Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?

Jim Hawkins wrote:
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?


Some DVD players have a "region free" hack available, and you may have
some luck if you search for your machine type and "region free hack"
without the quotes on Google.

Or use your computer's DVD drive and either reset the region on it
(Which can only be done a very limited number of times) and watch it on
your computer, or download an illegal (in the UK and USA) program to let
you make a region free copy which will play on your normal DVD player.

If you bought it from a business in the UK, you can take it back as
unfit for purpose, unless you were warned before you bought it that it
was not playable in Region 2 DVD players.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

In message , Jim Hawkins
writes
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?



I'm not sure if it still applies, but some years ago when I last bought
a DVD player there was a way, with various button presses to set it to
play DVDs from any region. Maybe a Google search on your model number
and something like "region hack" could get you the info on how to
modify it.
--
Bill

Make a playable copy using DVD shrink.

On Wed, 5 Dec 2012 16:21:36 -0000, "Jim Hawkins"
wrote:

Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?


--
================================================== =======
Please always reply to ng as the email in this post's
header does not exist. Or use a contact address at:
http://www.macfh.co.uk/JavaJive/JavaJive.html
http://www.macfh.co.uk/Macfarlane/Macfarlane.html

On 05/12/2012 16:21, Jim Hawkins wrote:
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?




You may find a hack he
http://www.videohelp.com/

Very useful site and one for the bookmarks.

--

"I'm not the messiah!"
I say you are Lord.
And I should know, I've followed a few !

Java Jive wrote:
Make a playable copy using DVD shrink.

Which will only work if you also have a decrypter program installed to
remove the region coding, at least on the version I use.

On Wed, 5 Dec 2012 16:21:36 -0000, "Jim Hawkins"
wrote:

Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?




--
Tciao for Now!

John.

On Dec 5, 4:21*pm, "Jim Hawkins" wrote:
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?

I have several DVDs I picked up abroad that my player won't play.
Play it via your computer.
There are programmes out there to convert it too.

On Dec 5, 4:21*pm, "Jim Hawkins" wrote:
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?

Bit on the topic here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvd_regions

On 05/12/2012 16:21, Jim Hawkins wrote:
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?

Get the DVD player chipped down Tottenham Court Road (DVD player region
breakers to NASA) or get a chipped region free unit from the likes of
Richer Sounds.

I don't know if it is still true but a few years back some very cheap
supermarket units can be hacked to region free using heckers magic
keycodes to go into engineering mode and reset it if you have the
patience. Best place to ask are groups where the experts in playing new
US releases on UK kit hang out. Google "region free" and model number.

Your PC might well also play it if you allow a DVD drive to lock down as
a foreign region playing device. You are only allowed a small number of
region changes before it dies. Blame the DMCA, RIAA and greedy US film
makers and their fat slimy lawyers for that.

Regards,
Martin Brown

On 05/12/12 16:21, Jim Hawkins wrote:
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?



rip it and re-record it

--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On 05/12/2012 16:21, Jim Hawkins wrote:
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?

Search online to see if your DVD player can be set to different regions
or any region. If not, you can pick up a DVD player for around twenty
quid - just check which are okay before buying.

SteveW

Jim Hawkins wrote:
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?


In this increasingly multi-national world (for the likes of big
companies like those involved in DVDs at least) isn't it time
nonsenses like region coding was abolished ?

On 2012-12-05, Bill wrote:

In message , Jim Hawkins
writes
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?



I'm not sure if it still applies, but some years ago when I last bought
a DVD player there was a way, with various button presses to set it to
play DVDs from any region. Maybe a Google search on your model number
and something like "region hack" could get you the info on how to
modify it.


Last time (only time) I bought a DVD player, it was sold as "region
free". I'm pretty sure it was some other model rebadged, as the
manual looked "reprinted" and had an additional card explaining the
Vulcan nerve pinch sequence on the remote to disable region-locking.

On 2012-12-05, Jim Hawkins wrote:

Jim Hawkins wrote:
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?


In this increasingly multi-national world (for the likes of big
companies like those involved in DVDs at least) isn't it time
nonsenses like region coding was abolished ?

It should have been abolished when it started, along with crap that
you can't skip at the beginning, but the media companies have paid a
lot to our legislators.

Buy this because paying money will deliver high quality

Some bootlegs are unreliable or of poor quality. ...

But this pitch only works to the extent that the paid-for item is
indeed of high quality. When anti-copying restrictions are added to
media, it actually lowers their quality relative to the
illegitimate item. I often hear from parents who download
unauthorised cartoons for their kids because the DVDs come with
long, unskippable (or difficult-to-skip) adverts, the worst of
which deploy "pester power" tactics intended to get kids to nag
their parents to buy something. As far as these parents are
concerned, spending money gets them a product that much worse than
the free version.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...-cory-doctorow

On 05/12/2012 20:24, Jim Hawkins wrote:
Jim Hawkins wrote:
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?


In this increasingly multi-national world (for the likes of big
companies like those involved in DVDs at least) isn't it time
nonsenses like region coding was abolished ?

This is US corporate greed at work. It is no surprise that the world
experts at hacking DVD players to be region free live in London. The
entire thing is to prevent UK movie buffs buying cheaper US DVDs and
getting the movies before the UK official release date.

It is a throwback to the good old days of physical film when they would
show them in America first and then send the out to the ROW. It makes
little or no sense in a digital era where the film is a cheap bitstream
rather than an expensive to make physical print copy.

Regards,
Martin Brown

"Jim Hawkins" wrote in message
m...

Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?

Try this site:

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks

If you can't find your exact model, you could try one that appears similar.
You will find that the cheaper your DVD player, the more chance it can be
made region free. Sony etc are very hard to hack without hardware whereas
the Asda cheapies etc are a simple "do this, do that" using the remote and
voila.

Paul DS.

In message
,
harry writes
On Dec 5, 4:21*pm, "Jim Hawkins" wrote:
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?

I have several DVDs I picked up abroad that my player won't play.
Play it via your computer.
There are programmes out there to convert it too.

If you try and play a wrong-region DVD on a PC, it won't play - but you
will get the option to change the region setting 5 times*, and then it
stays locked at the last one.
*I'm sure that this can be reset by devious means, but I've never gone
into it.

The easiest way of beating this is to run a program in the background
which makes the PC ignore the region coding (and other things too).
'DVD43' is a good choice.
http://www.dvd43.com/

Note that the default is to run on startup (I don't think it gives you
the choice),. If you don't want it running all the time, you can stop it
in the usual way(s), and only run it when you need it.

As others have suggested, see if you DVD player can be set to
'region-free'. All three of mine were chosen to be free-able.
Alternatively, treat yourself to a cheap £20 DVD player which ignores
region coding. Many/most do - even if their spec says 'Region 2' (but
try and find out first).
--
Ian

On 05/12/2012 16:21, Jim Hawkins wrote:

Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?

What the others said, plus:

Most players these days seem to have region free hacks. Note however
there are two way of doing this. One is to place the drive into region 0
which in theory plays discs from any region. Some discs include code to
specifically detect this and block play (sometimes called Region Coding
Enhanced (RCE) discs). For these you need a true multi region drive that
can be set to any region rather than "none" (or zero). So if purchasing,
take care with what you are getting if you plan to buy many discs from
other regions.

There are plenty of PC based tools for ripping and stripping region
coding. Some are now no longer maintained alas. In this case I would
actually recommend a paid for tool in the form of Slysoft's AnyDVD. This
operates at a low level in the system and simply makes any disc inserted
appear to the rest of the system like a region free unencrypted disc
with no need to actually process it in anyway - it happens real time and
transparently. Armed with a program like DVD shrink you could copy
stright from one DVD to anther where the copy has all restrictions
removed, and any content you don't want dropped. AnyDVD will also remove
all other playback restrictions, and unprotect audio "CDs" that have
been missold as CDs when in reality they are non standard discs that
fail in all sorts of interesting ways. The HD version also works on BluRay.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 06/12/2012 08:49, Ian Jackson wrote:

8



As others have suggested, see if you DVD player can be set to
'region-free'. All three of mine were chosen to be free-able.
Alternatively, treat yourself to a cheap £20 DVD player which ignores
region coding. Many/most do - even if their spec says 'Region 2' (but
try and find out first).

Region coding appears to be dead. My sony arrived region free. So even
the major supporters of region coding now ship region free players.

On 2012-12-05, Martin Brown wrote:

On 05/12/2012 16:21, Jim Hawkins wrote:
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?

Get the DVD player chipped down Tottenham Court Road (DVD player region
breakers to NASA) or get a chipped region free unit from the likes of
Richer Sounds.

I didn't know fancy places like that sold region-free DVD players; I
was under the impression you had to get them on-line (as I did) or
from Aldi/Lidl when they have them.


I don't know if it is still true but a few years back some very cheap
supermarket units can be hacked to region free using heckers magic
keycodes to go into engineering mode and reset it if you have the
patience. Best place to ask are groups where the experts in playing new
US releases on UK kit hang out. Google "region free" and model number.

Your PC might well also play it if you allow a DVD drive to lock down as
a foreign region playing device. You are only allowed a small number of
region changes before it dies. Blame the DMCA, RIAA and greedy US film
makers and their fat slimy lawyers for that.

I think if you use libdvdcss (on a GNU/Linux system, typically), you
don't have to worry about the drive's region setting.

In message om,
"dennis@home" writes
On 06/12/2012 08:49, Ian Jackson wrote:

8



As others have suggested, see if you DVD player can be set to
'region-free'. All three of mine were chosen to be free-able.
Alternatively, treat yourself to a cheap £20 DVD player which ignores
region coding. Many/most do - even if their spec says 'Region 2' (but
try and find out first).

Region coding appears to be dead. My sony arrived region free. So even
the major supporters of region coding now ship region free players.

Interesting. IIRC, Sony was one of those that were most awkward to make
region-free (if not impossible).

I have two now-ageing LiteOn recorders and a fairly recent LG, and these
were dead easy to change (just a few numbers on the remote control). I
also have an elderly £20 Alba player (Homebase once sold them), and
despite it saying 'Region 2' one the box, not only plays American Region
1 NTSC discs (as well as Region 2 PAL), but also has the option of
outputting either the original NTCS composite video (3.57MHz colour), or
the more usual pseudo-PAL (525-line, 4.43MHz).
--
Ian

On 06/12/12 08:49, Ian Jackson wrote:


If you try and play a wrong-region DVD on a PC, it won't play - but you
will get the option to change the region setting 5 times*, and then it
stays locked at the last one.

Not on Linux.
Just install the - ahem - 'unofficial' libdvdcss stuff..and Robert is
your relative..



--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

I think a lot of countries are saying that regionalisation is a form
ofimport restriction for a global market, but of course attempt to say that
to a struggling indipendent retailer who is not selling his region 2 stuff
as its cheaper from outside the uk or europe.

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"dennis@home" wrote in message
eb.com...
On 06/12/2012 08:49, Ian Jackson wrote:

8



As others have suggested, see if you DVD player can be set to
'region-free'. All three of mine were chosen to be free-able.
Alternatively, treat yourself to a cheap £20 DVD player which ignores
region coding. Many/most do - even if their spec says 'Region 2' (but
try and find out first).

Region coding appears to be dead. My sony arrived region free. So even the
major supporters of region coding now ship region free players.

On Thu, 6 Dec 2012 08:40:55 -0000
"Paul D Smith" wrote:

"Jim Hawkins" wrote in message
m...

Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?

Try this site:

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks

If you can't find your exact model, you could try one that appears
similar. You will find that the cheaper your DVD player, the more
chance it can be made region free. Sony etc are very hard to hack
without hardware whereas the Asda cheapies etc are a simple "do this,
do that" using the remote and voila.

Paul DS.

Thanks of reminding me about that site.
I just used it to set my Samsung DVD/VHS Player/Recorder, which I
got via Freecycle, to multi-region. I already have a multi-region, multi-System multi-Hz, multi-voltage, Toshiba DVD player,
but the Samsung is already connected into the viewing system.
--
Davey.

....snip...

Thanks of reminding me about that site.
I just used it to set my Samsung DVD/VHS Player/Recorder, which I
got via Freecycle, to multi-region. I already have a multi-region,
multi-System multi-Hz, multi-voltage, Toshiba DVD player,
but the Samsung is already connected into the viewing system.
....

Sadly my in-laws Toshiba DVD/video can't be unlocked, but then it's a US
model and the US doesn't seem to believe that there could possibly be
anything worth watching from outside of the country.

Paul DS

On Thu, 6 Dec 2012 15:47:19 -0000
"Paul D Smith" wrote:

...snip...

Thanks of reminding me about that site.
I just used it to set my Samsung DVD/VHS Player/Recorder, which I
got via Freecycle, to multi-region. I already have a multi-region,
multi-System multi-Hz, multi-voltage, Toshiba DVD player,
but the Samsung is already connected into the viewing system.
...

Sadly my in-laws Toshiba DVD/video can't be unlocked, but then it's a
US model and the US doesn't seem to believe that there could possibly
be anything worth watching from outside of the country.

Paul DS


I was living in the US when I got the Toshiba. There is a company
called DVDoverseas, near Chicago, that knows about this stuff.
I doubt they could help with unlocking, though.
I agree with you on the US insularity, thank goodness for the NPR
network.
--
Davey.

Ian Jackson wrote:
[snip]
I have two now-ageing LiteOn recorders and a fairly recent LG, and these
Isn't the LiteOn Label used by Sony, too?

Ian Jackson wrote:
In message
,
harry writes
On Dec 5, 4:21 pm, "Jim Hawkins" wrote:
Have just bought the DVD of one of my favourite films -
Alexander Korda's "The Thief of Bagdad".
On trying to play it in my DVD player, I get the message
"This DVD may not be played in your region."
Is there anything I can do to be able to play it ?

I have several DVDs I picked up abroad that my player won't play.
Play it via your computer.
There are programmes out there to convert it too.

If you try and play a wrong-region DVD on a PC, it won't play - but you
will get the option to change the region setting 5 times*, and then it
stays locked at the last one.



Depends on which dvd player is installed in the computer.


*I'm sure that this can be reset by devious means, but I've never gone
into it.

The easiest way of beating this is to run a program in the background
which makes the PC ignore the region coding (and other things too).
'DVD43' is a good choice.
http://www.dvd43.com/

Note that the default is to run on startup (I don't think it gives you
the choice),. If you don't want it running all the time, you can stop it
in the usual way(s), and only run it when you need it.

As others have suggested, see if you DVD player can be set to
'region-free'. All three of mine were chosen to be free-able.
Alternatively, treat yourself to a cheap £20 DVD player which ignores
region coding. Many/most do - even if their spec says 'Region 2' (but
try and find out first).

In message lekom.at,
Johann Klammer writes
Ian Jackson wrote:
[snip]
I have two now-ageing LiteOn recorders and a fairly recent LG, and these
Isn't the LiteOn Label used by Sony, too?

Dunno. Doubt it.
--
Ian