[gulmatan]

Hi all.

What apps/shareware is out there that I can use to reset the region-code for my PB-G4 (it's the 1.5GHz/15" generation of PowerBook)?

[pcummins]

There isn't. From memory you have one of the later model UJ-8x5 drives which have no firmware updates or software bypasses to get around the region locking. I replaced my drive with the superior DVR-K05 (at the time, there's a K06 and K07 now) which lets me read raw off the disc and avoids region issues via VLC.

[alainmeyer1]

I had that exact model, but in 17 inch.

I tried all these wacky things I found on the internet: trust me, just don't try them, you'll have to live with region coding. Sorry.

[alainmeyer1]

Sorry, intenet problems. It re-posted my other post:

Please delete this one.

[Cold Warrior]

You could also get VLC Player to bypass region codes altogether.

VideoLAN - Free Software and Open Source video streaming solution for every OS!

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

You could also get VLC Player to bypass region codes altogether.

VideoLAN - Free Software and Open Source video streaming solution for every OS!

No, you can't do that with Matsushita drives.

When using software solutions (like VLC) to get around the region restrictions, drives use data mode (normally playing a DVD uses a "DVD Video" mode) to read the raw data and pass it to DeCSS to decrypt the movie. In most drives, data mode ignores the region code, so one can use software to make their drive look like a region free one.

Matsushita drives force a check of the region code even in data mode, and if there is a region code on the disc and it doesn't match the one the drive it set to it will refuse to read it.

Also, the reason why no hacked firmware exists is that Matsushita encrypts their firmware, which makes it much more difficult to hack the firmware to ignore the region code (or turn the drive into a region free drive). There's only one person I am aware of that ever did this with Matsushita drives and he has "retired" from the firmware hacking business.

Since there are plenty of other manufacturer's drives whose firmware is easier to hack and/or aren't subject to the limitations described above in data mode, nobody is modifying Matsushita's firmware. That, and the fact that Apple seems to be the only company (that I am aware of) that uses OEM hardware from Matsushita. This further decreases the marketshare of Matsushita drives.

There is no workaround except to use a different drive to access your other region discs. Note that if you replace the internal drive in your MacBook or MacBook Pro you'll need a drive that's 9.5 mm high instead of the more common 12.5 mm high laptop drives.

[Cold Warrior]

How lame of Matsushita, taking the extra step to lock down one's own laptop and kiss-up to the MPAA pigopolists.