Legal rights of region-locked DVD drives on laptops

Forums › Laptops and mobile computers › Legal rights of region-locked DVD drives on laptops

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62 posts

Master Geek

#426881 13-Jan-2011 16:16

dolsen: One caveat - make sure that the laptops bios doesn't insist on seeing the specific version of firmware on the drive before booting, had a dell that would not boot with a different response string from the dvd drive.

How would I be able to ensure this without actually doing it and risking it not booting? And, if it was the case that the laptop would refuse to boot, then I should just be able to just restore the flash on another computer, right? (But, of course, that would mean having to remove the drive.)

dolsen

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#426884 13-Jan-2011 16:27

MrAndreas:
dolsen: One caveat - make sure that the laptops bios doesn't insist on seeing the specific version of firmware on the drive before booting, had a dell that would not boot with a different response string from the dvd drive.

How would I be able to ensure this without actually doing it and risking it not booting? And, if it was the case that the laptop would refuse to boot, then I should just be able to just restore the flash on another computer, right? (But, of course, that would mean having to remove the drive.)

look around for other sites with references to your machine not booting and if you don't find any, you would possibility be fine. I would say that it is unlikely this would occur, the laptop manufactures seem to be doing this less.
If it did happen, you should be able to remove drive, boot laptop, hot insert laptop drive, restore firmware. Have done this myself when we need to write to dvd+r discs, default firmware would only write to dvd-r discs, replacement firmware would write to both but laptop would not boot with a different type of drive in there (different result string from drive).
Some old Dell and IBM laptops were the worst for this.

old3eyes

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#426909 13-Jan-2011 18:50

You may also want to have a look round this site
http://www.videohelp.com/

Regards,

Old3eyes

robjg63

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#426913 13-Jan-2011 19:18

I wouldnt expect there would be a lot of chance of causing your laptop not to boot.
Worst case is the DVD drive gets bricked.
You arent booting from the DVD drive?

I used to use a tool that let you tweak the firmware on LiteOn DVD drives to reset the region count - worked fine.
Used to download revised firmwares for the LiteOn and installed them ok . Usually released to fix compatability issues with the drive.

The LG drive in my PC gets firmware upgrades from time to time - they install ok - dont damage the PC.

Edit: Sorry - read Dolsen's post - some laptops (used to) check for the DVD drive versions etc? Nasty... But like he said - maybe you can work around that.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

CYaBro

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#426925 13-Jan-2011 19:59

To the OP I feel your pain.
My dad bought a laptop a few years ago and that also had a matsh1ta drive.
My dad buys a lot of DVDs from Amazon, so Region 1 discs, and also here in NZ, so Region 4.
The drive got locked to Region 1 and I spent days, weeks, months on the internet trying to find a way to unlock it without a result. In the end I just got another drive out of a dead laptop and swapped it out. This drive had available a RPC1 firmware so flashed it with that so now he won't have a problem again.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

robjg63

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#426935 13-Jan-2011 20:21

Does the GZ profanity filter really not let you use the name Matsush*ita?
What would it make of the UK city of Sc*nthorpe then? Apparently that one used to cause havoc with web filters...

....

OK - tried submitting and see that it doesnt like either of these - a bit harsh isnt it?
Wonder how many other naughty words are wrapped up in other ordinary words?

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

MrAndreas

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Master Geek

#426938 13-Jan-2011 20:27

Great news!!!

I have successfully flashed my drive with a patched firmware, rebooted the system, and the software I use to override the region now works as expected! :D

Thanks everyone for their support!

-A

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

MrAndreas

62 posts

Master Geek

#426939 13-Jan-2011 20:31

robjg63: Does the GZ profanity filter really not let you use the name Matsush*ita?
What would it make of the UK city of Sc*nthorpe then? Apparently that one used to cause havoc with web filters...

....

OK - tried submitting and see that it doesnt like either of these - a bit harsh isnt it?
Wonder how many other naughty words are wrapped up in other ordinary words?

The filter actually works to highlight profanities that may not have been that obvious in the first place. Seems such logic does more harm than good.

jtbthatsme

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#427444 15-Jan-2011 16:45

Personally I have used this (DVD Region CSS Free) for decades on probably between 10 and 15 pc's desktop or laptop never had any issues it simply bypasses the drives check for region coding. As have many many dvd's bought from the US by myself or my mother in law who used to go over there 3 - 5 times a year. Glad you have resolved it though.

JimmyH

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#428583 18-Jan-2011 20:29

I don't tend to play disks on the laptop often - usually when I am stuck in a hotel room on a work trip. I just tend to rip the DVD to the hard drive (previously used DVD Decrypter, now I use DVD FAB HD Decrypter, both of which are free. Rip either as an ISO or as files to a directory. Then I just play with VLC. Ripping to the HD removes the region lock, and VLC plays with menus and everything, as if the disc was in the system.

Works fine with all disks tried to date (Regions 0, 1, 2 and 4 tried), and with sky programes off my DVD recorder. Plus, I don't have to lug a fistful of disks with me.

For longer trips, I sometimes compress the films down to XVID with Fairuse Wizard, to ensure I can store a decent number of films on the drive.

MrAndreas

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Master Geek

#428643 18-Jan-2011 22:58

JimmyH: I don't tend to play disks on the laptop often - usually when I am stuck in a hotel room on a work trip. I just tend to rip the DVD to the hard drive (previously used DVD Decrypter, now I use DVD FAB HD Decrypter, both of which are free. Rip either as an ISO or as files to a directory. Then I just play with VLC. Ripping to the HD removes the region lock, and VLC plays with menus and everything, as if the disc was in the system.

Works fine with all disks tried to date (Regions 0, 1, 2 and 4 tried), and with sky programes off my DVD recorder. Plus, I don't have to lug a fistful of disks with me.

For longer trips, I sometimes compress the films down to XVID with Fairuse Wizard, to ensure I can store a decent number of films on the drive.

This is all fine but the problem is that such software doesn't work with the type of drive I have without first patching the firmware using unofficial code. The problem is that such patches are not always available (or in the worst case bricks the drive) leaving one with a semi-useless drive that only works for one DVD region/zone (or doesn't work at all).

JimmyH

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Uber Geek

#429261 20-Jan-2011 17:12

That's very odd.

I have seen cases where a computer drive has exhausted the number of region changes, and become locked to a particular region.

However, I have never seen a situation where the region a drive was set to, or whether its region changes had been exhausted, made any difference whatsoever to DVD Decrypter. It never attempts to play the disc so never does a region check. It's a straight disc copy, irrespective of the drives/discs region, with the CSS and region setting stripped from the resulting ISO.

At any rate, good to see that a firmware patch resolved the issue.

Can you post the model of the laptop, as well as the drive details you have helpfully posted already, so that the rest of us can make sure to avoid having the same problem?

MrAndreas

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Master Geek

#429348 20-Jan-2011 21:39

JimmyH: That's very odd.

I have seen cases where a computer drive has exhausted the number of region changes, and become locked to a particular region.

However, I have never seen a situation where the region a drive was set to, or whether its region changes had been exhausted, made any difference whatsoever to DVD Decrypter. It never attempts to play the disc so never does a region check. It's a straight disc copy, irrespective of the drives/discs region, with the CSS and region setting stripped from the resulting ISO.

At any rate, good to see that a firmware patch resolved the issue.

Can you post the model of the laptop, as well as the drive details you have helpfully posted already, so that the rest of us can make sure to avoid having the same problem?

The reason I started this thread was because I too originally had no idea that it was possible for a drive to fool software like DVD Decrypter, AnyDVD, DVD Region Killer, or whatnot, but that I then had found this out the hard way, i.e., after I had purchased my laptop.

As it turns out this issue is well-documented all over the Internet especially when it comes to my laptop's make of DVD drive, a Mat*hita (sorry, the forum doesn't allow "*" to be replaced with "s"). (These are manufactured by Panasonic.) It is also said that some of these drives and their firmware have additional protection that tie in with the hardware they run on, in particular Sony systems. As it turns out, my new laptop is a Sony. (Model is irrelevant.)

So there I was, with a new laptop having a DVD drive that is only good for playing a specific region/zone DVDs when I can legally source DVDs from any region from New Zealand retailers but which I cannot play. I was not a happy chappy. But, as you can tell, I did manage to resolve this issue, but I don't feel that anyone should have to go through this process just to be able to play material that is fully legal and also since multi-zone DVD players are legal in New Zealand.

bazzer

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#429400 20-Jan-2011 23:44

You still don't get it. Just because multizone DVD players are legal in New Zealand doesn't mean all DVD players need to be multizone!

MrAndreas

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Master Geek

#429440 21-Jan-2011 09:03

I do get it. I just find it unacceptable to purposely design a system that cannot have its DVD region overriden considering the intention of the system, in this case an ultra-portable laptop intended for world-wide use (in fact, the laptop comes with power cords for multiple countries).

After all, surely one should be allowed to travel the world watching movies purchased on the way?

As I've pointed out, in most cases this is not an issue had it not been for corporations like Panasonic and Sony who purposely design systems to prevent such use of one's own hardware and media.

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