MINTEK DVD-1600

Depending on what version of the Mintek 1600 you have (see below), it may be possible to make your player Region-free and Macrovision-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.

IMPORTANT: If you are hoping to make copies of your DVDs from your player to digital recording sources (i.e. a digital camera or a digital video recorder), YOU HAVE COME TO THE WRONG PLACE! The firmware upgrades available on this page DO NOT disable the digital copy protection that prevents this sort of copying. Digital recording is protected by something known as CGMS/A -- this is DIFFERENT from Macrovision!

There are at least TWO different versions of the Mintek DVD-1600 on the market.
These are the known differences:

The older version can be made Region-free and Macrovision-free with a firmware upgrade available on this page. Out of the box, it will play VCD, but it will NOT play SVCD. The firmware upgrade does NOT add SVCD support.

The newer version CANNOT be made Region-free or Macrovision-free.
(This may change if a copy of the firmware from the newer version is ever made available.)
However, out of the box, these units DO play VCD and SVCD, even though there are no claims of support for either format. A detailed review of the newer 1600 can be found here.

Externally, here's how to tell the difference between the 2 versions:

- The older version players *do* include VCD on the list of supported formats, located above the four oval buttons on the front of the player.
The picture at the top of this page is an older Mintek 1600.

- The newer version players *do not* include VCD on the list of supported formats, located above the four oval buttons on the front of the player. But again, despite VCD not being mentioned, these units DO play VCD (and SVCD!)

Once you've connected the player, here's another test to determine which version you have:

Push the following buttons on the remote control:

SETUP
RETURN
1-2-3

If you see nothing new on your screen, then you have the older version.

However, if pushing those buttons causes an extra line of information to appear towards the bottom of the menu screen -- something like
"020427 11:07 HTMl 1" or "020518 9:56 HTMI 1",
it means that you have the newer version.

The remainder of this page contains information that
pertains ONLY to the older version of the 1600.

The first step in this process is to open up your Mintek DVD-1600
and verify that you have the "CS4955" video encoder chip.

The chip outlined by the RED (not blue) box
in the picture below is the "CS4955" video encoder.

Here's a close-up of the "CS4955" chip:

IF YOU CANNOT LOCATE THE "CS4955" CHIP ON THE CIRCUIT BOARD, OR IF YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT TYPE OF VIDEO ENCODER CHIP, DO NOT CONTINUE. THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED HERE ARE PROVIDED ONLY FOR THE "CS4955" CHIP. IF YOUR PLAYER HAS A DIFFERENT CHIP, PERFORMING UPGRADES WITH THE FIRMWARE PROVIDED HERE WILL CAUSE YOUR PLAYER TO STOP FUNCTIONING!

Unlike many other players discussed on this site, Shinco-built players (such as your player) do not allow you to simply download firmware and burn that firmware to a CD for upgrading purposes. Instead, you must download the firmware AND a special program. The special program, in conjunction with the firmware you download, will create a separate file which is used for upgrading.

Before doing anything, make sure that your player is connected to your TV (or your VCR, if that's possible) through either the standard composite video output
-- but NOT the S-Video output.
The reason: once you have loaded the firmware, the player defaults to component video output. If you are connected via S-Video, you will not see a picture. (The standard composite video output signal should be activated no matter what video output mode is selected in the menus, so you should always see a picture if you're using the composite jack.) After you've upgraded, you can switch back to the S-Video output -- push SETUP and go into the
GENERAL SETUP menu -- you'll find the option there.

For the purpose of clarity, these instructions assume that all files will be downloaded to the Windows Desktop (i.e., C:\WINDOWS\Desktop) and all folders created will be on the Desktop (i.e., C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\My_New_Folder)

1. Download the "Shinco CD Generator" program by clicking HERE.

2. There is no Region-free/Macrovision-free Mintek 1600-specific firmware that is verified to work, so it is necessary to download Region-free/Macrovision-free firmware Mintek 2110 firmware - click HERE to download it.
Don't worry: the Mintek 2110 firmware works just fine with the Mintek 1600.

3. Unzip the contents of the Shinco CD Generator file you downloaded (Shinco_CD_generator.zip) to the Windows Desktop, into a new folder named "Shincocd".
(i.e., C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\Shincocd).

After unzipping, you should have the following files inside the "Shincocd" folder:

MakeASD.bat
mce.bin
Readme.txt
rest.bin
SHINCOCD.EXE
subst.bin

4. The file you downloaded in Step #2 will contain a file named readme.txt and a file named ROM.BIN. Unzip the ROM.BIN file to the "Shincocd" directory.

After unzipping, you should now have the following files inside the "Shincocd" folder:

MakeASD.bat
mce.bin
Readme.txt
rest.bin
ROM.BIN
SHINCOCD.EXE
subst.bin

5. Now, double-click on the SHINCOCD.EXE file. An MS-DOS window will now appear:

6. Enter "2C", WITHOUT the quotation marks, and push "Enter" or "Return" on your keyboard.

"2C" is the firmware's "machine code".

7. You should now see the following sentence added to the MS-DOS window
(without the quotation marks) --

" POIUYTRE.ASD succesfully generated ! "

8. You should now see all of the following files inside the "Shincocd" folder:

MakeASD.bat
mce.bin
POIUYTRE.ASD
Readme.txt
rest.bin
ROM.BIN
ROMOUT.BIN
SHINCOCD.EXE
subst.bin

9. Right-click on the POIUYTRE.ASD file and select "Properties" (or do whatever is necessary to view the Properties.) Make sure that the file size is EXACTLY 2,276,401 bytes.
If the file size is NOT 2,276,401 bytes, DO NOT CONTINUE!

10. Burn the POIUYTRE.ASD file 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 don't know how to apply these specifications, or if you need any other 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 the same.)

After the disc is burned, view the contents of the disc in Windows Explorer/My Computer/whatever. Once again, right-click on the POIUYTRE.ASD file that's burned on the disc and select "Properties" (or do whatever is necessary to view the Properties.) Make sure that the file size is EXACTLY 2,276,401 bytes.
If the file size is NOT 2,276,401 bytes, DO NOT CONTINUE!

11. Read this 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!

12. Eject the disc tray on the DVD player.

13. On the remote control, push SETUP. Enter the PREFERENCES menu. Scroll down to the DEFAULTS option. Select the RESET option and push ENTER.
Then push SETUP to exit the menu.

14. Put the CD-R/CD-RW, data side down, on the tray.

15. Close the disc tray.

16. Within a few seconds, the screen will start changing colours, and a message that says the following will appear:

READY TO UPDATE CODE.
YES: PRESS PLAY.
NO: PRESS STOP.


(If you got a message that says "MACHINE CODE MISMATCH. PLS DO NOT USE THIS DISC", or something similar -- scroll down to the bottom of this page for links to other sites that may be able to help.)

17. Push PLAY on the remote control. (Pushing PLAY on the front panel will not work.)
ONCE YOU PUSH PLAY, DO NOT PUSH STOP!

18. Now the screen will read as follows:

FILE ID IN PROCESS...
SCREEN WILL BE ABNORMAL
DO NOT SWITCH OFF
PLEASE WAIT 4-6 MINUTES

19. Soon the screen will say this:

WRITING
SCREEN WILL BE ABNORMAL
DO NOT SWITCH OFF
PLEASE WAIT 4-6 MINUTES

NOTE: The above screen may say "WRITING MX"
instead of "WRITING". Or, you may see a "WRITING MX"
screen in addition to the one shown above.

20. Eventually, you will see:

DONE
SCREEN WILL BE ABNORMAL
DO NOT SWITCH OFF
PLEASE WAIT 4-6 MINUTES

IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE SCREEN WILL GO
BLANK EITHER WITHOUT SHOWING THE SCREEN
ABOVE, OR AFTER SHOWING THE SCREEN ABOVE.

21. The screen may go blank for a second or two, and then automatically power back on, and start reading the disc again. LET THE PLAYER READ THE DISC. INSTEAD OF RE-UPGRADING, THE "SMART NAVI" FILE BROWSER SCREEN WILL APPEAR. ONCE YOU SEE THE "SMART NAVI" SCREEN, IT WILL BE SAFE TO EJECT THE DISC BY PUSHING OPEN/CLOSE ON THE FRONT OF THE PLAYER.

If your player does NOT automatically power back on,
but rather goes blank or just looks very strange, continue reading:

BE PATIENT! It says to wait 4-6 minutes, but wait 10 minutes just to play it safe. After the 10 minutes have passed, listen closely and make sure no sounds are coming from the player. If you are hearing sounds, continue to wait until they are gone.

Push ON/STANDBY on the front of the player (the red STANDBY light should now come on). Now push ON/STANDBY again. LET THE PLAYER READ THE DISC. INSTEAD OF RE-UPGRADING, THE "SMART NAVI" FILE BROWSER SCREEN WILL APPEAR. ONCE YOU SEE THE "SMART NAVI" SCREEN, IT WILL BE SAFE TO EJECT THE DISC BY PUSHING OPEN/CLOSE ON THE FRONT OF THE PLAYER.

22. On the remote control, push SETUP. Enter the PREFERENCES menu. Scroll down to the DEFAULTS option. Select the RESET option and push ENTER.
Then push SETUP to exit the menu.

23. That's it! Your plaeyr is now Region-free and Macrovision-free. It is also "RCE immune", which means that it will play RCE DVD's that aren't supposed to work on Region-free players. (There is no "LOOPHOLES" menu that you need to access - the benefits of the LOOPHOLES menu are applied automatically.)

RETURNING TO THE ORIGINAL FIRMWARE

Original (Region 1 / Macrovision ON) firmware is available. You have a couple of choices here:

* Original Mintek 2110 firmware.
Like the Region-Free/Macrovision-free firmware, the original
Mintek 2110 firmware works perfectly with the Mintek 1600.

* Original Mintek 1600 firmware.

Except for the zip file you downloaded in Step #1, delete all files and folders that you downloaded to perform the procedure described in Steps 1 through 22.

Repeat steps 2 through 20, as shown above, with these changes:

- For Step #2, download either the
original Mintek 2110 firmware
or the
original Mintek 1600 firmware.

- In Step #6, enter "01" (again, no quotation marks) instead of "2C" as the machine code.

NOTE: If you have returned to the original Mintek 2110 firmware, then you would enter "01" the NEXT time you wanted to change the firmware. If you have returned to the original Mintek 1600 firmware, then you would enter "2C" the NEXT time you wanted to change the firmware.

WHERE TO GET HELP / ADVANCED OPTIONS

Mintek/Shinsonic forum on Nerd-Out.com

Shinco Yahoo Group

To learn about other modifications you can make to the firmware,
join the Shinco Yahoo Group and the EZPatch Yahoo Group.

Please Note! I do not own a Mintek DVD-1600. 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...