Joining the UHD party but got a question about firmware

[BuzzbrnV]

Hello everyone, I have a question to ask about firmware. I bought the Archgon BU40N drive off Amazon last month and just got around to trying it out tonight. Decided I was going to flash it and be done but it left me a bit confused. I received my drive with the 1.01 firmware onboard. Opening MakeMKV, I seen the LibreDrive status was possible with firmware update. Looking at this Ultimate UHD Guide here (https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 16&t=19634), I figured I needed the MK version of 1.03 (1.03MK as shown in the page). So I went to this page (viewtopic.php?f=19&t=19113) and downloaded the MK firmware. But its not clear which version I need. There is a three folders, one label old, Asus, and HL-DT-ST, after looking around these folder, I found five folders for the BU40N drive in the HL-DT-ST folder. Going by what is on the MK firmware page I guess there are differences in the BU40N. Not knowing which firmware to use, I went searching the forum for answers but didn't come up with anything except for someone else asking basically the same thing I'm running into. This was the answer to that question.

The Archgon (BU40N) is an excellent drive. I have one myself!

It will most likely be delivered to you with firmware 1.01. Regardless, the best firmware for this drive is DE_LG_BU40N_1.00. It fully enables UHD ripping and is compatible with more (other) software.

As he wrote, use the DE_LG_BU40N_1.00. So I went looking for this 1.00 firmware and found it under the DE firmware under another link in the Guide.

Recommended Firmware to flash for MakeMKV:
BU40N > BU40N 1.03MK

New! GUI SDF tool: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 16&t=22896
By: MartyMcNuts

Asus flasher: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 16&t=18933
By: MartyMcNuts

LG flasher + DE firmware https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 873#p70284
By: Blackened2687 & Billycar11

MK firmware: https://www.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic ... 19&t=19113
By: Mike Admin

Using the DE_LG_BU40N_1.00.bin file in links above, I was able to successfully flash my drive using the SDF Tool and my drive is now at 1.00. LibreDrive is Enable and firmware type is Original (Unpatched). So far so good.

So this is where my questions start. If the guide recommends 1.03MK, then why use 1.00? I noticed that the few member here selling this drive also use the 1.00 firmware. I don't get it as to why the 1.03MK is recommended. I feel like I'm missing something that just isn't explained somewhere or is buried in this forum that I haven't found yet. My next question is about ripping speed. Is there much of a difference between the WH16NS60 and BU40N? I tested a rip of a 4K movie and took about 45 minutes or so. Reason why is I have Lenovo laptop I might buy another BU40N drive and install it in the Lenovo and make it a dedicated ripping machine. Its a low power machine running a N3350 which is fanless. Its a nice computer, just not a everyday use computer for me. I was thinking of selling it for a desktop with a 5.25" drive bay and making that a dedicated machine for ripping. The laptop sounds better if the ripping speed isn't a huge difference.

[Billycar11]

1.00 was originally recommended because wider compatibility but now i recommend 1.03 because it 1 flash and done no matter what firmware you are on if you were on 1.04 or 1.03 1.00 would not work.
but do not feel the need to upgrade to 1.03mk 1.00 is fine.

stock ns60 vs BU40N the BU40n is slower by about 3 mins on BD66 and about 6 mins on a BD 100.
but if you do the speed unlock on the NS60 it will be much faster.
but i can no longer recommend the NS60 as a reliable drive i have gotten well over 50 defective of them.

[SamuriHL]

Yes leave it on 1.00. I've put this drive up against my 3 desktop drives (2 actual ns60 and 1 bw16d1ht all running ns60 1.00 firmware) and this little drive kicks the crap it of them. It may be a little slower but what good is speed when the rip fails 2 out of 3 times? This drive on 1.00 is magic.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[BuzzbrnV]

I'll stay on the 1.00 firmware for this drive. I was looking for the 1.03MK but just can't find it. Not sure which folder has the 1.03MK firmware. Seeing the other post, just went and did the 1.00 instead. I'm kind of glad it worked, wasn't sure and took a leap on using 1.00. First rip ran good, made me happy and relieved that I didn't screw it up or brick it.

As for the NS60, I didn't know it was a problematic drive. If that is the case, I'm going to grab another BU40N off Newegg today and install that drive into this laptop I've got. In the event that second BU40N doesn't come with 1.01 but the later 1.03/1.04 firmware, where would I find the 1.03MK firmware? I figure it's in the MK firmware download folder and most likely in the MK>HL-DT-ST folder somewhere.