Page 1 of Hitachi DV305e success!

SUCCESS!

I can`t believe it!
I have finally got my Hitachi DV305e to play R1 discs.

I have been trying the remote hacks since before Christmas with no joy. I even bought a OneforAll URC7560 and tried (what I thought) was everything. No luck.

Today, just now in fact, I had a spare few hours at home and decided to give it another whirl, spurred on by the fact of Lynx at this thread http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/forums/thread.asp?Forum=176&Thread=15838
having got his to work.

I fired up the page with the Multi-Region Hacks for Samsung DVD-709 with firmware v3.26 or later, and got working. (I had been through this a million times)

I programmed my One4all remote (as I had done before) with this:
Press the AUD button
Press and hold the MAGIC key until it flashes twice
Enter 0121
Now program the following macro sequence to any key
Press and hold the MAGIC key until it flashes twice
Press 995
Press the key you want to be assigned the macro (for instance the blue teletext key)
Press the following keys as fast as you can in succession: AUD, MAGIC, 078
Press the following keys as fast as you can in succession: AUD, MAGIC, 078
NB: some people have reported that 079 works either for the last entry above, or both the above entries.
Press the MAGIC key until LED flashes.
Point the remote to your player and press the macro key (for instance the blue teletext key)

Now, the only other thing I did differently (I think) was to enter the display menu and change the `Front Display` option from AutoDim to Bright.
According to the hackpage, this should set the player permanently to multiregion (it didn`t in my case)

Anyway, turned power off at machine, powered up again, hit the key assigned to the macro above (just as LOAD appeared on the machine display) and voila, ADJUST appeared on the display and the tray popped open. I stuck in an R1 disc and it was all systems go.
I tried a R2 disc straight after without powering off, and it played too.

I have since been coldstarting and making sure this wasn`t a one off, and it works everytime.
(Sometimes, I seem to have to hit the macro key twice when LOAD appears)

It isn`t a permanent hack, but that means I can play RCE discs as well, I believe.

Is there anything I can do to help any of you guys (open the machine and report the firmware number?) I`d need to know what to be looking for :)

To recap, sorry I`m going on a bit, but this was driving me nuts for the past few weeks:

I used a ONEforAll URC7560 (The Oneforall 6)
Programmed one of the spare keys with the sequence above.
Powered on the machine. (Either by remote or pressing the button on the player)
Hit the macro key as LOAD appears in the LED display
ADJUST appears on the display and tray opens.
Put in R1 disc.

Anyways, thanks to this site I am free from the evil of regional encoding! ;)

dela

PS I now have three hairs left. Not bad...

Hi Dela.
I still can`t hack my hitachi. Is it worth me getting the oneforall remote to try this .
also you say
Press the following keys as fast as you can in succession: AUD, MAGIC, 078
Press the following keys as fast as you can in succession: AUD, MAGIC, 078
in your hack. Do you do this twice ???

Any help appretiated.

ray. nordlawr[at]ei.ogidni.eerfog

Hi Ray,

The oneforall remote is about £40 odd quid (I got mine in Dixons, Jervis Street). When I couldn`t get it to work, I thought what a waste, but I did find use for it afterwards with my tv/vcr etc.

The instructions are correct and taken directly from a page on this site:
http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/info/multiregion/
under Hitachi.

Plus, seeing as you are in Ireland like me, did you by any chance buy the Hitachi in Dixons of Jervis Street? if so, there is a good chance it`s from the exact same batch with the exact same firmware as mine, therefore should work.

My firmware is v4.03 and the date on it is C.2000.7.03 (obviously that`s dated 3rd July 2000)

My guess is if you have this firmware, the oneforall will work.

Give it a go:)
You could always buy the remote, try it for a few days and if it doesn`t work, return it. (I believe Argos ask no questions) :)

hth
dela

I cant understand why anyone would go through all this hassle and pay £40 for a remote when they could buy an auto region chip from a dealer (some are as cheap as £20) and solder 4 wires from this chip to the inside of their player .... but then I suppose i am biased :)

Steve
www.dvdchips.co.uk

Dela, you are a genius !!!

I have a one for all 7550 and this hack works using that as well !!!

The key to using this hack seems to be pressing the asigned key when load appears on the front display. Adjust then appears, pop in your region 1 disc and away it goes !!
Who cares if it isn`t permanent, once you have programmed your remote one press of the correct key sorts it out !
Any news on if this change stops working after a certain number of times ? I suppose a cold start would sort that out anyway ?
Thanks again Dela.

Fab.

Steve, that`s easy:
1. Soldering MAY damage the player
2. It WILL void guarantie

Thanks for the advice dela.
I got bought the DVD in Dixons Blanchardstown.
I`d say theres a good chance that we have the same stock of DVD.
I`ll give it a go. ( I think I have to wait till I actually have a region 1 DVD ! )

Let you know how I get on.

Ray.

Thanks for the advice dela.
I got the DVD in Dixons Blanchardstown.
I`d say theres a good chance that we have the same stock of DVD.
I`ll give it a go. ( I think I have to wait till I actually have a region 1 DVD ! )

Let you know how I get on.

Ray.

I`m delighted Fabrize!

It was more luck than anything else.
I haven`t been able to ascertain whether there is some sort of limit to the number of times it can be done (no time to do it), if there is I`m sure there`ll be a way around it. Oops, I may just try it out tonight - just in case:)

FM stuill can`t get his to work with the oneforall, he has a different firmware to me.
His is v4.02 mine is v4.03.
I wonder would you tell him what the markings on your chip are? Would that be of use to him?

Ray: Although the oneforall is expensive and I thought at first it was a waste of money, it has come in very handy for using instead of messing around with 5 seperate remotes. Hope it works out for you.

And Steve, I wouldn`t be able to or have the nerve to attempt that! :L)


dela

dela, ok. So you programmed One4all with dev code 0121 for CD key and one key to 178 function code. You removed disk, cold-started your player, pressed 1 for English and tried to press programmed key VERY quickly up to 5 times and it does not work. Are all these statements correct?

Does your player responds to 179 command?