Razer Black Widow Ultimate Firmware Update Failure and how to solve it.
So I’ve tried to update my BlackWidow Ultimate today and the Updater just hanged for half an hour on 0% with no progress.
I’ve decided to restart my PC and the whole keyboard got stuck in bootloader mode.
I’ve found no solution to this on the internet so I’ve started contacting techsupport and my reseller etc.
Luckily I’ve found a solution myself before I’ve started to get into warranty stuff and sending the stuff back to Razer. -.-
So here’s what i did. I’ve installed the Driver 1.0.3 and the Firmware updater 1.0.5 (No not the newer ones, but i assume those could work aswell.)
I’ve manually installed a driver from the Firmware updater’s intallation directory(“bootloader” folder -> RzrBtLdr.inf)
Then i ran the Firmware Updater Again which fixed all of the problems with being stuck in bootloader mode…
So here it is for all the internetz as a possible fix to this problem.
Legacy 
Hi,
Would you kindly send me the firmware 1.03 ?
ssmchan888@gmail.com
Thanks.
Simon
June 1, 2011 at 12:07 am
Black Widow Ultimate Firmware Updater v1.0.5 – link
Black Widow Ultimate Driver v1.0.3 – link
June 1, 2011 at 6:14 am
Thx, you saved my day. It really works. Helmut
August 9, 2011 at 8:41 am
How did you manually install it? It keeps saying the driver file does not contain the information for the device?
August 10, 2011 at 3:28 pm
I could install it manually in the device manager O.o
You could try removing the driver for the keyboard first then install it manually from the bootloader folder again. Or right click on the inf file and install that way even.
It was some time ago that i did this so my memory is kinda failing me here. I know I messed around with it quite a bit before i could get it working again.
Good luck with it though.
August 10, 2011 at 11:35 pm
Thank you VERY MUCH!!!!
Blackwidow Ultimate Thai Edition today and broke it in the first hour.
After repair by myself for 5 hours and the seller didn’t know much.
I did by your instruction and it work!!!
PS. I install with DPInst_x86.exe , not RzrBtLdr.inf
October 2, 2011 at 5:03 pm
Glad I could help 😉
October 2, 2011 at 6:05 pm
You are a lifesaver!!!
It’s not much fun to have your brand new keyboard brick itself after 3 days…
Thanks to your help my keyboard will live at least another three 😀
Cheers,
Shaun
October 8, 2011 at 2:04 am
Same problem with the non ultimate version..
Halp? 😦
December 6, 2011 at 5:31 am
I believe you can try the same thing with your current driver version.
Uninstall the incorrectly installed driver in device manager then load the bootloader’s driver .inf file manually into device manager and try to reinstall install the driver then.
There are multiple combinations to try. 😉
I don’t think you can brick the keyboard firmware just by updating the driver, Good Luck.
December 6, 2011 at 10:02 am
Thanks!
I found a way to do it though,
I got the firmware updater version 1.05 and that detected the board (left the drivers at the newest version) put the 1.05 firmware on, then upgraded to to 1.08 and it worked.
1.05 is here: http://www.razersupport.com/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=viewdownload&downloaditemid=531
Hopefully this can help anyone who had the same problem as me!
Reply to this if you need any help and I will do what I can.
December 6, 2011 at 11:16 am
Pingback: Razer BlackWidow Spolit =( - www.hardwarezone.com.sg
can you give me a more detailed guide? sorry. i tried this on my non ultimate version and i cant understand how to install the driver manually part.
January 13, 2012 at 7:43 pm
p.s. when i try to install the RzrBtLdr.inf using update drivers i get a “This device cannot start. (Code 10)” error..
January 13, 2012 at 7:49 pm
You sure you got the right drivers? The ones I have in my post are for the ultimate version and they wont work for the non-ultimate keyboard.
Imo just download the newest drivers for your version of keyboard from razer’s website, then install the bootloader driver through the device manager->update driver or Add Legacy Hardware and install from disk then locate the boorloader’s inf file.
It should work on way or the other. Took me some tries to get it right aswell 😉
Hope this helps.
January 13, 2012 at 7:54 pm
yup i have the ones for bw non ultimate.. ill try the newest drivers.
January 13, 2012 at 8:07 pm
oh yeah. did yours appear as unknown device too? coz i have mine @ unknown device after restarting then if i transfer it to another port i get Razor Bootloader with its icon having a small triangle w/ an exclamation mark.
January 13, 2012 at 8:14 pm
Yep i had the same as unknown device i just updated that one with the bootloader then i could install the drivers and firmware from there.
January 13, 2012 at 9:06 pm
have you also tried the code 10 error?
January 13, 2012 at 9:09 pm
thank you soo soo much! i finally did it! i guess it was my pc that had a problem. tried it with my dad’s laptop now its working. thank you soo much! 😀
January 13, 2012 at 9:27 pm
Glad I could help, gonna keep these comments and information here for anyone that might have the same problem in the future.
January 13, 2012 at 11:46 pm
THANKS SO MUCH.
Your post + all of the comments helped me fix my blackwidow, thanks so much! (:
March 24, 2012 at 11:49 pm
I am trying these steps for the blackwidow stealth edition. I get the keyboard to be recognized as razerbootloader but when I launch the firmware updater it does not recognize the keyboard. I hold in the fn key unplug it and plug it back in and the update starts and finishes but then just keeps looping and starting over. Any ideas?
April 28, 2012 at 10:52 pm
Hello,
same here, did you find a way to fix it ?
May 24, 2012 at 8:25 pm
You sir, saved my weekend!
Many, many thanks!
May 31, 2012 at 9:11 pm
i think that this JUST PRESS FN thing made my day. can you explain why it does work just by pressing fn? to explain, windows recognized my keyboard (backwidow non ultimate) and I could install the drivers afterwards. thx brickwin!!
July 10, 2012 at 4:04 pm
Holy cow pressing FN finally allowed Windows to see my non-Ultimate BlackWidow. Outstanding thread here guys! Now if I can just get it to play nicely with my brand new Naga Epic! …freaking Razer >.<
August 9, 2012 at 9:19 pm
Hello!
I’m also having the same problem.
I’ve tried to update my bootloader via Device Manager and I end up with Code 10.
What should i do.
July 19, 2012 at 2:11 am
I have got to the point where my firmware does finish installing. After it, it says my keyboard is good to go, but when i try to type or do anything, the keyboard is unresponsive.
July 19, 2012 at 2:13 am
I believe uninstalling the driver from device manager and installing the latest drivers might work.
Haven’t tried it lately since i fixed mine.
July 19, 2012 at 11:01 am
Interesting. My blackwidow (non ultimate) stopped working after I cleaned it up with mild cleaning solution. It just showed up in windows as a bootloader after plugging it in. I tried different drivers and firmware updaters. All firmware updaters just kept restarting after 100%. After some three hours of tinkering with the different versions, device manager, plugging the keyboard in and out, having the fn key pressed down ect.. I got fed up and left the latest firmware updater to loop itself (fn key _not_ pressed down). After 10 minutes or so, windows suddenly said it found my blackwidow keyboard 😀 Strange behaviour indeed. Hope this helps someone.struggling with similar problems.
August 25, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Had something similar with mine aswell. I’ve thought it was a purely driver/firmware based issue. I’ve tried cleaning the key’s which were double tapping or not registering and now it seems to work a lot better.
Best way is to probably use compressed air to clean the specific mechanical switches.
August 26, 2012 at 3:27 am
i have tried fn method but no success, I wil try contacting razer phone support since its free over skype but i cant download firmware updater 1.05 from razer webbsite, it shows 404 could you upload it to mediafire maybe?
August 26, 2012 at 12:24 pm
i use bwu and have the same problem. firmware 1.05 not availible in that link given above any more. firmwares 1.07 or 1.08 dont even start up for me! still stuck in bootloader mode.. desperately need help!
August 26, 2012 at 3:45 pm
I fixed it! here are the steps that I did:
0- unplug the keyboard (all connections from keyboard to computer must be unplugged)
1- remove driver from device manager
2- delete synapse, firmware and driver from “add/remove programs” (in control panel)
3- turn pc off and on
4- download and install latest version of synapse (a restart should be done after this)
5- plug the usb cable of keyboard to computer while PRESSING FN KEY.
6- install driver firmware 1.08 and driver 1.05 (latest) -DONT LET FN KEY LOOSE-
7- run firmware updater, if you get “no device detected” error, unplug and re plug the usb cable to the comp while pressing FN KEY.
8- the firmware uptade will start and even after it says “it is done”, the bar will go from 0% to 100% repeatedly. Let it go like this until it says “new hardware detected”
9- In my experience, my keyboard was detected at the second I let FN key loose after 6-7 minutes of looping in firmware update sequence. So you let the key lose after some time and hope it works.
This was more or less my xp of fixing this after 7 hours and countless tries and combinations. At one point I remember also running the driver (exe) in bootloader file. It should be somewhere around steps 5 and 7.
Hope this helps! 🙂
August 26, 2012 at 6:51 pm
DUDE, YOU ARE A RAZER LIFE SAVER! YOU ROCK! THANKS TO ALL YOUR EFFORT . IT HAS PAID OFF FOR BOTH OF US! AND THANKS TO MY LITTLE LADY. SHE FOUND THIS AND HELPED ME BRING MY BLACK WIDOW ULTIMATE BACK TO LIFE. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! YOU SAVED ME 130.00 BUCKS! YOU ROCK MAN!
September 27, 2012 at 12:52 am
Gracias kapooo!!!! saludos desde Paraguay!!
thanks bro!!! you’re my hero!!
July 4, 2013 at 6:52 am
Man! U are the god! )
September 3, 2013 at 9:53 pm
thank you so much bro. its really work
September 12, 2012 at 7:33 am
Here is driver firmware 1.08 http://www.techspot.com/drivers/driver/file/download/15427/
September 12, 2012 at 7:35 am
Hi! last night, my Razer Blackwidow Ultimate couldn’t be detected after doing the latest firmware update. My keyboard remained like a brick and couldn’t function anymore. 😦 Will this method resolve my keyboard problem?
September 28, 2012 at 2:29 am
Thank you so much, had mine for a few minutes before I broke it.
September 30, 2012 at 4:06 am
I did everything you guys said in the comments but no luck keyboard is sitill recognized and i keep getting code 10 error (either on desktop or laptop) when i try to manually instally the razer bootloader driver.
October 4, 2012 at 5:19 pm
Tanks man. It worked for me but only on another PC. My main PC also gave me a code 10 error. So for anyone else getting a code 10 error try another computer.
October 10, 2012 at 4:20 pm
I was trying to revert back to an old firmware version, given the absolutely ANNOYING latest version of synapse. Unfortunatelly, nothing on earth can get my bwu to work with old firmware. All your hints here make my keyboard not recognized by windows. The only way for it to come alive again, is to install synapse and let it update the firmware. So I guess I will have to live with this annoyiance until a new version of synapse shows up.
The code 10 error, btw, happens because you already have the driver on your pc. If you go to device manager and uninstall the driver (check the ‘remove driver from computer’ box), you can install it fine from the firmware update folder.
October 17, 2012 at 1:36 am
Hi, I have tried reverting aswell, and it didn’t work.
As a last resort I’v just uninstalled all drivers from razer, synapse and whatever and just let my keyboard with the default windows drivers.
I’ve bought a couple cans of compressed air and cleaned up the inside of the keyboard as much as possible to make sure there was no contact problems inside the switches i had problems with aswell.
I can live without the functionality of the the left macro keys so i just use it like this and so far i haven’t had problems with the keys double tapping since then.
About the code 10 issue i have never had that one, so can’t really help on that matter. Letting the latest synapse update your firmware should do the trick of fixing the keyboard not recognized issue indeed.
Just gonna leave these posts up here for future reference if anyone runs into these issues mentioned here it should help them out.
Best of Luck.
October 17, 2012 at 2:24 am
Thank you dear sir. You are a keyboard and money saver.
Thanks a thousand!
December 7, 2012 at 3:45 am
I tried every possible steps here but the firmware updater states that “no device detected”
I can’t see my blackwidow in m y device manager. When I unplug and plug my keyboard, windows says USB device installation failed.
I am using Windows 8 and have been using this keyboard for about 1 year until I did a firmware upgrade yesterday on synapse and the process freezes. Now my keyboard is dead and every steps attempted here failed because the updater cannot detect my device.
Any ideas? Also for those who succeeded, can you let me know which Windows OS you are using. This could be due to Windows 8 but I am not sure.
December 18, 2012 at 3:35 pm
I did the same procedures in a Windows 7 Computer and it didnt work, after a few try. I try it on a windows xp computer and finally it works now, my keyboard is back to life !!!
Thank you very much for posting this !!!
December 23, 2012 at 3:26 pm
Just upgraded to Windows 8 and it happened to me again. Got a warning about an update that an update was available and 1 second after I clicked OK, I went like NOOOOOO. OK more info as a reminder to myself. Getting the keyboard alive again did not work on Windows 8. I used Windows XP which ran inside a VMWare virtual machine. Also do NOT click search automatic when Windows first tries to install a driver. If you do that you will not be able to install them manually later. Delete the driver, restart Windows and immediately select install manually and use the driver from the Firmware upgrade folder.
January 26, 2013 at 3:09 pm
I have finally got this to work. For some odd reason none of these steps worked on my desktop, where I had the keyboard originally installed. A couple of months later, I installed synapse on my laptop (windows 8) and plugged in the keyboard while holding the fn key. Synapse detected the keyboard, and replaced the old corrupted firmware.
February 25, 2013 at 3:42 am
Thank you guys, finally i made my black widow running again.
if you bump on to error 43, try to update the firmware from other computer.
i got mine working by updating the firmware using synapse on other computer with win 7 OS.
Thank you very much for all.
March 7, 2013 at 1:05 pm
Its late in the night but I still want to comment a big THANK YOU to “ege” I followed it and at the step where the firm ware update was looping from 0-100% i held the FN key down for like 5-10min and when I got bored i let the button go, and was like “damn this shit didnt even work and almost face palmed myself” then all of a sudden MY KEYBOARD LIGHTS TURN ON and guess how happy I was, I am now making this comment thanks to you!
May 31, 2013 at 1:49 am
thanks guys
I have to reinstall drivers from bootloader folder before launching firmware updater 1.05
and it works !
Updater stop uploading firmware at 43% but it seams ok !
thank’s a lot
June 5, 2013 at 5:29 pm
Thought I would post this here in case it helps someone else. I had tried all of the steps suggested here and in many other posts. Nothing seemed to work, the keyboard was never recognized. Windows was saying that my device was “unrecognized usb device”, trying to install the bootloader turned code 10 most of the time, although it did install once after many tries, but it still failed to recognize the device.
What worked? I went to my laptop, installed the 1.08 firmware updater, didn’t install the drivers or anything else, since all I wanted was to flash the firmware on the laptop, then I plugged the keyboard in (no fn key holding or anything) window started installing the device and of course the only driver it found for it was the bootloader, and it installed automatically without any problems. Then I just went ahead and flashed and it was recognized! Keyboard is now working again!! 🙂
Hope this helps someone else!
June 30, 2013 at 10:30 pm
What worked for me is plug the keyboard into a different PC/Laptop and Install Firmware Update 1.05. It detected immediately and started the flash. Now working again!
July 4, 2013 at 2:52 pm
Thanks SO MUCH !!! anything i can do for you let me know saved me $130.00
July 2, 2013 at 10:57 am
Thanks for posting this. I had to get on my laptop to google this problem, as the Razer firmware updater broke my BlackWidow. Good job, Razer.
July 3, 2013 at 6:43 pm
Ok this is fucking incredible ! If everything fail its because you use windows 8 64bits ! . Done the same step under a windows 7 32bits in a vmware with usb controller connected etc . And everytings ok ! . Damn razer suck with 64 bits firmware update …
July 7, 2013 at 1:00 am
Hi All, I also had this problem and solved it just a few minute ago. Did as below and I see my Black Widow Ultimate Stealth 2013 come alive again. =)
1-Unplug keyboard
2-Install synapse 2.0
3-plug the keyboard while keep pressing on the “Fn” button. (not sure if really necessary to press the button though)
4-Wait for a while until synapse give a popup message to update its “framework”.
5-Click on update and just wait until 100%. Then another popup come out to update the firmware. there you go! i’m so happy to see the blue backlit on the keyboard. =)
July 7, 2013 at 5:31 pm
Confirmed to work on Windows 8.1!
Thank you FaR EaStz!
September 16, 2013 at 5:03 am
Hi, works for me too by just installing Synapse2.0, then after a few reboots and updates the keyboard just came back to life (after the “framework” update as FaR EaStz already said). No need to hold down Fn key for me.
Thanks FaR EaStz
October 6, 2013 at 11:44 pm
Hi, will this work for the Blackwidow TE Refresh 2013? I’m having the same problem as anyone else except I can’t get any of the methods to work for me. Synapse has never detected my Blackwidow TE.
October 30, 2013 at 6:14 pm
Thanks gevil for your guide and solution, really helpful bro, and to you too FaR EaStz, I’m following your step and it does work, really appreciated it, thanks a lot XD
July 9, 2013 at 7:47 pm
holy shit, FaR EaStz saved my life!!! Thank you so much!
September 28, 2013 at 4:23 am
still none of these solutions incomment work for me,(i have a normal blackwidow and it bricked after i updated it)
October 14, 2013 at 5:54 am
nvm i just update it through synapse and it was fine. Basically i just open synapse and let it do its thing. similar to what FaR EaStz said
October 14, 2013 at 6:01 am
you are holy helpful to me. my blackwidow is back. thanks. Allah bless you
October 18, 2013 at 7:44 pm
my blackwidow decided to stop working after i rebooted my pc. “usb device unrecognized” says my pc. iv tried to uninstall and install everything with the hold fn, still doesnt work. im thinking if my keyboard is just plain dead. any help?
October 24, 2013 at 9:31 am
Has anyone found a fix for the Blackwidoe TE Refresh 2013? I can’t seem to get any of these methods working for mine. Completely new and doesn’t work.
October 30, 2013 at 6:15 pm
omg guys thx ALOT. i where lost for like 2-3 houers. becasue my blackwidow kayboard didnt work
November 7, 2013 at 6:24 pm
My Black widow Ultimate crashed as well! Razor Cust. service sux! My PC wont recognize the K/B nor does my lap top! Help! I tried the FN method and nothing….tried Synapse but it says to plug in a 2.0 devise….the firmware program says no device connected UGH!! suggestions?
January 23, 2014 at 8:20 pm
1) Uninstalled everything Razor related
2) Got the latest firmware update from Razor’s website
3) I used the 1.08 Firmware Update from this blog (I only used it for the bootloader folder when you install it.)
4) Held the function key + plugged in to either get an un-updated version of “Razor Bootloader” or “Unknown device”
5) Download the firmware from the link http://rzr.to/rtYkd and install. (Razer_BlackWidow_Ultimate_FirmwareUpdater_v2.05.03)
Done!
This link is for the normal Blackwidow ultimate.
When you contact razer they give you the proper one!
April 24, 2014 at 8:52 am
*Edit*
1) Uninstalled everything Razor related
2) Got the latest firmware update from Razor’s website
3) I used the 1.08 Firmware Update.
4) Held the function key + plugged in to either get an un-updated version of “Razor Bootloader” or “Unknown device”
5) Download the firmware from the link http://rzr.to/rtYkd and install. (Razer_BlackWidow_Ultimate_FirmwareUpdater_v2.05.03)
Done!
This link is for the normal Blackwidow ultimate.
When you contact razer they give you the proper one!
April 24, 2014 at 8:55 am
This worked flawlessly for me.
December 1, 2014 at 11:46 pm
i had same issues. tried all the steps. i got it to show 1.05 driver and updater 1.08 in the control panel programs but keyboard still not recognized or blue lights. the Trick = i plugged it up to an xp netbook that had no razer anything on it -just to recognize it as a HID keyboard and BOOM- blue lights. No MS update or driver screen appeared, it just worked…After that, disconnecting and plugging up to any USB ports[ 2.0 or 3.0] on my win 7 64bit desktop, it worked flawless. It also fixed several other issues – “B” led intermittently going out, not waking from sleep, and most importantly a bad ‘key chattering’ problem where multiple letters not near each other would display by hitting only one key. giddy up…
July 19, 2014 at 1:28 am
BTW….this is kinda hard to find a direct line so posting it ..they are EST 12-9pm M-F only
RAZER SUPPORT =
“If you were unable to troubleshoot and resolve any issues you are having with the knowledgebase (FAQ) and you feel your product is still defective, please don’t hesitate to contact us here or call 1-888-697-2037.”
July 19, 2014 at 1:30 am
I have the Black Widow (non Ultimate) and installing Razer_BlackWidow_FirmwareUpdater_v2.05.03 worked for me:
http://sobieh.com/2014/06/razer-blackwidow-bricked/
August 28, 2014 at 1:11 am
my kwyboard started working thnks@ddnos but the backlights are still dead anyways I am happy as I wont have to buy a new KB
December 24, 2014 at 1:47 am
I have got the same problem with my star wars keyboard. I accidentally took out the usb while the razer synapse was updating and now I can’t get it back on. Can I use the same method to solve it?
February 22, 2016 at 3:59 pm