[ltp] DVD+/-R and Region-free

[Loic Minier]

honey@gneek.com - Tue, Apr 27, 2004:

> At the moment, via linux I was pleasantly surprised to find I could
> play both region 1 and 2 disks.  Reading the list, I gather this may
> be the libdvdcss stuff, and if I haven't played a DVD via Windows
> (can't swear I have) then the region won't have been set.

 This is true under Windows true, libdvdcss has been ported to
 Windows.  You just have to use a libdvdcss player like VLC.  Any
 opensource player should do, but commercial players are bound via
 license agreements to respect the DVD standard, and thus will only work
 if a region is set, and it matches your disc.

> So questions: if I upgrade the software to region 1.03 via the IBM
> firmware, will I lose my ability to play region 1 and 2 via linux?
> And should I not risk ever playing a DVD via Windows if I don't want
> to lose this?  Or does libdvdcss remove all worries for this either
> way?

 Sorry, I did not update my firmware, but I can tel you that "RPC 1"
 drives aren't built anymore (we only see "RPC 2" drives now), and that
 the libdvdcss "disc" method is only guaranteed to work with RPC 1
 drives.
   I believe other libdvdcss methods such as title and key should still
 work though.

 Another thing I've seen on a Powerbook (with 1st G of SuperDrive), is
 that it on't succeed any disc decryption until you set a zone.  It can
 read DVDs from any zone with libdvdcss once you've set a zone.

-- 
Loïc Minier <lool@dooz.org>