Has anyone patched the firmware on the DVD drive found in the 2008 Mac Pro? I think it's a Pioneer DVR-112D. If so, how did you do it, any problems?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Region Free DVD Firmware for 2008 Mac Pro?
- Thread starter edesignuk
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
oooh. good question. i'd assumed that it may not even be possible with newer drives and have a reserve plan of putting my g5's dvd drive into the mp when it arrives and get a new cheap drive to go back in the g5 so i can flog her off for a bit o cashy money. being able to just use the stock drive would be a nice surprise.
I never thought about doing that to my superdrive, but I found the RPC-1 firmware for my 2 drives in my PC, so I brought the HP 640i Lightscribe drive over with region free...don't you have to get past the region coding in most DVD playing software as well?
--Bryan
--Bryan
None of that helps when the DVD drive is region locked and your DVD doesn't match it.
i found vlc played vids well enough on my region locked g4 imac, but it really is an arse dvd player. it just does not deal well with menus and stuff. region x and apple's dvd player app make for a much better combo when they work.
edesign, have you set the system prefs for putting dvds in the drive just to be ignored? if it auto starts dvd player the app will check then eject the disc, but if it doesn't you can happily use less official software
edesign, have you set the system prefs for putting dvds in the drive just to be ignored? if it auto starts dvd player the app will check then eject the disc, but if it doesn't you can happily use less official software
i found vlc played vids well enough on my region locked g4 imac, but it really is an arse dvd player. it just does not deal well with menus and stuff. region x and apple's dvd player app make for a much better combo when they work.
edesign, have you set the system prefs for putting dvds in the drive just to be ignored? if it auto starts dvd player the app will check then eject the disc, but if it doesn't you can happily use less official software
I usually just boot to Windows and use AnyDVD so all those "protection" doesn't work - I don't think there is a software for Mac that can do something similar to what AnyDVD does.
Just rip the disc with Mac the Ripper or Handbrake. Regions only come into effect when you try and play it. You can treat any DVD like a data disc with any drive though so you can rip it and burn it to another DVD.
VLC should play any dvd regardless of the dvd drive's regional setting.
However, when it comes to ripping with Handbrake or MTR, I have experienced that some dvd's can't be ripped due to a different regional setting. Changing the region to match the dvd's region solved it in my case.
However, when it comes to ripping with Handbrake or MTR, I have experienced that some dvd's can't be ripped due to a different regional setting. Changing the region to match the dvd's region solved it in my case.
It's not a Pioneer drive, at least I know for a fact in mine. I pulled it out and it said Sony on the sticker, but in the Device Profiler it reads as "Optiarc" whatever the hell that means.
Update: I actually looked up the name Optiarc & the model drive, its some type of joint burner made by Sony & NEC
Link:http://www.sonynec-optiarc.com/products/hhid_dvdrw/index.html
The exact model # is 7170A
That depends on the drive. Some drives don't even allow you to rip the DVD if the region code doesn't match.
As for the Pioneer/Sony "debate", Apple uses a variety of drives.
For ripping, you should ditch the Apple drive and pick one up from OWC or Newegg. I use the Pioneer DVR-112D (now superseded by the DVR-115D) and it's much faster than the stock Sony/NEC drive that came installed with my Mac.
Apple OEM firmware is Riplock enabled, which if it doesn't prohibit ripping, slows it down to a crawl.