All Harman Kardon (including DVD49) region hacks

[RunaruR]

Hi all,

I've planned to buy a DVD49 but have been putting this off until I could find a region free mod.
I stumbled upon a message on a German forum (http://www.cinefacts.de) and was surprised to find a link to a UK site offering many different region mods (free of charge, downloadable) for Harman Kardon players exclusively.

Has anyone tested these firmware mods? If so please report back

Link to the HK mods: http://www.apache.co.uk/vision/

Many thanks - enjoy.

PS: please be adviced since I have not bought my dvd49 yet, I do * NOT * know if these mods work. They do according to the German site. Hope someone here can confirm.

Cheers - Rick

[Krispy Kritter]

I haven't heard anything about them, but there is a note they only work on the International (230v) models and not the US (110v) models.

[RunaruR]

I can now confirm the firmware link I mentioned above works for the dvd49: i've updated mine and it's regionfree and RCE proof. The firmware contains the most recent Harman Kardon firmware, so there is no downside to upgrading - everything works like a charm as with the original firmware.

!! IMPORTANT NOTE !!
These software updates only work on the International, 230 V version of the products, and NOT on the 110V American versions.

Cheers - Rick

[JaPe23]

Hello,
I just got the HK DVD49 second hand, but it is not region free. I was hoping to find a key or a firmware to unlock it and found this webside. But the link to the firmware is already dead I know the last thread is a long time ago already, but I was hoping that someone might still have the firmware or knows how to find it. It would be great if somebody could help...

[mazinz]

Hello,
I just got the HK DVD49 second hand, but it is not region free. I was hoping to find a key or a firmware to unlock it and found this webside. But the link to the firmware is already dead I know the last thread is a long time ago already, but I was hoping that someone might still have the firmware or knows how to find it. It would be great if somebody could help...

This may help you ever so slightly-- the page does load if you run the url through archive.orgs "way back machine".

However the zip file you needed was not archived by them (in some cases the webtrawling "wayback machine" DOES also archive files as well)

the page has the file with this name:

dvd49p_0312_5f (dvd49p_0312_5f.zip to be exact)

and these install instructions:

"To Create The Patch CD

Click on the 'dvd49p_0312_5f' icon above to download the ZIP file and extract the files to a folder.
Write a DATA CD-Rom in lowest possible speed with the contents of the zip file.

To Run The Patch CD

Inset the DATA disc into the DVD 49 and follow the OSD menu " press Enter to start download".
OSD will show "In progress".
Eject disc and remove disc.
Warning - do not switch off DVD 49 for the next 30 minutes - the player will reset itself after some minutes and will then be ready to use. "


At least I was able to get you the file name of the firmware you needed which is a little more to go on with your search. Though Google brings up no results, perhaps it still may list (and be up somewhere) in other search engines

[jman98]

JaPe23 - Just so you know since you're new here...

It's getting harder every day to find region free DVD players unless you buy them from speciality resellers who have (usually) done customer hardware modifications to allow region free playback. Such players cost more because you have to pay for the specialized hardware. The days of being able to buy some random player in a store and take it home and make it region free are pretty much gone. A few players can still be made region free out of the box, but most can't anymore. In the USA and Canada it's even more grim with almost nothing sold being able to be made region free by consumers. Even for Australia, where at one time basically everything sold there could be unlocked, the manufacturers are now producing unlockable players.

Samsung and Sony players of all types are currently the most difficult to unlock in the world out of the box and basically if you buy one anywhere, you should assume it can't be unlocked.

My search skills are really good and I couldn't find your firmware either. I'd suggest searching if there is a Harmon Kardon DVD player forum somewhere and if so ask there if anybody can get it to you. Please note that if by some miracle you are actually able to find the firmware and make your player region free, if you ever update the firmware on it in the future after it has been made region free, you will probably permanently remove the ability for the player to be region free.

[JaPe23]

Hello again, thank you you very much for your quick help and information. This is really useful, thanks and I will not give up yet to find that firmware file. If someone has even more information it would be great if you could share it. Thank you already

[Tyree_Cooper]

Hello All!

Does anybody have the dvd49p_0312_5f.zip file? The waybackmachine has the page archived, but not the download. There is literally no other place in the world that mentions this file. Unless it has been posted to some torrent site...

Thanks!