Ripping a BD from a different REGION to the one you're in ???

[phase52001]

Hello everbody; (and "sorry" if this issue is already addressed elsewhere);

I'm in Australia; (BD Region Code B); with a MATSHITA BD-MLT UJ240AS bluray reader/burner purchased locally.
I have a Mac-Mini running Lion. (Also Windows XP running under Parrellels).

I can watch and rip "Region Code B" Bluray films with no issues.

I had previously purchased a "Region Code A" film from the USA which I hoped I'd be able to rip and watch once I got the BD reader/burner. However when I put the "Region Code A" BD in the MATSHITA it will not mount. I've tried everything I could think of and done as much research as I could to see if I could figure it out..

As I understand it BD drive's don't have a "region code" built in. Is this correct?
I though that if it did, it would probably be "Region Code B" which is why it won't mount the "Region Code A" BD.
And the fix would be to flash the drive as I've done with DVD drives in the past.

From what I read the BD disc itself has the code which stops the syetm from reading it.

Can anyone advise how to get around this issue? I've tried some PC software which claims to bypass the region code, but as the BD disc itself doesn't mount I can't say if it works or not.

Many Thanks

[fritzi93]

What are you ripping with?

You could use a driver-level decrypter like AnyDVDHD or DVDFabPasskey, which can bypass region coding. Passkey also has a free version that should work for most discs.

Good luck.

[phase52001]

What are you ripping with?

Yes, sorry, good point. Should have said.

_____________________________________________
Mac Mini running OS 10.7 (Lion)
Panasonic MATSHITA BD-MLT UJ240AS USB BD burner.

If I insert a "Region Code B" BD disc in the drive it will mount on ths desktop and I can rip it with Make MKV or Foxreal Blu-ray Ripper (Mac Edition, same as PC version). No problems.

If I insert a "Region Code A" BD disc in the drive it will NOT mount on ths desktop and I can't rip or play it.

You could use a driver-level decrypter like AnyDVDHD or DVDFabPasskey, which can bypass region coding. Passkey also has a free version that should work for most discs.

Good luck.

Windows XP running in Parrellels with the BD drive attached
Panasonic MATSHITA BD-MLT UJ240AS USB BD burner.

If I insert a "Region Code B" BD disc in the drive it will mount on ths desktop and Windows asks me what I want to do with the BD disc. I can rip it with Make MKV (PC edition) or DVDFAB 8.1.12 (as suggested). No problems.

If I insert a "Region Code A" BD disc in the drive Windows will NOT mount on ths desktop. The system appears to look at it, the BD drive light flashes for a bit, so it is being read, but then ... nothing. If I start DVD FAB it doesn't see the BD disc. If I attempt to open the drive by clicking on it, the system assumes I'm looking for a folder. I just cannot get to the BD disc in the drive.

I'll give DVDFABPasskey a try and report back.

Thank you.

[fritzi93]

XP doesn't come with the ability to recognize udf 2.5 format, which of course Blu-Ray files are. But I know nothing about running Windows on a Mac. I presume you can install udfreader in your virtual XP? You might need it if you're not using an intermediary program (like DVDFab) to copy files to hard drive. With a driver-level decrypter, you do just that, copy files directly.

[EDIT] Only run one decrypter program at a time. They *will* conflict with each other.

[jman98]

This may not help the original poster to fix his specific issue, whatever that is, but I'll post it as it may be of interest to others who find this thread. I am running Win 7 64 bit and I haven't had any problems to use AnyDVD to rip a region B BluRay disc (I live in region A). AnyDVD intercepts the BluRay when it detects a new disc in the drive before anything else on the PC can act on it. Maybe DVDFab does not work this way and that's the problem.

[phase52001]

XP doesn't come with the ability to recognize udf 2.5 format, which of course Blu-Ray files are. But I know nothing about running Windows on a Mac. I presume you can install udfreader in your virtual XP? You might need it if you're not using an intermediary program (like DVDFab) to copy files to hard drive. With a driver-level decrypter, you do just that, copy files directly.

[EDIT] Only run one decrypter program at a time. They *will* conflict with each other.

Windows XP has no problems with reader Bluray discs provided they are Region B, which is where I am.
It just acknowledge Region A discs.
I'll give udfreader a try. Thank you.

This may not help the original poster to fix his specific issue, whatever that is, but I'll post it as it may be of interest to others who find this thread. I am running Win 7 64 bit and I haven't had any problems to use AnyDVD to rip a region B BluRay disc (I live in region A). AnyDVD intercepts the BluRay when it detects a new disc in the drive before anything else on the PC can act on it. Maybe DVDFab does not work this way and that's the problem.

I've installed the trail version of AnyDVD HD, but really haven't had a chance to work with it in any detail yet. I'll do that later today. My first try was unsuccessful with the Region A BD disc.

It's an interesting problem. I wonder if it's because I'm running Windows in Parrellels?

[phase52001]

hello fritzi93 & jman98;

"udfreader" does allow me to read Bluray discs as you described, but it doesn't resolve the BD Region code issue unfortunatly.

"AnyDVD HD" also doesn't help when it comes to loading a Region A BD. It's fine with Region B however.

"DVDFABPasskey" also didn't help. (And yes, I did have to uninstall it to use "AnyDVD HD".

I beginning to wonder if I have to "flash" the BD burner to set the DVD region to zero, so that the OS won't somehow pick up the BD drive as DVD Region 4 and thus BD Region B ..... (if there is some link of course).

[fritzi93]

I wasn't able to find a lot of info about that drive, but an old post on the AnyDVD forum says that Matshita/Panasonic burners have a peculiarity that prevents AnyDVD from bypassing region coding. Quite an old post, and referring to their DVD burners, but it's suggestive that the problem *may* be in the hardware. You may be forced to reset the drive's region. (BTW, the term "flash" usually pertains to firmware, not region changes.)

Have you tried flashing the firmware using ImgBurn to locate an available update?

[EDIT] You're unlucky with that disc being region-locked. Quite a lot of Blu-rays are not locked, perhaps half or more. Most probably because manufacturing a single version would reduce production costs, and Blu-ray hasn't yet taken off to the point where it challenges DVD. Not nearly.

http://bluray.liesinc.net/

[phase52001]

I'm still working on this problem. Just a little busy at the moment. I'll be back as soon as I have some more info.

BTW: The Bluray I'm trying to rip is "Death Race 2000" which is REGION A locked. I'd be interested to hear back from anyone who's ripped a bluray from outside the region they are in, who can confirm that that bluray disc was region locked, and not region free.

Thanks everyone for your help.

[phase52001]

And here's the solution such as it is.

OS 10.7 LION won't recognise BD disc's.
Either that or it's something about the Mac Mini USB hardware, which I don't think is likely.

I plugged the MATSHITA BD-MLT UJ240AS bluray reader/burner into my ancient PowerMac G4 running OS 10.5.8 and it recognised and mounted a blank BD-RE and BD-R disc without any issue. I then tried the commercial BD disc I was having trouble with and it mounted straight away. Not having any bluray ripper software for 10.5.8 I couldn't rip it, but it did mount.

So there you have it. It's OS LION 10.7 or the Mac-Mini or both together.
Thanks to everyone for their help.
Robert.