DVD Drive Region problem

[cfgs]

I bought my MacBook Pro las August, a few weeks later y moved to Germany.

I started watching films of both Region 1 and 2 with no problem. Once I noticed I had just two more 'changes' I started using VLC to bypass the issue. No problem...

Until December, I went back to America to visit family, etc. My brother asked me if he could use my computer to watch a film, since the living room was occupied. I didn't remember (it wasn't even near my mind) that the region thing was to be avoided using VLC.

Next thing I know, he "accidentally" used the 2 remaining opportunities to change the drive's region.

And, now, I'm in Germany stuck with a Region 1 (America) Drive. I've googled a little and have found several clues, but all seem to be about bypassing or changing the region indefinitely BEFORE it's locked.

If there is any way to 'unlock' the drive, please do tell.

Appreciate your help.

 

[SaSaSushi]

If you can find an RPC1 firmware for your Superdrive at this site you can flash it and it will be region free at the hardware level. You will be able to play any region DVD with any software without restrictions. However, there is always a chance to render a drive unusable flashing it with RPC1 firmware and I would also hesitate to do so if your drive is still under Apple's warranty.

I have an external DVD drive I flashed RPC1 for such uses. The external drive is a much faster drive than the Superdrive so I use it for all of my burning needs as well. The Superdrive is basically only used for playing audio CDs on my iMac.

 

[old-wiz]

It might be simpler just to leave the internal DVD drive as region 1 (US) and buy an external DVD drive and play your Region 2 disks in that drive. Then you don;t need to muck around with trying to change the firmware (which may not work at all and could brick the drive).

 

[SaSaSushi]

It might be simpler just to leave the internal DVD drive as region 1 (US) and buy an external DVD drive and play your Region 2 disks in that drive. Then you don;t need to muck around with trying to change the firmware (which may not work at all and could brick the drive).

I thought that's what I said.

I did flash the firmware successfully on my external drive to RPC1, so I have no trouble playing both local Japanese Region 2 discs as well as Region 1 DVDs from back home in the states. Even out of warranty I would not mess around with flashing the Superdrive with RPC1 personally.

I was just providing the answer to the OP's "If there is any way to 'unlock' the drive, please do tell." request.

 

[cfgs]

Well, that's what I thought I had to do anyway... just checking if there were other options without having to pay the extra money.

Drive regions were sent from hell to torment us; they are our rewards for all our sins. Thank you, Satan.

Thank you.

 

[CylonGlitch]

I don't know if it is possible on a Mac, but I know that with my PC I set the region to 0 (region free) and since then have had no problems playing discs from anywhere. Since I don't play movies on my Mac via DVD I haven't tried this. It won't help the OP because it required a change of region but just a thought for others.