Region Hack for Sony BDP-S790

[prg]

Region Hack for Sony BDP-S790.

[aedipuss]

yeah right. good luck with that. since you are in au your only hope would be sony au. try them.

[prg]

Any other suggestions?

[jman98]

Any other suggestions?

Yes. You might just ask a proper question instead of posting a declarative statement.

As you live in Australia, we've had reports that the manufacturers are required by Aussie law to support unlocking for DVD playback. We've had reports of Aussies who have contacted the manufacturer's support office in Australia and gotten unlock codes. That would seem to be worth trying.

Just for future reference, outside of Australia, Sony and Samsung players of all types are the most difficult to unlock in the world and the vast majority of players that both companies sell can never be unlocked. But those rules may be different in Australia.

[KBeee]

It's not actually Oz law - it was more of a "suggestion" to manufacturers by an Aus. Gov. Fair Competition agency, that most DVD makers took the hint and allowed reasonably easy unlocking for DVD players. But that was 4 or 5 years ago, and the manufacturers have had that time to lobby the Aus Gov, and throw the BD license into the mix to tighten the screw on consumers.

[Viking61]

If it is only DVD regionfree you want, the easiest way is to buy a "regionfree remote" like this one:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-DVD-Blu-ray-player-multi-region-hack-remote-/1106653030...item19c42a842d

I bought one for Panasonic blu-ray players from the same seller, and it works fine. But be aware that it only makes the DVD part regionfree, not the blu-ray part.

You can also do it yourself for free if you have a Harmony Universal remote by entering the Pronto hex codes you can find on other forums.

[prg]

Thanks very much guys for your professional hints.
I will try all avenues.

[jman98]

Viking61's suggestion is absolutely terrible. I strongly suggest ignoring it. Not only does it require you to spend more money, but due to firmware changes over time there is always some risk that the player will no longer be able to be made region free via this method and you will have wasted your money. Remotes usually aren't returnable for refunds unless they do not work at all. Plus his post implies incorrectly that this method works for all players and it does not. Most players don't need special remotes to enter unlock codes. That is some bs specific to Sony and maybe one or two other manufacturers. I've got an unlocked Insignia BluRay player and an unlocked Philips DVD player and I only needed to use the standard remotes that came with the players to unlock them.

[KBeee]

Sony's players need a Service Remote, not a normal Home Remote to make the DVD part of their BD players region free.
Or a OFA, Pronto, laptop with IR etc. if you're happy to enter the codes manually.
Easiest way, as has already been suggested, is to buy or rent an already set up special RC if multi region is important to you.
Still easier than buying a chip and soldering it inside the machine as I had to do for a Sony S305 once

[jman98]

Sony's players need a Service Remote, not a normal Home Remote to make the DVD part of their BD players region free.

Nobody is disputing that.

Again, the advice is bad because...
1) You probably can't return the remote if this fails to make your player region free.
2) There is a chance that it will fail due to firmware changes over time or that it will only work for players sold in other parts of the world and not at all on what the OP has. That chance of failure may be less than 50%, but it is most assuredly not zero.
3) The original post seems to imply that this is the solution to ALL players that need to be unlocked and that is wrong.

And it's worth mentioning that entering those codes is a real bitch even if does work.

[Viking61]

Well, as I said in my post, I did buy such a "regionfree remote" for my Panasonic player and it worked fine. To be clear, it is not the same remote as you use for Sony players. They look exactly the same, but I suppose different Pronto codes. Anyway, I'm happy with it and the regionfree setting has survived several firmware upgrades. If the OP only wants DVD regionfree, I don't understand why you think it's such a terrible solution. The remote itself costs only £11.99. After use I sold mine on to others with similar regionfree needs for half price. I have no reason to doubt that this remote works for all the Sony models listed in the ad.

[KBeee]

Sony's players need a Service Remote, not a normal Home Remote to make the DVD part of their BD players region free.

Nobody is disputing that.

Again, the advice is bad because...
1) You probably can't return the remote if this fails to make your player region free.
2) There is a chance that it will fail due to firmware changes over time or that it will only work for players sold in other parts of the world and not at all on what the OP has. That chance of failure may be less than 50%, but it is most assuredly not zero.
3) The original post seems to imply that this is the solution to ALL players that need to be unlocked and that is wrong.

And it's worth mentioning that entering those codes is a real bitch even if does work.

1) Any reputable (remember they aren't CRIMINALS outside the US yet) will refund you if it doesn't work - some of these companies have been around nearly 10 years
2) If it fails (unless you bought it second had from ebay) you'll be refunded
3) The OP just asked for a hack for DVD for a Sony BDP-S790 - no mention of "ALL players"
And I know How Hard entering codes to do this is - I've done it MANY times Thank You

[jman98]

If you are allowed to return it, then what is to stop you from buying one, unlocking your player, and then returning it as "defective"? We've had posts here before of vendors of special remotes that don't allow returns unless its physically broken for that very reason.