Ok so when I use Mac the ripper to remove the dvd copy protection and then Toast to compress/burn it to a dvd everything works fine. Except I just tried it and after I had gotten rid of the original copy of the dvd I realized it wouldn't play in the dvd player. I was told "This disc is not formatted to play in this region" and normally I don't pay any attention to the regions cause mac the ripper just takes care of it for me. All I know about regions is North America is region 1. So I burned the dvd anyway and using Mac the ripper I tried to figure out how to remove or change the dvd region so that it would play in a dvd player. Except I tried every combination I could think of and still won't play on my computer/dvd. So how do I use mac the ripper to fix this? I put the burned dvd I have into DVD Shrink as well and let it do its thing then tried to view it from "DVD player" and it still told me wrong region. I thought DVD Shrink was supposed to make it region-free so to speak. I know the disc is viewable because while DVD Shrink was working on it I was able to view it in the little preview box on the side. If all else fails I'll get the original copy back and try the whole process over again. Thank you in advance!
If this was a PC, you could open the folder in PgcEdit and check the region setting.
A ripped disk should be all regions.
If the original disk was in fact a different region from your own, e.g. Region 2, then the video format would be PAL and that might not play on a North American standalone - although it would play on a PC.
I used ifoedit to path the regions and it was already set up correctly. I opened the folder in Pgcedit as you said and it also shows it's set in all regions. Yet it still won't play.
There can be problems using fastidious drives (and Apple's is the most restrictive) when using Region Code 0. It might be better to simply set your region codes to all regions of the World you know you may be in. (I eliminated Siberia, but that may have been during the Cold War.)
Region code 2 won't switch the format to PAL (which is difficult to do in software) or have any other adverse side effects. Perhaps Apple drives don't play discs whose author reads 'MACTHERIPPER'. :-)
There may still be a 'bug' in the Apple firmware that will allow you to recopy your disk. See the comment on the glossary term 'Region Code':
Pop in your disk. When the warning about changing region only so many times appears, ignore it: click neither cancel nor change. Keep it on the screen. You cannot play your disk now, but MTR can rip it to region codes of your choice, which should probably include 1 & 2.
While you're at it, change the author from 'MACTHERIPPER' (or whatever) to something else, probably not your name (should laws change).
Once the VIDEO_TS file is on your disk, you can click 'Cancel' to the firmware's request to change your region code. Proceed from there as usual.
Changes in firmware's decryption algorithms, the inability to exchange a worn-out DVD for a working one, moving around the globe; the loss of a purchased DVD for these reasons seems unethical. Playing a backup seems proper.
