Flashing a UHD Drive on macOS

March 1, 2025

Flashing a UHD Drive on macOS

📀 Flashing a UHD Drive 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.

🛠 1️⃣ Acquire a UHD Drive

Your best bet is to check the MakeMKV forums to find a compatible drive:
🔗 Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2025

I chose the LG BP60NB10 External Drive:
👉 Amazon Link

🖥 2️⃣ Install MakeMKV

Download and install MakeMKV from the official site:
🔗 https://www.makemkv.com/

🔍 3️⃣ Identify Your UHD Drive

With your UHD drive connected, open Terminal and run:

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

🔽 4️⃣ Get the Correct Firmware

  1. Open MakeMKV and select your drive from the dropdown.
  2. Check the firmware version and product ID (write these down).
  3. Find the right firmware:
  • Use the MakeMKV forums to locate the UHD-friendly firmware for your exact drive model.
  • This guide is a great place to start.

⚠️ WARNING:

  • ❌ Flashing the wrong firmware can brick your drive!
  • ✅ Double-check before proceeding.

🔗 5️⃣ Download sdf.bin

MakeMKV requires an additional file to flash your drive.

Download sdf.bin from the official MakeMKV site: 🔗 https://makemkv.com/sdf.bin

📂 Move sdf.bin and your firmware into the same folder. When I did this, I created a folder called MKV on my Desktop.

🚀 6️⃣ Flash the Firmware

This step was where I got stuck for hours - the original command I was running looked like it worked, but the firmware never updated.

Here’s the correct command that worked for me on the first try:

sudo makemkvcon f -d '/IOBDServices/F7A19655' -f ~/Desktop/MKV/sdf.bin rawflash enc -i ~/Desktop/MKV/DE_LG_BP60NB10_1.02-MK.bin

🚀 Important Notes:

  • Replace F7A19655 with your own drive identifier from Step 3.
  • The rawflash enc flag ensures the flash actually applies.
  • DO NOT interrupt the flashing process!

✅ 7️⃣ Verify the Firmware Update

After flashing, check if it worked by running:

makemkvcon f -l

Then, open MakeMKV and check the info tab when the drive is selected from the dropdown.

  • ✅ “Firmware Type” should say “Patched”
  • ✅ LibreDrive Status should say “Enabled”

📀 8️⃣ Test UHD Playback

Pop in a UHD Blu-ray and test ripping. 🎉 If your drive does not read UHD discs, try:

  • Unplugging & replugging the drive.
  • Restarting MakeMKV.
  • Flashing 1.00-MK before 1.02-MK (some drives need a downgrade first).

🔥 Final Thoughts

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

Feel free to submit a pull request if you find improvements!