Page 1 of Accessing a hidden region code menu but not being able to change it - read in...

A fair few visitors have complained about listed hacks (usually involving numbers like 1369, 1379 or 8888 ) not working on some players - i.e. you can access a hidden menu displaying a region code but you can`t actually change it

After some research, I`ve published an article detailing the problem, listing the manufacturers who have actually bothered to do something about it (issuing a firmware upgrade which when completed means the code can be changed), and invited folks to post me details of players affected by the same problem. Hopefully, it will act as a useful reference point for people who want to contact manufacturers of players exhibiting the same fault.

The fault relates to one particular chipset, the MediaTek MT1379, which underwent a change in mid to late 2003, resulting in a new on screen display (OSD). It seems, unfortunately, that a whole batch of chips were affected by the glitch mentioned. It now seems that newer chips are fine again, so presumably MediaTek were to blame, rather than the manufacturers.

The article`s here if you`re interested - please spread the word on any websites you visit where you come across this situation.

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Moderator
DVD Reviewer

Webmaster of Area 450 - independent Sampo DVD site

This item was edited on Friday, 2nd January 2004, 19:31

I notice with interest the setup screen shot underneath the pic shows the Cyberhome portable general setup "style" display, the hack of which was unaffected by the revision.

"Great chunks of my past detaching themselves like melting icebergs"

Hence the reason for this bit of text in the article :

Quote:
It seems that this problem has only affected a limited number of players, particularly those manufactured between July to November 2003, as newer models with the new-style OSD have had the ability to change the region code reinstated.

Do pay attention - 100 lines on my desk by the morning please :p :D

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Moderator
DVD Reviewer

Webmaster of Area 450 - independent Sampo DVD site

This item was edited on Saturday, 3rd January 2004, 02:15

I was paying attention my portable is dated Oct 2003 on the model details. ;)


"Great chunks of my past detaching themselves like melting icebergs"

Nice one :D

Lucky you - the Sampo portable is one of the ones that is currently stuck :(

===========
Moderator
DVD Reviewer

Webmaster of Area 450 - independent Sampo DVD site