Which DVD Drive???

[Xizor]

Not sure if you found out already but RPC stands for Region Protection Code (if I remember correctly). Anyway the important thing is it has two levels, RPC1 means region codes are controlled by software (so you can play any region using a simple hack). RPC2 means it is controlled by the hardware, so you'll need some sort of firmware flash upgrade to play any region once it locks itself.

-Xizor.

[merchant2112]

i was reading on a dvd info site. link was on a post here. any way this site says that if you jumper the 10x pioner drive before powering it up you may get a region free drive. don't know if its true but what the hey it's still worth a shot.

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hey do you remember when it took your computer 10min to boot up into windows and we thought that was fast? or how about when you upgraded from a 486 dx33 to a dx2 66 and thought wow only 5 min to boot? those were the days now if it takes more than 1 min 30 sec we wonder what is wrong with our system.

[Mark F]

Xizor,

Thanks. That must have been the "extra" jumper it arrived with, D'oh.

Mark F.


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OH NO, my retractable cup holder swallowed a CD

[Danfoss]

The a-open 9632 is also a good choice, it's the same device as the pioneer, only has differant firmware (the a-open firmware is less cpu-intensive when playing audio-cd's, you can even use a-open's firmware on the pioneer drives!!!)

Dan.

[cirrus]

Hmm.. My Pioneer is the Compaq OEM version of DVD-113 with tray. I don't know much diffrence between Normal and the Compaq OEM version except in the firmware. This drive has firmware revision 1.10 and the normal Pioneer version is 1.12. The newest for normal Pioneer is something like 1.14 I tried to upgrade it, but I didn't get it to work. Anyone knows how to upgrade the this drive?

--
Arto

[This message has been edited by cirrus (edited 10-06-1999).]

[Himself]

Just ordered a Pioneer 10x, should be able to tell you what's up when it arrives if it's a simpler jumper thing.

What's the region thing though, I only plan on renting DVDs or buying them locally, (North America) why should I care? Importing something like "Eye's wide shut" to look at Tom Cruise's dick? I don't think so, I'm happy with the censorship.

[vanguardian1]

How would I upgrade the firmware on my A-Open Slot Dvd Drive? (it's a 6x/32x pioneer)

[xortam]

Anybody know which DVD drives have S/PDIF connectors? I know the Toshiba SD-M1202 does (4.8x/32x IDE). I have a couple more days to return my new Pioneer DVD-303S (6x/32x SCSI) and I would prefer a unit with digital audio out to connect to the home theatre system. I also would perfer SCSI but am considering introducing IDE to my system if I can get a fast drive and S/PDIF out.

[kooguy]

Why don' you just get the Toshiba 6x then? Also, do you have SPDIF out on your soundcard? I don't think you can just connect the SPDIF directly to your home system without going to the soundcard first. Correct me if I am wrong.

Also, if you can get a hold of the retail Pioneers, they have SPDIF. The OEMs are missing for some reason. I have not found any place here in the US that has retail ones though.

[xortam]

You're right. The Toshiba SD-M1212 is a possibility (just verified it does have the connector). I forgot to mention that I do like the slot vs. tray. I also was hoping their might be something faster, like the 10x. The SCSI factor might be the strongest missing piece. Anybody know of some other possibilities?

As far as the sound card ... I have a Diamond MX300 and I believe you get the S/PDIF connection with the MX25 daughter card. I just checked and it only mentions S/PDIF output. Anybody know if it can handle digital input? The other approach is to pass the audio on the bus through the data connection (IDE/SCSI). This takes up some bus bandwidth, but with an S/PDIF output on your sound card, you can still stay digital all the way outside of the noisy PC environment. Anyone try this?

I haven't seen or heard of a Pioneer retail drive. Their web site only refers to the OEM version.

[This message has been edited by xortam (edited 10-07-1999).]

[kooguy]

Yep, the Toshiba does have it. I got one for a friend when I built his comp for him. I got the retail version though. Not sure about those OEMs. Yes, I favor the slot too, but without SPDIF on the OEMs, I would not get it. There are retail Pioneers, but I think they are only available in Europe.

Well, I think you only need SPDIF out. You are sending the sounds "out" from your soundcard after all. I could connect my SB Live! to my receiver if I wanted to.

Also, about sending audio through the ide/scsi. DVDs already do this. So you won't need the SPDIF on a DVD drive unless you are planning to listen to CDs like I do. DVDs/VCDs ignore the SPDIF as they use the ide/scsi cables to send the data to the soundcard.

[xortam]

The idea is to play DVD on the PC and pipe the video to the TV out and digital audio out to an AC3 decoder. I have a friend who is just now trying to do this with his ATI Rage card and newly acquired DVD software. He's using a SB Live card. He finally got 5.1 to pass through his SB card to his decoder. I'll reconfer with him about the specifics but understood that audio can be passed three ways from the PC DVD: analog or digital (through S/PDIF) from the DVD to the sound card or digital through the data bus (thus taking up some of the bus bandwidth). Obviously, you want to stay digital all the way out of the PC to minimize noise. If you're passing through the sound card, you need both input and output for the digital stream (not sure why you even need the sound card in the equation). I'll check with my buddy again and see if I can clear this up (at least in my mind).

[Zypher]

You can go direct from spdif to audio system.

SPDIF is simply a two wire interface spec, doesn't care where it comes from. (Hint: outside/ground of connector is one wire, the female/male is #2...if you have a spare and don't care, cut the cable: 2 wires ) My 64gold had an adapter for its out (no in :/) so I use that (plus a little jerry rigging, different conenctors, el solder gun and heatsrhink tape fixed that though ) for my cd-rw (which has spdif) instead, out to my reciever.

[Mark F]

I believe HiVAL sells the Pioneer units here in the US. Don't know if they're OEM or RETAIL configs

Mark F.



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OH NO, my retractable cup holder swallowed a CD

[cirrus]

Good firmware and drive information can be found here: http://perso.club-internet.fr/farzeno/firmware/

--
Arto