Unlocked drives

Unlocked drives remove restrictions that can prevent freemkv from accessing a disc. There are two paths, depending on your drive:

Pioneer: nothing to install or flash. freemkv automatically unlocks supported drives using their original OEM firmware.
MediaTek: updated firmware is required. Follow the steps below to prepare your drive.

MediaTek-based drives

MediaTek drive support is available in freemkv. Compatible MediaTek-based drives require updated firmware for unlocked support. We recommend freemkv firmware.

Set up a compatible MediaTek drive in three steps:

Find and download your firmware — select your exact drive model and an appropriate firmware revision.
Modify the firmware — build a freemkv-enabled image using the supported options.
Flash your drive — follow the flashing guide to install the image that matches your drive.

Already running supported freemkv firmware? You can use it directly.

The large majority of consumer Blu-ray drives use a MediaTek chipset, and freemkv supports them. This covers ~200 drive + firmware combinations, including:

LG: most LG Blu-ray writers. In Windows your drive may show up as “HL-DT-ST”; that’s LG (Hitachi-LG Data Storage), not a different brand. This is the most common family by far.
ASUS: the MediaTek-based BW-16 models (e.g. BW-16D1HT) and the BC-12 series. These are often LG hardware under an ASUS badge. Note that the externally similar BW-16D1X-U is a rebadged Pioneer drive on a different chipset — see Pioneer drives below.
HP: a handful of rebadged BD-RE / BD-RW models.

If you own an LG, ASUS, or HP Blu-ray drive from roughly 2012-2020, it’s very likely supported.

Pioneer drives

Compatible Pioneer and Pioneer-based drives work with their original OEM firmware. No firmware modification or flashing is required.

Download the latest freemkv to try it. Share your drive profile to help us expand coverage.

For drives without unlocked support, see the OEM-drive workflow.

Firmware choices

freemkv firmware — recommended. Our own firmware is the path we develop, test, and support directly. Start here when setting up a compatible MediaTek drive.
MK firmware — existing installations. If your drive already has MK firmware, freemkv can work with supported combinations. Compatibility is partial; it is not the recommended firmware for a new setup.
OmniDrive — untested. Listed for reference; compatibility has not been validated.

Help us add your drive

Share a drive profile to help us expand support, whether your drive already works or is not covered yet:

freemkv info disc:// --share --mask

This captures your drive’s identity and capabilities; --mask hides its serial number. Submit the profile to GitHub from freemkv, or copy it into a new issue.