[Gergor]

I don't know much about computer, my understanding is I can only change the region code of a DVD-ROM drive 5 times. My situation is, I have 2 DVD-ROM drives on the same (notebook) computer (one internal and one external thru PCMCIA). Can I use one to play region 1 and the other to play region 2? ie, is the region code setting drive specific or computer (processor?) specific? Does one computer, 2 drives, 2 regions work?

Thank you for your help!

 

[wallijonn]

that probably depends more on your video card (or chip) and the software.

While my Leadtek GF3 wouldn't play ANY dvds, my Matrox G400 has no problems changing region codes as many times as I want.

check your software. if it locks up after 5 times, see if uninstalling, doing a registry clesn (www.jv16.org), and re-installing will allow you to reset to another 5 times.

 

[Duncan]

It depends on the drive...

Some older ones (and maybe newer ones too??) had the information stored in an EPROM... once it went down to 0 changes, that was it... BUT, there is some shareware around for use with WinDVD (also PowerDVD IIRC) that is a tweak, allows lots of extra user adjustable settings... that allows you to change the region within itself, rather than on the hardware...

Wallijohn is right as well for other breeds of drive to the best of my knowledge, that there is probably a registry setting that you can change... but certainly on my old Creative drive, even low level formatting the HD and then re-installing windows did not change my total back to 5

 

[spritzer]

Some drives store this information in the firmware within the drive so it can be pretty hard to change it after you have reached the maximum number of changes. It can be done by upgradeing the firmware but if something happens during the upgrade the drive wont work anymore.
I can't recommend that you do this because i've done this to 3 of my drives and 2 of those ended up dead.

But hey 1 out of 3 isn't so bad...

 

[disturbed]

I believe you can download some programs that might help.
Search for regionkiller in google ... I had much succes with this a year ago ... I dunno now as I don't play dvd's on my pc anymore ever since I bought a bas ass tv

 

[grinch]

download some rpc-1 compatible firmware instead and never look back: http://forum.firmware-flash.com/portal.php

worked like a charm on my old-ass toshiba drive.

 

[CaptBubba]

Its a drive specific setting. It is stored in non-volitile memory on the drive, meaning that restarting, or any other tricks pretty much won't work. All you can do is replace the firmware.

Replacing the firmware may be tough for your laptop, it was for mine.

 

[Gergor]

Thank you for the responses. However, I'm not so good with computer, and I don't like to take the time and trouble to mess with firmwares, settings and all. And I don't intend to "cheat" or "defeat" the region code setting limit (as much as I hate it). I already have 2 DVD-ROM drives, I simply want to know if I stick with a region with one drive and a different region in the other drive, would I be able to play DVD video with 2 different region codes on the same computer (without having to tweak any computer/firmware setting). Is there a way to find out (from the control panel or somewhere?).

I don't have any region 2 disc yet, but if it'd work, I'd like to buy some region 2 releases which I cannot find in region 1....

Thank you.

 

[raymondlin]

I have a solution for you and can explain exactly what is going on and needed to be done.

1 - Your DVD Rom drive has a region code (DVD rom that has a 6X speed or higher have a fixed region built into the firmware, can be changed 5 times). The fixed DVD rom like these are call RCP-2

2 - It has NOTHING to do with the graphic card in terms of dvd region, it's the DVD rom that is the big problem.

So, to get around it, you'll need to do 2 things.

1 - The harder part, you'll need to bypass/make the firmware in the DVD-Rom from RCP-2 to RCP-1 (This means the drive can be change between any region as many times as you like, but you'll still need a program to allow you to change it without the counter to go down)

You'll need to find out the type of drive you have first, go to Device manager and see the EXACT model and make of the drive. Go to this website to find out if there is a firmware available for it to make it RCP-1. Beware though & Disclaimer, if it goes wrong, you drive will be unusable. You'll need to flash it in Pure DOS mode, follow the instruction from the file download.

The site is http://forum.firmware-flash.com/portal.php

2 - The easy part, you'll either need DVDregionkiller or DVDgenie to bypass the region code. This is easy, run dvdregionkiller in the background and it'll do everything.

The Secret option is here - www.dvdidle.com a software that allows you bypass ALL that above and plays any region without the trouble of flashing the drive.

 

[raymondlin]

Oh, I use that DVDidle program btw for my Samsung 616 DVD-rom and it works like a treat.

I couldn't be bother to flash this and that either.

 

[CaptBubba]

I forgot all about HD playback... basically you can copy the dvd files to your HD and remove the region encoding. I do this on my laptop because the dvd drive drains so much power shile spinning. This is a good place to download a copy program from. I use dvd decrypter personally, and use PowerDVD to playback the files from my HD. Works wonderfully, and should work regardless of the region of the disc.

 

[raymondlin]

Copy the DVD to HD then play it back and then delete it afterwards ? a lot of work for the HD I think.

What I would do, get a beta version of DVDidle and you can just reinstall it after the 30 days trail period. Viola, region free DVD rom!

 

[CaptBubba]

Just a sequential write, not too bad. It is harder on the dvd drive to play the dvd instead of copying it, not to mention the battery.

 

[Gergor]

Quote:

Originally posted by raymondlin Oh, I use that DVDidle program btw for my Samsung 616 DVD-rom and it works like a treat. I couldn't be bother to flash this and that either.

Thanks, I'll give DVDidle a try.

 

[dokebi]

I had best experiences with dvdgenie. It worked on both my toshiba and pioneer dvdrom's.