Multi region DVD playback

Question

Level 1

6 points

Multi region DVD playback

I have a 27" iMac and it's set to Region 2 for it's DVD playback. I used to have a cheap DVD player that could play any DVD region, but that went the way of the dodo sometime early last year. Now I have a stack of Region 1 DVDs that I want to rip to my hard disk, but any application I try (even VLC and Handbrake) refuse to play or rip the disk. It either crashes or appears to have frozen before spitting the disk back out at me.

I was going to buy a cheap USB DVD drive in the hopes that it would play the DVDs, but I'm not sure if the region lock is part of the OS (therefore making the USB drive worthless) or part of the firmware on the internal drive (making the USB drive plausible).

Does anybody have a solution? Free if possible.
Thanks 🙂

27" 2.93GHz i7 iMac - 13" Alu Unibody MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Jan 26, 2011 12:29 PM

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Answer 1

ajduguid

Level 3

650 points

Jan 26, 2011 12:43 PM in response to benanderson

It's part of the drive rather than the OS so you should be fine with an external 🙂

Edit

Sadly I believe VLC can ignore the region with the correct drives but it doesn't seem to be the case with many of the drives that Apple use.

Message was edited by: ajduguid

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Answer 2

benanderson Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 26, 2011 12:49 PM in response to ajduguid

I'll mark this as solved if the drive works 🙂
If it's part of the drive firmware then cheap no brand ones should work nicely. I'm just weary to buy one since places like Currys and PCWorld tend not to give refunds until they find something wrong with the drives themselves. Testing for region free-ness is not part of said test. Haha! I would buy online but then Ive got no hope of getting a refund wiout some kind of catch.

Thanks 🙂

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Answer 3

ajduguid

Level 3

650 points

Jan 26, 2011 1:16 PM in response to benanderson

Say you have a friend with some generic PC kit. You could test it out using an internal DVD drive and any IDE/SATA to USB connector. All it would cost your friend, assuming it all works well is 2 region changes and should alleviate your concerns.

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Answer 4

Whitecity

Level 2

344 points

Jan 26, 2011 1:16 PM in response to benanderson

You can google updating the firmware in your current drive to fix it, or get an external that claims to be 'region free' or 'all region'.

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Answer 5

Tuttle

Level 7

29,565 points

Jan 26, 2011 1:20 PM in response to benanderson

Look here: http://forum.rpc1.org/portal.php

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Answer 6

captfred

Level 7

26,446 points

Jan 26, 2011 1:29 PM in response to benanderson

Just be aware in your testing that some drives (like apple) allow 5 region changes (including the original) and then it's locked to the last one used.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=DVDPlayer/5.2/en/26880.html

Regards

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Answer 7

benanderson Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 26, 2011 1:40 PM in response to captfred

Yes, I am aware of the locking mechanism in the drives. I've downloaded an App ('DVD info X') to keep an eye on my Drives status just to be safe 🙂

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Answer 8

benanderson Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 26, 2011 1:48 PM in response to Tuttle

Looks like my drive (HT-DT-ST GA32N) doesn't have a suitable firmware flash available. Looks like I'm hedging my bets with an external. Though I have yet to try my old Aluminium, Unibody MacBook. Rip times will be half a millennium but beggars can't be choosers 🙂

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Answer 9

Jan 26, 2011 8:00 PM in response to benanderson

I'm in the same boat, but a bit worse off. I'm a Canadian, with a Canadian-purchased late-2008 Aluminum MacBook. BEST laptop I've ever owned. Except for the Matshita DVD drive, which has now used up its 5 allowed region swaps. I made sure the last one was to Region 2 (Canada/USA). But since I've been living in a Region 4 region now for years, my MacBook can't play any media coded for this region. There is also no firmware flash available for this drive (MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868).

There is no logical or commercial reason for region coding. It is particularly onerous for those of us with portable Macs who travel / live internationally....

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Answer 10

Ziatron

Level 5

4,214 points

Jan 26, 2011 8:25 PM in response to benanderson

Region codes is a concept that Hollywood promoted to reduce DVD sales.

I have found that VLC will play any region on my Mac. With a little research you will find programs that will reset the "code counter" also.

All of my DVD players are multi-region. Occasionally I find a good movie that has been released by the studio for another region, but not for my region.

It's interesting to note that the now defunct "HD DVD" did away with region codes completely because they correctly recognized that it was a money loser. Unfortunately Blu-ray discs have region codes as well. All of my Blu-ray players are multi-region.

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