Flashing UHD Blu‑ray Drives on macOS

I spent 3+ hours trying to get this to work, so I wanted to make a quick guide for anyone flashing a UHD Blu-ray drive on macOS.

There are GUI tools for Windows, but they did not work for me — even with Parallels.

The steps below did work for me, and I hope they save you frustration.

1. Confirm Drive Compatibility

Consult the MakeMKV forum list of “UHD‑friendly” models. Example reference: LG BP60NB10.

Download and install from https://www.makemkv.com/.

Connect the drive. In Terminal:

makemkvcon f -l

If you get a “command not found” error, you may need to update your shell path. Google how to add MakeMKV binaries to your system $PATH.

Once the command works, your output should look something like this:

Found 1 drives(s)
00: /IOBDServices/7296B36D, /dev/rdisk20, /dev/rdisk20
  HL-DT-ST_BD-RE_BP60NB10_1.02_212107081556_SIM04OBLC3053

Note the identifier returned (e.g., /IOBDServices/7296B36D) and current firmware version.

Find the exact patched firmware for your model and version on the MakeMKV forum. Flashing the wrong file can brick the drive.

Download sdf.bin from the MakeMKV site.
Place sdf.bin and the firmware file in the same directory.

sudo makemkvcon f -d '/IOBDServices/<ID>' -f /path/to/sdf.bin rawflash enc -i /path/to/<firmware>.bin

Replace <ID> and <firmware>.bin. Do not interrupt the process.

Run makemkvcon f -l again or open MakeMKV.
Firmware Type should display Patched and LibreDrive Enabled.

Insert a UHD disc and attempt a rip. If the drive fails to read, power‑cycle the drive or flash a downgrade firmware first, then upgrade.

This method worked flawlessly on macOS, and I hope it helps others avoid the same headaches I had.