Pioneer BDR-211EBK/UBK - New Firmware v1.54

[Tom886]

Please take my apologies if this is the wrong area for this information.

Pioneer released v1.54 for the BDR-211EBK/UBK on May 8, 2023.
The files are dated February 14, 2023

Changelog:
Improvement of the playback operation with specific media.

Pretty sure it removes the possibility of reading UHD, so I won't update after crossflashing my BDR-209.

Link: https://pioneer.jp/device_e/product-...html#firmware1

Cheers
Tom

[Oinker]

Why would they remove UHD support? The drives comes with it, people paid for it. I'd think they implemented the downgrade and crossflash protection they introduced in the newer firmwares of the 212 and 213 series drives.

[Tom886]

Because I flashed my original BDR-209 to an BDR-211, so it's very likely that they can remove it.
Happened to my knowledge also to other drives.Besides, even they state for the "old" BDR-209 that a flashing or downgrade is not possible, with the help of this forum I was able to downgrade from v1.54 to 1.53.

The other thing is, that it probably won't work with MakeMKV anymore.

Cheers
Tom

[Oinker]

They could remove UHD support, but I don't see why they would do that with a 211 series firmware, because the 211 series drives are UHD drives. They even say so on the front. Sure they could implement a better drive detection in the firmware that would have UHD support on real 211 series drives only, i.e. not on 208/209 series drives with 211 firmware anymore. But to remove a feature people paid for from drives that come with UHD support out of the box would be a serious issue that could lead to Pioneer getting sued.

[Tom886]

Agreed, for the original BDR-211 the UHD support will stay.
But, for crossflashed device they have the capability to remove it.
That's what i wanted to point out in my first post, because companies who offered a Pioneer-clone, removed this with a newer Firmware.

However, it is pretty common to implement new copy protection with newer firmware to prohibit ripping of BD-R or UHDs.

Cheers
Tom

[easterndelight4]

[QUOTE=Tom886;1461901] Because I flashed my original BDR-209 to an BDR-211, so it's very likely that they can remove it.
Happened to my knowledge also to other drives. Besides, even they state for the "old" BDR-209 that a flashing or downgrade is not possible, with the help of this forum I was able to downgrade from v1.54 to 1.53. The other thing is, that it probably won't work with MakeMKV anymore.



Tom Cheers
[/ QUOTE]

Hi Tom,


I have updated my Pioneer BDR-211 to 1.54 firmware and can no longer play UHD Blu-rays with Leawo Blu-ray player on my PC. Can you help to downgrade my firmware please?

Regards,

Eastern

[Tom886]

Sorry, I am not sure whether it is possible to downgrade again, but maybe some of the real professionals in this board can you help you out.

Cheers
Tom

[easterndelight4]

[QUOTE=Tom886;1462652] Sorry, I am not sure whether it is possible to downgrade again, but maybe some of the real professionals in this board can you help you out.

Tom Cheers
[/ QUOTE]

You said you managed to downgrade your pioneer bdr-209 1.54 to 1.53. it should be the same process. Please tell me your steps.

[Tom886]

You cannot really compare the BDR-209 downgrade to the BDR-211, because the Firmware 1.54 for the BDR-211 is dated February 2023, while the firmware 1.54 for the BDR-209 is dated August 2020.
To my knowledge, Pioneer implemented a protection, starting in 2022, to block downgrades.
What I used was the BDRFlash utility v1.00 and with the CLI (Command Line Interface) dumped the firmware and the kernel from an earlier version.
Both are required to flash this into the BDR-209.
I think I was even able to go back to v1.20.
Anyway, after the downgrade, I was able to crossflash my BDR-209 to BDR-211 but used Firmware 1.53.
You find the previous version 1.53 here on the homepage and ask in the dedicated topic for help to get BDRFlash.
What you described could be a side-effect of v1.54, or you could try to play with MPC-HC and/orVLC and install MakeMKV which installs a "driver" which is dealing with copy protection.

Cheers
Tom

[easterndelight4]

Napisany przez Tom886

You cannot really compare the BDR-209 downgrade to the BDR-211, because the Firmware 1.54 for the BDR-211 is dated February 2023, while the firmware 1.54 for the BDR-209 is dated August 2020.
To my knowledge, Pioneer implemented a protection, starting in 2022, to block downgrades.
What I used was the BDRFlash utility v1.00 and with the CLI (Command Line Interface) dumped the firmware and the kernel from an earlier version.
Both are required to flash this into the BDR-209.
I think I was even able to go back to v1.20.
Anyway, after the downgrade, I was able to crossflash my BDR-209 to BDR-211 but used Firmware 1.53.
You find the previous version 1.53 here on the homepage and ask in the dedicated topic for help to get BDRFlash.
What you described could be a side-effect of v1.54, or you could try to play with MPC-HC and/orVLC and install MakeMKV which installs "driver" which is dealing with copy protection.

Cheers
Tom

Ok, I will try ask for help with bdrflash. For those it concerns, firmware 1.54 on bdr-211 breaks uhd Blu-ray movie playback with the free Leawo Blu-ray player. Also, makemkv doesn't work. I can't test if it worked on 1.53 now.

[jadburner]

Napisany przez easterndelight4

Ok, I will try ask for help with bdrflash. For those it concerns, firmware 1.54 on bdr-211 breaks uhd Blu-ray movie playback with the free Leawo Blu-ray player. Also, makemkv doesn't work. I can't test if it worked on 1.53 now.

easterndelight4 - Unfortunately, the firmware on your drive prevents downgrading or crossflashing at present, even with BDRFlash. Updated tools may become available to deal with this, but there is no ETA.