Remove regional lock from DVD drive

Penners

I've read your article on removing the regional lock from standalone DVD players, but I want to do this for my computer's DVD RW drive. It's an Optiarc DVD-RW AD-7581S ATA device, running in an HP laptop (Windows 7).

As I understand it, the drive allows 5 changes of region, but then locks to whichever region is the final choice.

Is there any way of removing the regional lock from this drive, please?

weegie.geek

http://www.dvdfab.com/en/passkey.htm should do the trick.

JasX

The above software method stands a good chance of working.

Another method to do this at a lower/hardware level is to change the firmware, have a look at these sites:

www.rpc1.org - 'utilities' section in particular

http://ala42.cdfreaks.com/MCSE/ - nifty freeware program that lets you alter parts of a DVD drives firmware to unlock higher read/write speeds and remove the region lock (or at least haave it reset the counter back to 5 every time you turn the computer off).

Pro's of doing it in firmware: neater more permanent solution that'll not need you to faff with extra software each time

Con's: more technical aptitude needed to make the change and a small chance of screwing your drive up if you use incompatible firmware (in which case new DVD drives cost £10-20 for a desktop, more for a laptop).

TIP: DON'T LET THE REGION CHANGE COUNTER ACTUALLY GET TO 0 OR IT BECOMES ALOT HARDER TO FIX

Penners

weegie.geek - thank you for that suggestion. When the beta phase for that software comes to an end, will I have to buy the final, publihsed version?

JasX - thanks to you, too. The forum that you linked to has some interesting ideas that look promising, but the CDFreaks MCSE software looks scarily above my pay-grade!

Russel245

Is the regional encryption actually on the disk drive?

I thought regional encryption was based on the dvd decryption software on the actual computer.

And if that is so, you may find you can just get something like vlc media player which ignores most encryptions I have come across on its own.


I'm not sure that will work, I don't have any non-eu dvds to test it with but worth a try I think. (unless somebody here knows it wont work)

Penners

Thanks Russel245. I'll see if I can find vlc to download and try.

eslick

if its on the computer cant you just change it in the control panel settings.

Penners

Sorry eslick - not sure I understand that. What do you mean when you say "it"?

JasX

It (the region restriction) can be on the computer, or the firmware on the actual drive.... or both.

Give VLC a try tho as it knows a trick or 2 that might bell beable to bypass any firmware counters

Penners

I think VLC is the answer to the problem - many thanks to Russel245. VLC Media Player seems to be "blind" to the region of the DVD. I've only had the chance to try it with Region 1 and Region 2 DVDs, but it seems willing to play one after the other without any warnings or problems or actions to change regions.


Thanks very much to everyone for your thoughts and ideas on this. Much appreciated.

Sorry I can't post a link to the VLC website - this forum won't let me, as I'm a new user.

eslick

sorry didnt read your post, as you say you can only change it 5 times