PLAYING REGION 2 PROBLEM (1 Viewer)

[PODER]

Let me start by saying I'm quite probably posting this in the wrong place. If so, could someone tell me where to go? (No, not that answer. Where to go in this Forum!)
So ... I have a Samsung BD-J5100, purchased in 2017. Of late, Region 2 Blu-Rays purchased thru Amazon U.K. refuse to
play. The latest one is BRIGHTON ROCK. Other Region 2 Blu-Rays play just fine. Any ideas on how to solve his problem? Is our machine already obsolete? Am I missing something obvious? Any and all help would be much appreciated!

 

[Trancas]

Let me start by saying I'm quite probably posting this in the wrong place. If so, could someone tell me where to go? (No, not that answer. Where to go in this Forum!)
So ... I have a Samsung BD-J5100, purchased in 2017. Of late, Region 2 Blu-Rays purchased thru Amazon U.K. refuse to
play. The latest one is BRIGHTON ROCK. Other Region 2 Blu-Rays play just fine. Any ideas on how to solve his problem? Is our machine already obsolete? Am I missing something obvious? Any and all help would be much appreciated!

Is the Samsung a Region 2 player (or a region free mod)?
Could the other Region 2 blu-rays that play actually be all region? Sometimes the region listing on the package is incorrect and the discs are actually all region.
The Brighton Rock disc may be defective. I've had an Olive disc and a Criterion disc go bad - stop playing completely. In both cases the companies replaced them........but you mention "Region 2 Blu-Rays purchased thru Amazon U.K.". So I assume that means you've purchased several R2 blu-rays that don't play.

 

[Ernest]

I have purchased many Blu-ray titles from Amazon.uk and until you play the Blu-ray you never really know the Region Code. The Blu-ray Region Code for the UK is "B" not 2. Trancas maybe correct other Blu-ray titles you assumed were Region B played on your Samsung were actually Region-Free. Amazon.uk sells many Blu-ray titles that are Region-Free. If the Samsung is a Region-Free player follow the instructions to change the player to play Region B Blu-rays. In my case I set my OPPO 105 to Region B and my LG 4k player to Region A to avoid having to change the players region code.

 

[David Norman]

Let me start by saying I'm quite probably posting this in the wrong place. If so, could someone tell me where to go? (No, not that answer. Where to go in this Forum!)
So ... I have a Samsung BD-J5100, purchased in 2017. Of late, Region 2 Blu-Rays purchased thru Amazon U.K. refuse to
play. The latest one is BRIGHTON ROCK. Other Region 2 Blu-Rays play just fine. Any ideas on how to solve his problem? Is our machine already obsolete? Am I missing something obvious? Any and all help would be much appreciated!

Which disc (2 or 3) will play, which one's will not (other than Brighton Rock)? Will discs that played before not play now?

Is there a particularly message on screen or will the disc just not load.

Will Region A Blurays play? If all region A BD play and you aren't doing something to change to Region B, then the discs that will play are simply Open Region/All Zone/Region Free and not B locked. No Region Free Bluray player I'm aware of automatically selects it's own region.

The 1947 Brighton Rock UK is is Region B locked certainly
The 2010 movie is an earlier Optimum title and it's a good chance it's locked.

If you have a modded player, are changing Zone correctly, and the discs still wont' play -- have you updated the firmware recently. Some Mods will not function are some updates.

 

[Malcolm R]

The 1947 Brighton Rock UK is is Region B locked certainly
The 2010 movie is an earlier Optimum title and it's a good chance it's locked.

Both versions released in the UK are definitely locked to Region B.

 

[PODER]

First, many thanks for the responses. Some answers: Our player is Region Free. We have set the machine so we can
pick the Region. The warning we get is: THIS DISC WILL NOT PLAY DUE TO THE REGION SETTING OF THIS PLAYER.
The other disc which brought up the same warning was the DVD of A JESTER'S TALE. We do have numerous Region 2 or B discs, both DVD and Blu-Ray, which work just fine. I'm thinking we maybe need a USB device to upgrade, but we've called Samsung before with negative results. Any further ideas would be welcome.

 

[trajan007]

Samsung sent me an UBS device to upgrade and after I used it it completely erased the region free function of my Samsung player.

 

[Malcolm R]

Not surprising. I'm not sure if it's actually illegal, but region modification of players is definitely something the manufacturers do not support or they would sell multi-region players directly without the need to buy them from third party sellers.

I believe such modification voids any and all warranties of the player as it usually involves opening the case and physically altering the electronics inside. So the manufacturer is not going to offer assistance when your multi-region player stops working.

Most likely you will just need to buy a new player.

 

[Trancas]

First, many thanks for the responses. Some answers: Our player is Region Free. We have set the machine so we can
pick the Region. The warning we get is: THIS DISC WILL NOT PLAY DUE TO THE REGION SETTING OF THIS PLAYER.
The other disc which brought up the same warning was the DVD of A JESTER'S TALE. We do have numerous Region 2 or B discs, both DVD and Blu-Ray, which work just fine. I'm thinking we maybe need a USB device to upgrade, but we've called Samsung before with negative results. Any further ideas would be welcome.

Why don't you contact the company where you bought the modified Samsung from. Perhaps they have additional firmware that will enable more recent discs to play or a workaround of some kind.

 

[Ernest]

The message is telling you there is a Region Code conflict between your player and the Blu-ray disc. It appears your player did not change codes from A to B when you selected the proper keys on the remote. Unplug the player for 1 minute to drain the electricity from the unit. After connecting the player back into the wall plug try again to change the Region Code to B. I own OPPO, Panasonic, LG, Philips and Toshiba region free Blu-ray players and the remote functions to change region codes is different for every player. For DVD the players are set to region Code "0" which enables the players to play every DVD without any adjustments to the players.

 

[Ernest]

Not surprising. I'm not sure if it's actually illegal, but region modification of players is definitely something the manufacturers do not support or they would sell multi-region players directly without the need to buy them from third party sellers.

I believe such modification voids any and all warranties of the player as it usually involves opening the case and physically altering the electronics inside. So the manufacturer is not going to offer assistance when your multi-region player stops working.

Most likely you will just need to buy a new player.

There is nothing illegal about owning and using a region free Blu-ray/dvd player.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Have my Sony all region Blu-ray player for four years now and it plays everything from the UK with no issues.

 

[David Norman]

The message is telling you there is a Region Code conflict between your player and the Blu-ray disc. It appears your player did not change codes from A to B when you selected the proper keys on the remote. Unplug the player for 1 minute to drain the electricity from the unit. After connecting the player back into the wall plug try again to change the Region Code to B. I own OPPO, Panasonic, LG, Philips and Toshiba region free Blu-ray players and the remote functions to change region codes is different for every player. For DVD the players are set to region Code "0" which enables the players to play every DVD without any adjustments to the players.

Sounds like the best starting point. Complete power disconnect for a minute and/or a full reset (I don't think that affects the Region Mod)

OPPO have been known to do this occasionally, but usually unplugging the module and power cycling a couple times, clearing the persistent memory and plugging the module back in.

I had my Sony do something similar, but I was messing with the setting and turned on quick reboot or something similar -- basically the player didn't turn off fully so the " turnoff, press Key to change region" wasn't working until I changed the setting back.

 

[bigshot]

In case no one has mentioned it yet, some players remember where you left off when you take a disk out. When you put it back in, it automatically jumps back to that point. If that point is the region warning screen, you can get into an endless loop of region changing and ending up in the same place.

The solution is to insert the disk and as soon as it begins to start up, hit stop. This will clear the memory of the spot left off. Then eject the disk completely and go through the procedure to set it to region B. When you put the disk back in, it should load up in the correct region. Sometimes you have to do this a couple of times, because judging the proper spot to hit stop isn't easy.

Hope this helps!

 

[PODER]

Latest update: We've now tried everything, including the one minute unplug. We've spent a LONG time on
the phone with Samsung, followed all their directions, including buying a brand new USB Device. And now
things are even worse ... none of our Region 2 DVDs will play, in addition to the Blu-Rays. Apart from banging my
my head against the wall, I'm remembering when all one had to do was ask Dad to adjust the antenna. Of
course, that sometimes led to us then demanding that he continue holding onto the antenna until our show
was over, since letting go of it immediately returned us to snow, a rolling picture, etc. I wonder what's up
with FIBBER McGEE AND MOLLY these days. My old crystal radio set still is working ...

 

[David Norman]

I think that seems to confirm the firmware update messed up the Region Mod. Time to contact whichever service did the region modification and see if they have a solution whether it's a firmware rollback or beta/revision.

 

[Trancas]

Latest update: We've now tried everything, including the one minute unplug. We've spent a LONG time on
the phone with Samsung, followed all their directions, including buying a brand new USB Device. And now
things are even worse ... none of our Region 2 DVDs will play, in addition to the Blu-Rays. Apart from banging my
my head against the wall, I'm remembering when all one had to do was ask Dad to adjust the antenna. Of
course, that sometimes led to us then demanding that he continue holding onto the antenna until our show
was over, since letting go of it immediately returned us to snow, a rolling picture, etc. I wonder what's up
with FIBBER McGEE AND MOLLY these days. My old crystal radio set still is working ...

You shouldn't have called Samsung because they have nothing to do with the all-region mod. Samsung isn't allowed to make a player all-region because of their licensing - it isn't allowed by their licensing contracts. Doing the reset that Samsung advised just made your player a stock BD-J5100. The modification was applied by a third party. Did you buy the player new or second hand? Find out who the dealer or modifier was and contact them to see if they can help restore the mod.

 

[PODER]

Threw in the towel and just ordered a new All Region DVD/Blu-Ray machine. It'll arrive Tuesday. All 21 fingers
and toes crossed until then.

 

[Ernest]

I have several Region-Free players which I purchased mostly from 220 Electronics. The players 220 sells have a hardware upgrade to add the feature to play all regions Blu-ray and DVD. The hardware upgrade allows the players to receive firm ware updates without compromising the Region-Free capabilities. I have in the past received firmware updates to my OPPO, LG and Panasonic without affecting the region free feature. It does seem like the operating system for your player has been changed making it a fixed region A player. Contact the seller ask if they can provide a firmware update that adds the region free feature back to your player. In the future only buy region free players from those companies that specialize in selling these type players and guarantee their performance. Using Bing or Google will provide a list of companies like 220, World-Import that specialize in selling region free players.

 

[Robin9]

Threw in the towel and just ordered a new All Region DVD/Blu-Ray machine. It'll arrive Tuesday. All 21 fingers
and toes crossed until then.

You've done the right thing. There's no point in banging your head against a wall.