What are Blu-ray and DVD region codes, country codes, multi-region or zone locks? Read DVD Player region codes and Blu-ray region codes.
| DVD Player | Hacks | Updated | Add |
| Sony DAV-S880 | 11 user region code comments |
May 31, 2007 | Post region code/hack comment |
 Region code hack posted by Chich, April 17 2003: | |||
OK - get ready for a long post... I purchased this DVD Player/Surround Sound in Australia. It plays region 4 discs without a problem. After putting in a region 1 disc, I found that the DVD player is NOT multi region (I was told by the sales rep that it was multi region). The player would only play region 4 discs. I therefore proceeded to log a problem with Sony Australia about it, but they have done nothing about the problem. I contacted the store who sold me the system (Megamart) and told them that it wasn't playing region 1 DVDs. He then put in a region 2 DVD (on the display model) and it played! So I checked my region 1 DVDs in the display model, and they worked! The problem obviously lied with my player. After futher investigation I found that Sony Australia receive the players as Region 4 only players. They then convert them to Multi Region. However, the first shipment of these players to Australia DO NOT have Multi Region enabled.. The only way you can tell if the Multi Region capability has been enabled is by looking closely at the packaging. If Sony Australia have converted it to Multi Region, then there will be a square white sticker on the top of the cardboard packaging saying "This box has been opened by Sony Australia". If your box doesn't have that sticker - then your player IS NOT multi region. Take it back to the store you purchased it from and get them to swap it over for one with the white sticker. I hope that this helps any one who has had similiar troubles as me. Enjoy! | |||
| Region code hack posted by Shane, May 07 2003: | |||
With perseverance this hack works a charm. Its the same hck as for the NS405/305 etc. Only difference being how you apply it. 1. Turn on the player. 2. Hold down "Display" "Stop" and "Prev" keys ("Mecha Lock" should appear), and while keeping them pressed turn volume knob to the right. 3. Then use your Palm/pronto remote/etc.. as follows. I used a Palm V, so this is the way I'll describe it. Download Omniremote Trial version (lasts 12 days at least). Get the file "Sony_DVD_hack.pdb" (or input the code manually as published elsewhere) Install both. Using the Sony DVD hack template now in omniremote, press the keys 1-5 ONCE EACH (not twice like others say) but very quickly. just keep doing that constantly (no need to switch off and try again, just keep typing 1-5 quickly, ensuring each keypress transmits) until "DATA RESET" appears on the player(not the screen). It took me quite a few tries, dont give up. 4. Press the power button on the player remote. 5. Plug it out for 5-10 seconds. 6. Start it again, and play your region 1 etc. discs!! This saved me 100 euro per dvd player! (worked on my Dav-s880 and the Ns405) | |||
| Region code hack posted by Stuart Anderton, June 08 2003: | |||
Just done my UK DAV-S880, and can confirm that the remote codes via Palm hack works a treat. Many thanks! | |||
| Region code hack posted by Stuart Anderton, June 24 2003: | |||
Moist: The mistake I made at first was to press 1 2 3 4 on the default screen on the Palm remote software. You have to change the screen to "Sony Hack" with the drop down menu on the top right. | |||
| Region code hack posted by James, July 10 2003: | |||
Should I keep DISPLAY-STOP-PREV pressed while I turn the knob to the right, or should I release them first? For those of you who got this to work, you say you saw "Mecha Lock" on the LCD, but I see "SERVICE IN" on the LCD, and the screen shows some kind of service menu. Did anyone else see this? | |||
| Region code hack posted by Betamax, July 11 2003: | |||
It works with the Palm V Just in the service menu use the palm with Omniremote and the Sony hackfile and press 1 2 3 4 5. Just did it once and it works.. Perfect. | |||
| Region code hack posted by David Phillips, January 09 2004: | |||
Tried to follow the instruction above to no avail. Read several other sites and managed to get the hack to work - although in the end not entirely clear how. I had a region 4 player. 1. Turn on the player. 2. Hold down "Display" "Stop" and "Prev" keys ("Mecha Lock" should appear), and while keeping them pressed turn volume knob to the right. At this point "DVD" appear on player, screen blanks, and then list of service options appear. "Service in" appears on player 3. Then use your Palm/pronto remote/etc.. as follows. Using the sony_dvd_hack template. 4. Now it is unclear how it worked. I then press 1,2,3,4,5. Then I tried 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5. Then I tried 1,1,1,2,2,2,3,3,3,4,4,4,5,5,5. No messages appeared on the player or the screen to acknowledge any changes. But after powering off the player was multiregion. David. | |||
| Region code hack posted by Yipster, February 10 2004: | |||
Confirming that OmniRemote on Palm Tungsten with Sony hack file on the blue engineers menu worked fine. Orignial system DAVS-880 region 4 PAL format. | |||
| Region code hack posted by Dave, February 24 2004: | |||
Confirming that the above hack also works using a palmIIIe, on a region 4 player. Only entered 1-5 twice. Nice one :) | |||
| Region code hack posted by Ralph Clark, May 31 2007: | |||
For the purposes of disambiguation, the following WORKING hack relates to a DAV-S880, firmware rev 1.07, which had originally been supplied pre-hacked into multiregion function. It had recently lost its multiregion ability due a bug in the firmware which causes a firmware data reset if certain DVD disks are played. It took me several days of experimentation with all the reported alternatives out there before I found one that worked. Actually I did not have access to a Palm Pilot so I was unable to test the omniremote hack described above. However I do have an iPaq H5400 so I was able to use TVremote13 with the well-known 5-button Pronto CCF Sony multiregion hack file. However though I tried many different combination of buttons in every likely menu location in the syscon screen (and using a videocam I was able to confirm that the PDA was indeed emitting IR signals) I was unable to provoke any sort of response from the S880 unit at all. Next I tried the winsamp.exe hack. This is a laptop program for controlling the IrDA port. A preconfigured 5-button config file reputed to be effective for sony DVD multiregion hacks is available at http://www.selen.org/files/REMOTE.TXT). Unfortunately the old Toshiba Satellite Pro 440CDX laptop I was using didn't want to give control of the IR port to this program and the videocam showed no IR signals being emitted from the laptop. It could have taken days to figure out what was up with that and since there was no guarantee of success I abandoned that approach. The one other thing I hadn't been able to try up to this point was an alternate programming for the five button omniremote hack, used with the Sony DVP-NS305 (described at http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks/sony-dvp-ns305/1114), usefully provided in hex code format. Although the omniremote.pdb file couldn't be run on anything available to me, I thought the hex codes might be usable in something else. After a brief search I discovered another remote control program for the PDA, called noviiremote 4.11 deluxe. This program was described as being programmable via hex codes, as well as traditional "learning" and pdb file compatibility. I was able to find an unlicensed copy of the noviiremote install package without too much trouble. It will work for 10 days before you are forced to purchase a registration key. I first tried getting it to read the ubiquitious omniremote.pdb file that is usually recommended for use with the Sony omniremote hack. However the program couldn't even see the file, implying that this file is invalid in some way. Actually the very forum post where I got those hex codes above said that this file was ineffective, and I've even seen the file described as a hoax. So the only thing left to try was the hex code strings above. I couldn't figure out how to create a blank remote pattern with just five buttons on it so instead I loaded up one of the predefined remote styles and just butchered it a bit to remove some of the clutter. For each of the remaining five numeric buttons you then need to assign the right hex string. It works as follows: select the button to be programmed, click on the "prop" tab at the top, this brings up the button's properties sheet. Click on the Hex button, this invokes a small editor where you can paste in the hex strings above (which you will have copied over to the PDA in a text file beforehand). Click on OK. If you can find that edit screen and you manage to get the hex strings in unmangled, you are home free. I then started banging away at the DVD with these five newly programmed buttons. It didn't work on the SYSCON screen, as some people claim - there was no response at all from the player. It didn't work on the SYSCON's number 1 submenu either, as other people claim - again, no response. However there is a very curious thing I noticed early on in my investigations. Some accounts of these hacks involve the user entering the 1,2,3,4,5 sequence TWICE. Well it just so happens that if, once at the SYSCON screen, you enter the 1,2,3,4,5 sequence using your NORMAL Sony remote, this will navigate you down through the player settings menu to land you right on the menu that displays the current region code setting! So I did this and started hitting the five buttons just once each time. 1, 2, 3, 4, ... and suddenly the player displays "DATA RESET"! Bingo! I finished with button 5 and put the player into standby, waited about 3 seconds then turned it on again (note: no key repetition, and no hard power-off necessary). I will post the full procedure below. | |||
| Region code hack posted by Ralph Clark, May 31 2007: | |||
PHASE 1 - PREPARATION You need: A PocketPC (I used an iPaq H5400 series) A copy of NoviiRemote installed on it. I used NoviiRemote 4.11 Deluxe. An unlicensed copy will do but it will only work for 10 days before you have to buy a licence key. A text file containing the following strings copied into a folder somewhere on the PDA: Button name-1 0000 0068 0000 0015 0060 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 01AE Button name-2 0000 0068 0000 0015 0060 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 01F6 Button name-3 0000 0068 0000 0015 0060 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 01F6 Button name-4 0000 0068 0000 0015 0060 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 01C6 Button name-5 0000 0068 0000 0015 0060 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 0018 0018 0018 0030 0018 0018 020E PHASE 2 - PROGRAMMING THE REMOTE To set up a virtual remote programmed with these strings: As far as I can see there is no blank template to which you can add your five buttons, so you will just have to hack up an existing one. You can use any method you like to configure up a remote that has numeric buttons on it. Here is one suggestion. It's not necessarily the shortest. * Switch on the PocketPC and start up NoviiRemote. * Click on "menu" at the top left. * Go to Options on the bottom menu bar and select "Add New Device" to launch the "Add Device Wizard". Select "Install codebase from IR archive", and click on "Next". * Step 1 - select a device type. I don't believe it matters a damn which one you use. If you pick one with number buttons in it somewhere it will save you a tiny bit of work. It would be nice if there were a blank template but I couldn't see one. I chose DVD/DVR. Click on "Next". * Step 2 - choose a brand. I chose Sony but it hardly matters. * Step 3 - choose a device. There was only one on my menu. Don't bother with the test buttons. click on "Next". * Step 4 - select a skin and click "Next". * Step 5 - select a pattern (there was only one). Click "Next". * Step 6 - assign codebase to a hot key. Just click "Next". * Step 7 - just accept the default name if you like. Click "Finish". Now you have some sort of remote showing. Click menu at the top, then "Options" on the bottom menu bar, then select "Setup". Select your frankenremote-to-be and click on the "Edit" button. It will then display the editable remote. You need to pause for a moment here to get your bearings. If you just randomly touch the remote keypad displayed here it will almost certainly result in dislodging the buttons which will annoy the heck out of you. Instead, look for the little green page navigation widget at the very top of the screen. Use this to get to a page that has numbered buttons on it. Now its time to edit the buttons. For each of the buttons 1 through 5, select the relevant button, try to ignore its annoying dislodgement, and instead press the orange "Prop" button at the top of the screen. On the resulting button properties sheet, click the "Hex" button. It will bring up a hex editor for the button you are currently assigning. Into this window you will paste the string for that button. Do NOT paste all five strings into the same window. Do NOT paste the line saying "Button name-1" etc. Just paste in the hex string for that one button. Then press OK. Note that this will involve some tedious switching back and forward between your Novii screen and your notepad screen with the text strings in. If Novii disappears from the task bar don't worry it is still running in the background. Just use your normal method for program reactivation to bring it back. Once all five buttons are done, click on the pink "Save" button at the top left of the remote editor display. You are now ready to hack your player. PHASE 3 - THE HACK 1. First of all, activate your PDA, launch NoviiRemote and bring up your hacked remote screen with the number buttons on it. 2. Turn on the DVD player and set the TV to display pictures from the DVD player. 3. Bring up the DVD player's Syscon menu on the TV screen in the following way: Hold down "Display" "Stop" and "Prev" keys ("Mecha Lock" should appear), and while keeping them pressed turn volume knob to the right. You need to turn the knob the very instant the words appear or it may not bring up the screen. If it doesn't work first time then cycle the DVD player's power button and try again. 4. Using the standard Sony DVD remote, enter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. This should bring you to the DVD region code display submenu. (Mine showed it locked to region 2). 5. Hold your PDA's IR emitter window pointing at the DVD's sensor (it's at the left hand end of the dark perspex window). Don't get too close; if you have the emitter jammed right up against the player you may miss the small sensor entirely. A separation of between 15cm and 30cm should work for most Pocket PC devices. 6. On the PDA screen, activate each of the buttons 1 through 4 in turn. They should go off about one per second. If the procedure is going to work, you should see "DATA RESET" displayed briefly on the DVD player's display. At this point you quickly activate button 5. 7. Using the standard Sony remote, put the player into standby mode. 8. Wait a few seconds (I gave it 3 secs) and use the Sony remote to power the DVD up again. You should now be able to play DVDs from different regions. Good luck... | |||
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