i just recently bought my first apple (US) since 6 years ago....i wanted to try it out and i have some more questions......i wanted to make a backup from my region1 dvd....i havent set the region code yet. it obviously wont play and video lan doesnt play either.....my question is when i set it the dvd player to region 1....dvd backup will be able to back it up after i let dvd player start it up for a sec....... if i know want to back up a region 2 dvd.....what happens then? do i have to change the region code into 2 on dvd player or will dvd backup work anyway....havent got a region 2 ready but if i want to buy dvds from europe i want to know how i will be able to back them up and not loose my region changes.....thanx for help
Yeah, this is a dilemma I faced recently. The simple truth is that you are allowed 5 region changes before the final change becomes permanent. There is software out there to "reset" the region code, but that still leaves the firmware needing to be reset, all of which threatens your warranty, not to mention making your Mac potentially unstable. In direct answer to your question, yes you will need to change your region code to the same as your original source DVD that you want to rip. The main reason for this is that before using OSEx or DVD Backup, you always have to (auto)play the source DVD for a few seconds to "validate" it. Apparently, the extraction/de-encryption software won't work unless you do that. Bear in mind that if you change the region code, that's one change... then to change it back is another change... This may sound obvious maths, but you soon reasize that 5 allowable changes is really not a lot. In the end, I bought a second DVD reader/writer just so I could have one set to region 1 and the other to region 2 - that way I won't ever have to change either of them (I reckon)!
Are you sure you need to play it first to decrypt it? Recently I backed up a movie from a different region code, using the following steps Insert DVD, DVD player asks if I would like to change region coding, answer no and it ejects Open System Preferences and tell it NOT to open DVD player on insert Reinsert disc, rip using DVD Backup. Worked flawlessly (and of course, DVD2OneX and toast it)
Interesting... I must admit I've never tried it without first playing the DVD for a few seconds - This is mainly because all the forums I've ever read tell you to do it!
The readme file for DVD backup do state that you need to play the DVD for a few seconds first in order for the DVD to be properly authenticated. I cannot say if this is ABSOLUTELY necessary or not. I have noticed that OSEX does not require this step if you choose "Disk image" under the format menu.
It a program that does the same job as DVDBackup. I've found that if one program has a problem with a DVD, then the other will usually decrypt it, and vice versa. To get OSEx, try here: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/9830
