How do you make Pioneer DVR-115D Region free?

[scan_disk]

Hi there, I just got a Pioneer DVR-115d after my 112 broke just after going out of warranty!!

Anyway I was wondering how you get this drive to be region free?

I've patched the Firmware up to 1.18, and tried that firware tweaking tool, but it sets the drive to
RPC1 setting..When I check with drive check it says that the drive is region lockied and i have 4 tries left!!

Is there a way to region free this drive, and could some please explain simpy for this n00b?

Many thanks 8)

[budz]

Use media code speed edit to make it region free. Go to the PIONEER FORUM at Cdfreaks.com. Search is your friend.

[scan_disk]

Just for other n00bs, the idiot way to do it is here (as are links to firmwares to RPC2)

http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?t=43868

Basically you:

1. Download firmware and extract into folder
2. Download DVDRFlash.exe and copy exe in same folder as firmware
3. run DVDRFlash from command line and it will give you drive info, RPC info and drive name
4. Run the command from command line :

dvrflash.exe -ff D: S0013000.122 <- or whatever yr patch is called

5. You'll get onscreen instrction, wait 30 sex until finished.

6. Reboot. Region free. Yipee!

I'm just a bit peeved that my old 112 burner just carked it in just over a year, when I've had a LiteOn for nearly 4 years with no dramas!!!!

I guess they design obsolesce, though it's disgusting what this does to the environment. They deserve to be cracked, hacked and unlocked in fair protest!!

[budz]

Just for other n00bs, the idiot way to do it is here (as are links to firmwares to RPC2)

http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?t=43868

Basically you:

1. Download firmware and extract into folder
2. Download DVDRFlash.exe and copy exe in same folder as firmware
3. run DVDRFlash from command line and it will give you drive info, RPC info and drive name
4. Run the command from command line :

dvrflash.exe -ff D: S0013000.122 <- or whatever yr patch is called

5. You'll get onscreen instrction, wait 30 sex until finished.

6. Reboot. Region free. Yipee!

I'm just a bit peeved that my old 112 burner just carked it in just over a year, when I've had a LiteOn for nearly 4 years with no dramas!!!!

I guess they design obsolesce, though it's disgusting what this does to the environment. They deserve to be cracked, hacked and unlocked in fair protest!!

Have you ever thought some people don't wanna go through the hassles of crossflashing the PIONEER 115 or 215 just to get DVD-RAM & LABELFLASH? I guess not huh. I have enough drives that are DVD-RAM capable and I don't even use it since DVD-RAM is too expensive for my taste.

As for the bitsetting and region free it's so much easier to use MEDIA CODE SPEED EDIT.

[bevills1]

Does using MEDIA CODE SPEED EDIT void warranty like cross flash does?

[budz]

Does using MEDIA CODE SPEED EDIT void warranty like cross flash does?

Like any other 3rd party firmware/program yes it will void the manufacturer's warranty.

[TIMELINE]

Yes it will void the warranty but did anyone send the defective drive with 3rd party firmware to Pioneer for repair and get rejected?

[budz]

Yes it will void the warranty but did anyone send the defective drive with 3rd party firmware to Pioneer for repair and get rejected?

As far as I know PIONEER does check the drives if 3rd party firmware is used. IMHO step up and just buy a new drive if you fail to flash the drive correctly with any 3rd party firmware.

[slipkid]

:roll: Have you ever thought some people don't wanna go through the hassles of crossflashing the PIONEER 115 or 215 just to get DVD-RAM & LABELFLASH? I guess not huh. I have enough drives that are DVD-RAM capable and I don't even use it since DVD-RAM is too expensive for my taste.

As for the bitsetting and region free it's so much easier to use MEDIA CODE SPEED EDIT. :wink:

thanks for this thread!

i just bought a pioneer 115 to replace my dying lite-on 20a1h after further researching it here, on the 'net, reading about it on cdrfreaks etc

the new drive hasn't arrived yet but when it does i plan on upgrading the firmware to whatever the latest is, and also making it region free

i've spent about 30 minutes looking on cdrfreaks, reading threads about media speed edit, and i cannot as yet figure out how to use MSE for making this drive region free - can someone please either point me in the right direction on cdrfreaks with exact links as to how to use MSE to make this drive region free or outline the steps in an idiot-proof way (which i need) as above by scan_disc for DVDR_FLASH??? otherwise i guess i have no choice but to do it the DVDR_FLASH way, since at least i know what those steps are, thx to the info above


ALSO - i just read this comment on MSE up here:
" Conceptually, a great idea, but the app adds the entire hardware database to your registry, which can slow down overall Windows performance. Much better if the author would create a text or .XML file that the app could reference. It works fine, but take a look at the Reg entries it adds."

that to me could be a problem - i don't want my registry all mucked up - wouldn't DVDR_FLASH avoid this issue? why does budz think MSE is preferable to the DVDR_FLASH method? (no disrespect intended, i am just trying to understand all the issues then make an informed decision as to what tool/method to use)

[slipkid]

Just for other n00bs, the idiot way to do it is here (as are links to firmwares to RPC2)

http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?t=43868

Basically you:

1. Download firmware and extract into folder
2. Download DVDRFlash.exe and copy exe in same folder as firmware
3. run DVDRFlash from command line and it will give you drive info, RPC info and drive name
4. Run the command from command line :

dvrflash.exe -ff D: S0013000.122 <- or whatever yr patch is called

5. You'll get onscreen instrction, wait 30 sex until finished.

6. Reboot. Region free. Yipee!

can you explain to me what patch i would need to make an IDE 115 drive region free?? i am trying to understand what you wrote from reading the phBB link that you quoted and it looks like they mention these three patches, but which is the right one???? or do you need to do all 3??? i thought i was understanding things but i see instead that i am totally confused after all

>>>
dl_file.php?site=firmx&file=DVRA15J.zip (Adds Labelflash+Bitsetting)
dl_file.php?site=firmx&file=DVR115.zip (Adds DVDRam Burning, A15J)
dl_file.php?site=firmx&file=DVR115D.zip RPC1
<<<

[slipkid]

(yes i am a noob at this)

after reading more and more and more i believe that "RPC1" means no region checking in the hardware, thus this would be the patch needed to make a 115 region free (yes)?

dl_file.php?site=firmx&file=DVR115D.zip RPC1


i will take all this up at the phBB forum but just in case someone else like me is reading this thread here thought i should say this

i am far from understanding what needs to be done though

[lordsmurf]

"RPC1" means no region checking in the hardware, thus this would be the patch needed to make a 115 region free.

Yes.

[budz]

you can just use MEDIA CODE SPEED EDIT to make the PIONEER 115 region free.

[slipkid]

you can just use MEDIA CODE SPEED EDIT to make the PIONEER 115 region free.

As you keep saying. Not as simple as it sounds for someone (like me) that knows nothing about how though. I have received my new 115D today and think I have figured out how to make it region free as far as the drive hardware setting goes.

For anyone else reading this that wants to know HOW here is what I have been able to figure out after many hours of reading forum threads like the one on CDFREAKS about MCSE, plus much other stuff on the web etc. I have not yet actually "flashed" this modified rom on my new burner so I don't know if this method works or not but am hoping that it does. I have gone back and forth in trying to decide which method (MCSE) or DVRFLASH as above is "easier" to figure out & do, or less risky, or whatever and at this point I am thinking it is using MCSE and PIONEER's flasher rather than trying to understand everything with DVRFLASH which like MCSE only got more and more confusing the more I tried to figure it out.

- download the latest firmware from pioneer
http://wwwbsc.pioneer.co.jp/product-e/ibs/device_e/dev00001r_e.html#firmware1

- EG: the file that i downloaded for my drive (dvr-115D) was called "DVR115D_FW122EU.EXE"

- if you just run the EXE above i think it is a selfextracting zipfile which then expands into 2 other files that then run automatically, that then as is "flash upgrade" the drive; one of those is a program/EXE that does the work and the other is the ROM version - i did not run this EXE, for what i did, read on...

- if you want to CHANGE something like making it region free, i think you need to do the extracting manually using something like 7-zip, winzip, or winrar, to get the 2 files inside, which in this case are called "A0814001.122" and "R115D.exe"

- to change it to "no region", you use MediaCodeSpeedEdit to modify the firmware file ("A0814001.122") then you flash the drive with that modified firmware rather than the original firmware file; run MCSE and "load" this file, then look in the right bottom corner of the program window beneath drive settings, and there is an option to turn on called "RPC1 Patch" which if you select that the drive will no longer keep track of regions in hardware

- after you do that you need to select "SAVE" - which then writes out a new firmware file, by default called "A0814001_speedpatched.122"

- then you should backup or move your original firmware file elsewhere for safekeeping, then RENAME the new file back to the original filename of "A0814001.122" and make sure you have both this file and the R115D.exe in the same directory

- then if you run the downloaded pioneer flash program called "R115D.exe", that will flash the new firmware with the RPC1 modification

- if your drive is already at this firmware revision, you will not be able to run the R115D.exe file to flash it, since pioneer will not let you flash the same revision, HOWEVER you can use MCSE to modify the R115D.EXE to change this behavior!! to do that, run MCSE and load the R115D.EXE instead of the firmware file; at the bottom right hand part of the program window will be an option called "allow same to same flashing" - select that, then SAVE the file; again when you're done you will get a new file called something like "R115D_speedpatched.exe" by default - i don't think that you need to rename it to use it with the firmware file but for sanity sake that is what i am going to try when i do it

So far to start I have simply extracted the flash EXE and ROM file and upgraded to v1.22 and am using the drive. I also used MCSE to modify the EXE so I can flash it again and also modified the firmware to set it to RPC1. I am hoping that will work but I have not tried it yet since I have so much data I need to get off my hard drive first in case I ruin the drive with the RPC1 flash attempt.

Obviously as I stated above I am fairly new at this and do not claim that anything I wrote above is actually correct, it is just what I have been able to figure out so far, and I am hoping it is right. Anyone that knows better please feel free to correct anything wrong that I said above.

[budz]

What you wrote out is too lengthy for someone who wouldn't know how to flash a dvd burner.
There's a simple guide in using MCSE with Pioneer drives that member zebadee did at CDFreaks. Much easier to use since it has pictures on how to flash with MCSE.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f150/pioneer-mcse-patching-238902/

[slipkid]

:wink: What you wrote out is too lengthy for someone who wouldn't know how to flash a dvd burner.
There's a simple guide in using MCSE with Pioneer drives that member zebadee did at CDFreaks. Much easier to use since it has pictures on how to flash with MCSE. :wink: :)

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f150/pioneer-mcse-patching-238902/

thanks, i saw that guide (only looked at the first page) and it really didn't make much sense to me at the time - now that i understand more it makes a lot more sense though

i realize what i wrote above may not be easily understood either but i think that is par for the course with this stuff for newbies like me, until you actually try to work on this stuff things don't sink in

it's like it is a foreign language when you first read it and it all makes no sense (at least that is how it was for me)......i'm hoping at least something in my text will connect with someone else trying to figure it out though if they read this...the more i read, the more different things kind of sunk in, then finally - after like 2 or 3 days - i started to understand enough to put the pieces together to understand how things work

i still haven't tried the flash of the modified rom or exe though, will wait till tomorrow, still have more i want to burn off my harddrive first b4 i risk ruining the drive...will keep fingers crossed when i do it!

[budz]

thanks, i saw that guide (only looked at the first page) and it really didn't make much sense to me at the time - now that i understand more it makes a lot more sense though

It's not hard to understand as zebadee went through each step very well.