Info and forum posts by 'Tarin Summers'

RE: Blocky picture on my Philips DVD player

My setup is an NTSC DVD playing on an NTSC DVD player on an NTSC television. ^v^ Yup, I`m stateside. There`s a couple of R2 Japan discs that I like to watch now and then...

Anyway, this problem only seems to be happening on `The Patriot`, and it`s relatively unnoticable on other DVDs (but if you look carefully, you can see it... but barely). I`m suspecting bad DVD authoring, but `The Patriot` plays crystal clear on my PS2 (which isn`t all that good a player itself).

Blocky picture on my Philips DVD player

I just bought the R1 movie `The Patriot`, and also bought a remote to make my Philips 825 codefree. After doing so (worked like a charm), I popped in the DVD, and although it plays fine, the picture is intermittantly blocky. Every two seconds the picture gets blocky for a faint moment, recovers, repeats, etc. I popped in another DVD and it has the same problem, but not as noticable. I upgraded the firmware to 9.23, and no change. Any advice, anyone?

RE: Playstation 2 DVD player dezonne !!!!!

Let me set everyone straight before you make an expensive mistake:

The Playstation 2 can NOT be chipped to play DVDs from other regions... -yet-. There -are- chips out there that let you play PS1 `backups` with the aid of a swap-trick (go to www.playstationmods.com for details), but as of yet, there are no, I repeat -NO- chips that let you play regional DVDs on your PS2 yet, and be very wary of anyone who tries to sell you one. They will be out in time, but not anytime soon. Be careful, as people will try to mislead you. I have found www.playstationmods.com to be quite reputable, so I recomended keeping an eye on them for info.

RE: I NEED SOME HELP FROM EVERYONE............

Just to set you straight, my friend... The VCD add-on for your Playstation is just that; a VCD add-on. It doesn`t do DVDs. It would need a new laser and signifigantly more hardware than a simple plug-in if you wanted it to do all that.

Of curious note, however... when Sony first made the Playstation, they initially wanted it to support DVD, but abandonded the idea since DVD was still in it`s faint infancy, and it would have drove costs of the unit sky-high.

What Non-One4all remotes can do RC6?

The question I`m asking is quite obvious in the heading... ^v^ But I figured I`d post before spending a mess of time investigating.

I work at a local Radioshack, and there is one remote control which is very similar to the One-For-All cinema 6 remote (URC-6800), the Radioshack 15-1994. They run $39.99US, but if you wait you can usually find them on sale for $29.99US. Has anyone managed to get any success using the Philips RC6 code on those models of remotes, or is this something I need to investigate myself? ^v^ I just figured I`d ask first

RE: Philips EEPROM Upgrd resetting counter

Yes yes... quite quite. Cherrio, pip pip, and all that happy horse $#!t ^v^

Indeed, the RS232 method sounds of good interest. Need I get a specific cable of some kind to hook up my DVD player, or can this be done with a standard computer serial cable? Need I also get a certain specific software program to perform the reset?

It is my understanding that the RC6 method can only be accessed with a specific programable remote like a `One-for-all`, or via a certain IR unit in a Palmpilot. Unfortunately, I do not own a Palm, and I am a rather cheap bastard who doesn`t want to spend $30 on a replacement remote... soooo...

This item was edited on Friday, 23rd February 2001, 13:41

Philips EEPROM Upgrd resetting counter

An inquiry, if I may...

As many are aware, there is a patch available for most Philips players that allow an upgrade of a player`s firmware. This is done by burning the new firmware onto a CDR and playing it in the Philips player. I`ve not yet had the chance to do this, but I was curious as to whether doing so would reset the player`s 25 region changes counter, as I have quite stupidly already locked mine.

If this is not so, would anyone happen to know if there is an RC6 method which can be done using a `Radioshack` remote control?

Also, how good are the Philips machines against the new RCE encoded discs such as `The Patriot`?

How to tell if you have a crappy PS2:

Early PS2 machines make HORRIBLE DVD players. I would know... I have one, and it blows goats. There are some discs that it outright refuses to play. Sony knows that it has problems with their machines, and they got overlooked in their delerium to get the overdemanded machines out the door. They have not issued a recall, and it appears that they don`t intend to.

However... there IS a way to tell the good ones from the crappy ones.

When you get your PS2 (US versions at least), look at the serial number for the following:

If the serial number starts with:
u1: First generation batch. STAY AWAY!
u0: Second gen batch. Dunno how reliable these are.
u2: Latest batch. Most problems corrected.

If you bought a PS2 and your serial number contains a U1, you have my sincere condolences. Also, the early Japanese PS2s with the region `flaw` are even worse off than the glitchy US ones, so beware.

Fear not, there are mod chip makers who will come to the rescue, so just be patient. Mods are already out to allow playing of PSX `backups`, but they require a swap trick using a Gameshark/Pro Action Replay version 1.3 or lesser. Versions 1.4 are on the way and -will not work-, so get them while you can as future PS2 mods may rely upon them.