region 2 dvd player not playing region 2 :-(

Hi all,
I have a combination tv/dvd player that I bought in the UK when I first moved here, about 4 years ago.  As expected, it plays dvd's from region 2.  However, every once in a while, it just won't play random dvd's which are region 2.  I subscribe to LoveFilm, and it is literally a "hit or miss" whether my monthly dvd will play or not. I can only assume because we are in the UK, LoveFilm is sending me the appropriate region 2 dvd's.  I'm not particularly tech-savvy but can only assume if it was bought in the UK, it must be region 2. Any ideas how I can find out if its the player or the dvd that is causing the trouble?

I try not to play dvd's on my laptop, as I reserve that player for region 1, or US region players, for the dvd's I brought with me from home.  It's annoying but my laptop only allows x number of times of switching zone/regions.    BTW- if anyone knows of a way I can override this (I can't afford to buy anything additional) please let me know.

Amazing, we can put a man on the moon but can't escape dvd regional players...

xo tulip

Yes, Lovefilm supplies DVDs that are Region 2 coded. As to whether it's the disks or the player, its sounds to me like the player may be somewhat "fussy" about reading certain disks. Maybe using a cleaning disk might help.  I have found that rented or public-library DVDs can be dirty and/or scratched, so maybe look at the disks for smears, marks or scratches? I prefer a separate DVD player to one built in to the TV personally because of issues like this. A cheap separate DVD player costs around £20 now.

The number of times you can change the region setting on a computer's DVD drive is stored in the drive itself, in what is called the "firmware". You usually get 5 changes after which it is locked. You can often "flash" (update) the firmware to either reset the counter back to zero or alternatively set the region code to RPC1 (region free). If you know the make and model of your laptop drive you can Google for a firmware download (and the updater program). Or search/browse at rpc1.org. Be warned that although this is not hard for a tech-savvy person, not doing it right can permanently disable the DVD drive and make it necessary to buy a new one!

Before doing anything like that, you may be able to use a free of charge media player app called VideoLAN, (or VLC Media Player) which is inherently region-free, and is said to play any DVD. Available for Windows, Linux, Mac.

Don't think it's anything to do with the region. I've had loads of dvd's from Lovefilm with problems - not usually that they don't play at all but that they freeze

I just got back from Curry's. Apparently DVD cleaners are region specific, and they wanted to sell me the only one they had in store for 19.99 GBP. 

Although I leave open the possibility that I'm wrong, I seriously doubt that DVD cleaning kits are region specific.

You can get them from Amazon for around £4.



As for the region 2 DVDs not playing in a region 2 player, I've only seen that once.  A friend loaned me a region 2 version of The Wire, and none of the discs play in our region 2 player. 

It's weird that just this one set won't play, because otherwise the player has been happy to play everything we've thrown into it.  It plays NTSC, PAL, and region 1 and 2.  Most likely this is due to it being a cheap Alba that my mother in law won in a raffle.   

Although I leave open the possibility that I'm wrong, I seriously doubt that DVD cleaning kits are region specific.

You can get them from Amazon for around £4.



As for the region 2 DVDs not playing in a region 2 player, I've only seen that once.  A friend loaned me a region 2 version of The Wire, and none of the discs play in our region 2 player. 

It's weird that just this one set won't play, because otherwise the player has been happy to play everything we've thrown into it.  It plays NTSC, PAL, and region 1 and 2.  Most likely this is due to it being a cheap Alba that my mother in law won in a raffle.   

My reigion-free DVD player sometimes gets stuck.  However, I found if I shut it off, including at the wall socket (I also would unpluge it for about a minute), afterwards it seemed to be fine.  Perhaps my DVD is just cheap, though?
 

Although I leave open the possibility that I'm wrong, I seriously doubt that DVD cleaning kits are region specific.

I don't know about other disks, My DVD cleaning disk has bristles on the top and it actually has a "DVD" on the underneath which the player reads. It contains a menu which shows an option to "Start cleaning cycle". You select this and it rotates for the required period (until you press "Stop") and plays 5.1 music at the same time. It would makes sense for the manufacturers to make them region-free, surely.

Ummm maybe I'm being a tad simplistic here ... but, you can buy a new DVD player for around £20.00.

But .. go one better and buy a multi-region (search multi-region on Ebay).
Or, check out Richer Sounds.  Most of their DVD players are multi-region.

We bought our multi-region DVD player for about £15 on Amazon, and it's lasted 5 years and counting and plays everything we put in it.  However, I'd agree with others that this is probably an issue with rented DVDs and a finicky DVD player rather than a region issue.

As for the region 2 DVDs not playing in a region 2 player, I've only seen that once.  A friend loaned me a region 2 version of The Wire, and none of the discs play in our region 2 player. 

Just to close out our experience, in my case the DVD player wasn't playing any DVDs, I just didn't realize it because I assumed the problem was the disc (d'oh!).

After a little research on the interwebs, we bought a Toshiba SD3010 for £30 on Amazon, entered a code via the remote, and now it's multi-region.  Yay!