Need European live cd

English Open Chat
#1

Hello,

One of my room mates is from Israel and has a laptop purchased there. We live in Columbus, Ohio, USA. She wants to replace the windoz 7 home edition that came on her laptop with a Linux operating system. But her laptop will not read any optical media produced in the United States. Someone on a windoz forum says that that’s by design (see DVD region code - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

Since I (and others) can download and burn Linux until the cows come home for free, I don’t even know anyone who has a Novell-produced live cd or dvd. When ordering one, do we need to stipulate that it is to be used in European-produced hardware?

Seems like I recall ordering an Ubuntu live cd a couple of years ago from Canonical Ltd. that was mailed to me from Scotland (?). Does Novell and/or other producers of FOSS optical media cooperate with the DVD Copy Control Association’s (California, USA) RPC-2 firmware, which enforces the DVD region coding at the hardware level? Are there regional versions of the optical media that can be ordered from Novell (perhaps depending on where one is ordering from)?

It’s my understanding that RPC-2 firmware on newer computer dvd drives can “ . . . often be reflashed or hacked with RPC-1 firmware, effectively making the drive region-free. However, this usually voids the warranty . . …(ibid)” But that kind of technical know-how is well beyond me – plus, I can’t read Hebrew anyway (only windoz 7 ultimate permits the changing of the default GUI display language).

As always, any advice given me will be much appreciated. Thank you for all your help in the past.

#2

Ahh … sorry, … I’m a bit confused (and its maybe because I have a splitting headache trying to fight off the flu - but I’ve been lying in bed all day and I’m getting ansi, so I thought I would log on to the forums).

… anyway. there is only region coding for Video/Movie DVDs. There is NO region coding for liveCDs. None. Notta. They don’t exist. No region codes for liveCDs !!

You can find a good summary page of liveCDs here for openSUSE: Derivatives - openSUSE

Now if it is a movie video dvd from different regions you are trying to play on the room mate’s laptop, then I can’t help you there. Sorry. But it will read a liveCD no problemo !

#3

On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:36:01 +0000, Randymanme wrote:

> But her
> laptop will not read any optical media produced in the United States.
> Someone on a windoz forum says that that’s by design (see ‘DVD region
> code - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia’
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code#Computer_DVD_drives)).

They’re incorrect. Region coding is for video DVDs and blue-ray discs,
not for software media discs.

Download the DVD image and burn it to a DVD, then boot from it - should
work just fine anywhere in the world.

Jim

–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

#4

Thank you for your responses.

I didn’t make this up. She wanted Ubuntu. None of my home burned live cds or dvds could be read. Since I think that OpenSuse KDE is more Windows-user-friendly, I tried that. I only have home-burned live cds; the laptop can’t read them. Since she has Windows 7 Home Edition on her laptop, I went to a Microsoft forum. A Microsoft employee explained that it’s like that by design and gave me a reference to DVD Regional Coding. The problem is not with the optical media (or the iso image), the problem is with the hardware. In the following quote, please note that

" . . . Newer drives use RPC-2 firmware, which enforces the DVD region coding at the hardware level . . …"

"Computer DVD drives

"Older DVD drives use RPC-1 (“Regional Playback Control”) firmware, which means the drive allows DVDs from any region to play. Newer drives use RPC-2 firmware, which enforces the DVD region coding at the hardware level. These drives can often be reflashed or hacked with RPC-1 firmware, effectively making the drive region-free. However, this usually voids the warranty.[10]

"In most computer drives, users are allowed to change the region code up to five times.[11] However, if the number of allowances reaches zero, the region last used will be permanent even if the drive is transferred to another computer. This limit is built into the drive’s controller software, called firmware. Resetting the firmware count can be done with first- or third-party software tools, or by reflashing (see above) to RPC-1 firmware

“Since some software does not work correctly with RPC-1 drives, there is also the option of reflashing the drive with a so-called auto-reset firmware. This firmware appears as RPC-2 firmware to software, but it will conveniently forget the stored region setting whenever power is cycled, reverting to the state of a drive that has never had its region code set.”

So may I infer that since Novell is German, its optical media is made in Europe and will not conflict with the RPC-2 firmware associated with a laptop produced in the same DVD Regional Code designation?

I’m guessing, by the way, that the “design” that the Microsoft employee referred to is for jet-setters to have to buy another laptop if they move to a different region.

Thank you for your advice.

Randall

#5

Hi
The MS person is confused iso images are not the same as video dvd’s.

You issue is more likely some subtle differences in the actual burning process on your DVD and the reading process on the remote DVD. Did you burn the images at the slowest possible speed?

#6

On Sun, 13 Feb 2011 01:36:02 +0000, Randymanme wrote:

> So may I infer that since Novell is German, its optical media is made in
> Europe and will not conflict with the RPC-2 firmware associated with a
> laptop produced in the same DVD Regional Code designation?

No, Novell is a US company…SUSE, however, prior to being acquired by
Novell, was a German company.

> I’m guessing, by the way, that the “design” that the Microsoft employee
> referred to is for jet-setters to have to buy another laptop if they
> move to a different region.

No, this Microsoft employee is completely wrong when it comes to data
discs - they are correct ONLY in the context of talking about video
discs, which are region coded. There is absolutely no truth in what
they said as a means of explaining why DVDs you burned for your friend
don’t work on their laptop.

I’ve been in the computer industry for well over 20 years, and you have
my absolute assurance that there is absolutely no such thing as region
coding for data discs. I have traveled from the US to Europe and back
again, and never, ever had problems getting media from one country to
work on a laptop from another country. It simply doesn’t work that way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code provides an explanation of
how region coding for DVDs works. Blu-ray discs use a similar scheme,
but it is ONLY EVER used for video discs. Never ever ever ever EVER
for data discs.

Now, as to why the discs won’t work, there are some explanations about
this. The first thing I would consider is that the discs are burned at
the wrong speed or at an incompatible speed.

Second would be that the reading or writing drive is out of alignment.

I would say start by burning the disc at 1x speed, regardless of what the
media says it can burn at.

Jim

–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

#7

Further to what others have noted, I have used data disks from various places in the world in computer from various places in the world. My wife is Thai and at times when we visit Thailand we will use Linux software downloaded/burned here in Europe, on computers in Thailand. The same is true when I visit my mother in Canada. I have installed openSUSE on her PC in Canada, using software downloaded/burned from here in Europe.

My first desktop Linux install in Europe was on a PC purchased in Europe, using a multiple CD version of Red Hat purchased in Singapore.

There is guidance here on how to burn a live CD : NEW Users - openSUSE Pre-install (general) – PLEASE READ (see post#2 in that link).

#8

Thank you very much for all the information given me. I’m presently in the middle of reading NEW Users - openSUSE Pre-install (general) – PLEASE READ (and am presently downloading the latest GNOME Reloaded LiveCD (to replace Chromium os). One bit of advice that really hits home for me is to not use bargain-basement optical media – something I’ve always done until now.

#9
  • oldcpu wrote, On 02/13/2011 08:36 AM:
    > There is guidance here on how to burn a live CD : ‘NEW Users - openSUSE
    > Pre-install (general)– PLEASE READ’ (http://tinyurl.com/23jeyea)
    > (see post#2 in that link).

Or, to rule out a faulty DVD drive as the source of the problem, you could install from the Live CD written to a USB stick.
http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Live_USB_stick

Uwe