APEX AD-1500
This page explains how to
make your AD-1500 region-free, RCE-immune, and Macrovision-free.
("RCE immune" means that the firmware will play "RCE" DVD's
even though the firmware is region-free.)
You would want to make your player region-free so that you can play DVDs bought from anywhere in the world -- not just those in your "region".
You would want to make your
player Macrovision-free if you have to hook it up through a VCR (or
a projector) and the picture constantly fades in and out.
This upgrade gets rid of the fading.
There are several different versions of the AD-1500. Most can be modified, but some cannot (or at least not easily.) And of the players that can be modified, most will accept the upgraded firmware by CD, but some will require a chip replacement.
The key to figuring out which
version of the AD-1500 you have is to look at the player's serial
number. The serial number appears on the rear of the player. It
also appears on the corners of the long sides of the player's box.
Some players may have the serial number
on the side(s) of the box.
* If the serial number begins with the letters "SV", then you must manually replace the player's firmware chip. Scroll down to the section titled "SV" SERIAL NUMBER AD-1500 in order to obtain the firmware, and for a list of people who provide chip programming services.
* If the serial number begins
with "A150001", "B150001", "C150001",
or "D150001", AND IF THE SERIAL NUMBER STICKER IS WHITE,
then your player is almost surely CD-upgradeable (meaning that
you can burn the upgraded firmware to a CD-R/CD-RW and play the
disc, in order to perform the upgrade.) Scroll down to the
section titled
"A/B/C/D SERIAL
NUMBER AD-1500".
* If the serial number begins with "D150002", AND IF THE SERIAL NUMBER STICKER IS YELLOW, then your player is almost surely CD-upgradeable (meaning that you can burn the upgraded firmware to a CD-R/CD-RW and play the disc, in order to perform the upgrade.) And besides the region/Macrovision issues discussed above, there is another reason to upgrade your player: you will gain support for playing VCD's. (On your player, VCD support is disabled in the firmware that the manufacturer installs in the factory.) Scroll down to the section titled "A/B/C/D SERIAL NUMBER AD-1500".
* If the serial number begins with simply the number "1500", AND IF THE SERIAL NUMBER STICKER IS WHITE, then you are probably out of luck. Your player appears to have the same hardware as the A/B/C/D-serial number players, but for some unknown reason, your player will probably refuse to upgrade. Installing the upgraded firmware will more than likely require a manual chip replacement, and the firmware chip is probably soldered to the circuit board (which makes replacement risky and expensive.) You may wish to try upgrading the firmware via CD - if you're lucky, it just might work - scroll down to the section titled "A/B/C/D SERIAL NUMBER AD-1500".
"SV" SERIAL NUMBER AD-1500
The region-free, RCE-immune,
and Macrovision-free firmware
for the "SV" serial number AD-1500 is available HERE.
The original (factory)
firmware - set to Region 1,
and with Macrovision ON - is available HERE.
Details
on ordering a replacement chip are available HERE.
You can also order a firmware chip at a very reasonable price
from chipdlx@yahoo.com
Regardless of who you contact to get the chip, specify that you need an "AMD 29f040 or compatible" 32-pin DIP chip, programmed with the firmware located HERE.
Once you receive the replacement firmware chip, you can visit THIS PAGE for instructions on how to properly pop out the old chip and put in the new one.
The chip you'll be replacing is similar to the one labeled as "APE-1500-1" in the picture below.
For those of you who know how to move resistors on a circuit
board,
here is some additional information:
Even though the factory firmware chip (a 27C040) and the design of the board does not support CD upgrading, the firmware itself is actually capable of receiving upgrades. It just needs to be matched up with a 29F040 firmware chip (flashrom) and the resistors need to be moved.
The movable resistor links are at the locations shown in this picture:
Therefore, if you wanted to use a 29F040 flashrom, you could move the resistor links shown in the YELLOW positions to the blank pads shown in GREEN, program up a 29F040 type flashrom and use that instead. Note, as I said, that you WILL have to get a 29F040 flashrom pre-programmed first. You cannot CDR upgrade a blank chip.
The upgrade filename is "BANK30.ROM".
Here is a full picture of the inside of an "SV" serial numbered AD-1500:
As you can see, the "SV" serial numbered 1500 uses a DIP
package
(rectangle shape) firmware chip on an AD-500W style main
circuit board and a standard DSL-710A IDE interface DVD loader.
"A/B/C/D" SERIAL NUMBER
The region-free, RCE-immune,
and Macrovision-free firmware
for the "A/B/C/D" serial number AD-1500 is available HERE.
(For those of you with yellow
serial number sticker, "D150002" serial number players
-
the firmware linked above will add VCD support.)
The original (factory)
firmware - set to Region 1, and with Macrovision ON - is
available HERE.
NOTE: This is the original factory firmware that has VCD support.
If your player came with
original factory firmware that had VCD disabled, and you've
upgraded to the region-free/RCE-immune,
Macrovision-free firmware linked above, there is no way to return
to the VCD-disabled original factory firmware.
Now scroll down to the
section titled
"PERFORMING THE FIRMWARE UPGRADE".
Here are some pictures from the inside of an "A/B/C/D" serial numbered 1500:
The "A/B/C/D" serial numbered AD-1500 DOES NOT
use a
standard IDE interface DVD-ROM loader.
The main circuit board has two
functions:
1. DVD-ROM loader "brains" (right) and 2. Audio/Video
processing (left).
PERFORMING THE FIRMWARE UPGRADE
1.
The .zip file you downloaded in the section above contains a file
named U1500AM.ROM -- unzip that file.
2 Open
your CD burning program. Perform the steps necessary to set up
the process of creating a new data CD.
3. Burn
U1500AM.ROM to a blank CD-R/CD-RW.
Be sure to apply these specifications before
burning the disc:
Data CD, ISO9660, Mode 1, "Close"/"Finalize"
disc session.
Note: you may wish to place the ROM file inside of a subfolder on the disc. This prevents the upgrade from starting automatically.
(If you need help with
burning the disc, you might want to check out this excellent article
put together by the guys at Area 450. The article references
Sampo firmware, but the burning specifications are basically the
same. Note that the article does NOT make any mention about
creating a subfolder, or closing/finalizing the disc, so you will
need to figure
out those steps on your own.)
4.
After the disc is burned, view the contents of the disc in
Windows Explorer/My Computer/whatever. Right-click on the .ROM file that is
burned on the disc and select "Properties" (or do
whatever is necessary to view the Properties.)
Make sure that the file size is
EXACTLY 524,288 bytes.
If the file size is NOT 524,288
bytes, DO NOT CONTINUE! M
5. Read the disclaimer:
DISCLAIMER:
USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. I DO NOT OWN THIS PLAYER SO I CANNOT TRY
THIS CDR UPGRADE MYSELF. I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE
THAT MAY RESULT TO YOUR PLAYER. PERFORMING
THE PROCEDURE DESCRIBED HERE
WILL SURELY
VOID THE WARRANTY OF YOUR
PLAYER!
6. Eject the disc tray on the DVD player.
7. Push SETUP. Enter the PREFERENCES menu. Scroll down to the DEFAULTS option. Select the RESET option and push PLAY (ENTER). Then push SETUP to exit the menu.
8. Put the CD-R/CD-RW, data side down, on the tray.
9. Close the disc tray.
10. The upgrade process will now begin.
(Note: If you placed the .ROM file inside a subfolder,
the file browser menu will appear -
use the arrow keys on the remote to select the folder and then
push ENTER or PLAY.)
IF YOU SEE
THE MESSAGE "WRITE FAIL" OR "ERASE FAIL"
at this point, scroll down to the "WRITE/ERASE FAIL error"
section
towards the bottom of this page!
DO NOT DO ANYTHING UNTIL THE DISC TRAY HAS AUTOMATICALLY EJECTED.
You should see the following screens, in this order:
DO NOT DO ANYTHING UNTIL THE
DISC TRAY HAS AUTOMATICALLY EJECTED.
DO NOT DO ANYTHING UNTIL THE
DISC TRAY HAS AUTOMATICALLY EJECTED.
DO NOT DO ANYTHING UNTIL THE
DISC TRAY HAS AUTOMATICALLY EJECTED.
DO NOT DO ANYTHING UNTIL THE
DISC TRAY HAS AUTOMATICALLY EJECTED.
11. Once the upgrade is complete, the screen will go blank and the disc tray will automatically eject. Remove the disc.
12. Turn OFF the POWER on the front of the player (NOT the remote control). Wait 10 seconds, and then turn ON the power on the front of the player (NOT the remote control).
13. The disc tray should automatically close, and the upgrade should be complete.
14. Push SETUP. Enter the PREFERENCES menu. Scroll down to the DEFAULTS option. Select the RESET option and push PLAY (ENTER). Then push SETUP to exit the menu.
RETURNING TO THE ORIGINAL (FACTORY) FIRMWARE
Download the original (factory) firmware HERE.
NOTE: This is the original
factory firmware that has VCD support. If your player came with
original factory firmware that had VCD disabled, and you've
upgraded to the region-free/RCE-immune,
Macrovision-free firmware linked above, there is no way to return
to the VCD-disabled original factory firmware.
Repeat steps 1 through 14, above.
WRITE/ERASE FAIL ERROR
If you see a "WRITE FAIL" or "ERASE FAIL" error during the CD upgrade process, it means that your player is incapable of being CD upgraded.
It is possible to install upgraded firmware on your player. However, this will require manual replacement of the firmware chip.
If you are lucky, your player will have the firmware chip in a brown socket. The picture below is taken from a 1500 with a socketed firmware chip (indicated by the yellow box) --
Unfortunately, your player's firmware chip will probably
be soldered directly to the circuit board, as shown in the
picture below.
The square chip (above the "ESS" chip) with the "MPEG
1500-8"
sticker, is the firmware chip:
If you want
to attempt a firmware chip replacement, details on
ordering a replacement chip are available HERE. You can also order a firmware
chip at a very
reasonable price from chipdlx@yahoo.com.
Explain
your situation to whomever you contact. You may wish to
make pictures of your player's circuit board available (or show
the pictures above to the person you contact, assuming that
the pictures match what's in your player.)
CHANGING
THE BACKGROUND IMAGE
(A/B/C/D SERIAL NUMBER AD-1500 ONLY!)
If you want to change the background you can! .
NOTE: If you are a UNIX user click HERE for instructions.
Download the desired firmware from the "A/B/C/D" SERIAL NUMBER section above.
The firmware file (in .zip format) you downloaded in the section above contains a file named U1500AM.ROM -- unzip that file.
Rename U1500AM.ROM to AD1500.BIN
Use AD1500.BIN with ApexLogo to change the background image. Click HERE for instructions on how to do that.
Once you have changed the picture with ApexLogo, rename the new file to U1500AM.ROM, assuming that you want to load the firmware via CD.
Now, perform the steps described in the "PERFORMING THE FIRMWARE UPGRADE" section, above.
WHERE TO GET HELP
Please Note! I do not own an Apex AD-1500 player. All care taken in accurately providing this information which is kindly provided by others who do own these models. Please visit the sites linked above if you require any assistance.
ALSO NOTE I
AM NOT A FIRMWARE PROGRAMMER!!!
So please don't ask me when
other features will be available...
