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Apple's DVD Player

macktheknife

macktheknife

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 24, 2002
639
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I want to know how to bypass Apple's DVD region encoding. I have a TiBook and I travel quite a bit, and I watch DVDs from many regions. I am down to about 2 more chances for me to set my DVD region, and I want to know how to make my DVD player region-agnostic.

I know this topic has been discussed before, but I couldn't find it after doing a search. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
 
no help but...

yeah i have no clue, hey i am honest

why cant it switch back and forth??

and what will hapen the last time you switch, stays on that one

who decided how many switches you got and what the hell??
 
What happens is that a little message will pop up saying that the disc is from X region and your player is currently set to play DVDs from Y region. It will ask me which region I want to set it to (1, 2, or 3). The message also warns me that I can only switch it Z amount of times. It originally started at 6 times, now it's down to 2. Supposedly, if I go all the way down to my last switch, it will not allow me to switch anymore.

Since I believe that this is definitely a software issue, I am certain that there's a hack somewhere.
 
It either must write it into a file (sort of like a preferences file) or maybe even into the program itself? (not sure if that's even possible or not). It is definitely software related so it can be definitely dealt with. :) So, anybody know the inner workings of the Apple DVD player?

CORRECTION: It could also be in the drive's firmware, which could pose a slightly more difficult challenge... :( I'll keep hunting for more info.
 
It's hardware not software

You had a slim chance at this if you had a Pismo, but since you have a tiBook it actual ( I believe) writes to the rom. You'll have to send to Apple to have them work on it if it becomes locked in a region you do not want. I can't guarantee they'll work on it for free or at ALL. In the older days of DVDs there was software protection but now it's all in the hardware. Sorry. There is only one region code (or decoder, what have you) that lets you play all regions, and that's the "International Flight" area. I don't know if you can set the tiBook to this way. Once again sorry, it's all hardware.
 
Re: It's hardware not software

Originally posted by al256
Once again sorry, it's all hardware.
Click to expand...

How can it possibly be all hardware? The computer has to be able to tell the hardware that its region has been changed, and then record that information somewhere (a.k.a. firmware).
 
FYI to all those interested

This is what I have found out:

DVD drives comes with two types of firmware: RPC-1 (region-free) and RPC-2 (region-locked). Almost all Mac DVD players have RPC-2.

There are two layers that I will need to circumvent to make my DVD player region-free: the Apple DVD software and the RPC-2 firmware. The former can be easily manipulated, but the latter is the one that's most important. Even if you manage to fool the Apple DVD software, the firmware still limits the number of times you can play DVDs from different regions.

Fooling with the DVD firmware is quite dangerous: it will automatically void my warranty and could render my drive inoperable if I mess up the installation process.

Lastly, TiBooks have the Matsu****a (Panasonic) CW-8121, which have no firmware patches currently available in any case. :(

My thoughts: I think it sucks that I might have to buy different DVD players to play DVDs from around the world. Given the high risk associated with fooling around with the firmware, however, I think I will hold off.

Thanks to all who offered some assistance.
 
:confused: I didn't mean to swear. The company is m-a-t-s-u-*******-a. The fact that it has a swear word imbedded is only coincidental. :)

BTW, the firmware for the combo drive is being worked on, so it might be available yet. My only concern is that it'll mess my drive up.
 
As long as you don't interrupt the installation process (or have a power cut halfway thru the install!), and you follow the instructions to the letter, you should be fine.

I know of quite a few people who have done this - I haven't, because I purchased the AppleCare Protection Plan, and didn't want to waste all that money.

But as soon as the warranty expires - well, that's another story...

;)
 
One of my coworkers had a great idea, he bought a japanese playstation2. It can play all the american games, and japanese dvds. If you got to buy another dvd player, might was well get something out of it. Then if you need Euro dvds, get a euro xbox.
 
Recently saw a DVD that would play in regions 2,3,4,5 and 6 - but not region 1. Sounds like it was mastered by someone who really held a grudge about certain titles being released earlier in the US :D
 
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