un-hack a hack?

[hnw]

There are hacks for modifying US dvd players to play dvd's from UK. What happens if the hack causes problems? I haven't seen any hacks to restore the original configuration. Are there any?

[jman98]

Hacks rarely go wrong and either work or don't work but depending on how involved the hack is there can be some non-zero chance of bricking your player. In cases of bricking a player the odds of being able to fix it yourself are quite low. Usually the only way to do this is to replace the firmware with an older version and pray that works.

[hnw]

Thanks. The hack for my Oritron 3116 to play a dvd I bought from UK converts to PAL according to the directions but 99% of what I play are NTSC, standard US dvd's so do I assume that now they won't play?

[hech54]

The conversion function inside a DVD player is not a hack....it's a menu option. The region free hack applied to the player has nothing to do with PAL and NTSC.

[hnw]

With no disc in trays. Go to DVD menu. Wait for it to read "NO DISC". Press SLOWLY 16719. A new menu will appear.
Using down arrow key to navigate and "OK" to select, set destroy configuration tables to "yes" by pressing right arrow.
Using up arrow key to navigate and "OK" to select, set region to "0"
unit will switch to pal.
cycle power.
press down arrow 3 times,
right arrow once,
down arrow once,
then "OK"
If you go back to the secret menu
It now will read:
Region code...All
TV Standard...PAL
Country...Unknown

I found the manual and there are instructions for selecting PAL/NTSC so I should be ok. UK means I'm Utterly Klueless.

Thanks for your help. Happy New Year.

[jman98]

TV Standard...PAL

I want to warn you. "TV Standard...PAL" does NOT mean "Play PAL DVDs". It means "Send all video to my TV in PAL format". This has a good chance of not working on your TV unless you know that your TV supports PAL. You should try to figure out how to set this value to either NTSC (plays everything as NTSC and will definitely work with your TV) or MULTI/ANY (sends PAL out as PAL and NTSC out as NTSC to your TV - assumes your TV supports both - does no conversion).

[hnw]

I was able to run the hack and make changes. The setup shows PAL where it showed NTSC before. I put in a 'normal' dvd and it played as expected. I haven't yet received the UK dvd so I won't know if it will play as I hope. I'll try fiddling with the hack again to see if I can play with the settings as you suggest. I might have made permanent changes but at least the player still works.

Again thanks for the help.

[jman98]

I was able to run the hack and make changes. The setup shows PAL where it showed NTSC before. I put in a 'normal' dvd and it played as expected.

You're VERY lucky.

You do understand that you are now playing EVERYTHING on this player, including region 1 DVDs, in PAL, right? I would find converting NTSC region 1 DVDs to PAL to display on a TV set in the USA less than optimal though.

[hnw]

This dvd stuff is too weird. When I look at the hidden menu a la the hack it shows PAL. When I look at the 'normal' options it shows NTSC. And I now seem unable to use the hack to edit the 'hidden' menu. I can view it, just not edit it. And the company that makes the unit seems to be impossible to access. Makes one pine for the beta v vhs days.

[[_chef_]]

Be lucky there even was a hack!!