Help an idiot with a 1st gen WH14NS40

[Billycar11]

Any help appreciated. Like a total boob I flashed ns50 fw to my 2014 wh16ns40.

Look at UHD guide it has everything you need.

[nekno]

I also didn't dig into the forum posts enough to realize there was a difference between service code NS40 and NS50 drives, and found myself in this same situation.

Since I'd used the older DosFlash method to flash to the NS50 FW, I had first created a backup of my original NS40 FW.

So, for anyone else in this situation, flashing back to my NS40 backup worked as expected and I'm back to normal.

So, you don't necessarily need to flash with someone else's FW image if you followed the original instructions and have your own backup.

[mike admin]

There is actually a method to re-flash back to NS40 from NS50 without dos-flash, the option will be added to sdftool shortly.

[Billycar11]

There is actually a method to re-flash back to NS40 from NS50 without dos-flash, the option will be added to sdftool shortly.

Option to save bu40ns flashed to desktop drives too?
I recover bricked ones of those all the time

[mike admin]

Option to save bu40ns flashed to desktop drives too?

Depends. It is possible to put back original FW using self-update method, as long as all conditions below are true:
1. Flashed wrong firmware
2. Drive is recognized and visible as "new" but does not work (can't read discs, drive tray does not work, etc)
3. Flashing original firmware gives no error, but firmware does not gets flashed.

If this is the case, then yes - there is a way back.

[rgw825]

I still don't know how I was able to save my drive after all my dumb decisions. I had flashed it twice on Desktop and once on Dos which was all a$$ backwards and made no sense. But I'm glad to say that after you guys helped me fix it, it's still going strong. I'm playing movies in it daily. Besides me misflashing it I may have had a separate conflict issue in Windows. I had a huge mess.

[nekno]

I still don't know how I was able to save my drive after all my dumb decisions.

I had saved links to the DosFlash instructions that predated the newer, safer methods shared here by Mike, and generously supported by him and others with the newer tools and DE firmware images that make everything safer by using self-updating mode.

If you just start searching the web it's easy to go down the DosFlash route and get yourself jammed up.

[himenohogosha]

Hi, another 1st gen idiot here. I bought a WH14NS40 from local marketplace. I updated to "latest" 1.03 firmware without having visited these forums first, and then found some guidance that said downgrading to 1.02 was better. I tried to do that with the instructions in viewtopic.php?f=16&t=18873 but ended up with a drive that couldn't read any discs (Bluray or DVD). Is the drive trashed? I've looked around and some people were able to recover the drive but maybe that's because they had newer production year models? Other things seem to suggest that this is just completely bricked now. Can somebody confirm either way? Thanks.

[d00zah]

Read the 1st post in THIS sticky, for general reference, but specifically for this issue...

Refer to section 'NS40 Recovery Image:' & the video.

Not necessarily as straight forward as flashing a compatible drive, sadly. Hope this helps.

[Billycar11]

Option to save bu40ns flashed to desktop drives too?

Depends. It is possible to put back original FW using self-update method, as long as all conditions below are true:
1. Flashed wrong firmware
2. Drive is recognized and visible as "new" but does not work (can't read discs, drive tray does not work, etc)
3. Flashing original firmware gives no error, but firmware does not gets flashed.

If this is the case, then yes - there is a way back.

this guy needs it viewtopic.php?f=16&t=23023

[dekedubya]

Yes, as per SamuriHL's instructions, this is currently the only chance you have of restoring your drive.

I created a windows 7 ultimate winpe 32 bit boot usb with Rufus, & I can boot it via my latitude E6510 legacy options in the dell bios, but when it starts up it is asking to setup windows from it. There was no mention of having to do this in SamuriHL's listed instructions-what am I missing here? I have no room to do this on the current internal drive running my existing windows unless I create an extra partition, which would be difficult even for a basic setup because the freed up partitions are too small, please advise, thanks.

[MartyMcNuts]

Yes, as per SamuriHL's instructions, this is currently the only chance you have of restoring your drive.

I created a windows 7 ultimate winpe 32 bit boot usb with Rufus, & I can boot it via my latitude E6510 legacy options in the dell bios, but when it starts up it is asking to setup windows from it. There was no mention of having to do this in SamuriHL's listed instructions-what am I missing here? I have no room to do this on the current internal drive running my existing windows unless I create an extra partition, which would be difficult even for a basic setup because the freed up partitions are too small, please advise, thanks.

Why bother creating your own?? Go back 3 posts. (The one from d00zah). Just download the NS40 recovery image I created.

[dekedubya]

Yes, as per SamuriHL's instructions, this is currently the only chance you have of restoring your drive.

I created a windows 7 ultimate winpe 32 bit boot usb with Rufus, & I can boot it via my latitude E6510 legacy options in the dell bios, but when it starts up it is asking to setup windows from it. There was no mention of having to do this in SamuriHL's listed instructions-what am I missing here? I have no room to do this on the current internal drive running my existing windows unless I create an extra partition, which would be difficult even for a basic setup because the freed up partitions are too small, please advise, thanks.

Why bother creating your own?? Go back 3 posts. (The one from d00zah). Just download the NS40 recovery image I created.

I did, but am getting "checksum mismatch error"; this for a 1st gen WH14NS40 downgrade fix, without booting into windows ide/ata mode?? Amazon should let people know the same drive has been upgraded so as to avoid such a frustrating situation!!

[MartyMcNuts]

I created a windows 7 ultimate winpe 32 bit boot usb with Rufus, & I can boot it via my latitude E6510 legacy options in the dell bios, but when it starts up it is asking to setup windows from it. There was no mention of having to do this in SamuriHL's listed instructions-what am I missing here? I have no room to do this on the current internal drive running my existing windows unless I create an extra partition, which would be difficult even for a basic setup because the freed up partitions are too small, please advise, thanks.

Why bother creating your own?? Go back 3 posts. (The one from d00zah). Just download the NS40 recovery image I created.

I did, but am getting "checksum mismatch error"; this for a 1st gen WH14NS40 downgrade fix, without booting into windows ide/ata mode?? Amazon should let people know the same drive has been upgraded so as to avoid such a frustrating situation!!

You cannot use the windows flashers to recover this drive. You must use dosflash which is on the recovery image. Download the recover iso and use rufus to write it to a USB thumbdrive.

Your PC needs to be in IDE mode (and drive connected to SATA port 0 or 1) to be able to use dosflash. No IDE mode means no drive recovery.

[dekedubya]

Why bother creating your own?? Go back 3 posts. (The one from d00zah). Just download the NS40 recovery image I created.

I did, but am getting "checksum mismatch error"; this for a 1st gen WH14NS40 downgrade fix, without booting into windows ide/ata mode?? Amazon should let people know the same drive has been upgraded so as to avoid such a frustrating situation!!

You cannot use the windows flashers to recover this drive. You must use dosflash which is on the recovery image. Download the recover iso and use rufus to write it to a USB thumbdrive.

Your PC needs to be in IDE mode (and drive connected to SATA port 0 or 1) to be able to use dosflash. No IDE mode means no drive recovery.

Even using these steps, the drive is not being recognized, most likely a complete brick, another hard-
school lesson learned-will have to get a new or used one as others are & do the downgrade steps, but CAREFULLY! Thanks.