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How to REGION FREE Acer 4000 DVD Drive?

post #1 of 32
8/23/05 at 7:54pm
Thread Starter 
How do i make the DVD driver in my Acer Ferrari 4005 region free?



After changing the region 5 times it locks to the region of the last DVD. Now this may not affect the US owners but how do the rest of the world get around this limitation on DVDs? Do you use software or a firmware change to the drive?
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post #2 of 32
8/25/05 at 5:30pm
Use Slysoft AnyDVD
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post #3 of 32
8/25/05 at 10:13pm
So can you play DVDs from the UK on a USA Ferrai 4000 out of the box?
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post #4 of 32
8/26/05 at 5:14am
Thread Starter 
yes but you can only change region settings for the drive 5 times before it locks on the last setting. Thanks kej, I will check it out.
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post #5 of 32
8/27/05 at 11:30am

Firmware

Did the software solution work?
Anyway, you can download "region free" firmware here:

http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.ph...&manufactor=18

Look at the buttom of the page, the DVD-drive is called Matshita UJ-845S (in my Ferrari, anyway).
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post #6 of 32
8/27/05 at 6:30pm
Thread Starter 
Haven't tried it yet. AnyDVD is a 30 day evaluation. I was hoping for some freeware.
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post #7 of 32
8/27/05 at 8:03pm
Fonzi,
Pls check your link. It's not working.
Thanks,
Guilherme
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post #8 of 32
8/28/05 at 7:25am
The link works from my computer?! Just tried it in here... If you still can't get it to work, go through:
http://forum.rpc1.org/portal.php
The choose "Download Firmware" -> "Matshita (Panasonic)" -> "DVD-Recorder (Laptop)" -> Go all the way to the buttom.

There is another free software solution called "DVD43":
Read about it here (plus a couple of reviews):
http://www.afterdawn.com/software/vi...pers/dvd43.cfm
Download it here:
http://www.dvd43.com/
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post #9 of 32
8/28/05 at 10:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mousedroid
Haven't tried it yet. AnyDVD is a 30 day evaluation. I was hoping for some freeware.
you could try dvdshrink ...
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post #10 of 32
9/24/05 at 4:32pm
DVD43 is happily installed in my Asus A2D and has only failed to play one DVD that I have tried it with. It's free, if you find the right version (I have 3.5.3 but there is an earlier version that works well also).
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post #11 of 32
10/9/05 at 5:20am
Thread Starter 
I am still looking around for a permanent solution, but I found this;
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=101267
Basically says AnyDVD "It cannot bypass region codes with Matsushita (Panasonic) drives." I have a Matshita UJ-845s with D200 firmware loaded so I wonder what going back to D101 firmware does? I will give DVD43 a try and hope it works.

All I am after is a simple program to remove regin coding, Idon't card about copy protect, just being able to swap between region1,2 and 5 dvd at will.
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post #12 of 32
10/9/05 at 7:55pm
I tried DVD43 but that didn't seem to work on my American "The One" Disc. My current setting is region 2.

I downloaded the firmware but without any firm instructions i'm frightened that i'll destroy my beautiful new machine! Has anyone tried the firmware solution? Or has anyone tried succesfully any software solution?
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post #13 of 32
10/10/05 at 11:22am
I made a mistake with the link to the firmware from www.rpc1.com - this firmware is not comp. with the UJ-845S in the Ferrari, only works on Toshiba laptops. However, don't worry it will tell you - so you cannot install anyway! By the way it seems that the drive actually is called UJ-845B; it is XP, which identifies it wrong... As far as I can see there is no solution to the region problem at this time)-:
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post #14 of 32
10/10/05 at 11:35am
I have AnyDVD and so far it worked with region 2/4 dvds. I don't have a region 1 disc to check though it was working fine on my old laptop.
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post #15 of 32
10/10/05 at 11:48am
It's months since I installed DVD43, but you have to install some additional software with it so that it works correctly - the site should mention this also. Download it from a 3rd party site. I will just check now via websearch what is needed and get back to you with more information.
I mainly use Region 2 and 4 DVD's but also have at least one region 1 that works fine.
OK, just checked and you don't need the extra software with versions above 1.4.

A good overview is at:

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/DVD43.htm

This has v 3.5.2 on it, but it's easy to get 3.5.3 by websearch.
Zenjer, did the programme try to unlock your Region 1 DVD? The tray icon will switch from a yellow face to a "devil" face, then a green smiley if successful.
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post #16 of 32
10/10/05 at 6:53pm
Thanks Wayneb for your feedback. I tested the latest version of anydvd but it refused to play my region 1 disc. I've now installed dvd43 again and i'm testing to see whether a combination of anydvd and dvd43 will work. I'll post later with details.

Wayneb, what other software do we need to install to work with dvd43?

Thanks again!
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post #17 of 32
10/10/05 at 7:01pm
Actually i got a rather horrible lockup, where not even ending processes through task manager worked...ouch. Let's hope there's a solution for us out there somewhere ^_^
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post #18 of 32
10/11/05 at 12:06pm
The latest version needs no extra software - just the early versions like 1.4.
I did find one region 1 dvd that did not play, because it used a different type of region protection. (it was a Veggietales DVD, using an acer laptop and Win2000.)
Try a different dvd (region 1) and see if this happens again...otherwise I am stuck for suggestions!
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post #19 of 32
10/12/05 at 7:23am
I've tried 3 region 1 discs (The One, Best of the best 2 and for a few dollars more). DVD43 gives me the little 'devil face' and then stops responding, resulting in powerdvd crashing. The task manager can't seem to end any of the processes and i'm forced to hold down the power button (ouch!).

Thanks for your help anyway, looks like i'm stuck playing region 2 disks...doh.
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post #20 of 32
10/12/05 at 11:09am
Annoying! Still, you may have better luck with other region disks...and wait until the next software solution comes along. Or, flash your firmware....(no way that I would want to do that!!!!)
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