Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2023

Forum for discussions about UHD-capable dives
MartyMcNuts
Posts: 2461
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2017 11:45 pm

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by MartyMcNuts »

Billycar11 wrote:
Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:18 am
arrbee99 wrote:
Wed Jul 22, 2020 6:06 am
Thanks very much.

Yes, I use MakeMKV.

So hopefully, when I'm brave enough to try, that will make the command as per your video -

makemkvcon64.exe f --all-yes -d D: rawflash -i C:\Users\ME\Downloads\(Modified) ASUS ODD FW Changer (24.08.2019) + UHD Friendly Firmwares + Latest MK Pack (15.04.2020)\mk-firmware-pack-20200415\MK\HL-DT-ST\WH16NS60\HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS60-1.02-NM00100-211810291936.bin
yeah but the spaces probably wont work
Yep, just add quotes for the input and it should work.

makemkvcon64.exe f --all-yes -d D: rawflash -i "C:\Users\ME\Downloads\(Modified) ASUS ODD FW Changer (24.08.2019) + UHD Friendly Firmwares + Latest MK Pack (15.04.2020)\mk-firmware-pack-20200415\MK\HL-DT-ST\WH16NS60\HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS60-1.02-NM00100-211810291936.bin"
Cheers :D
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For UHD enabled drives (AU/NZ/SG) & DIY Single Drive Flasher (WW): https://www.uhdenableddrives.com
SamuriHL
Posts: 2223
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:32 pm

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by SamuriHL »

Pardon the intrusion into this fascinating discussion ( :D ) but you really wanna update these commands for the new sdftool included with 1.15.2.

sdftool --all-yes -d D: flash -i "C:\Users\ME\Downloads\(Modified) ASUS ODD FW Changer (24.08.2019) + UHD Friendly Firmwares + Latest MK Pack (15.04.2020)\mk-firmware-pack-20200415\MK\HL-DT-ST\WH16NS60\HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS60-1.02-NM00100-211810291936.bin"

Enjoy!
arrbee99
Posts: 54
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2014 8:44 am

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by arrbee99 »

Thanks for all the help folks, including the hint about the update tool.

Hopefully I'll have a go in the next few days, but if there's one thing I'm good at its prevaricating...
wdarkk
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jul 24, 2020 9:27 pm

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by wdarkk »

Is it safe to take a BP60NB10 from 1.01 to 1.02mk or should I go with 1.01mk?

Also just to be clear that's an unencrypted firmware?
Billycar11
Posts: 3769
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:49 am

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by Billycar11 »

wdarkk wrote:
Fri Jul 24, 2020 9:32 pm
Is it safe to take a BP60NB10 from 1.01 to 1.02mk or should I go with 1.01mk?

Also just to be clear that's an unencrypted firmware?
it is safe i dont think it is encrypted
Buy a UHD drive from the guide and how to video maker: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 20&t=17831
UHD Drives Guide: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 16&t=19634
Auto flash kit $25 Email me for one Billycar5924@gmail.com
wdarkk
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jul 24, 2020 9:27 pm

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by wdarkk »

Billycar11 wrote:
Sat Jul 25, 2020 1:45 am
wdarkk wrote:
Fri Jul 24, 2020 9:32 pm
Is it safe to take a BP60NB10 from 1.01 to 1.02mk or should I go with 1.01mk?

Also just to be clear that's an unencrypted firmware?
it is safe i dont think it is encrypted
Is there a way to make sure it's un-encrypted? I don't see a line for that in the drive information in makemkv.
icourt
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2020 6:27 pm

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by icourt »

If you’re referring to the MK firmware, none of them are encrypted, and any checks to require encrypted future updates have been removed.
ihavoc
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Feb 29, 2020 6:38 pm

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by ihavoc »

I have an LG WH16NS40 blu ray player that came with 1.04 firmware and updated to to 1.03 MK Firmware a few months ago. I know see there is a 1.05 MK firmware for this drive in the latest firmware pack viewtopic.php?f=19&t=19113 . However on the main page of this guide it says
Recommended Firmware to flash for MakeMKV:
WH16NS40 > WH16NS60 1.02MK
As the latest firmware pack has WH16NS60 1.03MK Should I flash the WH16NS60 1.03MK firmware on my WH16NS40 drive or the 1.05 MK firmware for the WH16NS40 or is it still recommended to flash the WH16NS60 1.02MK onto this drive?

Thanks for this awesome product,
Greg
SamuriHL
Posts: 2223
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:32 pm

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by SamuriHL »

You should flash NONE of that. If your drive is on an MK firmware, LEAVE IT ALONE. Unless there's some problem you're attempting to solve, which is unlikely to be fixed by newer firmware, there is ZERO benefit to flashing an already working drive.
icourt
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2020 6:27 pm

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by icourt »

As far as I know, the only changes made in the last few firmware updates put out by LG are to do the following:
  • Prevent downgrades
  • Attempt to kill off LibreDrive
  • Implement the ‘requirement’ of ‘encrypted’ firmware updates
Mike has removed those restrictions in the MK firmware. You could, I suppose, update to the latest MK version, but there is really no need. I’d agree with virtually everyone else here in saying leave it alone!

I’m sure if there were any compelling reasons to update, such as media compatibility fixes, Mike would spot it and would advise people to upgrade.
ihavoc
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Feb 29, 2020 6:38 pm

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by ihavoc »

Thank you all, I will leave the drive on the 1.03 MK Firmware.
geroiminor
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:50 pm

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by geroiminor »

Hi

i can acquire a BU40N foir cheap price in my country , however i do not understand this statement :
As previously stated in this guide. DO NOT crossflash between ASUS and LG firmware for slim drives like the LG BU40N for example. It will brick your drive. You’ve now been warned twice within this guide regarding this.
Does it mean that unit with encrypted firmware can not be downgraded through crossflash for further Libredrive compatibility ?

Is it garantee that the drive i will buy will be compatible ?

In other words :) what is the procedure if the drive comes with encrypted >= 1.04 firmware :)
monkeymindboy
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2018 12:35 pm

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by monkeymindboy »

Fearless Leader wrote:
Sun Jun 28, 2020 7:39 pm
Holy crap!

I know this is anecdotal evidence and isn't proof of anything, but I post this in case it helps someone else.

I bought Avengers Endgame UHD right when it came out. It never successfully ripped. I can play the disc on a standalone player. Yes, makemkv could open it and start ripping it, but eventually it would come to a sector that the drive couldn't read. Re-running it many times showed no progress. So I just assumed bad disc, and ripped the blu-ray version instead, which worked fine.

As more versions of makemkv came out, I would sometimes re-try the Endgame UHD. Never worked.
Last night, I tried to re-rip Frozen II to try various things to deal with atmos problem (even with lastest makemkv, there is still a problem to be solved...but that is not the point here). Frozen II suddenly showed a sector that couldn't be read. This made me think the drive was failing, because it would be unlikely for a new disc like that to go bad (considering I handle my discs carefully). I re-tried a few times, still didn't work.

I started thinking the drive is failing. If was dying, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try cross-flashing to LG to overcome the sleep bug with my Asus.
After a successful flash, suddenly Frozen II ripped without the read sector problem. On a lark, I decided to try Endgame again. Holy crap, it worked this time!

Again, this is not evidence or proof of anything. It possible I just got really really lucky this time. But I feel like it helped me. Maybe it could help someone else.
Thank you for the advice, I just crossed flashed my Asus drive that was giving me problems to WH16NS60 1.02 MK version and so far so good on discs that previously failed in 1.15.2.
Windows 10 Pro
LG WH16NS40 - UHD Friendly
Asus BW-16D1HT - UHD Friendly
LG WH16NS40 - External Drive - Blu-Ray
HD/DVD - XBOX360 - External Drive
SamuriHL
Posts: 2223
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:32 pm

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by SamuriHL »

I have my bw-16d1ht cross flashed to ns60 1.00. As I was just mentioning in another thread, for speed control after ripping 50+ dolby vision discs with 2 ns60 drives and the bw-16d1ht all on the same ns60 1.00 firmware, the speed control settings I ended up with are:

0=99;U3=0

Which says "let her rip" (haha) on everything except triple layer UHD's. Those are the most problematic. In fact, having it set this way allows me to go quickly set it to U3=8 when I have a disc that's really giving me problems which locks the drive to 2x for triple layer. it's been working good for me.
Mr_Orange
Posts: 143
Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2019 6:11 am

Re: Ultimate UHD Drives Guide Updated 2020

Post by Mr_Orange »

For the BH16NS55, what is the difference between 1.04 (currently installed in my drive) and 1.05, available in the current MK pack?

Many thanks.
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