• AnyStream is having some DRM issues currently, Netflix is not available in HD for the time being.
    Situations like this will always happen with AnyStream: streaming providers are continuously improving their countermeasures while we try to catch up, it's an ongoing cat-and-mouse game. Please be patient and don't flood our support or forum with requests, we are working on it 24/7 to get it resolved. Thank you.

Best 4k Blu-ray Drive?

B

BlurayGuy

Guest
Can anyone recommend the best 4k Blu-ray Drive for Ripping UHD Blu-rays?
 
Don't know the best, but I can say that the drive I use, the LG BE16NU50 is excellent. Reads fast and very reliable. External USB 3.0.

Problem is it's hard to find now.

I see a couple out there on eBay and various small online stores but there is no guarantee that these have firmware that is still UHD-friendly.

I think 1.02 is the highest friendly firmware for these drives. Most of the new ones that have been out there are 1.03...


T
 
1.02 is is latest, and it's unfriendly.
1.01 is friendly and almost impossible to get anymore.
No matter which one, i would always prefer ASUS firmware on LG drives.

At the end of the day all friendly drives are identical hardware wise.
 
Terramex said:
1.02 is is latest, and it's unfriendly.
1.01 is friendly and almost impossible to get anymore.
Click to expand...

You're right 1.01 is the highest friendly firmware for the drive.

Thanks Terramex for the clarification.


Terramex said:
No matter which one, i would always prefer ASUS firmware on LG drives.
Click to expand...

Are you saying you can buy the 1.02 LG and easily find and install ASUS firmware to make it friendly again?


T
 
Thank you for the responses. Are there any that I can just buy and they work, and not have to fool around with firmware?
 
testiles said:
Are you saying you can buy the 1.02 LG and easily find and install ASUS firmware to make it friendly again?
Click to expand...
Of course you still need a dosflash dump of your 1.02 to inject its calibration data into a clean ASUS firmware.
The easy part is to remove the enclosure and USB/SATA adapter ;-)
 
Terramex said:
Of course you still need a dosflash dump of your 1.02 to inject its calibration data into a clean ASUS firmware.
The easy part is to remove the enclosure and USB/SATA adapter ;-)
Click to expand...

Oh ok.

Sounds a bit too complicated for my skill set (lol).


BlurayGuy said:
Thank you for the responses. Are there any that I can just buy and they work, and not have to fool around with firmware?
Click to expand...

BlurayGuy, I don't blame you. I wouldn't want to either.

My sense is that you will be hard-pressed to find UHD-friendly drives at this time that work right out of the box.

The current method of ripping UHDs came about because someone discovered that certain computer drives that were not intended to read UHD (but could handle the BD-XL format) could actually be persuaded to read UHDs - and without the complication of AACS 2.0 -- at least as I understand it.

Once the UHD "loophole" for these drives became widely known, manufacturers scrambled to plug it. They did this with a firmware update.

If you were lucky enough to get one of the UHD-friendly drives early on, you were golden, as long as you did not do a firmware update.

But new drives on the shelves had the new firmware which kept them from being used to read or rip UHDs.

That's why there are several fairly long threads here of people buying the new drives and trying to revert them to the older firmware.


As I recall the UHD-friendly discovery was around the end of last year.

I was fortunate to be able to buy one in January.

But now, in September, I'm sure they are scarce.


Maybe someone can give you a lead up here though.

Wish you the best of luck on this...


T
 
I think this is an official UHD drive not a UHD-friendly one (remember UHD-friendly drives cannot officially read UHDs).

If so, AnyDVD can not rip UHDs from it.


T
 
BlurayGuy,

you need to accept that you will have to downgrade a new drive that you purchase these days if you want a UHD friendly drive.

The most common to find are the LGs. So if you get a LG BE16NU50 you can straight forward convert it to ASUS as testiles mentioned. Works like a charm and this is what I use. Speed is much better compared to the LG firmware. Look for TeddyRaspin's "cook books".
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the response. But my question is, where are you finding these LG BE16NU50 for sale, because I can’t find one?
 
That user obtained the drive from Arusoft, and i guess they also downgraded it.
 
Terramex said:
That user obtained the drive from Arusoft, and i guess they also downgraded it.
Click to expand...

Terramex, you mean the user in the asus bc-12d2ht thread or the OP?

"Cause if you mean the asus guy, I'm not seeing that in his thread ????


Does Arusoft sell UHD-friendly drives and if so, is it only if you purchase De-UHD as well?


T
 
Terramex said:
The ASUS thread.
Sorry, i forgot the link: https://club.myce.com/t/deuhd-launched-lifetime-licence-and-drive-combo/402424/2

The only "downside" of that Combo drive is that it's slow like the LGs when it comes to UHDs. But using dosflash it can also be flashed with the BW-16D1HT firmware ;)
Click to expand...

I see it now.

Yeah, their drive comes with a subscription to De-UHD. And that's the downside!

Probably not an option for the OP (would not be one for me).

Thanks for that info.


T
 
Thank you again for the responses. I am assuming that if you get one that already has “friendly” firmware, all this modding of firmware is not necessary? Is there some place that lists the various drives and what the “friendly” version of the firmware is for each drive?
 
The two I was looking at are LG BH16NS40 and Asus BC-12D2HT, they seem to be the most available, but I really want to try and find one that does not require modding the firmware. However I can’t figure out which firmware versions are “friendly” on either one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top