@Rew452
Quite some details below you probably already now:
And a (basic) summary read from people and correcting me etc, what has come up with new UHD-friendly drives, older and new safer downgrade methods to UHD-friendly, what firmwares were where working and not working:
All you have to do is in last passage at the bottom, for best compatibilty for the WH16NS60 crossflahed to UHD-friendly.
There are several older guides throwing around on the internet, also some from "forum.cdrinfo.pl" which mention an old risky Dosflash-method, because it overwrites whole EEPROM, risking losing the unique UHD unit's drive encryption signature) needed for decryption, such guides are from ealier (before safer guided methods were relased):
But which more and more people won't be able to risk, since it required BIOS-legacy-mode and newer computers luckily don't offer SATA-IDE-operation setting anyway in the firmware and required EEPROM data mover and DOS/FreeDOS etc.
There is the newer method which doesn't require risky Dosflash and EEPRO-mover stuff etc., using only the original LG/Asus update flasher utity and a "Clean"-firmware (which would be toxic flashing with Dosflash without editing it with EEPROM-data-mover from original unit's backup-dump):
aka "BH14NS40_N1.00-A4_patched.exe" : from LG (goes for all LG and Asus NS compatiblre models);
("ASUS ODD FW Updater for BW-16D1HT.exe"): from Asus (goes for all LG and Asus NS compatible models);
ASUS_ODD_FW_Changer_(Modified).exe" (some bugs fixed from Mike e.g. with newer offical stock firmwares and/or with newer PC-hardware /USB-bridges etc) (goes for all LG and Asus NS compatible models)
to "down"grade an UHD-unit to UHD-friendly, because those tools don't touch that sensible area, and work in SATA-AHCI-mode (on newer computers supported only AHCI, SATA-IDE-mode-firmware-setting missing) and ODD units behind an SATA-USB-bridge
All WH16NS60 firmwares (even 1.00) are UHD-official, so they are all UHD-(UN)-friendly- so NOT friendly.
To be able to copy UHDs with AnyDVD with this unit, the WH16NS60 -unit needs to be made UHD-friendly first [Edit] (at least for AnyDVD, makemkv seems to work with 1.04-mk as coopervid saying)
(
UHD-UN-friendly)-(only due to firmware) yet UHD-friendly (hardware) but NOT an UHD-official-drive:
For now you cannot seem to copy any UHD-AACS-2x-discs at all, and you cannot watch them.
Flashing an UHD-friendly firmware allows at least copying UHD-discs but not watching from them directly.
UHD-friendly): (due to hardware+firmware) already but NOT an UHD-official drive:
The stock delivered firmware is already an UHD-friendly-version (in most cases NOT the newest one) Allows at least copying UHD-discs but not watching from them directly.
UHD-UN-friendly): (due to hardware+firmware) and NOT an UHD-official drive:
You cannot watch UHD-dics, and you can't get it to copy them.
UHD-UN-friendly): (due to hardware+firmware) but an UHD-official drive:
E.g. Pioneer UHD drives: You can watch from BD-UHD-discs directly (requires PowerDVD, etc.). But Nothing you can do to get it UHD-friendly, so can't reach it to copy UHD-discs.
Drive with UHD-UN-friendly+UHD-official)-and-UHD-friendly-properties (firmware-dependant):
E.g. LG WH16NS60:
Flashing UHD-friendly-firmware allows copying UHD, but not watching directly from UHD-disc. The original stock firmware or flashing back the UHD-official-firmware (means UHD-UN-friendly) enables watching directly from UHD-disc (PowerDVD and e.g. KabyLake or newer required), but disables copying.
As coopervid says, you can crossflash your WH16NS60 to a LG BH16NS55's firmware (but in the end it must be a 1.02 or 1.01 or 1.00 version), which are UHD-friendly and allows copying UHDs [EDIT] AnyDVD requires 1.02, as coopervid saying makemkv as well working with 1.04-mk, but 1.02 coopervid saying also functions well with makemkv:
Because WH16NS560 is an NS50/NS55-compatible model.
That firmware file one is recommended for crossflashing WH16NS60 to BH16NS55 1.02: "DE_LG_BH16NS55_1.02.bin"
(using only the "BH14NS40_N1.00-A4_patched.exe" utitlity!)
The Asus utitlity principially works, too, just s.o. mentioning that some times there were issues with the Asus utitility on an LG drive.
(Maybe dependent on the firmware, if there is an LG or Asus product line firmware crossflahed to it, to which utitlity to use?
You could also use Asus BW-16D1HT (3).02 firmware, or Asus BW-16D1HT (3.)10-(MK) firmware from Mike (made UHD-friendly)
(BUT PLEASE DON NOT use the 3.10 original one from Asus !!!!! )
Keep in mind several users reported crossflashing WH16NS60 to any Asus BW-16D1HT firmware causing burning issues with BD-DL BD/RE and/or DVD.
so for WH16NS60 crossflashing it is recommended the BH16NS55 1.02 (within LG firmware product line), which works fine for also for burning
(DOn't use 1.03 which is UHD-UN-friendly!)
BH16NS55 1.03 and 1.04 (neither 1.04 original nor 1.04-MK from Mike), as Ch3vr0n reminded, are UHD-UN-friendly, so NOT UHD-friendly! [Edit] 1.04-mk only suitable for makemkv, (but not for AnyDVD)
BH16NS55 1.03 is not UHD-friendly (neither 1.03 stock, nor "flash_HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_BH16NS55_1.03.bin",
The LG/Asus update utitlity aka LG/Asus flashers cannot downgrade from this with the older (normal) unmodified Clean-firmwares, except with Mike's specially-adapted "Clean"-firmware files it works here, too.e.g. with "DE_LG_BH16NS55_1.02.bin" witrh a "DE" in file name beginning. it just has (principially) less flash locking counter measures than the BH16NS55 (original) 1.04., because it still allows flashing "DE_LG_BH16NS55_1.02.bin" directly.
There is also a BH16NS55 1.04-MK (edited by Mike from makemkv-forum). This BH16NS55 1.04 from Mike is also NOT UHD-copying-compatible,
BH16NS55 1.04-mk from Mike was released for LG BH16NS55 which were delivered on stock with 1.04 original LG firmware.
The original LG 1.04 version blocks flashing with LG-UHD-friendly-firmware (so doesn't allow to flash directly a lower fw-version, and it also Does NOT allow to crossflash to any other UHD-model's firmware), so it blocks flashing also Mike's edited special Clean firmware "DE_LG_BH16NS55_1.02.bin", which the other firmware BH16NS55 1.03 does not block..
It also even blocks older risky DOsflash e.g. (DO NOT use Dosflash anyways!!)
Mike's 1.04-mk firmware circumvents that kind of flash descriptor lock (like in Intel Management Engine's firmware on newer Intel Chipsets since Ivy Bridge/Haswell/Skylake/(KabyLake etc.)
some code which regulates read- and write-access to the SPI-EEPROM and blocking such if enabled in the code), only granting certain type of firmwares.
So Mike edited the original LG BH16NS55 1.04 firmware a little bit, so 1.04-mk still can be flashed by the "patched" Asus/LG utility flashers even on a BH16NS55 unit over a 1.04 stock firmware (and from a BW-16D1HT with 3.10 original-stock maybe, too, not 100% sure ), and grants flashing more types of firmwares, like "DE_LG_BH16NS55_1.02.bin", which regains Dosflash access (e.g. if s.o really wants to dump only the whole unit's firmware.
(whereas ME flash descriptor lock is a general read/writeaccess-firmware-block (dependent if a certain bit set in the firmware's storage is to "1" or "0", unlocking requires shorting two pins on Realtek's audio chip during bootup here - but other topic!!)
Flashing the Asus BW-16D1HT 3.10-mk firmware (exception: also UHD-friendly), on a BW-16D1-HT 3.10 original-stock firmwares, also unlocks flashing e.g. "DE_LG_BH16NS55_1.02.bin":
so the Asus BW-16D1HT 3.10 stock firmware has also a more resrictive block flashing even e.g. "DE_ASUS_BW-16D1HT_302.BIN" or "e.g. DE_flash_HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_BH16NS55_1.02.bin" directly, like the BH16NS55 1.04 original stock has.
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As coopervid says, you can crossflash your WH16NS60 to a LG BH16NS55's firmware (but in the end it must be a 1.02 or 1.01 or 1.00 version), which are UHD-friendly and allows copying UHDs:
Because WH16NS560 is an NS50/NS55-compatible model.
That firmware file is recommended for crossflashing WH16NS60 to BH16NS55 1.02: "DE_LG_BH16NS55_1.02.bin"
(perhaps using only the BH14NS40_N1.00-A4_patched.exe utitlity!)
If you want AnyDVD-support along with makemkv
ASUS-BW-16D1HT-3.10-WM01601-211901041014.bin works too for AnyDVD + makemkv (but has burning issues with BDs if you want to burn),
so
"DE_LG_BH16NS55_1.02.bin" so can do the most, but that has a sleep bug issue sometimes with the unit, and is slower with ripping sometimes compared to "ASUS-BW-16D1HT-3.10-WM01601-211901041014.bin" where sleep-bug is resolved afaik.