Possible to switch firmware to enable Xvid playback?

[giannid]

Hello,

I have a Lite-On LVW-5045 DVD-Recorder with built-in hard drive. The 5045 does not play back divx/xvid files, however the 5046 does.

Since this is a hard-drive model, do you think it's possible to use the firmware update for the 5046 on the 5045 to enable xvid playback?

Is it possible, and or will it potentially damage my DVR?

Thanks,

Giannid

[jman98]

It's NOT a firmware issue! It's a chip issue. DVD players that play Divx/Xvid have a special chip inside the player where all they do is decode that format. This chip is not used at all for DVD/VCD/SVCD/audio CD playback. If your Lite-On recorder lacks the chip, updating the firmware will do no good and may break your recorder. You'll need to find out if the recorder has a Divx decoding chip, but I can't imagine any circumstances in which Lite-On would pay for the chip, install it, and then not use it, so there is no realistic chance for you that this player will support Divx/Xvid.

[giannid]

Okay, so I won't be doing any update there.

Thanks for the good advice.

[RabidDog]

NO ! you could be wrong jman98.. I think in, say, Europe.. a certain brand of dvd / hd recorder is sold in continental Europe and plays back xvid /divx but when the EXACT same brand machine is sold in the UK the divx/xvid playback is disabled. This may be for legal reasons HOWEVER I think they simply want to stick it to us in the uk, forcing us to buy their more expensive player. Most CE devices are sold on a worldwide basis, so disabling some features for some markets actually costs money ,, see CD printing printers in the US.

[mats.hogberg]

It can be like RabidDog says - but unlikely. I have one DVD player that didn't play MP3 disks(!) - Stupid me didn't even look for that feature, as I thought all DVD players double as MP3 players. After lots and lots of Googling, I finally found (or did someone help me here?) a hack (or rather a way to enter the hidden setup menu) where it was just to enable MP3 playback. Obviously, this player was sold with different features enabled in different areas.

/Mats