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SuperDrive DVD region not changing despite having one change left.

H

Happy84

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 17, 2012
12
0
My DVD superdrive won't change back to 'Region 2' after watching a 'Region 1' DVD. When I insert the 'Region 2' disc the pop up menu comes up asking if I want to change the region to match the disc. It says that this is the last time I can change the region but when I click the option to change it nothing happens and eventually the SuperDrive winds down.

ScreenShot2012-08-17at152631.png
 
I would like to know as well. Once you are stuck on a specific region, is there a way to reset it?
 
Are you sure you still have one change left? You might lost count and your region lock was activated. Or it might be that your superdrive is about to die and need cleaning. Mine after 3 years of use I never suspect that my superdrive will died down on me. So I exchange it with data doubler. I got more HD space.
 
DcoalStrat said:
Are you sure you still have one change left? You might lost count and your region lock was activated. Or it might be that your superdrive is about to die and need cleaning. Mine after 3 years of use I never suspect that my superdrive will died down on me. So I exchange it with data doubler. I got more HD space.
Click to expand...

I'm fairly sure I still have 1 change left as when I inserted the Region 1 DVD it said I had two changes left. So that would be 1 change from R2 to R1 and one final change back again to R2. The SuperDrive has been behaving normally and it was only the other day I changed from R2 to R1 so it's not as if it's been a long time and the drive has had much chance to deteriorate.
 
Happy84 said:
I'm fairly sure I still have 1 change left as when I inserted the Region 1 DVD it said I had two changes left. So that would be 1 change from R2 to R1 and one final change back again to R2. The SuperDrive has been behaving normally and it was only the other day I changed from R2 to R1 so it's not as if it's been a long time and the drive has had much chance to deteriorate.
Click to expand...

Then it is time to hit the Apple store and go to the genius Bar
 
I doubt many people switch regions on their superdrives enough to know the answer to this.. instead of insulting a user base because they can't answer your oddball question maybe you should consider just how specialized of a question it might be.
 
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Whether or not you really have used all 5 region changes (which is such a piss-take, and weirdly hasn't received any anti-trust suits) this - http://blog.flashgen.com/2007/10/11/make-your-macbook-pro-region-free/ - is your only option.... wouldnt recommend it unless you're fairly good with your mac (since you would have downloaded a copy of the film from the internet... which is perfectly legal because you own the disc, thus not screwing your region settings up) but good luck :D and Apple won't be able to do anything, i'm pretty sure a replacement optical drive would fix it, but not at all worth the value :eek:
 
Try using VLC to watch you DVDs; VLC doesn't check region codes.
 
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Happy84 said:
I'm a 60 mile round trip from the nearest Genius Bar so I was kind of hoping that someone on here would know of a quick fix.
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Not bad 30 miles one way. Just 30 min away. I use to work 60 miles rountrip before. Not a big deal for a nice piece of Computer.
 
DcoalStrat said:
Not bad 30 miles one way. Just 30 min away. I use to work 60 miles rountrip before. Not a big deal for a nice piece of Computer.
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Yep, but when you don't drive and have to reply on public transport out in the country where buses are few and far between it means I have to catch the bus at 7:20am, spend all day in town before getting the only bus back at 5:40pm. :(

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skate71290 said:
Whether or not you really have used all 5 region changes (which is such a piss-take, and weirdly hasn't received any anti-trust suits) this - http://blog.flashgen.com/2007/10/11/make-your-macbook-pro-region-free/ - is your only option.... wouldnt recommend it unless you're fairly good with your mac (since you would have downloaded a copy of the film from the internet... which is perfectly legal because you own the disc, thus not screwing your region settings up) but good luck :D and Apple won't be able to do anything, i'm pretty sure a replacement optical drive would fix it, but not at all worth the value :eek:
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I don't fancy going through all that, especially as I only use the SuperDrive to find out the 'title' on a DVD for use with 'MakeMKV'.

Will VLC tell me the title numbers of whatever is playing?
 
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1) I think you should have adjusted your rudeness those criticism were valid.

2) /Applications/Utilities/SuperDrive Update.app allows you to reload firmware. You'll need to force a firmware update from someone other than Apple that is specific to your superdrive. You need to get this right. But there are tons of forms on how to load new firmware.

3) The VLC solution is a good one.
 
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Sorry, explain what you're doing with these DVDs? Converting them for use in iTunes? Because Handbrake and iVl (available in the Mac App Store for £2.50) will convert them all properly and complete with meta-data for you
 
skate71290 said:
Sorry, explain what you're doing with these DVDs? Converting them for use in iTunes? Because Handbrake and iVl (available in the Mac App Store for £2.50) will convert them all properly and complete with meta-data for you
Click to expand...

Hi, What I do is I use MakeMKV to rip discs throughout the day, that way HB can run all night. If I just rip straight from disc with HB I can only do one disc at a time, getting up every hour or so to swap the disc defeats the object of the purpose.

I use the DVD player to see what title is playing so I know which title to rip using MakeMKV as some discs have false titles or titles where the chapters are jumbled up as a form of copy protection. By actually using the DVD player App to see which title is playing I've got a 100% chance of getting it right.

I'm not quite using my ripped movies with iTunes, but I have them on a 2TB Time Capsule to go with my JailBroken ATV 2 with XBMC. I have over 1.2TB of Movies (300) and TV Episodes (1,300) so it's not practical to keep all that data on my MacBook Pro HDD. I don't need to add the meta-data as XBMC does that for me. :)

I've not heard of iVl but I might have to check it out as an alternative to HB, but I've got used to HB and I don't like change, hence why I would rather have my DVD player working rather than installing VLC.
 
Well I downloaded VLC and it wouldn't play the DVD so so much for that.

I guess it's a trip to the Genius Bar then.:(
 
Well,

I went and paid the Genius Bar a visit and they were totally stumped. They advised me to wait for the 10.8.1 update and if that didn't cure my problem I was to go back. Two 60 mile round trips later I now have a new SuperDrive courtesy of Apple. Not bad considering my MacBook is 2 years out of warranty.
 
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