Panasonic DVD Recorder Region Hack Help

[Teleport]

I have just recently bought a Panasonic DMR-E55 DVD Recorder.

This isn't multi region out of the box. But I have found out that there is a remote hack for this.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137879

The problem is that the hack requires a specially chiped remote aparently.
These people will rent out the remote.

http://www.shoyle.f9.co.uk/dvdchipsuk/nosoldere50.htm
(looks like a OFA in the picture?)

BUT I was just wondering if signal from this "chipped" remote could be captured to my JP1 URC-9810 and an upgrade be made?
Or better still has anyone already made such an upgrade (my searches say no but...).

Anyone? Rob?

Thanks

John

[johnsfine]

There are a lot of web sites dedicated to multi-region hacks for DVD players. Many of them are freely sharing information, rather than trying to sell or rent a specially programmed remote.

If any of those cover your DVD and give Pronto or LIRC or other common format information about the required signals then we could easily translate that to a JP1 upgrade.

I'm sure they are fairly ordinary signals, so that if you did rent the remote you could capture the signals with a learning remote. Did you mean 8910 where you said 9810? With JP1 and an 8910 you could read and decode the learned signals and provide the upgrade so that others could use it without renting the special remote.

I suggest checking other DVD hacking web sites first.

[johnsfine]

I'm sure they are fairly ordinary signals, so that if you did rent the remote you could capture the signals with a learning remote.

I said that before reading their web site. Whatever they put in the remote's firmware to limit it to single use might prevent it from being used to capture the signals.

[Teleport]

Thanks for the reply Johnsfine.

Yes I did mean 8910. (apaologies)

I agree it would be a bit of a risk if the code is only output once.

But I think the code would be capturable as I'm guessing the function of the chip would be to limit the remote to one transmission, rather than make the code unlearnable.

I'll have to continue my search on the web. I'll keep you updated.

Cheers

John

[johnsfine]

But I think the code would be capturable as I'm guessing the function of the chip would be to limit the remote to one transmission, rather than make the code unlearnable.

From their description I think it takes a sequence of commands to do the task and their remote sends the entire sequence from one button press.

Your 8910 cannot learn that. It is limited in the total amount of information in a learned signal. It is limited in the total duration of a learned signal and it is limited in the maximum gap that can be embedded in a learned signal. My guess is that the sequence in question exceeds all three of those limits. If it exceeds any one of them you can't learn it.

[JustinG]

usually region coding is held in the dvd player firmware not in the remote sequence. A bit is set for the region once it is set. If you set it to region 0 (region free) you should be OK but it may not work for all sources.

Whether you capture the sequence or not, if the unit only allows one setting of the region, it happens in the player itself.
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks.php?d ... rch=Search

[The Robman]

I've been doing some research on this (as the idea of people renting out remotes like this really gets to me) and here's what I've come up with.

I found a couple of sites that list the following hack for players like the DMR-E30:

Turn On player with no disc inserted
While pressing SHIFT on the remote press SETUP
Press ENTER twice
Move the cursor to Other
Enter the appropriate four-digit region setting, beginning with 000
Press ENTER
Press RETURN twice
Switch unit Off for at least 3 seconds

The problem is that there isn't a "SHIFT" button on the remote. Apparently there was a prototype remote for the E30 that did include a SHIFT button, so it sounds like these guys were able to get their hands on one of these, which they then used to program these rentable remotes. I saw one post by "Steve" from dvdchips.co.uk where he states that the rentable remotes send out a 12 step macro, which sounds about right for the hack quoted above.

If they really are using OFA remotes, they are probably using JP1 to program them. While the regular JP1 user wouldn't know how to program a macro that deletes itself, I'm sure if an expert were to put their mind to it, we could figure out a way, which is probably what these guys have done. If this is the case, and a JP1 user like yourself were to rent this remote, you could download the EEPROM data before you use it, which would tell us what's in there.

The guys at UEI certainly have tools that could capture the complete macro in one go, which would tell us what steps are included, but I doubt that they would be willing to pay these guys in order to get that information.

Here's the thread that mentions the hack quoted above:
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks.php?s ... ic+DMR-E30

Here's the thread which includes the post from "Steve":
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks.php?s ... ic+DMR-E50

Here's another site that mentions the hack quoted above:
http://www.dvd365.net/?hacks/panasonic.htm

[Teleport]

Thanks Rob + Justin.

I guess the only way forward it to rent out the remote and see if it is JP1 and as Rob suggested download the EEPROM.

I'll try the OFA Panasonic DVD setup codes first 0490, 0677, 0632.
Would it be worth seing if OFA have made an upgrade for the prototype panasonic remote?

This grates on me aswell. They could at least post a file for JP1 users and still rent to others.

Thanks again guys. I'll keep you posted.

John

[The Robman]

Even if they did capture the prototype remote, they wouldn't have assigned the SHIFT button to a button in the setup code, besides it sounds like the SHIFT button doesn't send a signal but intead changes the signal sent by the other buttons.

There is something you could try if you're keep to save yourself 25 quid. It's quite possible that the shift-SETUP uses an EFC from the main setup code (which I'm guessing is DVD/0490), so you could try each of the 'unaccounted for' EFCs, followed by 2 presses of ENTER to see if a menu comes up, and if it does, follow the instructions in my last post.

[The Robman]

In case you want them, here are all the unaccounted for EFCs...

185 103 252 112 089 070 160 145
183 107 000 110 087 074 158 143
187 100 254 114 091 133 162 147
186 104 002 237 084 137 029 140
057 102 221 241 088 135 033 144
059 233 225 239 086 139 031 142
052 231 223 243 090 132 035 146
056 235 227 236 149 136 028 013
054 228 220 240 153 134 032 017
058 232 224 238 151 138 030 015
247 230 222 242 154 005 034 019
251 197 226 207 021 009 173 012
244 201 093 211 025 007 177 016
248 199 097 204 023 011 175 014
246 203 095 206 027 008 179 018
250 196 099 210 020 006 172 126
213 200 092 077 165 188 176 130
217 198 096 081 169 063 174 253
215 202 094 079 167 067 045 001
219 069 098 083 171 060 049 255
212 073 157 076 168 062 047 109
216 071 161 080 170 066 051 113
214 075 159 078 037 125 044 111
218 068 163 082 040 129 048 115
085 072 156 141 038 131 046 108
042 128 050