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Bi0miC · Oct 10, 2004, 08:19 AM

Hey all - just a quick question in regards to the ibook's dvdrom. Im here in australia, so im assuming the drive will come standard region 4 (or am i wrong?), question is, is there a way to change this region setting so that i can buy the seinfeld box set (for example) from the US (reigion 1) and play it over here? .. thanks

Detrius · Oct 10, 2004, 08:24 AM

When you stick a DVD in the drive from a different region, it asks if you want to change the region. However, the software will only let you do this a limited number of times (like 6 or something low like that). Therefore, after doing this a few times, you will no longer be able to change your drive's region.

I seem to recall that someone had come up with a way to get around this, but I have no need for it, so I don't recall what it was.

If not, you may want to look into getting an external DVD-ROM drive to play region 1 discs.

Bi0miC · Oct 10, 2004, 08:37 AM

aaah ok, yeah alot of the drives are like that - jsut never used a mac so just confirming its all the same!

Its probably going to need a firmware upgrade which isnt exactly a good idea as it will probably void my warranty right?. Unless the mac has some sort of software tool, which would be quite handy

Anyway, thanks for the quick reply

wataru · Oct 10, 2004, 10:04 AM

Depending on what drive your machine has, there may be an RPC1 firmware patch for it. Yes, that will probably void your warranty, but chances are no one will notice it.

Note however that I have an iBook G4 800MHz with combo drive, and there's still no patch for my drive (MATSHITA CD-RW CW-8123). So I've been using VLC instead, which works pretty well.

Forte · Oct 10, 2004, 07:03 PM

I use VLC, too, since I've had to import some DVDs that weren't released in my region, and use it for everything - works beautifully. I'd recommend using that over trying to change the firmware, any day.

ghporter · Oct 11, 2004, 03:43 PM

All drives manufactured after some point in 2000 are RPC2 or later, meaning that there are NO region-free DVD drives in current model iBooks, and probably not in any of them.

Kissargi · Oct 13, 2004, 09:50 AM

The combo drive in my mdd asked me what region i wanted to set it to when i put a dvd in for the first time (i set it to reg 2), but it plays region 1 disks without a problem now as well.

ghporter · Oct 15, 2004, 07:20 PM

Originally posted by Kissargi:
The combo drive in my mdd asked me what region i wanted to set it to when i put a dvd in for the first time (i set it to reg 2), but it plays region 1 disks without a problem now as well.

That's interesting. DVD drives are supposed to lock in on a region, and offer a limited number (typically 5) of region changes until the last one selected becomes permanent. Of course that's from a U.S. perspective, where the RIAA and MPAA seem to have more sway with legislators than most citizens...

Anyway, it could be that your drive is working fine, and your region does not require a fixed choice in the drive. Or it could be broken in a good way. Either way, you're way ahead of most of us. I'd LOVE to get the Wallace & Grommit shorts on DVD, but they're only available in England, and definately not Region 1. They're PAL rather than NTSC, but that's minor compared to the region coding problem.

Forte · Oct 15, 2004, 08:28 PM

Originally posted by GHPorter:
I'd LOVE to get the Wallace & Grommit shorts on DVD, but they're only available in England, and definately not Region 1. They're PAL rather than NTSC, but that's minor compared to the region coding problem.

So? Use VLC. ;D Unless you want to watch them on a player that isn't built into a computer, of course... ^^;;