I recently bought a couple of Alba dvd DS 5711 DVD Players, but unfortunately I can't find a Multi Region hack to allow me to play a couple of region 1 DVDs. Someone on here suggested ripping them and playing them on the PC, but so far my efforts have proved unsuccessful, and guidance seems to be scant and scattered.
I have got hold of a copy of DVD Decrypter and have decrypted a disk (just with the default settings) and have got a bunch of files, VOBs, IFOs and BUPs. One guide I found sugested I should have used IFO rather than File - Does it matter? It also suggested using another free piece of software to create AVIs from the files i've got.
I might also want to move onto burning a regon free copy of one of the DVDs so I can watch it on the telly rather than the PC.
Does anyone have suggestions for a progam or cobination of programs, links too easy to follow instructions, or could write me some?
I use RipIt4Me which calls the DVD decrypter and passes the result to DVD-Shrink. That last stage is needed to fit a double-layer DVD onto a single-layer ROM.
formatting link
are plenty of guides online to show you how - the system can even pass the output from DVDshrink to a burner.
If you've got a collection of .ifo, .bup and .vob files from the same DVD all in one directory, the .ifo file is effectively the file that tells the player what to play, and the .vob files contain the programme information, encoded as MPEG2. To check this, the filenames will be in the format VIDEO_TS.ifo and VIDEO_TS.bup for the menu, and VTS_xx.ifo and VTS_xx_y.vob, where xx is the programme identifier, and y is the vob file number, one file per gigabyte of video, roughly. These go in the VIDEO_TS directory on the DVD. If you rename the .vob files with a .mp2 extension, they can be imported by most movie making programs.
If you use a DVD burning program such as Nero, (Free with most external DVD burners) all you need to do is import the .ifo, bup and .vob files, and it will burn a playable DVD for you.
You can check whether you have a good set of files by pointing your favourite video player at the directory, and telling it to open the .ifo file.
To copy an unencrypted, playable, DVD onto a recordable DVD, I use a free program called DVDShrink, which has options to allow you to use single or dual layer writeable DVDs. It will also let you back up to or burn a DVD from a folder containing the video files.
If you don't mind Video CD quality, DVD2SVCD is a free set of programs which work with another free program called TMPGEnc to rip an unencrypted movie to MPEG format for smaller files, which can be played on a number of portable players. you need to fiddle with the filenames after ripping if you want more than one movie in the playback folder.
There is a shareware program called anydvd which will let you play back any DVD on your Windows computer without resetting the region on the DVD drive.
If you google for the program names I've given, then you'll get to the homesites.
So, the quick and dirty method. Run AnyDVD, then use DVDShrink to backup to either an iso image that Nero can cope with, or to a second DVD drive on your computer.
If you live in the USA, you break the law by decrypting *any* protected DVD for other than immediate playback, and in the UK, you break the law if you back up *any* copyrighted work. (I have to say that in case the lawyers are reading...)
I use VideoLAN/VLC to play region 1 DVDs (which also does a good job of skipping much of the crap at the start of the DVD).
To copy such a DVD to the hard drive, I used DVD Decrypter as you have. You get the same bunch of files as are on the DVD, which you don't normally see. Usually just look for the VIDEO_TS files and click on those.
(I suppose if you then copy that lot to a blank DVD, it might work, but I've never tried.)
Have you tried the hack for the Acoustic Solutions DS 5711? It might be the same Chinese model rebadged.
Mightn't an easier solution be to take the Albas back to Argos and replace with something you know you can make multiregion?
Why bother ripping the DVDs on to the PC to watch? Can't you just download a multiregion player for the PC like VLC and watch them from the original disc?
I've got a feeling that my PC objected when I inserted a Region 1 DVD into the drive, and wanted me to change the drive setting. As you can usually do this only five times, this is something you don't want to do.
If you have any such problems, 'DVD43' should allow your PC to ignore the region, and enable you to play the DVD with your favourite media player. VLC is certainly a good choice, but (from what I recollect) most others work too.
I was never able to rip the Harry Potter DVD's until someone on one of the groups I am registered with mentioned Magic DVD Ripper. Now I have backup copies..... Jim
Indeed. Although they may not specify it, a lot of the cheap (£20 - £40) DVD players are (or certainly used to be) capable of playing Region 1 DVDs. My £20 Alba (from Homebase, when they used to sell TVs and the like) happily plays American DVDs. The R/C even has a 'PAL/NTSC' button. You can have the video output with the colour either on the original
Personally I've always found that the probability that a given DVD player will be region-encoded is inversely related to the its cost.
Always pissed me off greatly that the high-end Sony home cinema set up I bought about 10 years ago at great expense, is restricted to Region 2 only, with no chance of hacking, whereas the kids' £20 Aldi job has always played anything you throw at it. In between those two comes my low- to mid-range DVD recorder, which was supplied as Region 2 only, but which swiftly yielded to a sequence of keypad presses given up by some website ot other.
Indeed. Top-of-the-range models seem least amenable to hacking. I suppose they have an 'international reputation for integrity' to maintain.
A quick Google of 'dvd region hack' (plus, if you want, your make of player) makes interesting reading. My two recorders were (among other things) chosen for ready availability of a simple hack. This site is one of the more informative:
Thanks for all the replys guys, and sorry i've not had time to respond previously.
I did have a good Google for hacks for both the Alba and the Accoustic Soulutions, but couldn't find anything, but I will try the websites mentioned.
If anyone already knows of a Hack for this player, do let me know.
I have now downloaded a coy of VLC (which I have used in a past life) and will see what it will and won't do.
I have tried one of the ripped DVDs and VLC appears to play it, and I tried one of my US disks (or should that be discs :=)) and the flaptop ran up Dell's media player which started to play it without saying anything about the DVD's "lives" - I hope that doesn't mean I just lost one!
You can check this... if you're running Windows XP, go to Control Panel
-> System -> Hardware -> Device Driver -> DVD/CDROM Drives and right-click on the drive of interest: pick Properties -> DVD Region and it will tell you what it's set to, and how many more changes you are allowed.
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