Have you installed eg. dvdfab passkey or anydvd hd on the system? The region changes are in the drive itself and not powerdvd.

Thank you for your reply.

No, I have not installed that software, nor do I need it; all of my hardware is Blu-ray compatible (HDCP throughout, Blu-ray-specific video acceleration etc) and I have not imported any Blu-ray discs from outside Region B.

I very much doubt that the settings are stored in the drive as PowerDVD 7.3 still plays Blu-ray just fine and tells me I have 5 changes left. Unfortunately, I needed to buy version 12 for its 3D playback, else I'd be happy sticking with 7.3...

I tried rolling back to a previous version of PowerDVD by selecting a restore point prior to the installation of the latest patch to see if that helped - unfortunately, after the System Restore completed PowerDVD 12 appears to be completely broken (clicking its shortcut does nothing - no software ever loads) and I can't uninstall it to reinstall it ("InstallShield Wizard: Required installation file is missing (SKRSet.xml).") I'll continue poking around, but don't really want to have to reinstall Windows to fix it...

Edit: I'm back to where I was, I think - I used the cleaner (CLCleaner2-PowerDVD_12.0) and then deleted the Cyberlink directories in C:\Program Files, C:\ProgramData, C:\Users\Ben\AppData\Local and C:\Users\Ben\AppData\Roaming. I then rebooted and reinstalled PowerDVD 12 Pro. Not all settings had been deleted, however (so there's probably stuff in the registry that needs clearing out too, but I'm not sure where to start there) - when the player started it came up in Cinema mode (not the default Classic mode), though when I switched to Classic mode it prompted me to go through the initial set-up (selecting media folders, configuring 3D display). I still have 0 changes on my drive left, though, and get the following messages if I try to force a Blu-ray to play:

---------------------------
Warning
---------------------------
CyberLink PowerDVD cannot access the storage device. Select another device when playback stops.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

followed by

---------------------------
Information
---------------------------
The integrity of CyberLink PowerDVD is at risk. Check your anti-virus software for malicious activities or try reinstalling CyberLink PowerDVD.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

PowerDVD 7.3 continues to play back Blu-ray flawlessly - just not in 3D, the sole reason I bought 12.

Another edit: I had a look in Device Manager to see if I had any dodgy drivers installed that might be interfering with PowerDVD's access to the drive, and found ntk_PowerDVD12 had an error triangle icon on it: "This device is not present, is not working properly, or does not have all its drivers installed. (Code 24)" - is that related to anything?

I think resetting PowerDVD's region settings would do the trick here but I can't seem to find the option.

Quote: Thank you for your reply.


Edit: I'm back to where I was, I think - I used the cleaner (CLCleaner2-PowerDVD_12.0) and then deleted the Cyberlink directories in C:\Program Files, C:\ProgramData, C:\Users\Ben\AppData\Local and C:\Users\Ben\AppData\Roaming. I then rebooted and reinstalled PowerDVD 12 Pro. Not all settings had been deleted, however (so there's probably stuff in the registry that needs clearing out too, but I'm not sure where to start there) - when the player started it came up in Cinema mode (not the default Classic mode), though when I switched to Classic mode it prompted me to go through the initial set-up (selecting media folders, configuring 3D display). I still have 0 changes on my drive left, though, and get the following messages if I try to force a Blu-ray to play:


Another edit: I had a look in Device Manager to see if I had any dodgy drivers installed that might be interfering with PowerDVD's access to the drive, and found ntk_PowerDVD12 had an error triangle icon on it: "This device is not present, is not working properly, or does not have all its drivers installed. (Code 24)" - is that related to anything?

Uninstall DVD12 again and any Microsoft Visual packages as well, eg Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable. There will be at least one or sometimes three, depending on your platform.

Restart > Run CCleaner's registry cleaner as many times as necessary till it finds nothing _ do this for Cyberlinks cleaner as well. Restart and check again, and perform if necessary.

There will also be some storage files in "Documents" or some times in "Downloads" that needs to be deleted as well. Delete these and run the registry cleaner again.

Here are a couple of threads on the matter, but not much help though.

http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/21450.page

http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/21879.page

There's an answer from Michael too, but again not much help.

Microsoft Visual Packages are pre-written bits of software that venders use to save time when they wright their own programs. When installing new versions of software, these applications from older version remain behind and can cause problems.

Also, you may also want to go into the device manager and uninstall/delete that Power DVD12 item there before reinstalling DVD12 again.

When installing DVD12, save the file to the desk top and install it from there, not form a temporary folder. Save the file to disc so you have it when you need it.

The other thing to consider is Total Media Theatre 5, it is written form scratch as it does not rely on any Microsoft Visual packages. If the trial works all you have to do is enter your product key. There is no need to uninstall the trial and reinstall the paid version. All the uninstalling, reinstalling and patches from Cyberlink cause lots of problems, like the ones you are having now.

Here is a coupon code for TMT5 for 50% off.

http://www.retailmenot.com/view/arcsoft.com

http://www.retailmenot.com/showcoupon/3474178

Strange, I was sure I had written a final edit but it's not in my above post. I had got it working, but thank you very much for your help - it may help others in future!

I had tried uninstalling and reinstalling PowerDVD several times, but each time had the same issue. I also tried Revo Uninstaller and CCleaner to get rid of as much of PowerDVD as possible before reinstalling. What finally appeared to fix the issue was uninstalling the ntk_PowerDVD12 device in Device Manager (make sure to click View->Show Hidden Devices). I then rebooted, uninstalled and then re-installed PowerDVD 12 and the option to select a region was restored with 5 changes available. I can now play Blu-ray discs again in PowerDVD 12. I'm not sure if this faulty device was causing the problems or if it was merely preventing a clean uninstall/reinstall cycle but it removing it seemed to do the trick.

Interestingly, checking back in Device Manager I no longer have an ntk_PowerDVD12 device but I do have three Power Control devices for different dates (2012/04/03, 2012/04/28, 2012/05/19). 2012/04/28 had a warning icon next to it so I uninstalled that one too, with no apparent side-effects.

I wanted to burn a couple of my region resets to watch Baraka (a region 3 blu-ray) but nowhere appears the option to change regions. I even tried selecting region B on setup. Seems like the exact type of issues this thread is about. What a nightmare!

Dear Cyberlink: Put a region select option in your software that actually performs its function. Thanks.

Blu-ray™ Region Code
Region code setting has to be set BEFORE playback Blu-ray Region code setting has to be set before playback. That said, both the DVD-Region Code and Blu-ray Region Code may only be changed FOUR (4) times [yielding a total of 5 regions the drive can be shifted through (the initial code is set by the OEM]. Some drives conform to a different numbering schema than this and allow setting 5 region codes for both DVD-Region and Blu-ray Region, but nevertheless, you are grievously mistaken that the hardware's firmware does not record this! If you go into Device Manager, access the drive properties, you will see a field to establish a different region, but YOU ARE ALSO CLEARLY-CLEARY-CLEARLY informed that you have a limited number of changes (5). This is a well-known restriction that has been around since the late nineties (Blu-ray excepted). The firmware can take a low-level system call instructing it to change regions, and if the PROM (that means certain regions of a special chip can only be programmed once and if 5 control bits have been written OR an increment counting IC that can only move one direction (1,2,3,4,5) and stop changing decoding when the respective cell has the value of 5, then the drive can absolutely and rightfully deny you!). Maybe your problem resides somewhere else, but please don't guess on an answer forum!

"I very much doubt that the settings are stored in the drive as PowerDVD 7.3 still plays Blu-ray just fine and tells me I have 5 changes left. Unfortunately, I needed to buy version 12 for its 3D playback, else I'd be happy sticking with 7.3..."

Yeah, but software cannot be relied upon to alter hardware -- it almost always does, but I dare you to change the region in v7.3 and then change it back. It won't happen if the device manager, which simply queries the component bus for info that the attached hardware items are willing to give up. And it may be that you're seeing things and misinterpreting them. DO YOU STILL HAVE 5 DVD-Region changes available? DO YOU STILL HAVE 5 Blu-ray Region changes available?

Sorry if the trial instructed your drive to change regions haphazardly, but if that is what happened, then the drive is "bricked--forever set to the 5th Region Code Set for DVD and/or Blu-ray parameters.

BTW: Thanks for replying (you didn't) with a resolution or disposition--how did you fix it? Could you fix it? What happened?

Also, the read-'n-parse routine for v7.3 does not read in the realtime values and instead uses the magic number of 5. v11, 12, and 13 all had flaws where they woul send the instruction to change region, but FAIL to record it to either a .cfg, .ini, .dat, etc file or commit the fact a region had been chosen prior and so asked the question each time. Kill the handle of the .dll, and reassemble the dependency based executable. Boom--you're done! That's why we use write-blockers and remove the jumper that controls the ODD 's ability to change--then it will ignore change of region system calls, thus removing the possibility of malware or ignorant users to make such a simplistic mistake (assuming, you never got it working...reply if you did).

ForensicMav

I'm not entirely sure I appreciate the belligerent tone of your message, but I did post my resolution over two years ago. To summarise:

I had a look in Device Manager [...] and found ntk_PowerDVD12 had an error triangle icon on it: "This device is not present, is not working properly, or does not have all its drivers installed. (Code 24)".

[...]

What finally appeared to fix the issue was uninstalling the ntk_PowerDVD12 device in Device Manager (make sure to click View->Show Hidden Devices). I then rebooted, uninstalled and then re-installed PowerDVD 12 and the option to select a region was restored with 5 changes available. I can now play Blu-ray discs again in PowerDVD 12. I'm not sure if this faulty device was causing the problems or if it was merely preventing a clean uninstall/reinstall cycle but it removing it seemed to do the trick.

I'm aware that region codes can be tracked by the drive's firmware but my understanding was this only applies to DVDs. Indeed, if I look in Device Manager there are region settings for DVD (but not Blu-ray), and Wikipedia states the following:

Unlike DVD region codes, Blu-ray region codes are verified only by the player software, not by the optical drive's firmware.