DIzzIE
2nd August 2006, 08:08 AM
I recently found out that my DVD burner (BenQ DW1625) has RPC-2 protection (apparently like all newer burners do). I found several RPC-1 firmwares for the DW1625 on rpc1.org, however, my firmware version is GBIA; the closest RPC-1 firmware available is version GBGA.
I found the original GBGA firmware on BenQ's site, and am now considering flashing the drive to first try to downgrade to GBGA, and then use the RPC-1 GBGA firmware from rpc1.org to patch the drive. Though, I am just a tad uneasy about this procedure, and the fact that the patched firmware is a ?beta? version doesn?t add much encouragement either.
Turning to software workarounds, I tried using the freeware DVD43 (versions 3.7 and 3.9) and neither worked; they simply wouldn?t recognize the disc in the drive. I then tried the DVD Region + CSS Free program, and that seems to do the trick (I ran DISCInfo, and the remaining User/Manufacturer resets counters stayed the same before/after different region DVD playback, with DVD Region + CSS Free running in the background).
Thus, I guess my question boils down to: is it "safe" to attempt to downgrade the firmware on the burner, and then--assuming that all goes well there--to run the beta RPC-1 firmware patch for the (downgraded) GBGA? Or should I just stick with using the DVD Region + CSS Free program?
(And by "safe" I mean something along the lines of if anyone has done something similar to this before, and if the results weren?t disastrous...)
I know that I could also run something akin to DVD Decrypter to remove RPC protection from the disc and make a new copy, however that?s neither a convenient nor time-efficient procedure when one has a lot of films...
I found the original GBGA firmware on BenQ's site, and am now considering flashing the drive to first try to downgrade to GBGA, and then use the RPC-1 GBGA firmware from rpc1.org to patch the drive. Though, I am just a tad uneasy about this procedure, and the fact that the patched firmware is a ?beta? version doesn?t add much encouragement either.
Turning to software workarounds, I tried using the freeware DVD43 (versions 3.7 and 3.9) and neither worked; they simply wouldn?t recognize the disc in the drive. I then tried the DVD Region + CSS Free program, and that seems to do the trick (I ran DISCInfo, and the remaining User/Manufacturer resets counters stayed the same before/after different region DVD playback, with DVD Region + CSS Free running in the background).
Thus, I guess my question boils down to: is it "safe" to attempt to downgrade the firmware on the burner, and then--assuming that all goes well there--to run the beta RPC-1 firmware patch for the (downgraded) GBGA? Or should I just stick with using the DVD Region + CSS Free program?
(And by "safe" I mean something along the lines of if anyone has done something similar to this before, and if the results weren?t disastrous...)
I know that I could also run something akin to DVD Decrypter to remove RPC protection from the disc and make a new copy, however that?s neither a convenient nor time-efficient procedure when one has a lot of films...