DVD regions - can they be changed??

[scubabeano]

I have a lovely shiny G4 powerbook - the only problem is that i travel a lot so would like to watch DVDs from all over the world without the region being set permanently. Can anyone help me out?

 

[robbieduncan]

You need hacked firmware and Region X

If you tell exactly which drive you have in your PowerBook we might be able to help with the Firmware too.

This probably has some Firmware for you..

 

[swiftaw]

I have a lovely shiny G4 powerbook - the only problem is that i travel a lot so would like to watch DVDs from all over the world without the region being set permanently. Can anyone help me out?

You can change the region 5 times and then it becomes locked into the region you selected last.

I believe, however, that VLC will play DVD's from any region without having to change the DVD region, I am not 100% sure about this however.

 

[robbieduncan]

You can change the region 5 times and then it becomes locked into the region you selected last.

I believe, however, that VLC will play DVD's from any region without having to change the DVD region, I am not 100% sure about this however.

Na. With region free firmware and Region X you can reset that counter and change the region any number of times you want. I know as this is the setup I have

 

[scubabeano]

thanks very much! I'm on my friends PC right now, so don't know what's in my powerbook, i'll check it out after the weekend.
What's a VLC?

 

[scubabeano]

My drive is the Superdrive you get with the G4 powerbook

edit* that's a kinda non-specific, pointless thing to add, huh?

 

[robbieduncan]

thanks very much! I'm on my friends PC right now, so don't know what's in my powerbook, i'll check it out after the weekend.
What's a VLC?

VLC = Video LAN Client

It's a media player that will play just about anything...

 

[tobio]

on the region X site it says in big red letters that it only works if you have a region free dvd drive.

My old powerbook had a combo drive - CD writer, DVD read only. That was already region free out of the box!

My current powerbook has a superdrive (MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-825) and that is not region free, and it doesn't look like it easily can be made that way :-(

I think the firmware is apple-specific, so if I put PC firmware on I could stuff it up. look up your firmware on www.rpc1.org, if you can region free patch it, then you can do pretty much whatever you like with your dvds!

 

[assscat]

But there are risks involved in flashing the firmware, so beware. If anything interrupts the flashing process then it may well mean an expensive i.e. out-of-warranty trip to Apple.

On the other hand, many people have successfully flashed their firmware, so the choice is up to you!