Who needs region codes when you have VLC?

VLC is a great app and I have been using it for years it plays the download tv shows just great, it's the best and it's open source.

Great find! Although it slightly pixelates the image every few minutes on my G4 QuickSilver (877 mhz), it plays my DVDs from Spain quite smoothly. Thank you, thank you for this tip!

I was using mac the ripper just fine until i ran the system update for the front row app. now I can only rip if I leave the macrovision box unchecked, and I cant get the dvd player to play VIDEO_TS files anymore. worked fine before, thanks apple!

I just bought my dad a shed load of DVD-Box sets for his Mac Mini (from China) I was hoping VLC could help me out, I always remember it working great on my old iBook. So what is the DVD-thing, firmware lock of sorts?

VLC works a treat for me, though I seldom use it for watching DVDs. I just use it for playing downlo...I mean, video I encode myself from completely legitimate sources...yeah...that's it. How 'bout that Handbrake, huh? ;)

Apple seems to currently use two manufacturers for their slimline drives - Pioneer and Matsushita (aka Panasonic). Matsushita needlessly stops their drives from reading encrypted content unless the system has successfully asked for the disc key, and to ask for the disc key, the system needs to send the drive its key along with what region it is. Matsushita firmware is also encrypted in some way, making it very difficult to patch. Pioneer drives, on the other hand, don't stop read requests for encrypted content and in any case, region free (RPC1) patches are readily available for all of their drives. All combo slot loading drives in currently shipping Apples are from Matsushita (Pioneer doesn't make combo slot loading drives). Most superdrives are also Matsushita (UJ-855/845 currently), but Apple has sometimes used Pioneer K04 and K05 drives. It frankly sucks that Apple has chosen to use Matsushita drives. While this may seem to be about preventing piracy, it isn't. Pirated disks sold on the streets in Asia are almost all pressed in commercial plants and are all unencrypted and non region coded. Pioneer drives don't do it, so it's obviously not required under the DVDCCA license. The issue has actually stopped me from upgrading my 2003 vintage Powerbook with a UJ-816 (last masushita region free-able drive). When I next get an Apple powerbook, I will be buying a Pioneer drive to put in it.

It doesnt work on my PowerBook G4. Its 9 months old (15" 1.6ghz, 512MB, SuperDrive)

A little side note, I am pretty sure this 'hack' doesn't work on any mac that has UJ-825 superdrive (so a few of the models starting from last year-ish) On those models there is actually no way (I believe, I would love to be corrected)

This is exactly my main use for VLC. I like to have region 2 dvds still play in DVD player though, so I force quit that just as it launches so it won't eject the damn dvds. (Whoever though that up is an ass.)

Also Mac the Ripper can rip a DVD into a region free DVD TS_Video Folder that you can open in the DVD player. That can also then play PAL DVDs on a mac. I did this for my friend that got some PAL region 3 DVDs action movies from Thailand.