dvd region killer and rpc2

[supertrooper105]

Please can someone clarify for me rpc2 as on the website www.dvdidle.com it states this:

"DVd Region+CSS Free enables you to watch and copy any region CSS-encrypted DVD movies on any DVD drive! It fully supports region-protected (RPC2) DVD drives, and does not require any firmware modifications. It will work, even if you can not change the DVD drive's region anymore."


Now i have aquired a compaq armada laptop m700 with a compaq drd-u424 dvd cdrom player. I flashed the firmware from 1.18 to 1.32 it let me change the region and played region 2 fine. however after 4 or finve changes it has fixed back at region one.

dvd region claims to: "It fully supports region-protected (RPC2) DVD drives, and does not require any firmware modifications. It will work, even if you can not change the DVD drive's region anymore."

I have downloaded the trial version it plays region 1 ok, but region 2 will play very badly i mean it is jerky and pixalated. can any one give me any clues how to get it to work before i buy it


many thanks

[joegib]

1. Your title refers to "Region Killer". Region Killer is a separate application that has nothing to do with RegionFree/DVD Idle.

2. Your drive is a Torisan DVD-U424. The notes on the site you linked say:

NOTE: DVD-RAM, Mat****a XX-8xxx, SW-9xxx series DVD drives, and Torisan DRD-Uxxx series DVD drives are not supported now, and there is no plan to support them. But you can watch and copy CSS-encrypted DVD movies when the drive region and disc region is matched on these DVD drives.

3. Unfortunately, there is no region-free firmware available for your drive. Suggest you try the demo version of Remote Selector which you can get here:

http://www.remoteselector.com/

Can't say it will work because if one of the software region-free solutions fails with a drive they all tend to fail. But it's worth a try before you spend money.

[supertrooper105]

the drive is now fixed at region 1, but i got the impression that regionfree/dvd idle software would work with rpc2, as it say's it supports region-protected (RPC2) DVD drives, and does not require any firmware modifications. It will work, even if you can not change the DVD drive's region anymore."
so what is it i am missing here or havr i lost the plot

thanks

mags

[joegib]

For a complete region-free solution you need to overcome region-protection in (a) the DVD drive and (b) your software player. The old solution (still used widely) is to (a) install firmware patched to remove region-protection in the drive and (b) use a utility like Region Killer or DVD Genie to overcome region-protection in the software player.

In the last few years all-in-one commercial region-defeating utilities like Region Free/DVD Idle, AnyDVD and Remote Selector have become available. These claim to deal with both sides of the problem and they seem to work with most drives. It's now being found, though, that they don't work for all drives, notably some of the recent Mat****a drives and apparently with some Torisan drives.

So, in you case it may be that Region Killer is dealing with the software player side of things but Region Free is unable to deal with region-protection in your drive (because it's "unsupported"). Hence your system is still seen as region-protected when you load a "foreign" disk.

[supertrooper105]

Thanks for that info it is really appreciated, when i use region killer with power dvd software it will play the dvd but the picture is jerky and pixelated, so i guess it is semi working, but i now realize ther is no firmware update for this model

[decryptit]

It doesn't have the do with power dvd or any firmwares at all its region killer causing the problem an you should eighter switch to dvd region free or else try using a different player.

[supertrooper105]

I'm sorry i think i am confusing you now, as the dvd is region protected and i have used all the changes so it is permant set to region 1. dvd if i use dvd region free it will play dvd region 2 but are jerky and pixealated, i think there is not a utility for my dvd-rom to change the settings so i am stuck with it

thanks

[decryptit]

Click here to download firmware for Gateway 9300 models preferebly Compatible with Compaq aswell.

This firmware works with both DRD-U424 & DRD-U824 and some other mitsubishi and sanyo models.
(v3.18)

[ignignot]

have you tried DVD43?

[joegib]

1. I've been looking at this further and although there is no patched version of your DRD-U424 firmware, there is a utility that can restore your allowed region changes to 5. This is linked on the Firmware Page site here:

http://forum.firmware-flash.com/dl_firmware.php?category=2&manufactor=8

The Readme in the download suggests that the utility is designed for the DRD-U824 so I was a bit doubtful about its use. However, in this thread --

http://forum.firmware-flash.com/viewtopic.php?t=13753&highlight=DRD-U424

-- "Disisdavo" said in his second message posted 9/5/2003 that this utility worked with his DRD-U424 (this thread is mainly about a Pioneer drive and Disisdavo's remark was made in passing). Note that this utility must be run from a DOS boot disk, not an MS-DOS Window or an XP command line. As I understand its operation, your software player will use one of the changes when you load another region and once these are used up, you simply run the utility again. If you've any doubts about its use I suggest you post a query on the forum attached to the Firmware Page as that's the premier site for firmware issues.

2. I recommend that you uninstall Region Free/DVDIdle from your system before you do any more testing. If the maker says your rebadged Compaq/Torisan drive is not supported get rid of this software as its only confusing the issue.

[supertrooper105]

thanks for all your efforts, i have tried the utility which is for the drd824, and i did it from the dos promt but to no avail it looks as though it is well and truly permantly region 1

regards

mags

[decryptit]

Have you tried the one i've posted ?

[supertrooper105]

hi
yes i flashed and it went thruogh the process and at the end just informed me that my drive was compaq drd-u424 and it was region locked to 1 and changed nothing (my laptop is compaq armada m700)
regards

mags

[decryptit]

Sure thats an RPC2 just fixes some major leaks in your drive.

[supertrooper105]

Just out of interest this is what happens when i try to use the u824 reset utility
A:>rpc1.exe
region reset utility for torisan drd-u824
usage_RPC1.EXE<unit_id>
where unit_ id:
0-primary master
1-secondary master
2-primary slave
3-secondary slave
Ex: rpc1.exe
A:\>


and that's it nothing changes