How does this region free hack work? What's a "magic button"?

[blueskies2020]

Dear all,

I wanted to make my Panasonic DMR-EX77 region free. However I found a hack on this very site but doesn't seem to make much sense, as I am new to this.

It suggests you can use any URC and I have a couple, however it makes use of a word "magic button" which you have to press. Even though I looked up the very recommended remote URC-7740, URC-8040 on Ebay and found a clear picture of it, there is no button called "magic"??? I have the original remote which according to another website can work too if you hold down the yellow butting, but nothing happened.

If anyone can assist I'd be grateful! Furthermore how do I contact the original poster?

https://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks/panasonic-dmr-ex77/8251

[october262]

see this PDF guide - http://www.rockabilly.net/files/manuals/URC-7740.pdf
#1 button is the magic/setup button

[blueskies2020]

Thanks for your response, not sure how I missed that. OK so it looks like its use in the guide is to be part of the remote programming function where you change which device it is being programmed to control. So in principle I wonder if I can simply substitute that on the URC I have? I have a SUPPORTPLUS SP-URC-81-L and here is a manual however the remote looks slightly different. Mine remote is black and rectangle in shape but this manual is for a silver curvy one?

http://e.manualretriever.com/lect.php?ID=569716&lg=E&h=d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e&src=15

[blueskies2020]

well I'm pretty sure my URC is not programmable int he sense of being able to programed a specific button to hold the numbers in the guide on this site like you can with the special remote. I'm trying to see if my relative has a laptop with an infrared port. Shame I can't easily find a iso I can just burn to disc to update it that way.

[orsetto]

Do you still use your aging DMR-EX77 to burn (record) dvd discs at all? If so, it is a really bad idea to use it as a primary disc player (so by extension, also not the best idea to hack it for even more playback versatility).

This type of HDD recorder with DVD burning capability has basically vanished from the marketplace in recent years: there may be a few stragglers left in some countries, but most aren't at the quality/feature level of the EX77 (which itself was a bit of a drop-off from prior Panasonics). The most irreplaceable part of any DVD/HDD combo recorder is the proprietary disc drive: few spares remain stocked, at astronomical servicing prices (near what you paid for the recorder). So if you still utilize the disc burning facility, its good practice to have a separate more-disposable dvd or blu-ray player-only unit. Use the EX77 drive strictly for burning.

OTOH, if you never burn discs, couldn't care less if the optical drive fails, and/or bought this EX77 second-hand for very little money: hack away. Like many such recorders, its a perversely good player if you don't need to worry about wearing it out.

[blueskies2020]

I use it for recording TV and watching films, however I buy a lot of DVDs on ebay and occasionally get ones that are a different region. My xbox360 is region free and my computer is, however it's inconvenient pratting about unboxing the xbox which itself is noisy and playing on the computer is noisy too (trying to resolve that issue on my other thread). https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/396186-Noisy-Windows-10-CPF-fan

Anyway, money doesn't grow on trees, if it aint broke why replace it? I would like a blu ray however again, the blu ray player costs a lot, and the discs even more so. I recently fixed its front panel not working issue by soldering in some more capacitors, this cost me £3 and the machine would have cost me £40+ to buy another one

Is there nothing I can do like take it apart do some special factory reset and make it like 0?

[George53]

Looking too much informative. This hack is too much good.Thanks for sharing the hack.

[blueskies2020]

Looking too much informative. This hack is too much good.Thanks for sharing the hack.

Have you done this then? It worked for you? I don't even know where to get the program from for using a remote control on a laptop with an infrared port even if I had one, my laptops and my brothers didn't have one.

[blueskies2020]

This is an interesting video, it is for a different type of DVD player from Panasonic, its for a blu ray one, however the methodology is interesting, he appears to press the function button so many times its temporarily confusing the machine so it go past a region check phase and plays the disc. I've tried this on my player however it didn't work. Is there any other methods like this worth looking at?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iLaNNnp2xQ

[orsetto]

Forget using the standard remote that came with the unit: this almost never works to achieve region hacks in a Panasonic recorder. The unit is deliberately engineered to ignore any tricks attempted that way: Panasonic caught wise to that DIY nonsense long before the EX77 was sold. Odds of it succeeding are similar to winning a lottery.

You likely also won't get anywhere with your existing generic remote because the posted hack specifically cites One For All brand remotes that have an ability to memorize individual numeric IR function code input to each button. Most typical universal learning remotes can either program the entire remote from a single numeric input code, or copy (learn) actual infrared pulses to individual buttons by pointing the remotes at each other. But ability to numerically program individual buttons is not common: you might want to look for one of the three specific One For Alls mentioned in the post (they're available on eBay.uk), or try a brand new £10 One For All Contour or £15 Essence. Screwing around with a laptop, trying to turn it into a magical hacking remote, is usually more trouble than its worth: just buy a cheap One For All that can perform the hack, and be done with it.

OTOH, brand new out-of-the-box Region Free dvd players are available on Amazon and in shops for £24 - £39, probably even less on eBay. Before spending half that to get a hack-capable remote, consider one of those supplementary region-free players and leave well enough alone with the EX77 (since you do use its recording feature).

[october262]

just buy a dvd player that's already region free - https://www.220-electronics.com/region-free-dvd-players.html