Curtis DVD1041 hack no longer works

[majormulatto]

the old 9999 hack for this machine no longer works on machines with a manufacture date of 9/2014. this hack also used to work on the GPX D200B machine but no longer does on same model year. the 9999 hack used to work on several cheap house brand players. is there a new code or has the industry decided that there are too many of us? i'm wondering if any machines made last year can still be hacked, like the standard cheap philips found at target. anyone who bought a machine made in 2014 should check and see if the old hacks still work.

[jman98]

You're new here so you didn't know, but this kind of thing happens ALL THE TIME, unfortunately.

My best guess is that there is constant pressure from Hollywood on manufacturers to remove region free capability. We get reports all the time on various players that used to be able to be unlocked with a code, but the codes don't work any more now. Either the hardware has been changed, the firmware has been updated to deliberately break the codes, or both.

At this point, I no longer recommend that anybody anywhere in the world expect to buy a player in a store and be able to unlock it at home. Even Australia, who at one time had a law requiring unlocked players, changed their law to make it optional, so all the manufacturers are now opting to not produce unlockable players. The pressure from Hollywood really must be extraordinary for all this stuff to happen. And if by some miracle you happen to buy a player in a store that actually can be unlocked, do NOT ever update the firmware or almost certainly you will permanently break region free mode.
In the previous decade there was a time when it was almost impossible to find a Philips DVD player anywhere in the world that couldn't be unlocked, but now I'd guess that most of their players can't be unlocked. The situation in the USA and Canada is the worst of all other countries as we definitely have the fewest players that can be unlocked by consumers.

My recommendation now is that if you want region free, you need to find a re-seller who has modified the hardware to make it region free. Such hardware mods are independent of firmware, so you can update the firmware on your players if you wish without worry. Unfortunately the hardware costs money so the cost of such players is a little bit higher than the same regular model in stores that obviously lacks the hardware mod. But now it's the only way to be sure you are getting an unlocked player. For people in the USA/Canada, they may wish to look at websites like these:
http://www.220-electronics.com
http://www.world-import.com

[majormulatto]

to jman98:
thanks for the timely update. it's kinda what i suspected, sad to say. my first 3 machines came from world import, but i got spoiled being able to get decent hackable players at the corner store for 20 bucks. another possible option might be amazon, which still has older players available from some vendors. it's stuff like this which reminds me why i'm not a patriot. hail, hail freedonia.

[jman98]

The only problem with buying from Amazon is that there are some models advertised as "region free" and reviewers report that they aren't region free at all and can't be unlocked. Check the reviews before buying region free from Amazon to see if any problems are reported with region free mode.

Ha ha! - Most people don't get the Freedonia reference. Very nice!

[majormulatto]

jman98
well, most people on this forum are young enough to be my grandkids. an example of an amazon player which can be hacked is the gpx 1816, which is probably 8 years old. i don't think that model is made anymore. there's also some cyberhomes which i know can be hacked. the newer sonys i've seen on amazon, yes, they may be a crapshoot. but one sony model was described as european because of the plug, which suggests it's more likely to be authentic. have you done any business with 220? are they any better or worse than world import?

[jman98]

I'm not sure that Cyberhome is even in business any more. Those are old players as far as I know.

Haven't done any business from either 220 or World Import, but I wouldn't be afraid to buy from either. My DVD player is a Philips I bought about 2-3 years ago when you could still find players in stores (Best Buy in this case) that you could unlock at home with a code. I also have an Insignia BluRay player that was bought at Best Buy and it was actually made by the Chinese manufacturer with the right hardware to be region free for DVD and BluRay both, which is a real rarity. As long as you have the right firmware, and this model does allow you to downgrade firmware to older versions, you can unlock it with a code. My main BluRay player though is a Samsung US model as I save the Insignia just for region free stuff. When I need another region free player, I'll be buying from 220 or World Import rather than trying to find a rare store model that can still be unlocked.

[majormulatto]

jman98

just remembered something (it had to happen). you're probably already aware, but in case you aren't, there's also b&h photo in nyc for hacked players. free shipping on everything. that is the one drawback with world import and 220; they charge an arm and leg for shipping.
fyi.