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

[oatmeal769]

You can't play from the disc. Rip to folder or to MKV first.

Ahh, good to know. Thanks!
Apparently the "integration" thing hasn't been completely worked out yet.

[Billycar11]

Apparently the "integration" thing hasn't been completely worked out yet.

maybe not with mp-hc but it works with vlc for sure been doing it for years

[Imkindanew]

Hey guys,
i just got a new Asus BW-16D1HT with Firmware version 3.1.

I tried using the "ODD FW changer modified" to get UHD friendly firmware onto it, but i always get "Update Failure #4" .
I did select the 3.10 firmware from the MK folder, but i cant get it to work :-/

MakeMKV reports 3.10 original.

i could get the drive out of my server to look at the bottom if needed, but i think i remember reading dec 2019 or jan 2020 as a production date.

Could it be that late 2019 produced drives cannot be flashed with that? or is it because im running it in an unraid VM ?

I hope you guys can help me; it's quite hard to find UHD friendly drives in europe...

VM is your problem

yeah... it worked flawlessly when i used a normal windows instal. I feel kind of dumb

Thanks a lot!

[jbeers]

Hi all, I'm new to forum. I read the entire thread, and am stuck.
I have a LG BP50NB40, marked SVC code NB40, FW 1.00, drive purchased in 2016. MakeMKV shows firmware 1.00, Platform MT1959, & FW date 2115-04-22 15:17. OEM flashers confirmed SVC code=NB40 before I tried to flash anything.

After turning off AVG antivirus & Win Defender, I used 8-24-19 modified Asus flasher with firmware BP50NB40 SVC NB50 1.01 MK HBD (incorrect choice) and got Failure #5 almost immediately. Every followup attempt to flash the correct BP50NB40 SVC NB50 1.01 MK gave the same Failure #5. Now I notice that SVC code seems to be set to NS50, even though drive seems to still work like before.

Others have gotten this to work with SVC NB40 drive like mine. Is there anything else for me to try to get it to flash? I tried all things suggested in this post. Is there a way (or need) to restore SVC code NB40 so I can re-attempt flash with correct file?

If no joy here, would it be wise to buy a bare Samsung HL BU50N and put it in a USB3 case? If so, what SVC code and FW version should I look for to support UHD ripping? Thanks for reading this post, hope you can help.

[jonghotti]

Reply to email sent!

[jbeers]

Thank you for your response @johghotti. I am looking into a new drive, but still interested in an answer to my original post.

Is there any method / approach to restore the SVC code and/or successfully flash the NP50NB40 1.01 MK firmware? Thanks to anyone who can suggest something new to try. My recent attempts to flash with modified Asus flasher and above firmware have all failed with Failure #5 on two different computers. Would DosFlash be helpful? Thanks

[jonghotti]

Thank you for your response @johghotti. I am looking into a new drive, but still interested in an answer to my original post.

Is there any method / approach to restore the SVC code and/or successfully flash the NP50NB40 1.01 MK firmware? Thanks to anyone who can suggest something new to try. My recent attempts to flash with modified Asus flasher and above firmware have all failed with Failure #5 on two different computers. Would DosFlash be helpful? Thanks

You mean waiting for your BU50N to arrive

My guess on part two item one is restoring the service code after a dosflash session most likely possible. Part two item two if restoration of svc code NB40 is successful UHD friendliness will not be even after flashing the hybrid BP50NB40 1.01 followed by BP60NB10 firmware 1.00 due to the fact that svc code NB50 hardware is required. Will have to refer to notes to verify exact firmware versions. Last time I did a BP50NB40, UHD rip support was enabled by initial flash of firmware X followed by cross flash to BP60NB10 firmware 1.00 and something had hybrid in it's name. Svc code NB50 hardware was used. Paging Mr. Dave Ash!

[Dajafe]

Just wanted to say thanks for the support on this forum. I have just started to rip 4K blu rays and realised that my Pioneer BDR-S09 wasn't up to the job.
Taking the advice from this forum, I added a ASUS 16D1HT (build date Jan 2020) and flashed it with the 3.10 MK firmware and the 4K Star Wars collection are currently ripping.
Keep up the great work!

[jonghotti]

Yeah those drives and nice and fresh. Enjoy you made a great choice to buy that drive take care.

[Don1919]

Hello all,

I bought a brand new ASUS BW-16D1HT. It has firmware 3.10 and was produced in February 2020.
I want to be able to rip UHD Blu-Ray discs AND fix the sleep bug. I do not care about reading-speed or the ability to write.
After viewing many threads here on the forms, this is what I have gathered. Please tell me if this is the correct way to get what I'm trying for:

1: Run ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer_(Modified) (24.08.2019)
2: Flash the firmware to ASUS 3.10MK
3: Close and relaunch the software
4: Flash the firmware to WH16NS60 DE 1.00 [THIS STEP IS CROSSFLASHING]

Will this work?
Billy's thread states that the WH16NS60 DE 1.00 or 1.01MK firmwares will fix the sleep bug. I have not been able to find any information on advantages/disadvantages of 1.00 vs 1.01MK - are there any?

[jonghotti]

1.00 go for it buddy you'e got the right idea!

[jgroff7]

Hello,

Noob (to this concept), and band-wagon jumper to do something about my 4K discs not being usable on my computer/media server. I was reading a forum post on AnyDVD about friendly drives (huh? WTH is friendly? And, while I'm at it, WTH is not friendly). I started at this post here:
https://forum.redfox.bz/threads/anydvd- ... tus.74435/ -- this fired me up into taking action.

For those of you, like me, who think you can read parts of info and instantly become an expert... WRONG! I failed and flailed around a lot and lucky I didn't end up with some serious problems and a broken drive for my arrogance. So, on that AnyDVD thread, I saw a post about ordering LG or ASUS 'friendly' drives, and to hurry up and order one. So I thought, "Oh Crap - before the 'friendly' ones are gone, I better go get one" and ordered an ASUS BW-16D1HT from Amazon (July 2019, with Prime, it arrived in 24 hours). Popped open the box. Found the manufacture date of May, 2019. Probably too new, and not good for me. So, I saw some posts about downgrading the Firmware.
[NOTE: I am posting it here for your reference, BUT I DON'T RECOMMEND you go to this dvd-cloner link!!!] https://www.dvd-cloner.com/knowledge/ho ... e_378.html!!! I started perusing the info on that dvd-cloner link... It had a link to a Windows 7 PE download that you could use to run some firmware tools to downgrade your drive. I thought, "okay, hey, I'm an IT guy, I have spare machines back all the way to a Pentium II, Pentium 4, Core 2 duos/quads, 1st gen I7s, 4th gen i7s, and could load DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, 98, XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 10 OS options - I should be able to come up with something here, right?" MAYBE... Well that link to the Windows 7 PE on that DVD-cloner site took me to a site that my Antivirus/Firewall started alerting me I was being attacked. Still, I was hell bent on getting this done, so trusting in my Antivirus to protect me, I proceeded, but no matter what I did, to get to the point to get the software, I'd have to install some other software (one was a PDF merger and another a twitter utility that really did not seem reputable or safe and I decided not to proceed further). Yeah, Antivirus is alerting me and so I think this software is SAFE to install? NOT! I am not going any further with that link. Specifically, the error said: "Malicious Site: Malicious Domain Request 22" and it was related to an attack/signature against Chrome.

So, I did a search, and ended up here next. THANK GOD for you all here and for doing what you do and taking the time you do take for such things - things that despite my background, I have no clue how to properly updated hex values and modify firmware without bricking my hardware and/or without breaking anything (last time I tried that, was to try and break the floppy disk requirement of the video game Thexder - yes, I'm that old!). While reading this post (at least I think it was this one), I saw someone say something about putting their drive in an external USB enclosure and patching the drive that way. I really didn't want to bring back to life an old machine to run that other site's solution, but I do have a system on standby that is old and new enough to have IDE option needed for that other solutions. I put that on hold for the time being, and though, "hmmm. I can afford to brick the drive and try again once or twice before my financier and CFO (wife) starts to ask questions and shake her head at me". So, using my slightly old, but capable Vantec USB 3.0 to IDE/SATA plug, I added the ASUS drive to my current 8th Gen i7 and Windows 10 machine in a USB 3.0 port. Drive came up. AnyDVD reported the drive firmware as 3.03. RAD, it's not the latest firmware, 3.10 on the ASUS site, I thought I was saved. WRONG. 3.03 wasn't working. So, I downloaded the links on this page for the ASUS Flasher and the updated firmwares.

I ran the utility, picked the 3.02 firmware version, and clicked START. I was worried that having two virtual clone DVD drives, and a physical SATA Bluray reader/burner drive might cause problems. Suddenly, the drive tray popped open. Well, in very NOOB fashion, not having read ALL the instructions before doing anything - you know the smart way you should do things - I decided that closing the tray was the prudent choice. I then read that it opens when the firmware update starts and closes when it's done. OOPS. About 10 mins later, the firmware patcher (the one from this site) popped some memory error related to the patch failing. I exited the program, and it would not start again. I saw in task manager it was still running. Tried to kill the exe file and a few other options - nothing would kill it. I rebooted.

Next, tried again - ran the executable, picked the ASUS 3.02 firmware and clicked START... Waiting... Waiting... 60 minutes later, no change, no status update, nothing. I finally exited the patcher again. THIS time, I exited the always on AnyDVD client (you know, the icon in the bottom right, right click, and selected Exit). I then loaded up the patcher one more time, even let it run as administrator (just in case) and if this failed this time, I was going to try it on an old machine setup. Again, selected the 3.02 DE ASUS Firmware, and with fingers crossed, I clicked START. This time, unlike all attempts before, I saw a blue status bar move across the ASUS patcher pop up/executable. I'd not seen that before. In about 60 seconds, via my USB connected drive, it patched, and now reported FW version 3.02 in the Patcher pop up (and, as it would later in AnyDVD). I unplugged the USB from the computer, unplugged power so I could reboot the drive (just to be sure) and rebooted the computer. Came back up, AnyDVD auto restarted (as it always does) and everything looks perfect! I am now starting my first RIP... And it completed successfully. Now to find a machine I can play it on with a 4K TV (I have such a device, but have to go to work in the morning, so despite my OCD nature, I can put this off until later today I guess).

Thank you again, very much, for all your hard work on this. By posting the above, I'm hoping to help anyone else that experiences some of the same issues or had some of the same doubts.

[updated]: first rip was a success

Thank you for mentioning closing AnyDVD. Your 4th and 5th paragraph describe almost exactly what I did and was experiencing.

In total, to get the ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer_(Modified).exe to work for me:
1. Uninstall Bitdefender. (Issue noticed: At first, Bitdefender quarantined the 'ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer_(Modified).exe' file, so I allowed an exception. Second, the ASUS patcher would crash with "Access to path [userdirectory]\appdata\local\temp\ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer.exe denied".)
2. Close out of AnyDVD HD. (Issue noticed: No progress bar, drive door never closes, and program continues to run indefinitely.)
3. Follow the 5 steps: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 16&t=18933

Note: There should be a blue status bar that moves across the ASUS patcher when it's working properly.

[s.white8124]

I am completely new at this and have no idea what I'm doing. I have an ASUS BW-16D1HT, version 3.10, running on Windows 10 Pro, 64-bit. So I downloaded both the edited 15.02.2020 file and the ASUS ODD FW Changer (Modified) and followed the 5 steps for both and still ended up getting the "Updating Failure #4". I turned off my firewall and tried it again and same result. Is there something else I need to do? Do I need to run on Windows 32-bit?

[MartyMcNuts]

I am completely new at this and have no idea what I'm doing. I have an ASUS BW-16D1HT, version 3.10, running on Windows 10 Pro, 64-bit. So I downloaded both the edited 15.02.2020 file and the ASUS ODD FW Changer (Modified) and followed the 5 steps for both and still ended up getting the "Updating Failure #4". I turned off my firewall and tried it again and same result. Is there something else I need to do? Do I need to run on Windows 32-bit?

I'm not sure what firmware you are trying to flash but if your drive has the original 3.10, you should flash 3.10-MK first, before flashing any other firmware.

[jonghotti]

I am completely new at this and have no idea what I'm doing. I have an ASUS BW-16D1HT, version 3.10, running on Windows 10 Pro, 64-bit. So I downloaded both the edited 15.02.2020 file and the ASUS ODD FW Changer (Modified) and followed the 5 steps for both and still ended up getting the "Updating Failure #4". I turned off my firewall and tried it again and same result. Is there something else I need to do? Do I need to run on Windows 32-bit?

I'm going to throw this out there if you or anyone else are having issues flashing your drive, don't get frustrated and do anything hasty. Text me and if I'm around I will assist you with flashing your drive.