How To Flash Libre Firmware on to an LG Bluray Drive on macOSX

I recently wanted to update the firmware of my LG WH16NS40 to the LibreDrive firmware. This would allow the drive to read discs from all regions and also allow for faster read access. It is also needed to read UHD discs.

My MakeMKV drive details before the update:

Drive Information
OS device name: /dev/rdisk5
Current profile: BD-ROM
Manufacturer: HL-DT-ST
Product: BD-RE WH16NS40
Revision: 1.05
Serial number: M00M1PE1426
Firmware date: 2120-05-06 14:40
Bus encryption flags: 17
Highest AACS version: 78

LibreDrive Information
Status: Possible (with patched firmware)
Drive platform: MT1959
Harware support: Yes
Firmware support: No
Firmware type: Original (patched version available)
Firmware version: 1.05
DVD all regions: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw data read: Possible (with patched firmware)
BD raw metadata read: Possible (with patched firmware)
Unrestricted read speed: Possible (with patched firmware)

No disc inserted

To see if your drive is supported look for the Status: Possible (with patched firmware) comment. The MakeMKV forums have a full list of LibreDrive firmware supported drives, if you want to purchase a new one.

As always this information is for reading and encoding discs you own and not for any other purposes.

Also use at your own risk; these steps worked for me and it may not work for you even if you have the same drive. Check the MakeMKV forums for more information if you are unsure.

This is a summary of steps from various MakeMKV forums posts and the “Ultra HAX0R” GUIDE V2 for encrypted firmware to Make your Drive UHD friendly YouTube video.

Before you start, ensure the value of your Drive platform is MT1959:

Drive platform: MT1959

Steps

Download and extract the all you need firmware pack
Locate the firmware for your drive model in the pack. For my drive it was at mk-firmware-pack-20200720/MK/HL-DT-ST/WH16NS40-NS50/HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS40-NS50-1.05-NM00900-212005061440.bin.

The date on the firmware should roughly match that displayed in the MakeMKV drive details. In the MakeMKV details section the firmware date was listed as Firmware date: 2120-05-06 14:40, which maps to 212005061440, which is the date at the end of the bin file: -212005061440.bin.

Generally the format seems to be:

TYPE_OF_DRIVE-DRIVE_MODEL-FIRMWARE_VERSION-NOT_SURE_WHAT_THIS_IS_DATE.bin

For my drive is it:

HL-DT-ST-BD-RE-WH16NS40-NS50-1.05-NM00900-212005061440.bin
The Ultra HAX0R" GUIDE V2 for encrypted firmware to Make your Drive UHD friendly mentions that some newer firmware needs to be flashed encrypted. A rudimentary list is given below. Please check the MakeMKV forums for a more updated list.

Know Encrypted firmware:
- WH16NS60 1.03
- WH16NS40 1.05 <– my firmware
- WH14NS40 1.05
- BH16NS55 1.05
- BU40N 1.04

Find location of MKV installation; usually it’s under /Applications/MakeMKV.app
Look for an executable named makemkvcon under the MakeMVK installation folder above: /Applications/MakeMKV.app/Contents/MacOS/makemkvcon
Find the name of the drive you want flash with:

makemkvcon f -l

On my machine it’s /IOBDServices/8A6BA6DF:

00: /IOBDServices/8A6BA6DF
  HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__WH16NS40_1.05_212005061440_M00M1PE1426

Verify the drive can be used with the tool using the following:

makemkvcon f -d DRIVE help

For example:

makemkvcon f -d /IOBDServices/8A6BA6DF help

You should see something similar to the following:

MTK19xx firmware module v1.30

Commands:

  dump [auto|full|user]
  Dumps firmware image
    dump full      - dumps full rom image (if not disabled in firmware)
    dump user      - dumps non-volatile user data
    dump auto      - dumps full image if possible, user data otherwise

  rawflash [<flag>,<flag=value>,...]
    Sends the image and flashing flags to drive
    for flashing in self-update mode
  flags:
    main           - flashes main firmware (this is the default)
    full           - flashes boot loader and main firmware (Caution!!!)
    de             - sets DE byte in image
    enc            - encrypts firmware before sending to drive
    slim           - force USB slim drive handshake

Run the following command to flash the new firmware to your drive. Use the enc parameter if your drive is listed as having encrypted firmware as mentioned above. Check the forums if you’re unsure about your drive.

 makemkvcon f --all-yes -d /IOBDServices/8A6BA6DF rawflash enc -i LOCATION_OF_FIRMWARE/LG-BD-RE-WH16NS40/HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS40-NS50-1.05-NM00900-212005061440.bin

Example output:

Reading input file LG-BD-RE-WH16NS40/HL-DT-ST-BD-RE_WH16NS40-NS50-1.05-NM00900-212005061440.bin
Flashing flags = 0x0 : 0 0 0 0 : ---- ---- ---- ----
Sending image in encrypted format
Current Drive ID: HL-DT-ST_BD-RE__WH16NS40_1.05_212005061440_M00M1PE1426
Ready to write drive flash memory. (auto confirmed)
Operation started: Sending flash image to drive
 100% Operation finished
Operation started: Programming flash
 100% Operation finished

Program Flash NG 06/29/00

Command produced error code 0x82062900

It looks like it encountered an error:

Command produced error code 0x82062900

A quick look through the MakeMKV forums mentions that if you see Command produced error code 0x82062900 it can be safely ignored. Phew!

Launch MakeMKV and you should see LibreDrive support enabled:

Use your drive through MakeMKV and ensure it’s working as expected.

I managed to read a Bluray disc at faster speeds than usual, at least for some of the time. I have yet to try discs from different regions.

Steps

References