Superdrive has unexpectedly changed region

Question

Level 1

14 points

Superdrive has unexpectedly changed region

My six year old superdrive has been happily playing DVD's in my region (2) all its life - but now it has unexpectedly reset itself to region 1 and won't play any of my DVD's.

If I attempt to set the region back to 2 (unlock settings/password/reset) it seems to accept those changes - but the DVD won't play and the app closes.

I've attempted to change the region many times - it always warns me I can only make 'one more' change.

Any suggestions, please?

Mac mini

Posted on Jan 19, 2025 1:09 PM

Reply

Answer 1

justintyers Author

Level 1

14 points

Jan 19, 2025 2:31 PM in response to Tesserax

Thank you for your message Tesserax.

My mini has an M2 chip :(

"These regions should not change automatically. It requires user intervention": That's what's baffling me - When I purchase a new DVD, on first insertion I'm never been asked to set my region (2 Europe) ...it just plays.

This time however, I was asked to set my region because the DVD was 'incompatible with my region setting'.

At first I thought I had accidentally been sent a USA market DVD - but no, my DVD was stamped with my region (2), but my SuperDrive had changed itself to region 1. There is no good reason for that that I can think of.

I've attempted to change my region back again, probably ten times - and although it warns me this is my last chance, each time, it always allows me one more fruitless try - with the result I mentioned in my first post.

Reply

Answer 2

Tesserax

Level 10

158,622 points

Jan 19, 2025 1:49 PM in response to justintyers

How many is "many times?" The Apple SuperDrive will allow you to change regions up to five times. After that it is permanently locked to the last region selected. This is controlled by the drive's firmware.

These regions should not change automatically. It requires user intervention.

The message about having “one more change” likely indicates you’re at the limit. If you are absolutely sure that the drive has not hit this limit, you can attempt to change it one more time ... but proceed with caution.

If your mini is Intel-based, have you tried resetting it's NVRAM?

Ref: Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

Reply

Answer 3

Tesserax

Level 10

158,622 points

Jan 19, 2025 2:40 PM in response to justintyers

Hmm, well in theory, if you tried that many times, it should have locked the region ... which now looks like region (1). Then again, if it let you that many times, would indicate to me, none of those change requests "stuck."

Have you tried either, or both , of the following?

Boot up in Safe Mode, and see if you can change the region.
Use another user account on your Mac to try the same thing.

Folks have reported issues with using the SuperDrive with Silicon Macs, but this is the first one I heard about this specific one. Sorry, but I don't have a solution for you.

Maybe, someone else might, and if you wait a bit they may chime in to offer it to you. Good luck!

Reply

Superdrive has unexpectedly changed region

Similar questions