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AnyDVD UHD Drives and Firmware Questions

RedFox 1 said:
Sorry but if you want to discuss drives and firmware I have made a thread for you to do it.
Click to expand...

Why isn't this response, moved as well, to this thread. Seeing as it is in response to the post you moved. Is it not off topic in the other thread? ;)
 
SLKabaker said:
Why isn't this response, moved as well, to this thread. Seeing as it is in response to the post you moved. Is it not off topic in the other thread? ;)
Click to expand...
I deleted that post as it was not necessary anymore.
 
So there's BDXL and UltraHD BD.

It seems the UltraHD spec was issued in 2015. The Asus drive seems to be BDXL only...

So while Asus's drive definitely seems to work with most BR's of today's vintage, I worry about the future.

Pioneer's drive seems to support both BR platforms... How friendly is that?
 
Jack.Bauer said:
So there's BDXL and UltraHD BD.

It seems the UltraHD spec was issued in 2015. The Asus drive seems to be BDXL only...

So while Asus's drive definitely seems to work with most BR's of today's vintage, I worry about the future.

Pioneer's drive seems to support both BR platforms... How friendly is that?
Click to expand...
My advice would be to be take care of a " Friendly Drive" if you have one, these companies will be closing the loophole as new drives are made.
 
RedFox 1 said:
My advice would be to be take care of a " Friendly Drive" if you have one, these companies will be closing the loophole as new drives are made.
Click to expand...

The trouble is that purchasing a friendly drive is a "shot in the dark". Sellers do not have the procedure in place to take the drive out of the box and snap a picture or read the ROM Version and SVC code. I figure if it was manufactured between 2015 and the summer of 2017, there is a good chance it has the correct firmware. I chose to take a chance on the LG WH16NS40 and ordered it. I had one but it was manufactured in 2014 and did not have the the correct SVC code. It had NS40 not NS50. I initially thought it would work but as the "friendly" drive threads started developing, it became clear that what I had would not work.
 
coodbe said:
The trouble is that purchasing a friendly drive is a "shot in the dark". Sellers do not have the procedure in place to take the drive out of the box and snap a picture or read the ROM Version and SVC code. I figure if it was manufactured between 2015 and the summer of 2017, there is a good chance it has the correct firmware. I chose to take a chance on the LG WH16NS40 and ordered it. I had one but it was manufactured in 2014 and did not have the the correct SVC code. It had NS40 not NS50. I initially thought it would work but as the "friendly" drive threads started developing, it became clear that what I had would not work.
Click to expand...

Sorry about that but if you go on eBay you can ask the seller questions just ask him or her to take a screenshot of the back of the drive and if it’s what you want you’ll buy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
I did exactly that with four sellers on eBay. Two responded and said they could not. Two did not respond. I took a chance and ordered from one of them.
 
Since this was moved out of the AnyDVD forum into high def hardware, I'm going to link to a post on MakeMKV's forum only because I think it's relevant to this discussion.

http://makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?p=60423#p60423

I have NO IDEA what's being created or how it's going to work, but, Mike seems to suggest that new tools are coming to make all this UHD stuff far easier. So if you have a drive that isn't currently working (has wrong firmware, is a real UHD drive, etc) sit tight and see what happens with that announcement. It might prove very interesting.
 
diverjones said:
Darnit! My LG BE16nu50 has just been delivered and it was manufactured in November and has a ROM ver of 1.02 so, that means this is NOT UHD friendly doesn’t it :( Suppose I will have to return it ‘cause I already have a blu ray player. Do not suppose the BE14 LG is UHD friendly is it?

Do not know how to know this before purchasing them.....
Click to expand...

Have you tried using it? It might be ok.
 
diverjones said:
... Darnit! My LG BE16nu50 has just been delivered and it was manufactured in November and has a ROM ver of 1.02 so, that means this is NOT UHD friendly doesn’t it :( Suppose I will have to return it ‘cause I already have a blu ray player. Do not suppose the BE14 LG is UHD friendly is it? ...
Click to expand...

Not sure if this will be helpful but...


I've had the BE16NU50 since Dec 2016. Just checked and its firmware is 1.00.

When news broke that it was a friendly drive, I purchased a second one in early January this year. That one seems to be 1.01.

Both work fine as friendly drives.


By 1.02, the "friendliness" has probably been removed. But that's just a guess on my part.


You should definitely try it -- if you can still return it after being opened...


T
 
Sure.

Sorry Ch3vron.

Got caught up in the comments...


Thanks,

T
 
Jack.Bauer said:
So there's BDXL and UltraHD BD.

It seems the UltraHD spec was issued in 2015. The Asus drive seems to be BDXL only...

So while Asus's drive definitely seems to work with most BR's of today's vintage, I worry about the future.

Pioneer's drive seems to support both BR platforms... How friendly is that?
Click to expand...
UHD is, physically, identical to BDXL. BDXL is, primarily, a technical standard of the physical disc and laser (e.g. material to make disc and angle of laser to read/write). UHD added additional Firmware and Software requirements (primarily for DRM purposes). So, a BDXL Drive will always be able to recognize and read a UHD Disc (unless they change the physical/material composition of said disc or the angle in which the laser needs to read said disc) as long as you have AnyDVD HD or similar software to bypass the DRM. That is why, it only takes a firmware update to convert a BDXL Drive into a UHD Drive.
 
diverjones said:
Darnit! My LG BE16nu50 has just been delivered and it was manufactured in November and has a ROM ver of 1.02 so, that means this is NOT UHD friendly doesn’t it :( Suppose I will have to return it ‘cause I already have a blu ray player. Do not suppose the BE14 LG is UHD friendly is it?

Do not know how to know this before purchasing them.....
Click to expand...
rgs825 said:
Have you tried using it? It might be ok.
Click to expand...
testiles said:
Not sure if this will be helpful but...


I've had the BE16NU50 since Dec 2016. Just checked and its firmware is 1.00.

When news broke that it was a friendly drive, I purchased a second one in early January this year. That one seems to be 1.01.

Both work fine as friendly drives.


By 1.02, the "friendliness" has probably been removed. But that's just a guess on my part.


You should definitely try it -- if you can still return it after being opened...


T
Click to expand...
1.02 is a Full UHD Drive and will block AnyDVD HD (currently) from accessing a UHD Disc. I received the same drive yesterday from Amazon in the U.S. and it, too, had firmware 1.02. Although, mine wouldn't even read a regular BD. So, that was weird. Either way, 1.01 was the last BDXL ("UHD Friendly") Firmware. The only drive that I recently ordered and received that was still "UHD Friendly" was the Asus BW-16D1HT. It is basically a rebadged LG Drive, but with the Asus firmware [3.02] it is faster and quieter. It may be an internal drive, but you can get SATA to USB 3.0 adapters/enclosures.
 
Walk into Bestbuy and take a look at them. They have in the stores , in stock.
 
SLKabaker said:
1.02 is a Full UHD Drive and will block AnyDVD HD (currently) from accessing a UHD Disc. I received the same drive yesterday from Amazon in the U.S. and it, too, had firmware 1.02. Although, mine wouldn't even read a regular BD. So, that was weird. Either way, 1.01 was the last BDXL ("UHD Friendly") Firmware. The only drive that I recently ordered and received that was still "UHD Friendly" was the Asus BW-16D1HT. It is basically a rebadged LG Drive, but with the Asus firmware [3.02] it is faster and quieter. It may be an internal drive, but you can get SATA to USB 3.0 adapters/enclosures.
Click to expand...
Have not tried yet because I do not even have a 4k disc yet. Was going to get prepared for when I do start moving into 4k. Was going to move slow into this new tech but man, I might just be too late already before it even gets started. Bummer.
 
Installed my ASUS BW-16D1HT yesterday, manufactured 02/2017 with firmware 3.00, updated to @SLKabaker 's recommended 3.02, bought Dunkirk today from local shop and it decrypts and plays fine directly from disc using MPC-HC with madVR downconverting to 1080 SDR. Looks glorious on my plasma, thanks Redfox! :bowdown:
 
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