APEX AD-1200 - MEDIATEK version
Note: If you have found
this page through a search engine,
please visit the main AD-1200 page first.
Mediatek-processor AD-1200's
have a setup menu screen that is identical to the following:
"FORCING" YOUR PLAYER TO BE "REGION-FREE"
There is no "true"
way to make this player region-free. There is a workaround method
which "forces" the player to read discs from other
regions.
However, there are a LOT of limitations involved.
Before doing anything, go into the PREFERENCE SETUP menu and change the various options (i.e. AUDIO, SUBTITLE, etc.) to the settings that you desire. You won't be able to change these options once the disc starts playing.
The "force" method is as follows:
1. Open the disc tray
2. Place your DVD on the tray.
3. Close the disc tray.
4. While you see the words "LOADING" on the screen, try pushing ONE of the following buttons repeatedly, very quickly:
TITLE
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
5. If the trick works - and there's no guarantee that it will - the DVD will start playing, with the word WRONG REGION in the upper left corner.
If the button you pushed
does not work, repeat the
process trying one of the other buttons on the list.
To get rid of the WRONG REGION message, push the P/N button on the remote 3 times. (You will probably see the "Stop" symbol in the upper right corner after doing this - there's no known way to get rid of this symbol, but it's more bearable than WRONG REGION.)
Besides P/N, the only other buttons that will function while the DVD is playing are:
POWER
Open/Close
SETUP
Arrow keys/ENTER (only when inside the setup menu)
VOL+
VOL-
MUTE
In order to stop the DVD, you must push EJECT or turn off the
Power.
VCD SUPPORT
Within the "universe"
of Mediatek-processor AD-1200's, there are a number of sub-versions.
The differences between the sub-versions center around whether
the player has VCD support.
Generally speaking, the firmware version will indicate whether or not the player has VCD support. To display the firmware version:
1. Make sure that the disc tray is empty.
2. On the remote control, push the following buttons:
SETUP
1 3 6 9 (one at a time)
Left Arrow 3 times -- NOT the |<< or << button
Right Arrow 1 time -- NOT the >>| or >> button
3. A new menu item
labeled VERSION will appear between
the PREFERENCE SETUP and EXIT SETUP options.
Enter this VERSION menu.
4. Inside the VERSION menu, you will see a line of information titled VERSION, another titled SUB-VER, and possibly a date listed on the left column.
If you see the following:
VERSION 00.0B.07.04
SUB-VER 00.00.00.01
...your player may or
may not have VCD support. It is up to you
to test this. If you have this firmware version, and you don't
have VCD support, but you want VCD support, scroll down to
the section titled "RESTORING VCD SUPPORT".
If you see anything
other than the VERSION and SUB-VER listed
above, then your player should have VCD support. If you find that
this is not the case, please report your findings in THIS thread
on the
AD-1200 forum.
RESTORING VCD SUPPORT
If your
AD-1200 lacks VCD support, and it meets certain criteria, it may
be possible
to load firmware to gain VCD support.
(Note: "VCD support" means that VCD's start playing automatically, upon insertion. If you see a file browser menu upon inserting a VCD, and you have to manually select the file to play, then your player does NOT have VCD support!)
To successfully load this firmware, your player MUST meet these requirements:
a. It must have the MediaTek MT1369 video processor. It is possible that your AD-1200 is using another type of MediaTek video processor, such as the MT1379. DO NOT TRY THIS UNLESS YOUR AD-1200 HAS THE MT1369!
b. It must have the
following firmware version
(see above for the procedure on how to check the firmware version)
VERSION 00.0B.07.04
SUB-VER 00.00.00.01
If you have an AD-1200
that lacks VCD support and has a firmware version other than the
one mentioned above, please report your findings in THIS thread
on the AD-1200 forum.
c. It MUST have a small chip that says
"CS4955". Here's a picture of a CS4955 chip:
(Don't worry about anything written after the '4955',
such as the '-LP' shown in the picture above.)
d. It MUST have a
rectangular chip that has the following printed directly on the
chip:
-An "ATMEL" symbol
-A chip identification code that starts with "AT49F8192AT"
OR
-The "HYNIX" brand name
-A chip identification code that starts with "HY29F800T0"
OR
-The "HYUNDAI" brand name
-A chip identification code that starts with "HY29F800T0"
Here's a picture of the ATMEL chip:
Here's a picture of the HYUNDAI chip:
(A picture of the HYNIX chip is not available)
If your
player's firmware chip says "AMIC", DO
NOT ATTEMPT TO LOAD THIS FIRMWARE. DOING SO
WILL DESTROY YOUR PLAYER!!!
Basically, your player's circuit board should look virtually identical to the following (except that there may be a HYUNDAI or HYNIX chip in place of the ATMEL chip - see above). Click picture for a larger version if you like.
Once you've confirmed that your player matches the specifications outlined above:
1. Download THIS file.
2. Unzip the MAD1010W.BIN file (contained within the zip file)
3. Open
your CD burning program. Perform the steps necessary to set up
the process of creating a new data CD.
4. Burn
MAD1010W.BIN 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.
(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.)
5.
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 1,048,576 bytes.
If the file size is NOT 1,048,576
bytes, DO NOT CONTINUE! M
6. 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
MAY
VOID THE WARRANTY OF YOUR
PLAYER!
7. Eject the disc tray on the DVD player.
8. Push SETUP. Enter the PREFERENCE menu. Scroll down to the DEFAULTS option. Select the RESET option and push PLAY (ENTER). Then push SETUP to exit the menu.
9. Put the CD-R/CD-RW, data side down, on the tray.
10. Close the disc tray.
11. The upgrade process will now begin.
Within a few seconds,
you should see the following on your screen:
UPGRADE FILE DETECTED
UPGRADE: ?
PRESS PLAY TO START
WARNING: DO NOT POWER OFF DURING THE PROCEDURE OF UPGRADE
12. Press PLAY on the remote control.
13. You should now see the
following on your screen:
1. REMOVE THE DISC NOW (but wait until the disc tray ejects!)
2. DO NOT POWER OFF
3. WAIT AROUND 1 MINUTE
4. ENJOY
(NOTE: If, at this point, you see messages like "RETRY FILE
COPY" and "CHECKSUM FAIL", your player cannot be
upgraded. Wait about one minute after seeing the final error
message. Then try to eject the disc tray. If you can't eject the
disc tray, cycle using the main power switch on the front of the
player -- when the player is turned back on, and you see "LOADING"
on the screen, eject the disc immediately.)
14. WITHIN A FEW SECONDS, THE DISC TRAY WILL
AUTOMATICALLY EJECT. REMOVE THE DISC, BUT
**************
DO NOT **************
TURN OFF THE POWER! THE UPGRADE IS NOT YET COMPLETE!!!
After removing the disc, don't do anything at all! Just let the
player upgrade. The player will AUTOMATICALLY reboot itself and
eject the disc tray when it is done upgrading.
If you have the Real
Player G2 (or higher), you can watch a video of the upgrade
procedure. Copy and paste the following into your Real Player
"Location" (or equivalent) box:
http://www.nerd-out.com/darrenk/AD1200/1200-mediatek-upgrade.rm
Once the upgrade is complete, try playing a VCD. If it starts
playing automatically (i.e. you don't have to do through a file
browser menu first), then the upgrade worked. Please report your
results by responding to THIS
message.
WHERE TO GET HELP
Please Note! I do not own an Apex AD-1200 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...
