New Region Free hack for Philips 711 WITH STANDARD REMOTE

[zeppelinmad]

Hi All,

I'm new to this region free stuff and was wondering if any of you guys could verify something for me.

Yesterday I heard of a new hack for the philips 711 DVD stand alone. I say new because I've not seen it elsewhere on the web.

Other hacks for this set either use a special one for all handset, or using the standard remote, only allow you to change between R1 and R2 25 times before locking out.

This is why this new one interested me as it said that it would unlock to Region 0 with the standard remote and remain fixed in region 0 for ever.

Now I know that playing around with your remote on this machine can have disastorous effects so I was wondering if anyone else out there had seen this hack, tried it and found it to be safe.

Here's the details.

First ensure DVD is empty and drawer closed

Then key in PLAY,2,7,4

Screen should show ________ __________

Then key in 222 222 005 225

This should make it region free permamently

Now as I say I'm a little scardy cat when it comes to risking arsing up my machine as I wouldn't have a clue how to reset it if it went wrong. Also I'm a little dubious as the codes used in all the other hacks are PLAY 1,5,9.

Any help or advice would be welcome.

Also - what the hell is FIRMWARE ? What are the benefits of downloading new FIRMWARE and updating my machine ?

Regards
Andy

[tomreedtoon]

I don't know the validity of your hack. However...

"Firmware" is softer than "hardware." That is, it's like the hardware programming that runs the DVD player (or modem, or motherboard, or whatever). However, it is not permanent. It can be changed.

Many manufacturers do this to computer stuff for two reasons. They can fix bugs that crop up with the final production models of their machines, or they can update or customize the device, without having to open up the case and change things around.

It is possible for you to upgrade firmware yourself. You run a program, usually from the manufacturer's web site, that "erases" the original programming and writes the new stuff in. Be aware, though, that in upgrading firmware, if anything goes wrong, you may get a non-working motherboard or drive. The most dangerous thing is to do it to a computer motherboard. Other devices, like CD/DVD drives or modems, are safer. The trick is to exactly follow the manufacturer's instructions to the letter, and pray that you don't have a power failure in the middle of the 5-to-10 minute process.