Page 1 of ROWA DVD 280 - THE FACTS

Let try to tidy this up now before this board becomes a Rowa 280 obsessed board :)

Firstly there are two (at least) versions of Rowa 280 DVD player ....

If your player has a service port ( PS2 type connector in addition to the S-Video one) at the back , a PAL/AUTO/NTSC switch at the back and says "Please insert Disk" on the front panel display then you have the Pioneer Clone version that needs to be chipped for all region and macro off. THERE ARE NO HACKS FOR THIS VERSION.

If your player has no service port , no PAL/NTSC/AUTO switch and says "No disc" on the front panel display then you have another as yet uncomfirmed type of player.

When I saw inside this player ( please bear in mind I only had it for 5 mins ) it looked similar to the Wharfedale 750S / minato G1 type board and the onscreen menu`s also looked similar to those players ...

This is why I made a post suggesting that owners should try the Wharfedale 750S / minato G1 hacks for Multiregion ....

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RE: WARNING ROWA 280 DVD
posted by Steve Hoyle on Thursday, 30th August 2001, 23:26

With regard to a possible remote region hack I would suggest trying those for the Minato G1 and Wharfedale 750s as the onscreen menus looked similar to those players and the main board although different did have similarities to these players .....

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I do not expect there to be a remote hack for Macrovision on this model although it cannot be totally ruled out.

There have be follow up posts that seem to confirm that the Wharfedale 750S hack does infact work .... they are shown below .....

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RE: rowa 280 macrovision does not work,region hack required
posted by ian 1967 on Saturday, 1st September 2001, 11:48
NO NEED TO BE BITCHY.I SAID I WAS NEW TO THIS.
I FORGIVE YOU
HERE IS THE REMOTE HACK IT DOES WORK ON MY ROWA 100%.
1.PRESS THE OPEN CLOSE BUTTON ON YOUR REMOTE TO OPEN THE TRAY.
2.PRESS THE ZOOM BUTTON ON YOUR REMOTE.
3.PRESS THE A-B BUTTON ON YOUR REMOTE
4.PRESS THE UP BUTTON ON YOUR REMOTE.
5.PRESS THE LEFT BUTTON ON YOUR REMOTE
6.PRESS THE DOWN BUTTON ON YOUR REMOTE
7.PRESS THE RIGHT BUTTON ON YOUR REMOTE.
THIS IS NOW REGION FREE AND MACROVISION DIABLED.
IF THIS DOES NOT WORK DO AS FOLLOWS
1.PRESS OPEN CLOSE ON YOUR REMOTE TO OPEN TRAY
2.PRESS THE BUTTONS 1,1,1 AND THEN 1 ON YOUR REMOTE IN ORDER ONE AT A TIME.

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RE: rowa 280 macrovision does not work,region hack required
posted by tsar22 on Sunday, 2nd September 2001, 16:03
Having just tried this hack I wish to say thankyou to ian 1967. I can confirm that the hack worked perfectly using the 7 steps system on a 3 day old DVD player YEHAAA region 1 here i come. TA TSAR

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So there we have it ... the story so far ..... I would like to ask people to follow up on this thread and not every other thread or we will just have too many confused people mailing me the same questions over and over

Regards

Steve

This item was edited on Saturday, 2nd February 2002, 11:15

We could do to know about Macrovision on the version of Rowa 280 without the Service Port or the PAL/NTSC/AUTO switch as I never tested this ....

We need someone with this type of player which has NOT been remote hacked to test if they can detect Macrovision with their video .... if they can then they need to check again after the remote hack ....

My guess is that Macrovision will still be present after the remote hack but all we are hearing so far is that people have been able to connect through their video after applying the hack but these people did not test this before so it could just be that their video doesnt respond to macrovison

Steve

This item was edited on Monday, 3rd September 2001, 00:52

Back to the Top ^

Steve

This item was edited on Monday, 3rd September 2001, 00:52

I have now looked at the ROWA dvd player that i have and i have the pioneer clone version. Can you please tell me where i can get a chip, and circuit diagram of where to fit it, so that i can make the player multi region please?
Thanks Folks
John

Sorry not allowed to advertise here .. be warned that the chip is a 48 pin surface mount chip change so only for very experienced electronic engineers .... the better option is the "fitted" upgrade which involves reprogramming the player via the service port

Steve

This item was edited on Monday, 3rd September 2001, 00:52

Just wondering Steve, and this is not a dig, are you using a modified Rowa file or the 535 file for the upgrade?

pioneer 535 file .... the start up logo looks better :)

Your welcome to the original Rowa.bin if you want to convert this :)

Steve
DVD Chips

This item was edited on Monday, 3rd September 2001, 08:51

Already done it for someone else Steve :-)

This item was edited on Monday, 3rd September 2001, 08:07

I`ve been censored :)

Steve
www.xxxxxxxx.co.uk

i have just purchased the rowa 280 - and after finding that it was macroed tried the hack that you put in - unsuccessfully i might add - i was wondering where i would locate and d/load the hack for the wharfedale
im not particularily bothered about it being multi region - i just want the macro disabled - if you could help in any way i would be most gratefull