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Can ripping a DVD with MakeMKV cause the region code to be set on some drives? I have just bought a Samsung SE-506CB/RBSD USB external blu-ray writer which describes itself as a TSSTcorp BDDVDW SE-506CB USB Device. I have not installed any of the Samsung software. When it arrived Device Manager in Vista showed the DVD region code as not selected with 5 changes remaining. I have used MakeMKV 1.9.2 to rip a region 2 DVD, the Keira Knightley Doctor Zhivago, and a region B blu-ray disk, The Butler. The region code is now shown as 2 with 4 changes remaining. I did not get the warning from MakeMKV of a region code mismatch, nor did I get any pop-up asking me if I wanted to change the region code. The only other thing I have done with the drive is to try to play a blu-ray disk with VLC, and it told me I did not have a libary for AACS decoding.

What is likely to happen if I rip a region 1 DVD? Is there a risk that the region code will be changed again? I do have other internal DVD drives whose region code has not been set, so maybe I need to take care only to use those for DVDs.

DVD, no it shouldn't.

http://www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3728

mike admin wrote:MakeMKV should normally ignore region coding. You should change the drive region to a value that you use most, and MakeMKV still should open any region disc. Opening a disc with mismatching region usually takes a more time. The only exception would be if you have one of the drives that really enforces region lock - these are uncommon.

http://www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7134

mike admin wrote:There is a tiny subset of DVD drives that enforce the region coding on hardware level - they don't even allow the data to be read if region is mismatched. You are "lucky" to have such drive. Your only option is to find a patched firmware for your drive, just follow the link in the error message.

Get a new drive.

Thanks for the links to those other threads. My apologies for not having found them myself.

As for getting a new drive, if I want the convenience of an external drive, the choice seems to be a bit limited. I felt I did not have any need to write blu-ray disks, so I went for a reader. I started with the COOLEAD. That stopped working after two weeks. I then went for an even cheaper one. It was a HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GT20N. Although it was sold as being able to read blu-ray disks it did not seem to be able to, and its firmware was dated 2008. I then decided to spend more to get the Samsung blu-ray writer.

I see from the other threads that others were suggesting the region code was being changed by MakeMKV. I now think I have found another explanation. It seems, in Vista at least, selecting open Windows Explorer from the AutoPlay menu is sufficient to set the region code. Obviously it is difficult to test conclusively, because I don't want to end up with too many changes.

I did wonder whether it was the Doctor Zhivago DVD that was causing a problem. It is unlike any other DVD I have looked at. It was produced by ITV. If I try to copy one of the .VOB files in Windows Explorer it says it is encrypted and refuses to copy it, and it still says that now the region code has been set. I did get the error message about RPC protection when trying to rip that DVD in the COOLEAD drive just before it gave up the ghost. I fully ripped it yesterday in the Samsung drive with no errors. I partially ripped it a couple of weeks ago and I am pretty sure I used my internal SONY DVD RWDW G120A. I am also pretty sure I checked the region code of that drive this morning and it was Not selected with 5 changes left. Now after selecting Open Windows Explorer in AutoPlay it is showing region 2 and 4 changes left.

I am trying to summon up the courage to see what happens if try to rip my only region 1 DVD.

Another data point.

I have LG and a Toshiba/Samsung optical drives here. Only one of them (the Toshiba/Samsung) even has a region code set... that was done by PowerDVD early on, before I knew enough to uninstalled it the first time.

All of the others are unset. Not region-free (that would require non-standard firmware), just not set yet. I was trying something with PowerDVD a few weeks back, and it tried to set regions, but I told it not to do so. Since it won't work without setting the region, I uninstalled it.

I have ripped region 1 (local) and 2 DVDs in all of the drives, including the one that has region 1 set. There is no difference in speed for me, because MakeMKV has to figure out the region coding every time I start it up.

I can't test what happens with a region 1 DVD. I have just ripped the one I bought as region 1, Savage Messiah, and it didn't change the region code. However I have now checked with IFOedit, and the region code is 40 hex, which means regions 1-6 and 8. I have looked at a number of other DVDs which say they are region 2, and they are also region free. Doctor Zhivago is the first region coded DVD I have ripped. Lord of the Rings is also region coded 2. I tried copying a .VOB file in Windows Explorer, and it too refused to copy saying the file was encrypted.

I had long suspected Savage Messiah was region free. However MakeMKV told me there was a region code mismatch, as it has done with all supposedly region coded DVDs. I suppose it meant there was a mismatch between region codes 1-6 and 8 (or 1-6 or 1-8) and the region not being selected. I am not getting that message with the region code set to 2.

I have ordered Satanic Rites of Dracula as a region 1, although probably the easiest way to get a test DVD is to author my own DVD and region code it as 1.