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Is there a safe way to remove the limit (6?) of DVD region switching on the MacBook Pro? I'm a multi-region kind of guy and this 'feature' dives me nuts. On the interwebs I see many 'tools' that scare me...

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3 Answers

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You can reflash the DVD drive's firmware to make it region-free,

http://forum.rpc1.org/portal.php

I've used this on a Macbook Pro without any issue, but be cautious, and make triply sure you use the right firmware for your drive

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My driver version is not listed, and I've submitted my firmware dump. Hopefully something will come of this. – Stu Thompson Sep 12 '09 at 10:59
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up vote 2 down vote

Try using VLC to play DVD's, I believe it ignores region (although I don't have the means to check)

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No go...it did not work. – Stu Thompson Sep 12 '09 at 9:51
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up vote 1 down vote

As mentioned, using VLC should let you get around the region limitations in software.

As far as the switching goes, that is a hardware-based limitation, and no, you can not change it.

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Just because it is hardware based does not mean it is not possible. See dbr's answer. – Stu Thompson Aug 25 '09 at 14:37
Additionally, VLC cannot get around it. I've tried. – Stu Thompson Sep 12 '09 at 9:52
VLC used to be able to get around it. I was able to do so with Tiger, but I can't get it to work with Leopard. – donut Oct 29 '09 at 7:26
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