powered USB C hubs with ports that deliver more than 15W output and also data at the same time. Charging blocks do but they don’t transfer data.

I would love to hear from any of the numerous people who has successfully flashed a 43888 LG drive to read UHD discs on this matter.

GayMergirl wrote: Wed Jan 07, 2026 1:05 am I am trying to flash a replacement drive I purchased recently. (external slim Archgon BU40N with encrypted firmware)

https://www.amazon.com/Archgon-Premium- ... 177&sr=8-1

I was able to flash this drive a couple of years ago, but obviously I know hardware or firmware revisions could've happened

I'm trying to write the "LG slim BU40N" firmware from "The all you need firmware pack". The specific issue I'm having is that, when I click "Start" in the SDFtool Flasher 1.3.6 nothing happens. The program recognizes my drive, recognizes the firmware I'm trying to flash, but won't flash or do anything when I click "Start." Any suggestions? Am I missing something that won't let me flash this drive?

MakeMKV info:
Drive Information
OS device name: F:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU40N
Revision: 1.02
Serial number: MOBP55G0506
Firmware date: 2120-12-01 17:16
Bus encryption flags: 1F

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible (with patched firmware)
Drive platform: MT1959
Harware support: Yes
Firmware support: No
Firmware type: Original (patched version available)
Firmware version: 1.02
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)

icman wrote: Wed Jan 07, 2026 3:24 pm Hi All.

I just purchased a new ASUS BW-16D1X-U. MakeMKV says the following...

Drive Information
OS device name: E:
Manufacturer: ASUS
Product: BW-16D1X-U
Revision: E113
Serial number: DIDL124254WL
Firmware date: 2020-07-21
Bus encryption flags: 1B

LibreDrive Information
Status: Enabled
Drive platform: RS8F00
Firmware name: PIONEER BDR-212T
Firmware type: Original (unpatched)
Firmware version: E113/ID76
DVD all regions: Yes
BD raw data read: Yes
BD raw metadata read: Yes
Unrestricted read speed: Yes


When I run SDFTool, it says that the drive does not have the correct platform (MT1959) and cannot be flashed.

What does all that mean? What is the MT1959 platform? What other platforms are there? How can I flash my drive?

Thank you.

flowhours wrote: Wed Jan 07, 2026 2:51 pm Hi there, I have tried to see if anyone has asked about this firmware version before and I couldn't find anything so before I do anything I just want to double check. I have used your tool to dump the current firmware that came with my "Verbatim Ultra HD 4K External Slimline Blu-ray Writer" (43888). The name of the firmware from the dump is called "HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_BU40N_1.05" it's not in the list of encrypted firmware's. However, it appears to be a newer version number so I fear it could be encrypted too. There is also some weird firmware date being provided from MakeMKV info below and that bus encryption flag. As flashing these things in particular are not my expertise I thought I would ask here before doing anything.

Drive Information
OS device name: D:
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE BU40N
Revision: 1.05
Serial number: (removed in case sensitive)
Firmware date: 2124-04-23 13:47
Bus encryption flags: 17

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

Bytez wrote: Wed Jan 07, 2026 3:01 pm Hello everyone,

I just wanted to double-check.

I have an ASUS BW-16D1HT with firmware 3.11. The guide says I should first upgrade to firmware WH16NS60 1.02-MK and then I can install another firmware (in my case, 3.10 from ASUS).

Is this intermediate step still necessary, or can I go straight to 3.10?

MartyMcNuts wrote: Tue Jan 06, 2026 11:27 pm

Noob123 wrote: Tue Jan 06, 2026 12:58 pm According to the sticker on the drive, the Verbatim 43888 (LG BU40N) has a power requirement of 15W (5
V 3A) and my laptops USB C port has a max 15W output.

There does not appear to exist any AC powered USB C hubs with ports that deliver more than 15W output and also data at the same time. Charging blocks do but they don’t transfer data.

I would love to hear from any of the numerous people who has successfully flashed a 43888 LG drive to read UHD discs on this matter.

I'm sure that the laptop's USB-C port doesn't provide that 15w power constantly either. Probably fluctuates some which causes drive issues.

I've flashed hundreds (if not thousands) of these Verbatim 43888's and tested them with UHD discs while connected to my TEKERA 7-port USB 3.2/USB-C hub that has a 24w power supply. The hub is connected to my PC via a USB-C port directly from the motherboard. Not a single power issue. I would not recommend a hub with any lower than 24w. I test 3 drives at a time using the 3 x 10Gbps ports on my hub. Link below.

TEKERA:
https://www.amazon.com.au/TEKERA-3-2-US ... 542&sr=1-4


Billy also recommends a different hub model over in his thread: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17831 but I'm not sure which model.