Has anyone EVER succeeded to turn a Samsung BR player Region free from R1 ?

[Blackfox]

Hi!

I've read everywhere the REPEAT+code hack to turn Samsung Blu-Ray players region free. The code list posted so far is:

- from Region 1: 2 9 3 3 4
- from Region 2: 5 7 5 3 8
- from Region 3: 5 6 7 3 2
- from Region 4: 7 6 8 8 4
- from Region 5: 5 3 8 1 4
- from Region 6: 2 4 4 6 2

Many people have confirmed success unlocking from region 2, 4 and 5. However so far I still have to see ANYONE having success unlocking any Samsung BR player locked on Region 1 that way, whatever the model and the firmware version is.

So I'm beginning to suspect that the Region 1 code "2 9 3 3 4" could be bogus in the first place.

As for myself I can say that on my C5900 with firmware 1005.4 it definately doesn't work. And actually it's even worse because it doesn't even play PAL DVDs even when they are region 0 (and I'm sure because those are family videos).

Now maybe I'm wrong, so I'm asking : Has ANYONE EVER succeeded to unlock ANY Samsung BR player locked on region 1 that way???

[jman98]

Welcome to the forums. Unfortunately you will probably not ever be able to unlock this player. I haven't seen even one report of a BluRay player sold in the USA by anybody that can be unlocked by entering a code. The only players that are sold here that can be unlocked are by Oppo and Momitsu and both require hardware modifications to be done to unlock them. Note that manufacturers do use different hardware in different parts of the world so those codes may work but for all we know they may only work on models sold in Australia. Finally, it's also worth nothing that Samsung and Sony currently make the most difficult to unlock players in the world. I'm not sure, but I think that neither currently makes even a DVD player for the North American market that can be unlocked.

Your PAL DVD problem is known. Some players sold in North America simply don't support PAL in any fashion, not even on region free DVDs. So even if you were by some miracle to unlock this player you'd still have the PAL support issue.

[Blackfox]

Ok thanks for the info. Considering the current price of the C5900 in the US ($129 shipped) I have no problem keeping/adding a simple region free DVD player for region 2 movies and PAL family videos. The only annoying part is that I'll probably never be able to play a region B Blu-Ray, which can be a problem with some foreign movies not existing in region A or region free versions.

I wonder why the hell Samsung would be using a specific hardware mod in the US (obviously it can't be the cost). Any idea where we could get details on the exact hardware difference between units sold in different parts of the world and which part would have to be modified to turn the unit into the same state as those sold as region-free on the net for $300-$400?

[cgmark]

In order to change the region on the players you need to modify the firmware. Their isn't any real difference in the actual hardware just the code it is running.
The reason you can't use firmware from another country is because each region has a different key that is unique to boxes sold in that region. You have to get the firmware from another country and modify it to accept the current countries region code.


Another option is to flash the current box with the foreign firmware, but you need a full dump, not just the typical downloaded firmware.
When you use the usual firmware updates , the update doesn't target all the flash storage in the box, just some parts of it. The partitions in flash that store the drm and region are not normally updated. Usually requires opening the box, using a serial console or jtag to do a full flash.

[Blackfox]

Very interesting, thanks.

Still, I wonder then why they are preventing PAL on units sold in the US if there is no hardware difference: Since the player is already locked on region 1, locking it on NTSC too only annoys people trying to see region 0 PAL Dvds... and unlike for regional control, nobody is asking them to. Why on earth do they do that? It doesn't make any sense.

[hech54]

Even if you unlock the region code there is still the PAL/NTSC issue. If the player does not have a menu option to convert the PAL signal to NTSC....then you are still back to square one.

[cgmark]

Very interesting, thanks.

Still, I wonder then why they are preventing PAL on units sold in the US if there is no hardware difference: Since the player is already locked on region 1, locking it on NTSC too only annoys people trying to see region 0 PAL Dvds... and unlike for regional control, nobody is asking them to. Why on earth do they do that? It doesn't make any sense.

Because PAL isn't used in the same regions as NTSC. The chipsets used can work with any format but thanks to the mpaa things get locked out.

I'm working on something for getting around all of this but it is very complex and it will likely be several months before anything comes of it. It is basically a replacement for the player software they use within the player itself.

[jman98]

In order to change the region on the players you need to modify the firmware.

Technically speaking this is correct on BluRay players, but the statement could give inexperienced people the false hope that they need only find the right firmware to solve this problem. The "firmware modification" actually now requires specialized hardware to be installed and it's no longer a case of just installing new firmware. It's my understanding that the very first Oppo BD players could simply have new firmware installed to become region free, but this is not true now.

[jman98]

Very interesting, thanks.

Still, I wonder then why they are preventing PAL on units sold in the US if there is no hardware difference: Since the player is already locked on region 1, locking it on NTSC too only annoys people trying to see region 0 PAL Dvds... and unlike for regional control, nobody is asking them to. Why on earth do they do that? It doesn't make any sense.

Sometimes companies do indeed produce players on completely different hardware in different parts of the world. So model X may be made with completely different hardware for North American than model X for Australia or Europe. I think that's nuts from a manufacturing standpoint, but Samsung is one company that seems to do this.

Note that the general industry thought in North America is that NOBODY has any reason at all to try to play PAL video of any type, so supporting it is a waste of time and money. The truth is that the average North American consumer knows absolutely nothing about PAL and NTSC and could explain neither. To be fair, it is more difficult to support PAL playback on NTSC hardware than the reverse, but still there is extreme resistance to supporting PAL in North America. Philips and Pioneer are among the few companies you can always count on to do this. Even many HDTVs such as Samsung's models do not support PAL at all. I'm pretty negative about Hollywood but the real reason may be that the potential for PAL->NTSC playback problems is too great because the average consumer knows nothing about this and doesn't know how to set up his/her equipment to do it successfully even if it is supported, so the default approach is to not support it.

[Blackfox]

I'm working on something for getting around all of this but it is very complex and it will likely be several months before anything comes of it. It is basically a replacement for the player software they use within the player itself.

Are you thinking of building for Blu-Ray players something like what DD-WRT is for routers? That sounds like a cool idea, but that would still require special equipment to flash the firmware the first time, right?

[cgmark]

I'm working on something for getting around all of this but it is very complex and it will likely be several months before anything comes of it. It is basically a replacement for the player software they use within the player itself.

Are you thinking of building for Blu-Ray players something like what DD-WRT is for routers? That sounds like a cool idea, but that would still require special equipment to flash the firmware the first time, right?

That is what I am thinking . Unfortunately it requires dealing with one of my least favorite companies, Broadcom. They are one of the least open companies when it comes to hardware . Just about everything they have in regards to documentation requires an NDA to access. Otherwise you have to do trial and error. Mediatek is another chipset vendor and with them it isn't a problem as I already have NDA access for some of their DVD chips, getting bluray shouldn't be a problem. I have enough background in embedded gear to be able to do complete dumps and pull the box keys, also have gotten a bluray player to boot from the network using my own custom kernel but accessing player features is a bit more involved because I have to take apart their applications and figure out the api. I have to tread a thin line when it comes to areas of DRM so I can already say I will not myself release a region free firmware. I will provide what information I find out though and someone else is free to squash one and release it.



It may involve special hardware just like the first users of DD-WRT had to use. Most of the boards though can be accessed with a Jtag and the interfaces can be bought for about $20 . Connecting it isn't hard , some boards have pins already in place for it, others would require a soldering iron to attach the cable. But nothing someone couldn't learn in a few hours. Some players may allow the firmware to be replaced using the boot loader, just depends on the model and version.


I just hate seeing all that hardware inside these boxes not being used because some company decided not to bother with better firmware.

[Blackfox]

It sounds very interesting indeed. I hope you'll manage to find the time to progress in that direction. I'm sure others will help you once the project is started for good!