How do you make an Oppo 203 region-free?

So I just received the chip from bluraychip.dk to make the 203 play region B blu rays, and it came with absolutely no set of instructions for installation. I checked on youtube and nothing there, really.

Anyone know how to do this? It looks like this:

bluraychip.dk - Oppo UDP-203 multiregion DIY kit

 

There are pdf instructions on the site you reference. Select "download".

 

OK, downloaded the pdf, installed the chip, and nothing happened. Not only will the disc not play, nothing even comes up on the TV screen. It's all black. I'm wondering if I should unscrew the top plate again, and pull out the chip and push it back in. Possibly I didn't insert it correctly. But it fit fine when I inserted it the first time...

 

Ah, figured it out. I had plugged the HDMI cable into the wrong place. Carry on.

 

Well, I don't know if anyone else has used bluraychip.dk to make their 203 region-free, but I was successfully able to watch exactly one region B blu ray last night - Cross of Iron, and today, I can't get any other region B blus to play. I've repeated the process you're supposed to do to make the switch to a different region (dimmer, dimmer, dimmer, mute, #2) and it's not working. Strange that it worked once last night and no longer. Anyone else successfully made the proper modifications to their Oppo 203 for region-free blu rays?

 

Do a reset and clear Persistant Storage on your OPPO. That fixes a lot of problems.
I’m not sure if your kit works the same as mine, but mine stays in the region I set, even if I turn it off. You might not have to do the switch for each disc you try.
I did have one in my OPPO 83 that used to automatically reset back to region A whenever I shut it off.
If this doesn’t work, you might have a bad region chip.

 

If you still can't figure it out, I would post over at avsforum -- it is all about videophiling, and nothing else. Good luck.

 

I'd post here: Official OPPO UDP-203 Owner's Thread - AVS Forum | Home Theater Discussions And Reviews

 

Yes, I've used the blueraychip.dk products on BDP-95, BDP-105 and now UDP-205 players with no issues so far.

 

Out of curiosity, did you actually e-mail them and get a response or did you just buy from their website. I used them for a mod to my old BDP-83 and was very happy with it, but when I wrote them regarding a mod for my 203, I never got a response. On top of that, it didn't look like their website had been updated for a while, so I was wondering if they'd just dropped off the planet since Oppo announced they were ceasing production of the UDP units.

 

I think I've figured it out. Before I got the chip, I had tried to play the region B blus and got the message on the TV screen that they would only play on a region B player, etc. So today, after I installed the chip, because the Oppo remembers the previous playback, I briefly got the message about resuming the previous play, if not, hit 'stop.' Then the message about only playing on region B players. So I ejected the disc, hit 'play,' and when the disc went back in and the message came back on about resuming or hit stop - I hit 'stop,' and what do you know? The menu came up! I think my player was ready to play these region B blus all day, I just didn't hit 'stop' fast enough and it remembered the discs not playing last week, so it wouldn't play today. Weird, huh? Anyway, they play fine now...

 

I used the email they sent me acknowledging my order. I just hit the 'reply' button and they responded. I emailed them again today though, to express interest in a possible refund and they haven't responded to that yet. Lol...

 

I looked at the kid at the link in this thread earlier. Looks as if it is installed inside the player. Does anyone have any experence using external mods on the 103/105? I see ones on Ebay that look to just connect an external kit to the RS232 port and USB port. No going inside the player.

I've got both a 105 and 205. The 205 is pretty new, but I was thinking of just trying the mod on the 105 to begin with.

 

For those in U.S. looking for make their 203 region free, check out: Region Free Oppo UDP-203 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray Player Modification Kit

I haven't used it or got it yet, but probably will after some more reading. I would rather order from Illinois than oveseas, and it is slightly less expensive (but requires one to open, IIRC, the case, which is no big deal).

 

I recently purchased a Region B dvd and turned out not to be able to play it on either my 105 or 205. I knew region coding was still a thing for blu-ray, but for some reason thought the Oppo players were all region for DVD. Is there some setting that is easily adjusted to make the player all region for DVD? I see the info about burning a "super disk cd-r" in the FAQ here on the 103.

Unofficial OPPO BDP-103 Frequently Asked Questions

I also found a post (pretty old I gather, but I don't see a date) that has a series of codes to enter on the remote that will supposedly allow the region to be changed on Oppo DVD players. Anyone done this on a 105/205, or is a CD-R or hardware mod the only option?

 

Did you get get this? Curious how your install went. I'm looking at the kit from the same place for the 205, which is listed here:

Region Free Oppo UDP-205 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray Player Modification Kit

I was hoping to see a video of the installation to make sure its something I'm comfortable doing. Opening up the player isn't a big deal, but it sounds like you need to remove one board to get to the one where you install the kit.

 

Yeah, I got it and the installation was very simple. IIRC, they sent you 3-4 pages of instructions -- which includes B&W pictures of what is going on. I really haven't used it that much, but I definitely could play all DVDs (including PAL from Europe) and any region blu-ray. There are a couple of workarounds, but not too complicated.

 

The 205 requires moving two boards. Not complicated, but needs to be handled carefully. Although I believe with extreme care one board may only need to be partially removed. And instead of using plastic ties to secure the mod board, I preferred to use an adhesive tape mount to the inside of the case. A little tidier.

 

Just got done modding my 203 and 205 with this kit and agree that it's not complicated. However, with the 205 you will be needing to remove quite a number of small screws both inside the unit and outside (including removing the screws from a large number of the input/outputs) and there are slightly different screw lengths involved. So I would recommend getting a number of small bowls to hold the different screws so they don't get lost and wind up where they belong. Also, I needed to pull one flat cable that connects the two boards so that I could get access to the lower board. It wasn't a big deal to reinsert the cable but you will need to be careful so you don't damage it when reinserting it.

It takes a little time to get done but after disassembly and reassembly, it's ready to go. The 203 is a heck of a lot easier to put the mod kit in.

 

I'm trying to do this for the 205, but don't know how to remove the boards. I've got the cover off and am inside. I took three screws out of the top board, which is all I can see. But now what? The board doesn't seem loose anywyere, and I don't know where to pull on it to remove it. Anyone know of a video that shows this? I'm not sure what I need to unplug and am getting a bit uncomfortable with this "easy installation". The instructions aren't designed for the 205. They just have a small image for the 205 that simply says "remove these two boards", but don't give any indication how.

 

Here's a good look inside: https://www.gattiweb.com/images/bluray/Std kit installation manual for Oppo205.pdf

 

Thanks, that helps and is much more detailed than the instruction I was sent with the piece. I may be able to give this a go! Wish I knew someone local who did things like this. I checked with the one audio dealer I know, but he didn't know anyone.

 

I can't get this. I've got the boards loose, and I can pull them out partially, but I can't figure out how to get some of the connectors out short of simply ripping them. I'm worried I've already damaged and maybe ruined the player. This is way more difficult that the person I bought the thing from online lead me to believe. Really pissed. I'm gonna have to contact them and see if I can get them to do the installation, which will mean sending my player there, and hoping for the best.

 

Hey, just wondering if you ever managed to get this done. I'm about to pull the trigger and buy the kit for my 205. Just wondering if I'm going to be able to swing this on my own though.

 

Yes, I ended up sending the player to the place and having then install it for me. My advice - unless you are VERY comfortable working inside the machine, don't try self-install on the 205. It's more involved than the 203 where you can easily get to the board to plug in the internal kit.