How to mount DVD that's not my region?

[phillip9]

I acquired a DVD movie that is not my region (my region is USA/region 1), Naturally, it doesn't play on any of my DVD players. I thought I would try to make a region1 copy of it using DVD backup and MTR but the disk will not mount on the desk top in my Mac (Quicksilver G4, OS 10.3). Instead, after several seconds, the disc ejects. Can anyone suggest anything that I might try?

[galactica]

a non region disk should still mount.

it sounds more like its not a supported format.

what version 10.3 are you running and do you happen to have a dual format drive?

[phillip9]

I am using OS 10.3.2. The DVD (Kil Bill II) yiel

[phillip9]

I am using OS 10.3.2. The DVD (Kil Bill II) yields varying results on each of the 3 Set-Top DVD players that I have. On some, the TV displays an error that says something like cannot play because of region conflict. On my Philips DVD Player, the pictuire rolls vertically and I have no control that can bring me to a menu. When I insert the DVD into my Mac, several seconds pass and then the disc ejects ... I never get a desktop icon. It's no terribly important that I solve this problem ... I can always rent the movie, but I was hoping there might be a simple answer.

[TugBoat]

It should mount...
Your profile says you have a 103 & 105, same on both?
You might try looking in the DVD Hacks section (upper left) and see if you can find a region hack for your set-tops. It seems that most of those hacks don't work in the U.S. though

[phillip9]

I have an internal 103 and an external 105. The 105 rejects the disc every time. I was reluctant to try the 103 again because yesterday I could not eject the disk (it never mounted on the desktop) and I had to reboot with the mousebutton down to get the disk out. But in view of your question, I tried the 103 again and the disk mounted. I have now used DVD Backup to create a video_ts folder in which the video should be region free (I had selected region free). I will burn the video_ts folder to a DVDR and see if it plays. Any suggestions before I do? Thanks for your time.

[TugBoat]

That's good news.
If it were me, I'd use a modern ripper that can handle RCE, like MTR or YadeX. I guess it doesn't matter with a Region X disc. But, I've never used a disc from a different Region before....
enjoy 8)

[WiseWeasel]

The other problem is that the disc appears to be PAL and you're in an NTSC region, or vice-versa (from the symptoms of the Phillips DVD player. The copy you make will still have this problem. You'll have to either find a way to switch the color format of your DVD player (if your TV can handle the other color format), or use your computer to play the movie.

[phillip9]

Wiseweasel. You're absolutely right, The DVD turns out to be PAL and, as you point out, any copy also is PAL.

[WiseWeasel]

There are methods of converting the color format, but's it's a big pain in the rear. It would involve ripping only the main title VOB, using something like MTR in Title only mode, then using something like DVDConverter (part of MPEG2Works) to convert from PAL to NTSC, and then use something like DVD Studio Pro or Sizzle to master a new DVD. I'm not sure if it's possible to keep subtitles with this conversion process, and it's pretty time-consuming. The easiest alternative would be to find the movie in NTSC format, if it's available.