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David Lewis15
Level 1 (19 points)

Q: multiple drives - multiple regions?

I have a PowerBook G4 (Version 5,8) with a UJ-846 drive, so I can no longer bypass the region coding on DVDs and use VLC like my old PB G4 with the UJ-816. Okay, fine, you win some and you lose some...

However, I have a LaCie firewire DVD burner. Can I use it to play Region 2 DVDs and the internal drive (or any other drive) to play Region 1 DVDs, and not alter the Region Code change counter? I am thinking of getting a second LaCie burner just for this purpose - playing Region 2 DVDs. I live in Europe now so I'm surrounded by good films I cannot currently watch.

No, I will not use the Region Code counter to switch back and forth. I have a mix of disc regions and that is just not possible. I need a hardware fix, or a genius software one. Also, the UJ-846 cannot be flashed. I'm not so sure I'd want to do that anyway.

Does "DVD Player" allow for me to use different drives for different regions?

PowerBook G4 5,8 (15" 1.67GHz), Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Nov 14, 2006 3:49 AM

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David Lewis15

Q: multiple drives - multiple regions?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Alex Dawson,

    Alex Dawson Alex Dawson Nov 14, 2006 5:17 AM in response to David Lewis15
    Level 4 (2,515 points)
    Nov 14, 2006 5:17 AM in response to David Lewis15
    Hi David,

    You know, the drives are compatible between the two G4s. If the extra burning speed isn't important, you could just swap them..

    As for the behaviour in the situation you suggest, I don't know.

  • by David Lewis15,

    David Lewis15 David Lewis15 Nov 14, 2006 10:51 AM in response to Alex Dawson
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Nov 14, 2006 10:51 AM in response to Alex Dawson
    Hi David,

    You know, the drives are compatible between the two
    G4s. If the extra burning speed isn't important, you
    could just swap them..

    As for the behaviour in the situation you suggest, I
    don't know.


    I don't know how I could swap drives between a computer I no longer own and the one I use now. And I do enjoy the double-layer support, thank you very much. Besides, it's still under warranty and I'm not futzing with it.

    Simply put:

    I want to know if I can use two firewire drives to play two different regions codes of DVD (1 &2) on my PowerBook G4 without changing the region code setting counter in my Mac. I'd be using DVD Player.

    Is this possible?

    PowerBook G4 15" 1.67GHz (Rev. 5,8)   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

  • by Alex Dawson,Helpful

    Alex Dawson Alex Dawson Nov 14, 2006 6:21 PM in response to David Lewis15
    Level 4 (2,515 points)
    Nov 14, 2006 6:21 PM in response to David Lewis15
    Hi David,

    In addition to the region code stored in the physical drive, there is an additional region code setting stored by Apple's DVD Region Manager in software.

    This discussion in the Mac Pro forums suggests that it can handle two drives with different regions, so I see no reason why having the second drive in an external case would be any different - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3143487&#3143487

  • by Mike Johnson12,Helpful

    Mike Johnson12 Mike Johnson12 Nov 22, 2006 1:16 AM in response to David Lewis15
    Level 5 (6,526 points)
    Nov 22, 2006 1:16 AM in response to David Lewis15
    If you are using 2 different DVD drives - each set to a different region code should be no problem. DVD Player is software interface to view. There are other programs that you can use to view media. VLC is one that comes to mind.

    MJ

  • by Axl Kun,

    Axl Kun Axl Kun Nov 28, 2006 9:23 AM in response to David Lewis15
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2006 9:23 AM in response to David Lewis15
    Simply put:

    I want to know if I can use two firewire drives to
    play two different regions codes of DVD (1 &2) on my
    PowerBook G4 without changing the region code setting
    counter in my Mac. I'd be using DVD Player.


    If you only want to play the DVDs the answer is Yes. I have done it with the internal DVD drive (Region 1) and an external, USB 2.0, Lite-On CD-RW-DVD drive (Region 4). No special settings required.

    Hope this helps,

    Alex

  • by David Lewis15,

    David Lewis15 David Lewis15 Apr 5, 2010 3:04 AM in response to David Lewis15
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Apr 5, 2010 3:04 AM in response to David Lewis15
    To set the record straight:

    The region code setting applies to the drive itself. I have been using one external DVD drive for region 1 discs and another external DVD drive for region 2 discs. I had to change the region once for the the region 2 drive, just to set it to region 2. I have not touched these settings since.