[johnconroy]

Has anyone seen and used a firmware to make the MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-835E region free?

[duck]

No. The newest Matshita drive that can be made region free is the UJ-816. The UJ-825, UJ-835, UJ-845 and UJ-857 have no region free firmware. These drives are primarily used in Macs, and the two people who did patching for Matshita firmware have stopped.

Your best option is to buy a Pioneer K05 to replace it (with the exception of the UJ-857, which is smaller). The UJ-857 is used in the Macbook pro, leaving owners (like me) with absolutely no solution other than an external drive.

To cover the FAQ: No, VLC won't work, no Mac The Ripper won't work. Matshita drives won't return encrypted disc content unless a key for the disc has been requested successfully. To request the key, the computer has to ask for it in combination with the region code. For the key to be returned, the region code requested has to match the region code of both the disc and the drive.

[MacSince88]

So far, the only thing that works on my MacBook Pro is Handbrake - it allowed me to rip & encode a region 2 DVD in my American MacBook Pro. I could then watch the resulting .avi file, or .mp4.

That’s a lengthy process (about 1 hr.) to watch a movie…but…at least there’s ONE option for the MacBook Pro with a MATSHITA UJ-857.

=======

My findings:

FIRST, you MUST disable autoplay for video DVDs in the System Preferences under “CDs & DVDs.” Set it to “Ignore.”

VLC will play the intros/menus, but then I get a warning that says this DVD player doesn’t match the region code.

MacTheRipper will rip, but the ripped file is unwatchable…

DVDBackUp just crashes before ripping.

MPlayer simply locks my machine every time.

=======

The file created with Handbrake will play in VLC. And…since you can specify file-size, you can make a very high-quality file, near DVD quality.

That’s the best I’ve got so far.

[Mithras]

Thanks for this. Sure would be nice to be region-free.

[Tuoder]

If you only use DVDs from two regions, you could get an external DVD reader (just a reader shouldn't be bad, especially on the used market) and set the region to what you want it to be.

therealmusashi's method, which I personally would not classify as wrong, is technically illegal. The DMCA says that you can't decode DVDs and store them. This involves cracking CSS, which is a no-no in the USA.

[xorandor]

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but i'm running into the same problems now with my MBP.

I've decided to get an external drive to go around this problem, but even with an external drive, do I still need to flash the firmware of the drive to get it to play all DVDs regardless of region code?

[Tuoder]

Originally Posted by xorandor

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but i'm running into the same problems now with my MBP.

I've decided to get an external drive to go around this problem, but even with an external drive, do I still need to flash the firmware of the drive to get it to play all DVDs regardless of region code?

If you only need to play DVDs from two regions, then an external drive will do the trick. Unless you can find region-free firmware for the external drive that you have purchased, then you will only be able to play DVDs from 2 regions (the one your internal is set to, and the one your external is set to).

EDIT: Don't play with the region on your DVD reader too much, you can only change it a set number of times.

[Apple2Mac]

there used to be a program called region x that allowed you to change the region of your drive, i'm not sure if there is a limit to how many times you can use the program to make the change...

[indigoimac]

I've always just been prompted my DVD Player to change region codes if need be, I believe the limit is 5 changes, but I usually reinstall before I get to that pt.

[duck]

Apple2Mac/indigoimac : Please don't respond to subjects you know nothing about. In this instance, your response could cause people to do irreparable harm to their hardware.

Region X only works with RPC1 drives - MacBooks and all of the Powerbook G4's ship with RPC2 drives. Some of the early drives can be flashed to RPC1 one, but none of the current ones can be.

Reinstalling doesn't do anything to the change-count, it is stored in the physical DVD drive.

[fliczOnMac]

Hi all

I've been waiting for more than a year for a solution on how to read DVDs from region 1 on my Matshiba UJ-835 locked now into region 2. I think I got something this morning that might be interesting, though it won't make the drive region-free. It's called Fairmount and it's bundled with the release of DVDRemaster 3. It's allowed me to mount a DVD from region 1, get rid of the DVD lock, and then read the mounted file in VLC. Once it's mounted, you can do what you want with the file--and so far, it's worked.
It cost me the 10 bucks to upgrade to DVDRemaster 3 so that wasn't as bad as buying an external drive. Fairmount itself may be free of charge, I'm not sure (http://www.metakine.com/products/fairmount/).
Hope that helps

[emigre]

fairmount is NOT a solution, it simply changes the region code of the drive, using up one of your goes. very poor that the developer doesn't warn you about this.

[dazzla]

Ouch, the page doesn't mention that at all. To think I was excited to try it...

[macgyvr64]

In the past, I've used 'dvrflash' under Mac OS X and Windows to load region-free and other modified firmware onto Pioneer drives, but as Duck correctly stated above, there is no region-free firmware for that model yet.

[amazing]

buy an external fw400/usb 2.0 case for $50, and a Pioneer 16X burner for $32 (newegg.com). Gives you much faster burner than any laptop will ever have. Flash the Pioneer to regionfree. Do all the DVD backups using MacTheRipper on the external drive. Recompress using your favorite software, reburn stuff to use on your internal superdrive.

[dimmer]

And don't forget to write to your government people and ask that this legal "piracy" be made illegal: does your NY Times become unreadable* when you pass over an ocean? No, thought not. You paid for it, it's your media. Do what you will.

* you know what I mean, it stays legible, you may not think the writing much cop, but that's another story for another day.

[mad cow disease]

Doesn't VLC ignore region coding when being used to view DVDs? I recall watching some region 2's on my laptop...

[duck]

Did you miss my explaination? Nothing VLC does can get around this region coding on newer Matsushita drives.

[pcummins]

It depends on the drive that you have installed in your computer as to whether Fairmount/VLC/et al works or not. The issue is that if the drive's region does not match the disc region, the disc is not readable by the computer/OS. This is the case with most of the Matsushita drives (UJ-8xx) and requires a firmware patch to get around the locking/reading issue.

If you have a Pioneer or other more lenient type of drive, the drive doesn't stop you from reading the disc raw if the drive and disc regions mismatch, letting you run VLC or Fairmount to play/decode the disc and ignore the region code, regardless of what the drive or software or OS thinks.

For example, my PowerBook has a Pioneer DVR-K05 in it which lets me read discs raw, so VLC works fine for my collection of Region 1, 2, 3 and 4 discs. An academic here has a CW-8121 that hasn't been patched, so inserting a mismatched disc will not work as VLC cannot read the disc raw (nor can Fairmount) until the drive is patched to make it work.

If you want to fight this sort of artificial restriction the best thing is to avoid buying equipment that does not do what you want and/or get refunds. In Australia region-locked DVD players were the norm until consumers caught on (probably 2001-onwards) and forced manufacturers to quietly remove it. A few players still are locked, but seems to be quite rare nowadays. Probably will change again once the Copyright Act is modified for the US/Au FTA.

[duck]

Hi Phil,

I don't think the FTA will change things here. The amendments proposed have to my understanding been quite clear as to the difference between access control and content protection.

I actually contacted the ACCC regarding Apple's love of Matsushita drives and the problems it caused. The ACCC responded to me saying they understood my problem, but legally they look at the whole market. Given Apple sells some desktop machines that can be made region free, and other vendors sell some laptops that can be made region free, they are unable to do anything.

-- Alex
(who went to high school with pcummins some almost 15 years ago )

[Gamoe]

When will companies (and governments) get it that conspiring against consumers in this manner is both bad for business and morally wrong? <sigh>


Anyway... What about the drives in new Core Duo Mac minis, guys?

[pcummins]

Originally Posted by Gabriel Morales

When will companies (and governments) get it that conspiring against consumers in this manner is both bad for business and morally wrong? ... What about the drives in new Core Duo Mac minis, guys?

The Mac Minis should be (I haven't checked intensively) Matsushita/Panasonic UJ-845's for the SuperDrive model and the CW-8123 for the DVD/CD-RW combo. You can replace it with a Pioneer DVR-K06 if you want, I find they're head and shoulders better than the Matsushita models, not only on region coding issues but burning in general - they seem to be less picky over disc media than the Matsushita.

Companies and goverments will conspire against consumers as long as they can get away with it. Again, the main issue is back to communications and getting the information out there about what your rights are, whether they're being misused or abused and how to stop it, and make sure everyone else knows as well to the point where such misuse or abuse is no longer a viable option.

[pcummins]

Originally Posted by duck

I don't think the FTA will change things here.

Well, it wouldn't surprise me if they pulled a fast one behind everyone's backs, but in general it's as you say. Which raises the question, why make everyone's life harder than it already is to support something you know will probably lead to broken copy protection/DRM? We'll have to see how these changes impact in Australia in due course...

Originally Posted by duck

I actually contacted the ACCC regarding Apple's love of Matsushita drives and the problems it caused.

Sigh! Well, I can sympathise with that, but it would be nice to put the final nails in the coffin on region coding once and for all, but it doesn't seem likely until some sort of mass uprising occurs from the public and/or general consumer backlash against it. Perhaps HD-DVD/BluRay will provide the incentive.

Originally Posted by duck

(who went to high school with pcummins some almost 15 years ago )

It's been quite a while, hasn't it? Ah, the good old days with Mac Pluses...

[jamil5454]

The drive in my Core 2 Duo iMac 20" is a Matshita UJ-846. I didn't see it mentioned at the beginning of this thread, so I'd thought I would mention it here.

[duck]

Yeah, in many cases the 8x5 and 8x6 are almost identical, with the 8x6 being a special Apple version, and the 8x5 being a regular part. They also tend to do an 8x0 for each series, which is tray-loading, instead of slot loading.

[indigoimac]

Originally Posted by duck

Apple2Mac/indigoimac : Please don't respond to subjects you know nothing about. In this instance, your response could cause people to do irreparable harm to their hardware.


Reinstalling doesn't do anything to the change-count, it is stored in the physical DVD drive.

I'm declaring BS on that statement, as long as you don't ever reach the end of that 5 count limit before you reinstall the counter resets, I've done this numerous times on PowerBooks and iBooks and have NEVER had a problem, it works the same way under windows too, sorry!

Also there is no harm done to the hardware, it is not "broken" if you don't pay attention to the warnings and get it stuck on ur 5th shot to the wrong region code, the drive will still work fine just only for that region.

[duck]

Originally Posted by indigoimac

I'm declaring BS on that statement, as long as you don't ever reach the end of that 5 count limit before you reinstall the counter resets, I've done this numerous times on PowerBooks and iBooks and have NEVER had a problem, it works the same way under windows too, sorry!

Also there is no harm done to the hardware, it is not "broken" if you don't pay attention to the warnings and get it stuck on ur 5th shot to the wrong region code, the drive will still work fine just only for that region.

For RPC-2 drives, the counter is stored in the drive mechanism. For RPC-1 drives, it's in the operating system only. I'm sorry, but there's no way that reinstalling the OS will change that RPC-2 counter, unless, and I'm guessing here, I've never seen it documented, reinstalling uses up a vendor-reset (of which you have three).

For RPC-1 counters, yes, re-installing will reset them, but none of the iBook dual-usb or PowerBook G4 models came with RPC-1 drives (though some could be flashed).

I will conceed that perhaps some people don't see the drive being locked to a specific region as being broken, but if that region isn't the primary one for the area you are in, it is most definitely not working as intended, causing inconvenience, and therefore broken.

[indigoimac]

What I would really like to know is why both of my iBooks and 1 Powerbook G4 always reset to the count of 5 changes on every reinstall.

If it's useful--
iBook 12" ComboDrive 700MHz G3
iBook 14" ComboDrive 800Mhz G3
and PowerBook in the sig

[Eug]

You guys waiting may be waiting a very long time. XVI announced his retirement a long time ago, and he was one of the main guys doing region free firmwares for Mac optical drives.

[matty-uk]

I'm gong to be replacing my iBook combo with a Pioneer DVR-K05 and from what I can gleem these can be read raw in which case VLC will work. I have found firmware for them but the site only has DOS based flashers, anyone recommend any?

[macgyvr64]

Originally Posted by matty-uk 

I'm gong to be replacing my iBook combo with a Pioneer DVR-K05 and from what I can gleem these can be read raw in which case VLC will work. I have found firmware for them but the site only has DOS based flashers, anyone recommend any?

As I noted earlier, dvrflash works wonders with Pioneer drives. It comes in both Mac (command-line) and DOS variants, so you should be able to get something going with the hardware you have.

[johnpaul191]

Originally Posted by jamil5454 

The drive in my Core 2 Duo iMac 20" is a Matshita UJ-846. I didn't see it mentioned at the beginning of this thread, so I'd thought I would mention it here.

my new 17" Core 2 duo has this: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-85J
i think we're hosed.

i have not actually watched a DVD yet, and just popped one in today. that little pop-up reminded me of this. before i started the count of 5 i figured i would see if there is a fix. guess there is nothing short of a drive swap or an additional external drive.

i do still have my G4-400 tower with a DVD-rom. i'll have to look that one up and see if i can put it in an external case. that may be a help.

[mattfaulds]

I'm not sure if this thread is still active but for what it's worth I'll put my oar in.

My iBook G4s both have CW-8123drives and are running Tiger. I have no problems with different region DVDs - either watching or making copies for home use.

When you insert the DVD and the screen pops up saying something like "unable to play, do you want to change region" I simply ignore it and do nothing. Then launch VLC or MTR which plays/accesses the disc fine. Very occasionally VLC can't play the disc (it's happened once to me) but no problems with MTR!

Once you have another application accessing the disc you can simply quit or cancel in DVD player.

Hope that's some use to someone. And for those non-believers I've just checked my procedure with a Region 1 and a Region 4 disc. My player is set to Region 2.

[edmund]

It's true, mattfaulds. It works also on my MacBook Pro 15" with a Matshita UJ-857D.

Thank you for your suggestion!

[xsulux]

Yeah, so far vlc and handbrake works for me.

[mattfaulds]

Good stuff. Glad it worked for you guys.

[Waragainstsleep]

You get 5 vendor resets. But try finding software to do it on a Mac. Not always easy.

[mobodo]

Originally Posted by emigre 

fairmount is NOT a solution, it simply changes the region code of the drive, using up one of your goes. very poor that the developer doesn't warn you about this.

Hey... just to clarify: Fairmount does NOT change the region code of the DVD player. I don't know where you got that from. I think DVD Player can change your DVD region, and I'm pretty sure it'll ask you before and it will probably ask for an admin password.

[nero120]

Has anyone tried booting into XP and then using software such as dvd region killer?

[brabo]

Originally Posted by edmund 

It's true, mattfaulds. It works also on my MacBook Pro 15" with a Matshita UJ-857D.

I have a new Macbook Pro with Matshita UJ-857D dvd. It is set to Region 1 and will not play Region 4 discs using this method or any other with 0.8.6 version of VLC. I have ripped to hard disk with MTR, which reports dvd gaps. In my experience it is disk specific. I have tried with several region 4 dvds and cannot play cannot play directly or from the hard disk.

[Naplander]

ANy idea where I can find out more information about a vendor reset?

My drive (MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-825) has been region locked to region 1 (don't ask!) and all my DVD's are region 2.

I have done some research and haven't found anything that can help.

Thanks in advance

[utw-Mephisto]

Here is what a colleague did :

Run parallel, install Windows, install AnyDVD, rip in Windows, done Slower, but a solution for ripping ..

[turtle777]

I don't know what your problems are.

Just played a Region 2 DVD on my Mac mini with MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-835F drive, using VLC 0.8.4. No problems whatsoever.

The DVD drive is set to Region 1.

-t

[utw-Mephisto]

There is a Windows app called AnyDVD .... Some long shots :

1. Install Crossover and use it in Mac
2. Install Parallels, Windows as virtual, install AnyDVD there and see if it works that way
3. As number 2, just with VMWare

If all of the above fail, you can for SURE (tried it a while ago) install AnyDVD on Windows and simply rip the DVD in the virtual machine ..

You might be able to share that DVD drive in the virtual Windows and connect through the network from your Mac and be able to open those ifo / vob files in your local player ..

Again : long shots but maybe worth trying ..

[Googler]

I dont beleive this, complete BS, who the hell do these vedors think they are? if i buy their dvd from japan, or australia, or america, i wanna watch it, i payed for it. You know what this makes me and many others wanna do?

Pirate their ****. and then laugh when they complain about it on the news, look a-holes, if you dont want me to steal you're content then MAKE MY LIFE EASY AND STOP WITH UR BS!.

IF people wanna pirate stuff enough they will, all stupid region coding, etc does is piss off legit customers.

and these limits? 3 resets, 5 resets.

That is BS, what the hell would you do that for? The only reason i can think of is to be a pain in my ass. Gosh they're treating us like criminals before we even buy the damn computer.

If theres one good thing thats come from stuff like warez and piracy its that it pressures these guys to provide us with better alternative, or a reaason to pay for their content. If theres a downside its that the assholes have instead chosen to screw us over with region coding n bs like that.

okay i'm calm now, glad i got that outta my system

lol

and it doesnt look like blu ray or hd dvd is gonna make our lives any easier either......

[floripaolo]

i'm looking for an external drive that i can upgrade with a firmware patch to get around the locking/reading issue.
possibly not a self-made one...
lacie, LG, Liteon, Philips, Sony, Plextor...?

i'm one of those screwed MBP owners

[[email protected]]

Has anyone tried the following to get around the Matshita 857D

• Install Crossover
• Install WinDVD
• Install RegionFree (Cracks Region at Software Level)

I have used WinDVD with RegionFree on WinXP on a Dell Laptop, but wondering if this will work with the Matshita Drive.

Thanks.

[experimental]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

I don't know what your problems are.
Just played a Region 2 DVD on my Mac mini with MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-835F drive, using VLC 0.8.4. No problems whatsoever.The DVD drive is set to Region 1.
-t

I've been using Macs for 7 years and for this past year I had no trouble playing any DVD on my iMac20inch 2.1PPC. Until, that is, a complete wipe and re-install last week. My MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-846 is set to R2 as usual but now vlc won't play anything thats not region 2.
Having read extensive amounts of posts and info I've concluded MTR works best for a quick once a week fix, rip to disc region free and watch from there. I have Japanese, UK, USA collection for study and need an external alternative player to get around this issue. I hope my iMac won't tell me I can't play others from an external. BBL with that.

[experimental]

Update...... when dealing with the MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-846: Firmware Revision: FA0G

With my iMac set to Region 2, I've made copies of two different Region 1 discs using M.T.R. Both copies won't play in either vlc or dvd player from HD. M.T.R. reports bad blocks when it finishes copying a disc which is of a different region. I don't feel like waisting my time to burn them. Interestingly enough, M.T.R. WILL successfully rip a region 2 disc. Any coincidence? In other words, I'm fighting something that really doesn't want me to play foreign discs, any other way except changing my region.
And so, I concur with Duck who wrote (at the beginning of this thread no less)......
"To cover the FAQ: No, VLC won't work, no Mac The Ripper won't work. Matshita drives won't return encrypted disc content unless a key for the disc has been requested successfully. To request the key, the computer has to ask for it in combination with the region code. For the key to be returned, the region code requested has to match the region code of both the disc and the drive."

[P]

This entire thread can be summed up in the FAQ in the second post. Everyone else who thinks that you can get around it: you aren't really. Some discs aren't encrypted - particularly if they're not region 1 - and in that case everything works. Some programs that let you view discs from the wrong region are just resetting the counter - using vendor resets if they have to.

I suspect that Jobs may be very happy with Matsushita's stance on region coding. Disney (which now owns Pixar, and has Jobs on the board) has been in the forefront of the defence of region codes with the RCE initiative. It's a major pain though, and they're bringing the idiocy to HD-DVD/BD as well.