On 16/04/17 09:13, Per Jessen wrote:
Carlos E. R. wrote:
On 2017-04-15 10:08, Per Jessen wrote:
stakanov wrote:
In data venerdì 14 aprile 2017 22:17:51, Paul Groves ha scritto:
So my question is, how can I set the drive to be region free so I can play my DVDs from region 1 and other regions? The idea of the DVD region code is to make sure you cannot play the DVDs you legally did buy at foreign. Isn't this really a dead duck? For one thing, any-region DVD players have been available for at least 16 years (based on my personal experience), for another, isn't the DVD market slowly dying or virtually dead already? I don't think the DVD market is dying out.. Otherwise companies like CEX and music magpie would be long gone.
I also have a rather substantial DVD collection and I do not want to have to buy the movies and TV shows I already own again (Which I think is the reason they are trying to get rid of commercial physical media).
But I understood that DVD playing on a Linux computer was essentially regionless, as long as you used the libdvdcss2 library. I do not have samples from other regions to try, though. I don't know, I haven't had the need to play DVDs on the computer for so long. I think I bought a DVD RW drive some years back, and it came with instructions for how to change the region, up to a maximum 3 times. I'm really not sure. I thought it was regionless on linux until I had this problem. Turns out it isn't. I already have libdvdcss2 installed and DVDs will play if I copy them and remove the region code, or play a DVD with no region code set such as home videos. My drive says it can be changed 3 times too. (2 now)
But my advice is always: if you really think you need to watch blueraydiscs on a PC buy a second player and set it to the second region. Buy a third one and set it to the third region. Buy a Pioneer any-region player. We've had two so far, works very well. The current one is a DV-696-AV, I bought it 2nd hand for CHF15.
I bought the first such DVD player in Mediamarkt around 2002 - I asked the shop assistant about the multi-region feature, and she pulled out a sheet of A4 paper with the code and the instructions for how to disable to region-check. With the 2nd Pioneer player, it was disabled by default. Are you talking of devices for computers, or standalone? Standalone players. I did once want to use a DVD drive in the MythTV PC, but when I discovered it didn't have an SPDIF output, I decided to just get a standalone player instead.
Thanks for all the replies Just to answer the questions / respond to comments: The PC in question is my living room HTPC. It is running kodi so I can do everything on it I need apart from the fact it refuses to play my legally purchased DVDs unless I set the region code, and they only let you change it 3 times otherwise I would just script it. My point is, why should I have to buy more hardware to do this? The whole point of a HTPC is to do everything in one box. PVR, CD, DVD, Bluray player and upnp client, which my box does, I am just stuck on the fact that protected DVDs only play when I set the region. If I: a. copy the DVD and remove the region code or b. copy and remove the encryption the DVD works fine (but this is only legal on a handful of DVDs and doesn't solve the problem). It is definitely a software problem as the different region DVDs work in Windows fine on the same box. Just I do not know how to fix it for Linux yet. Perhaps a setting somewhere that says 'skip checking region'? Is there a configuration file for libdvdcss2 settings? Also, as said in the O.P., blu-ray discs do not seem to check this region code as they all work regardless of the drive's setting. I cannot physically. install more DVD drives. My htpc case only has the one drive bay (slim slot-load laptop drive). I would rather not clutter up my living room with a pile of USB DVD drives when I have a perfectly working drive in the HTPC. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org