LG BH16NS55 Firmware 1.04 (and possibly other new drives)

Forum for discussions about UHD-capable dives
Billycar11
Posts: 3766
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:49 am

Re: LG BH16NS55 Firmware 1.04 (and possibly other new drives)

Post by Billycar11 »

k3nn2003 wrote:
Fri Jun 12, 2020 10:04 am
TeddyRaspin wrote:
Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:58 am
Some little steps forward :

- When you use the Asus ODD Flasher (modified) to downgrade unit, DOSFLASH still doesn't work, i.e. the MTK Vendor Intro Failed error is still present.
- In order to be able to dump the downgraded unit, you have to power off PC and boot again. In this way DOSFLASH works for me.

Another solution is :

- Downgrade your unit to an older firmware (in my case I have 2 BH16NS55 and I've flashed their original firmware 1.02).
- Reboot and boot from an USB Stick (FreeDos with Rufus).
- Use the latest Dosflash version 2.0 and type DOSFLASH. Even if it reports "MTK Vendor Intro failed", write down the SATA port (in my case 0xF0D0 and 0xF0B0).

Now write :

DOSFLASH /? and press 1 for flash commands. It will show the whole manual syntax you have to use in order to interrogate unit.

Commands are :

- W for writing, R for reading, E for erasing
- Port (F0D0 or F0B0 in my case)
- Port Type (1 For SATA)
- Master or Slave (A0 for Master, B0 for Slave)
- MTK Type (2 for 0x72)
- Flash Type (0 for normal handling or 1 is the same)
- Flash Size (20 as 20 in hex value is 32 in decimal, as MT1939/MT1959 eeprom has 32 banks)
- Flash OPCode (C7 if you're using the E command for erasing eeprom)
- Filename (required if you use the W or R command)
- Nforce fix (Put 0 for NO)

Thus, it is almost easy to write the proper manual syntax command and even if MTK Vendor Intro failed, if you downgrade unit you'll be able to do a valid dump.
This was the missing piece for me. Thanks very much. I have finally revived my Asus BW-16D1HT but with a different compatible firmware (LG BH16NS40 svc40). The info is strewn all over the net on how to low-level format your drive. I mistakenly upgraded my v1.01 to an incompatible v3.03 (despite the model being the same), it turns out that my drive was an older model not compatible with the 3.03 upgrade for newer same models. As I was in a hurry to upgrade, i didn't backup the original firmware. The firmware upgrade v3.03 was success, but the drive couldn't read any disc anymore after that.

So now, my ODD drive was useless, no thanks to asus for being stupid and naming different drives with the same model number sheesh.

These are the steps you need to take that worked for me in reviving that now useless drive.

Requirements:
- computer where bios settings for sata can be in IDE mode or AHCI mode.
- flash drive 4gb to store the dos OS (not windows) to boot from
- dosflash here --> download/file.php?id=1909
- firmware here --> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zrqpeA ... Qtq3d/view
- rufus (i used 3.10) but i think any 2.0+ version will do

Steps:
1) make a flash bootable drive using rufus. Select Freedos as the boot OS.
2) copy dosflash into a new directory named "dosflash". copy also the firmware.bin
3) these are the commands needed to work with dosflash
a) DOSFLASH R F0D0 1 A0 2 0 20 "origFlash.bin" 0
- R is for reading the drive and saving the firmware to the specified ile "origFlash.bin"
b) DOSFLASH E F0D0 1 A0 2 0 20 C7 0
- E is for erasing the internal flash, if this is not done, error will show up saying status in not correct
c) DOSFLASH W F0D0 1 A0 2 0 20 "firmware.bin" 0
- W is for writing "firmware.bin" to the ODD drive
4) Make sure you connect the non-working drive to your motherboard's SATA ports or it will not work. to detect which HEX port your ODD drive to flash is, F0D0 is 2nd sata drive in my system. F0B0 is the 1st sata drive.
5) first reboot the machine and go into bios. set the sata mode to IDE. and set it to boot to USB drive as first option. save it and exit.
6) put in your newly made flash drive into the USB and reboot the machine. it should boot to a dos command prompt and not windows of any sort. the c:\ command prompt should show up now and go inside the subdirectory "dosflash" where dosflash.exe and firmware.bin is located.
7) at the command prompt, test if the drive port is correct by reading the ODD bios first using the R command
- c:\> DOSFLASH R F0D0 1 A0 2 0 20 "origFlash.bin" 0
8 ) it will error out if F0D0 is not the one your ODD drive is connected to. change it to F0B0 and run it again
- c:\> DOSFLASH R F0B0 1 A0 2 0 20 "origFlash.bin" 0
9) if it is successful, you can now proceed in Erasing and Writing to your "non-working" ODD drive
10) Erase command first using either F0D0 or F0B0 (whichever port was successful in your case)
- c:\> DOSFLASH E F0D0 1 A0 2 0 20 C7 0
11) Write command using either F0D0 or F0B0 (whichever port was successful in your case)
- c:\> DOSFLASH W F0D0 1 A0 2 0 20 "firmware.bin" 0
12) after successful flash, reboot the machine and go into bios again and set the SATA to use AHCI mode, then set the usb to a lower priority boot.

the firmware is BH16NS40 svc 40 1.03-A0 from a LG ODD drive. This is the one that revived my Asus BW-16D1HT drive. below link is to the original v1.01 of asus BW-16D1HT which may work for others

https://club.myce.com/uploads/short-url ... 2Pj2Yc.zip
Why would you do it that work around extra hard way you could use the gui dos flash with the how to video I made like 2 years ago
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
k3nn2003
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2020 7:41 am

Re: LG BH16NS55 Firmware 1.04 (and possibly other new drives)

Post by k3nn2003 »

nothing worked for my old drive ;) all the gui flashers have errors like "can't read flash" or "checksum mismatch". the only one that worked for me was the low-level 16-bit dosflash in a dos OS. winpe-x86 boot flash drives would not let it run 16-bit dosflash.

can i get the link on your video? maybe i missed that. but all is well for me though :D
Billycar11
Posts: 3766
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:49 am

Re: LG BH16NS55 Firmware 1.04 (and possibly other new drives)

Post by Billycar11 »

k3nn2003 wrote:
Fri Jun 12, 2020 3:59 pm
nothing worked for my old drive ;) all the gui flashers have errors like "can't read flash" or "checksum mismatch". the only one that worked for me was the low-level 16-bit dosflash in a dos OS. winpe-x86 boot flash drives would not let it run 16-bit dosflash.

can i get the link on your video? maybe i missed that. but all is well for me though :D
https://youtu.be/eXgybNfHhcg
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
RiotNrrrd
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2019 2:20 am

Re: LG BH16NS55 Firmware 1.04 (and possibly other new drives)

Post by RiotNrrrd »

MartyMcNuts wrote:
Mon Apr 01, 2019 11:26 pm
Just a heads up. I just purchased a BH16NS55 which has a manufactured date of Feb 2019 and comes with firmware revision 1.04 installed. This firmware is nasty!
Sorry to revive this old, dead thread but I'm puzzled - what is it about firmware rev. 1.04 that is "nasty"? :?:

I have a 2012 Mac Mini running macOS Mojave 10.14.6 with a BH16NS55 in an OWC external USB enclosure on firmware 1.02:

Code: Select all

HL-DT-ST BD-RE  BH16NS55:

  Firmware Revision:	1.02
  Interconnect:	USB
  Burn Support:	Yes (Generic Drive Support)
  Profile Path:	None
  Cache:	4064 KB
  Reads DVD:	Yes
  CD-Write:	-R, -RW
  DVD-Write:	-R, -R DL, -RAM, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
  BD-Write:	-R, -RE
  Write Strategies:	CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Do I just leave it be on firmware 1.02? It's been great for ripping 4K UHD discs so far.

I've checked a few threads but they tend to wander off-course and some of them are mammoth, so it's hard for me to tell if flashing to 1.03 or 1.04 will bring any benefits or cause me to lose the ability to rip 4K UHD discs.
MartyMcNuts
Posts: 2460
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2017 11:45 pm

Re: LG BH16NS55 Firmware 1.04 (and possibly other new drives)

Post by MartyMcNuts »

RiotNrrrd wrote:
Sun Dec 11, 2022 9:09 am
MartyMcNuts wrote:
Mon Apr 01, 2019 11:26 pm
Just a heads up. I just purchased a BH16NS55 which has a manufactured date of Feb 2019 and comes with firmware revision 1.04 installed. This firmware is nasty!
Sorry to revive this old, dead thread but I'm puzzled - what is it about firmware rev. 1.04 that is "nasty"? :?:

I have a 2012 Mac Mini running macOS Mojave 10.14.6 with a BH16NS55 in an OWC external USB enclosure on firmware 1.02:

Code: Select all

HL-DT-ST BD-RE  BH16NS55:

  Firmware Revision:	1.02
  Interconnect:	USB
  Burn Support:	Yes (Generic Drive Support)
  Profile Path:	None
  Cache:	4064 KB
  Reads DVD:	Yes
  CD-Write:	-R, -RW
  DVD-Write:	-R, -R DL, -RAM, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
  BD-Write:	-R, -RE
  Write Strategies:	CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Do I just leave it be on firmware 1.02? It's been great for ripping 4K UHD discs so far.

I've checked a few threads but they tend to wander off-course and some of them are mammoth, so it's hard for me to tell if flashing to 1.03 or 1.04 will bring any benefits or cause me to lose the ability to rip 4K UHD discs.
BH16NS55 1.04 was one of the (if not the) first firmware versions we came across that blocked downgrading. It is also a crappy firmware. There's absolutely zero benefit from changing to BH16NS55 1.03 or BH16NS55 1.04. If you did want to change firmware ,change it to WH16NS60 1.00 as it is faster and removes the sleep bug and will still work with whatever software you currently use.
Cheers :D
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For UHD enabled drives (AU/NZ/SG) & DIY Single Drive Flasher (WW): https://www.uhdenableddrives.com
RiotNrrrd
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2019 2:20 am

Re: LG BH16NS55 Firmware 1.04 (and possibly other new drives)

Post by RiotNrrrd »

MartyMcNuts wrote:
Sun Dec 11, 2022 9:41 am
RiotNrrrd wrote:
Sun Dec 11, 2022 9:09 am
MartyMcNuts wrote:
Mon Apr 01, 2019 11:26 pm
Just a heads up. I just purchased a BH16NS55 which has a manufactured date of Feb 2019 and comes with firmware revision 1.04 installed. This firmware is nasty!
Sorry to revive this old, dead thread but I'm puzzled - what is it about firmware rev. 1.04 that is "nasty"? :?:

I have a 2012 Mac Mini running macOS Mojave 10.14.6 with a BH16NS55 in an OWC external USB enclosure on firmware 1.02.

Do I just leave it be on firmware 1.02? It's been great for ripping 4K UHD discs so far.
BH16NS55 1.04 was one of the (if not the) first firmware versions we came across that blocked downgrading. It is also a crappy firmware. There's absolutely zero benefit from changing to BH16NS55 1.03 or BH16NS55 1.04. If you did want to change firmware, change it to WH16NS60 1.00 as it is faster and removes the sleep bug and will still work with whatever software you currently use.
Thanks Marty - I'm not that fussed about read speed, but am not familiar with the "sleep bug" - if I don't let my Mac go to sleep ever, is it an issue?

Also, I think the BH16NS55 is a few years old now - are there newer discs/formats it can't read? (e.g. 100 GB quad-layer discs, or something like that) I've been intrigued by the newer Pioneer models (is the BDR-X13J-S external supported, for example?) but if the BH16NS55 can still handle most everything, I think I'm good for now.
MartyMcNuts
Posts: 2460
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2017 11:45 pm

Re: LG BH16NS55 Firmware 1.04 (and possibly other new drives)

Post by MartyMcNuts »

RiotNrrrd wrote:
Sun Dec 11, 2022 9:55 am
MartyMcNuts wrote:
Sun Dec 11, 2022 9:41 am
RiotNrrrd wrote:
Sun Dec 11, 2022 9:09 am

Sorry to revive this old, dead thread but I'm puzzled - what is it about firmware rev. 1.04 that is "nasty"? :?:

I have a 2012 Mac Mini running macOS Mojave 10.14.6 with a BH16NS55 in an OWC external USB enclosure on firmware 1.02.

Do I just leave it be on firmware 1.02? It's been great for ripping 4K UHD discs so far.
BH16NS55 1.04 was one of the (if not the) first firmware versions we came across that blocked downgrading. It is also a crappy firmware. There's absolutely zero benefit from changing to BH16NS55 1.03 or BH16NS55 1.04. If you did want to change firmware, change it to WH16NS60 1.00 as it is faster and removes the sleep bug and will still work with whatever software you currently use.
Thanks Marty - I'm not that fussed about read speed, but am not familiar with the "sleep bug" - if I don't let my Mac go to sleep ever, is it an issue?

Also, I think the BH16NS55 is a few years old now - are there newer discs/formats it can't read? (e.g. 100 GB quad-layer discs, or something like that) I've been intrigued by the newer Pioneer models (is the BDR-X13J-S external supported, for example?) but if the BH16NS55 can still handle most everything, I think I'm good for now.
The sleep bug is where a UHD disc has been sitting idle in drive for more than 2 minute then when yiou try to start a rip, the drive makes grinding noises as it tries to read. You simply open and close the tray to fix.

If the Pioneer drive is a UHD model then yes it should be compatible. I'm not sure what the BDR-X13J-S model is but I believe the BDR-X13U-S is compatible.
Cheers :D
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For UHD enabled drives (AU/NZ/SG) & DIY Single Drive Flasher (WW): https://www.uhdenableddrives.com
Coopervid
Posts: 1145
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 10:32 pm

Re: LG BH16NS55 Firmware 1.04 (and possibly other new drives)

Post by Coopervid »

These are UHD capable:

X13U-S
S13UBK
S13U-X

This is NOT UHD capable:

X13UBK
RiotNrrrd
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2019 2:20 am

Re: LG BH16NS55 Firmware 1.04 (and possibly other new drives)

Post by RiotNrrrd »

MartyMcNuts wrote:
Mon Dec 12, 2022 12:01 am
The sleep bug is where a UHD disc has been sitting idle in drive for more than 2 minute then when yiou try to start a rip, the drive makes grinding noises as it tries to read. You simply open and close the tray to fix.

If the Pioneer drive is a UHD model then yes it should be compatible. I'm not sure what the BDR-X13J-S model is but I believe the BDR-X13U-S is compatible.
Thanks for the sleep bug info.

I think the BDR-X13J-S might be a Japanese-only model; perhaps it's the Japanese equivalent to the BDR-X13U-S? :!:
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