corradoboy

I am going to be setting up an AV system built around an Apple Mac Mini and am stuck at just one irritating problem. The internal Matsh!ta DVD drives cannot be set to multi-region via an RPC1 firmware flash, which is a pain as I buy discs from all over the place to get the best picture, sound, cut, price etc etc. I read somewhere that under NZ competition laws that all media drives must be universal, allowing the use of any media from anywhere in the world, hence all DVD players are multi-region, not locked to a specific (UK-2, Oz-4 etc). So, would anyone know or easily be able to find out if this rumored ruling is correct, and if so does it also apply to computer drives, specifically Apple Mac drives ?

Clutching at straws here, I know

Possible alternatives may be to simply rip a copy of my non-R2 discs, rip to HDD, or possibly play via VLC, but it is rumored that even VLC fails on the latest drives

Another option is just to keep using my old DVD player for those discs for now, until a multi-region combi BD/HDDVD recorder is released.

Markus

I've not heard of that ruling before, and it does sound very interesing indeed. I'd have thought some mention would have popped up about it on slashdot or most of the mac forums. I would have thought that the ruling would not cover computers, only standalone players.

The VLC FAQ makes mention of RPC1 and RPC2 drives. From the little I know, RPC2 means that the drive itself is locked at a firmware level and without a flash the region cannot be changed. I'm pretty sure most recent macs' drives will be RPC2, hence why you can't make them region free and why VLC might not be able to do region free. I know the VLC region workaround trick doesn't work on my Intel iMac, probably due to the RPC2 issue.

As for NZ Apple types, here is a list of NZ Mac user groups, might be worth asking them this question. The key thing would be to find out what drive is in their machine, and see if you can get hold of one.

The only other alternative I can think of is an additional dvd drive in an external enclosure (unless you can find an RPC1 drive or a flashable RPC2 drive that you can install inside the Mac Mini and that it'll actually recognise) but that somewhat spoils the single form factor idea of using a mac mini in the first place.

Markus

With regards to replacement drive, this thread has the following comment in reply to someone asking about patching the Mat****a UK-835E drive:

No. The newest Mat****a 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 Mat****a 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. Mat****a 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.

The Intel iMac has a UJ-846 drive, not sure what the mini has, possibly the same, and hopefully it's not the UJ-857, which would be ultra slimline to fit in the Macbook Pro. The point being, that you could try the Pioneer K05 drive and replace the internal drive and, one assumes, patch it to be region free, worth checking that can be done first though.

Markus

peek here too

KiwiGTI

AFAIK the law states that retailers have to be able to provide instructions on how to make DVD players multiregion in NZ, most sell them multiregion anyway. This doesn't cover DVD-ROM drives in computers.

corradoboy

So, there's a slim chance if I can find out which drive is in the Mini

Mention of the Oz/NZ rulings HERE

Downloads of RPC1 firmware HERE

corradoboy

Thanks for all the input so far guys. I've just mistakenly replaced my DVD ROM drive in my G3 PB and didn't realise until it arrived that it was a Mat$hita, so no more multiregion in that for me now either I think I'll send it back and look into a Pioneer K-05. Already sent an email to a UK supplier enquiring about its fitment to my PB and possibly to my future Intel Mini too.

Looking around the web this seems to be a massive problem with Mac enthusiasts, with many abandoning Apple in favour of the other OS because of it. SJ spouts on about DRM free content and then locks us into region-coding, the two faced pillock

Markus

One could argue that Steve could pick and choose who gets to put the drives in Apple machines, and that he could pick a region free drive. Thing is, I doubt that Hollywood would look favorably on Apple doing this, they'd scream "PIRACY!" from the rooftops. Of course they could ship a drive that could be made region free, and leave it locked, but allow users to download an unsupported and warranty voiding app that'll unlock it.

I just wish that xvi (think that was his name) hadn't retired from the Matsh!ta firmware modification business as he (and one other person whose name escapes me) as he was excellent at what he did and I used his firmware patch on the iBook.

I was considering saying that one could, if the Mac Mini was Intel based, use bootcamp to install XP/Vista and use DVD Region+CSS Free to get round the issue. Hmm, I wonder if that app could be run via Codeweaver's Crossover application? Now that would be very handy indeed.

AllanB

Guys I'm on hols at the moment but I'll see what I can find out. If my tech services guys doesn't know I doubt anyone in the UK will.



AllanB

corradoboy

Thanks Allan, and as always, Markus

I've been recommended Liteon drives. Does anyone know which model I'd need ?

corradoboy

OK, visited a local computer specialists today and after they'd frowned for about 8 minutes 'cos I mentioned Apple they recommended either an NEC AD5540 or a Liteon SSM CDR4286. They reckoned both these come RPC-1 as standard and so shouldn't need firmware flashing, but if they did need it, they agreed to do it as long as I accepted responsibility for it possibly going wrong (which it can). They even agreed that I could try the drives in my Mac prior to purchase to verify multiregion status

Now I'm itching to find out if they work, and if I could put the same drive in a Mini to make a multiregion Mac media centre Already checked out a Core2Duo upgrade

corradoboy

Update - They were talking crap about the drives being RPC1 Tried the NEC one and it was R1 and counted down the 5 chances when I switched to R2, and RegionX had no effect on the counter. Left it with them to get them to flash the firmware so I'll find out next week if it has worked If it has then I'll confirm whether it would go in the Mini and if so then it's game-on for my media centre.

Markus

Any update on this?

corradoboy

Haven't had a call to say the new drive has been flashed yet. Will chase them up on Monday. Holding off on using a Mini for media use as a mate using his with a 40" LCD was disappointed with the video quality, although he was connected VGA instead of DVI/HDMI meaning the poor Mini was doing video processing and scaling with its tiny integrated GPU. I'm gonna speak to a Mac guru I know to see if he can build me a C2D 2gb Mini with RPC1 flashed internal drive for a few dollars, if not the I'll make do with a multi-region Sony DVD-R/HDD/FV unit with a 500gb USB external attached. I can load up the external from my PB with my music and pics and play them through the Sony.