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| Thread ID: 22690 | 2002-07-27 13:21:00 | Rort petpetrated on the General public | jlbooth (1232) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 66098 | 2002-07-27 13:21:00 | This business of DVD drive locked into a region on 5th change is a rort. Within 24 hours of buying a unit, I was locked into region 1. I am in region 4. Eldest boy has 1 only region 1 disc which he uses on his standalone dvd player, but he used it on my DVD drive. Now we can only play his 1 only disc while all our other dvds cannot be played. DVDs should be region free or locked into region where they are to be sold. How many people like me have to rebuy when we can afford to. This current situation does not protect movie makers - piracy earns money, therefore those people can easily afford to buy 6 x dvds and set them to individual regions. Do not know of any body who has moved overseas thus making the 5 only region changes viable BUT Read heaps on the Internet whereby people are stuck with DVDs that cannot now play the bulk of their discs due to this really dumb idea. Actually it is not a dumb idea - manufacturers must be racking in heaps due to people like me who now have useless drives. Also software bundled with DVD drive said 1 more change to make, but my PC tech said software says different to hardware. Emailed Aopen, they say to return to point of purchase, but my PC man does not want to know because he is not sure his supplier will honour and so on. Aopen is a well known name, yet without Australian representation is not a viable option. Also appears that this Aopen unit may have been made by Pioneer. I deliberately steered clear of Sony and Pioneer - or so I though. Think we are very entitled to know pre purchase who the real manufacturer is. This 5 region change does not benefit film makers or end users. It must benefit the manufacturers greatly and they have used the pleadings of the film industry to satisfy their greed. |
jlbooth (1232) | ||
| 66099 | 2002-07-27 13:45:00 | ok? ?:| I don't mean to be dumb, but do u want to know how to unlock the dvd region? (might be illegal) but i am not sure. Go here (www.cdmediaworld.com) to find programs that can help u out, please Bruce or Robo don't lock this thread, this thread is quite helpful for everyone who is fedup with their drives locking up, please? :) cheers, v.K----------- :D |
vk_dre (195) | ||
| 66100 | 2002-07-27 14:15:00 | Had my PC tech out here today. He bought out Genie but no success. He was going to try out something else but the warning was that it would work or it would destroy my DVD drive. Great Choice. Normally I would not bother bypassing manufacturers zoning, but have been forced to try this (illegal) method. As I said though, I am not game and my PC tech could not ensure non destruction of my drive. Believe my drive is Pioneer which is a brand along with Sony that I have for years avoided due to their lousy products. Packaging says AOpen and I believe that the marketing of this product is deceptive from the word go. As I said earlier, DVDs should be region free or locked into the zone where they are being sold. The method they are using now protects nobody, but it does bring in extra revenue for the manufacturers when we have to rebuy these units. I believe there are heaps of people like me and hopefully we can all get together and take consumer action against these manufacturers. joy |
jlbooth (1232) | ||
| 66101 | 2002-07-27 14:20:00 | that's cool, but ur tech was lying to u that ur drive might die from doing that, each dvd drive is encoded with a macro thingy that is like a door and is shut after opening it 5 times, but these illigal programs r like master keys which can open locked doors, they r not like crowbars and won't destroy ur dvd drive. cheers, v.K------------ :D |
vk_dre (195) | ||
| 66102 | 2002-07-27 21:47:00 | Usually there is some jumper reset to stop the region from being fixed. I would check for an option (usually 9 on DVD players not sure about DVD drives) that means multizone. robo |
robo (205) | ||
| 66103 | 2002-07-27 22:41:00 | > that's cool, but ur tech was lying to u that ur drive > might die from doing that, each dvd drive is encoded > with a macro thingy that is like a door and is shut > after opening it 5 times, but these illigal programs > r like master keys which can open locked doors, they > r not like crowbars and won't destroy ur dvd drive. > > cheers, > v.K------------ :D incorrect. You cannot unlock a DVD drive once it has been set to a particular region using software or even firmware flashes. The ONLY way to unlock them is by returning the unit to the manufacturer or some other agent where they can attach some device to remove the lock (you'll find some kind of connection at one end of the drive for this attachment). Software region killers state that they only work if the drive has not been locked - they require one of the 5 changes to allow them to work... they just stop the 5 changes from decreasing. Now if the drive had already been used before you bought it and there were less than 5 changes remaining when you installed it, then you should be able to return/exchange your DVD drive for a new one. I believe the drives allow for 5 CHANGES, not 5 USES, so you could play a region 4 DVDs over and over on it, then a region 1, and it should only change it once, and when you go back to region 4 it'll change again. So if it was locked onto region 1 there must have been frequent changes of the region take place (like a region 1, then a 4, then a 5, then a 3, then a 1) before it locked. This may not be the case on all DVD drives though. Mike. |
Mike (15) | ||
| 66104 | 2002-07-27 22:46:00 | > Believe my drive is Pioneer which is a brand along > with Sony that I have for years avoided due to their > lousy products. you'd be one of few that believe that. I'd buy Sony DVD or CD drives over anything else if I could, even if it was only because they were who developed the first CDs, CD Roms, DVDs and DVD Roms (in cooperation with Philips). Couple that with the quality of their products... Anyway, thats beside the point - most computer hardware these days are just rebadged products from other companies. This means that certain companies can focus on certain products, so they make hardware for all the other companies to sell, and then can sell other companies products as their own. Its been done for years. Mike. |
Mike (15) | ||
| 66105 | 2002-07-27 22:48:00 | Sample text from a drive manufacturers site, supporting Mikes view. A region code is embedded in the DVD-ROM drive. At the time of manufacture, the region code of the drive is left unset. When the first DVD disc is inserted into the drive, the region code of the drive is set to the same code as the DVD disc. The drive's region may be changed a further 4 times before it is permanently locked to a region. These changes are made by inserting a disc that has a different region code to the drive's current code. I believe most drives can be reflashed but seem to need to be unlocked before you start. In defence this was well spelt out on my drive instructions |
godfather (25) | ||
| 66106 | 2002-07-27 22:56:00 | > In defence this was well spelt out on my drive > instructions And in mine also. RTFM. If you had read the instructions and were aware that a region 1 disk might have been played in your drive, then you should have taken steps to avoid it being locked. The regions aren't there to stop piracy - they're there to make it harder to buy off the blackmarket. I can buy DVDs for $2 or $3 from places like Indonesia or Hong Kong on the blackmarket, but if my DVD is locked to region 4, then I can't play them as they are more than likely locked to region 1 (as it seems most blackmarket DVDs tend to be). It means that the authorities need only watch one market rather than the whole world in order to catch the piraters. Mike. |
Mike (15) | ||
| 66107 | 2002-07-27 23:37:00 | perso.club-internet.fr www.digital-digest.com www.inmatrix.com homepage.ntlworld.com |
John Grieve (367) | ||
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