unlocking blue ray players

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This topic has 5 voices, contains 12 replies, and was last updated by  ron 3938 days ago.

January 8, 2013 at 4:54 pm Quote #21948

gatomike26
(458)

I know it in the past you could unlock regular dvd players so you could play NSTC or Pal on them just wondering if anybody knows anything about doing this so you can make your blue ray player region free.Don’t want to purchase an expensive multiregion dvd player if I dont have to for blue ray.


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January 8, 2013 at 4:58 pm Quote #21949

ron
(11495)

Each player is different. Some can be made to be region free. Keep in mind that DVD region free is different than bluray region free. DVDs have 6 regions, and BluRays have 3. Unlocking each is different. Many BluRay discs are region free to begin with. So unless you’ve got something you know won’t play, give it a try, it might just work.


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June 16, 2013 at 12:37 pm Quote #26478

sickman
(2380)

I just ran in to a problem with my dvd player. It’s a Panasonic DMP-BDT220. It won’t play PAL discs. Does anyone know of a way to unlock this?


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June 16, 2013 at 12:49 pm Quote #26481

guitard
(7354)

sickman: I just ran in to a problem with my dvd player. It’s a Panasonic DMP-BDT220.It won’t play PAL discs. Does anyone know of a way to unlock this?



I can’t remember where, but I remember seeing a website that listed the various DVD players and how to unlock them. Try googling for it.


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June 16, 2013 at 2:25 pm Quote #26482

ron
(11495)

sickman: I just ran in to a problem with my dvd player. It’s a Panasonic DMP-BDT220.It won’t play PAL discs. Does anyone know of a way to unlock this?

There are two things at play here.

A) Is it a region lock problem, and you can’t play Region 2 discs (which are mainly PAL format)?
B) Is it the ability to play any PAL format disc regardless of Region? (ie, most videos traded are region free, but may be PAL formatted)

Google did find this link for me: http://www.firmwareinfo.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=94

Supposedly you make a donation, and you get access to the firmware that would unlock the device. However, make sure you are completely comfortable with all the necessary steps before you begin, otherwise you may end up with a brick.


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June 16, 2013 at 5:08 pm Quote #26495

dokkendude
(3023)
June 16, 2013 at 8:41 pm Quote #26500

sickman
(2380)

ron: There are two things at play here.
A) Is it a region lock problem, and you can’t play Region 2 discs (which are mainly PAL format)? B) Is it the ability to play any PAL format disc regardless of Region?(ie, most videos traded are region free, but may be PAL formatted)
Google did find this link for me: http://www.firmwareinfo.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=94
Supposedly you make a donation, and you get access to the firmware that would unlock the device.However, make sure you are completely comfortable with all the necessary steps before you begin, otherwise you may end up with a brick.

I noticed it after trying to play a Volbeat dvd I dl from dime that was PAL. It was from this years rock am ring. I then tried a disc that I knew was PAL, Disturbed from 2008 Rock Am Ring and it wouldn’t play either. The back of my player says Region 1.
Funny thing is I tried the firmware info site today. They require you give them the model number and mac address of your device. No big deal accept it kept spitting back my model number as being incorrect as entered. I googled the error message and found that after the dmp-bdt220 should be a letter. In my case I put a letter P and was registered. I then sent an email to the admin requesting the firmware for my device and explained that I wasn’t sure about the final letter P in the model code. After that my registration was revoked. I then did some more research and found that my dvd player did have a P designation and re-registered. They then black listed my mac address and haven’t returned any emails.
I’ll keep looking.


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June 17, 2013 at 6:12 am Quote #26511

dokkendude
(3023)
June 17, 2013 at 6:45 am Quote #26512

sickman
(2380)

dokkendude: http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks/panasonic-dmp-bdt220/11799

Thanks for the link. I may try the One for All Universal remote. The ebay link doesn’t ship to the US.


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June 17, 2013 at 2:22 pm Quote #26527

sickman
(2380)

More research into the firmware info download revealed that even though the player will recognize a PAL disc and play it, the player does not have the capabilities to convert the video signal from PAL to an NTSC television. I found this conversation on their support forums

I have tried repeatedly to upgrade my DMP-BDT210 with the firmware you provided, but have had no success. I’m assuming the problem is user error of some sort. So….
I am now burning the upgrade disc correctly. The bluray player accepts it, turns off and back on, and seems to start updating with various messages appearing on the front. After only about 5 minutes, it ejects the disc and shuts off. When I turn it back on, it seems to accept an initial remote control code for a different DVD region as well as the code to enable advanced features by shutting off and restarting after entering each code. But it still will not relay a signal to the tv from a DVD from a non-US region. The bluray player seems to be playing (it displays a timecode counting upwards), but the tv receives no visual or audio output. (The tv DOES successfully receive non-US region and PAL from a European DVD player that is attached.)

I cannot figure out what I’m doing wrong. Is it possible that I had the ‘XY’ address wrong in the model #, as in DMP-BDT210XY? We no longer had the packaging materials and so I guessed that it was the same as for my more recently purchased from the same store outlet DMP-BDT220P. Is there some other way to verify the ‘XY’ portion of the address?

Alternatively, what other troubleshooting measures might I attempt? I’ve been working on and off at this for over a month through a period of lengthy illness and hence would really like to get it working.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Tech Support Answer:

Answer REMOVED at the request of some asshole at tech support.

If this is the case I may just buy another region free dvd player for around $60.00.


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July 8, 2013 at 2:07 pm Quote #27691

sickman
(2380)

Well they banned me anyway for divulging info from their private forum. Didn’t think the info was classified but oh well. Here is some more info I thought may be useful to some out there should you be thinking of going this route,

Is it possible to lose existing functionality if I upgrade my device with enhanced Blu-ray firmware ?

Our Enhanced Blu-ray firmware originates from the corresponding original firmware with the same version and provides the same functionality as the original firmware which was used to create the enhanced version. The advanced features of our enhanced Blu-ray firmware are always implemented on top of the existing functionality, so you will never lose existing functionality if you upgrade your device with our enhanced Blu-ray firmware.

Unlike commercially available hardware modifications, our enhanced firmware does not need to fake device configuration or change device identity in order to provide advanced functionality.

Example: If you install enhanced firmware 6.51A on your device, you will get all the functionality of original firmware 6.51 in addition to the advanced features only available in our enhanced firmware.

Can I re-install original firmware after I have upgraded my device with enhanced Blu-ray firmware ?

The requirements for replacing enhanced Blu-ray firmware with original Blu-ray firmware are the same as for replacing original Blu-ray firmware with another original Blu-ray firmware. You can only replace your currently installed firmware, if the replacement firmware has a higher version number than your currently installed firmware. If you try to install firmware with the same or a lower version, the device refuses installation.

Examples:

You have installed original Blu-ray firmware 6.50 and you want to replace it with another original firmware version:
You will need original firmware with at least version 6.51 to replace the existing original Blu-ray firmware 6.50 on your device.

You have installed original Blu-ray firmware 6.50 and you want to replace it with enhanced firmware:
You will need enhanced firmware with at least version 6.50A to replace the existing original Blu-ray firmware 6.50 on your device.

You have installed enhanced Blu-ray firmware 6.50A and you want to replace it with original firmware:
You will need original firmware with at least version 6.51 to replace the existing enhanced Blu-ray firmware 6.50A on your device.

You have installed enhanced Blu-ray firmware 6.50A and you want to replace it with another enhanced firmware version:
You will need enhanced firmware with at least version 6.50A to replace the existing enhanced Blu-ray firmware 6.50A on your device.

Note: If you replace enhanced firmware with original firmware, you will lose all enhanced functionality except for the current DVD region verification deactivation status.

Can I still upgrade my device with original firmware over the internet after I have upgraded my device with enhanced Blu-ray firmware ?

You can upgrade your device with original firmware over the internet, if the internet update has a higher version than your currently installed firmware (Check this question to learn about the requirements for replacing installed firmware).

Note: If you replace enhanced firmware with original firmware, you will lose all enhanced functionality except for the current DVD region verification deactivation status.

I have installed your enhanced Blu-ray firmware on my device and I have tried to play region restricted Blu-ray discs from different regions. I need to manually change the Blu-ray region of my device to the respective disc region whenever I want to play a region restricted Blu-ray disc and the disc region is different from my current device region, whereas playback of DVDs from different regions does not require region changing. Is there any way to remove the Blu-ray region changing requirement once and forever ?

The requirement for changing the Blu-ray region results from different region verification methods for DVD and Blu-ray.

Region verification for DVD playback:

The official DVD specification requires a licensed DVD device to actively verify the DVD region and forces device manufacturers to refuse playback if DVD and device regions are not compatible.

Our enhanced firmware completely disables this kind of DVD region verification on your device after you have changed the DVD region for first time and you can play discs from any DVD region without having to change the DVD region of your device again, as long as the DVD publisher has not implemented additional measures to verify the region compatibility from script code included on the DVD.

DVDs which include additional script code for region verification are so-called “RCE protected discs”. In order to play RCE protected DVDs it’s not enough to disable region verification on the device, so you will have to set the player to the respective region before you can play an RCE protected DVD.

Since most DVDs are not RCE protected, you can play them without having to change the DVD region over and over again.

Region verification for Blu-ray playback:

The official Blu-ray specification does not require a licensed Blu-ray device to actively verify the Blu-ray region, so Blu-ray publishers cannot rely on any guaranteed region verification happening on a Blu-ray device.

For that reason Blu-ray publishers are required to implement their own region verification on the Blu-ray disc (Script code, Java, BD+ Virtual machine) if they want to restrict playback to specific regions and it’s not easily possible to disable this kind of verification.

That results in the requirement for manually changing the Blu-ray region of your device to the respective region before you can play a region restricted Blu-ray disc.

I am experiencing HDMI/HDCP negotiation problems between my Panasonic™ Blu-ray device and my AV receiver. Does your enhanced firmware allow deactivation of copy protection mechanisms like HDCP to reduce the risk of running into compatibility issues ?

Our enhanced firmware does not provide any functionality related to the deactivation of copy protection mechanisms and we do not support removal of copy protection !


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July 8, 2013 at 3:02 pm Quote #27697

guitard
(7354)

Apparently the asshole at tech support didn’t like being called an asshole, so he did what any asshole would do – he banned you.

Well fuck you asshole tech support guy!!


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July 8, 2013 at 3:13 pm Quote #27701

ron
(11495)

No reason not to restore the “Answer” at this point. :)

Must be an extra large stick up someone’s backside – since the “answer” didn’t say anything that hadn’t already been said outside the PAL to NTSC converter (Orei XD-990) talk.


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