Official OPPO BDP-83 Owner's Thread [technical talk only] - Page 1252

I'm thinking of modding my Oppo BDP-83 to make it region free. I don't have room to buy another blu ray player that would be region free, so that's why the mod. I've read many postings here where people have modded their BDP-83 for region free and all seem to have had great results.

But, as I've searched, there are a few different mods available, so I'm not sure which to buy.

And one in particular is $79.00 directly from this site.....
http://www.bluraychip.dk/product.php?id_product=10

It appears that the same hardware for the above is on Ebay for $34.99
http://www.ebay.com/itm/OPPO-BDP-83-...item53deb1a90f

I've linked the Ebay page below, that has three different sets of hardware. Anybody that has modded their BDP-83 with any of those, would you please post back to this thread, including which one you bought, or pm me. I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance.


Ebay link
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...All-Categories

Can anyone tell me how to remove a Netlifx rental disc (Contagion) from the 83 physically? I stopped the disc to prep dinner tonight and could never get it to restart. I shut down the machine twice and unplugged it on the second try and I get a black screen. Zeros on the display and my receiver does show a signal received. No button works even the eject.

I'm of course more than pissed. I've been having lockups and freezes of late with some rare jerky slow mo. I tried restarts and even resetting to factory defaults this week which worked for a while. It mostly affects my rentals though my owned discs are not immune.

I may have to literally open up the player and have never done so. Prior to calling Oppo service tomorrow I thought I would try the forums here.

Incidentally, if I do end up sending my player off to them what is the usual wait time? I don't have a back up unit at present.

Thanks for your input

I have this exact mod in my -83. It works flawlessly, with both BD and DVD. It took me 10 minutes to install it and I have updated my firmware twice, without issues, since installation.

Press the Tray Open button on the Front Panel and the player will both power up and eject the tray without trying to start the disc.

The jerky playback you mention sounds like disc read error retries. For rental discs it could be nothing more than needing to clean the disc. Some rental discs arrive pretty smudged and scratched up.

If it happens with multiple fresh clean discs, odds are you have a bit of dust or dirt on the laser lens. OPPO can clean that for you if you are not comfortable opening up the player to do it yourself.
--Bob

By the way, the Public Beta firmware available here:

http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-b...-59-0117b.aspx

contains a playback fix for "Contagion", Blu-ray.
--Bob

Thanks Bob! That did it. I will try to remember that process. Incidentally, I neglected to state right off that I also checked the disc. Even though smooth with no scratches that is no guarantee of no defects. I wiped radially with a cloth with no improvements.

I was thinking there could be dust or other build up. Are there step by step instructions somewhere on how to open it up and clean it? I think I would like to try unless this is a big hassle.

Bob,

The Netfllix rental BluRay of "Contagion" played without any problems on our 83. I believe that our 83 has the latest firmware. I just checked (BD83-58-1215.) What playback problems were encountered? Apparently it did not affect all 83s; at least not ours.

If you search this thread it has been written up. It might even be in the FAQs (links at the top of the first post of this thread). Opening the chassis lid is easy. The trick is finding the clips to take the top off the optical drive. Then you use a Q-tip with just a touch of isopropyl alcohol to gently swab clean the laser lens.
--Bob

I forget the details of the failure.
--Bob

Regarding these recent posts about the Danish mod. Are you guys saying that the latest beta fw requires factory reset every time you wish to change BD zone (that would be major pain in the @ss) or only once after the update (always done this).

Unfortunately, it is required every time you change the zone. A pain, yes, but it beats not having all-region capability. I am just hoping that the issue will go away with a future firmware update.

But it isn't required with the Latest Official Release Version, Release date: December 21, 2011 ??

If you look back a page or two you will see that the issue has arisen with the current beta firmware and the Blu-RayChip hardware mod. With this Oppo firmware and the mod installed, you can't get the Blu-Ray zone change to work unless you first go into the Oppo setup and reset everything to factory defaults. This is required every time you want to change the zone. It is clearly some sort of interaction between the mod and this firmware version. Hopefully, a future firmware change may allow the mod to work as it used to.

I bought the mod a long time ago from Blu-RayChip.dk and installed it myself. It has worked fine since until now. I have tried to contact the chip maker but, as many people are aware, they are not the most responsive vendor to emails. They make a great product but with rather inferior customer service, IMO. As far as I know, there are no updates to this particular mod.

I just added this one myself and it works fine, no issues, easy install


http://www.ebay.com/itm/150455359224...84.m1497.l2649

So with the most current, NON BETA everything works fine, correct ? I don't want to go through all the hassle you have had to do.I just want to make sure as I recently updated the firmware to the latest that's an official release, not the beta. As I just ordered the region free kits that is from the Danish website, even though I bought it through Ebay.

Should be. You might have to set factory defaults once after updating the firmware but that is a practice you often need to apply with Oppo firmware to get it to "take" properly.

I bought my 83 in a store and I assumed it was modded with by/with Blu-RayChip.dk but apparently it wasn't since I had no trouble switching regions when I tried it.
I switch regions by pressing the blue button on the remote while in standby and select 1 (A), 2(B) or 3(C), anyone know what mod that is?

It sounds like this kit I just bought on Ebay. Same as the Dutch kit.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OPPO-BDP-83-...item53deb1a90f

Starts beeping after the blue button and confirms the region selection by beeping once, twice or three times?

I can't answer if it beeps or not as I ordered this on March 5th and have not recieved it yet. In the instructions, it does not mention any beeping, but it's possible. Go to the link below on Ebay and it has the instructions about half way down the page.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OPPO-BDP-83-...item53deb1a90f

Hmmm... It seems there are two mod types available via ebay.
I haven't gotten any Region Locked media yet, but a month or so ago I purchased this mod (#1).
The other available mod is this one (#2).

Would folks please indicate which one they purchased, and whether or not they are experiencing issues. I think it would be valuable info for existing owners and folks looking for a kit to install.

Thanks, Barry

These one mentions beeping identical to what my unit does.
(Note: mine seems to work fine with the latest beta firmware.)
http://www.modwright.com/cms/resourc...n-free-diy.pdf
http://www.imegstore.com/download/Bd...UCTIONS_V3.pdf
http://www.asi-tek.com/Oppo7.html

I purchased the 2nd one... the one for $34.99 - before the holidays. I am running the newest beta FW and have no issues.

It looks like you purchased the same one as me. AFAICR, it does not beep. But, I haven't played many "other region" BD's. I use it mainly for DVD.

I certainly wouldn't purchase one from them. If there's a problem they have no customer service and you have to deal with your credit card company.

In the early days of the 83 bluraychip was the only game in town for full region-free modding.

I was having problems with the tray not opening when empty. I wrote to Oppo and the following was their (very quick) reply:

"Download and install the 59-0117B Firmware (http://oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-8...-59-0117b.aspx). Ensure that the BD Loader and MCU firmware install.

"Perform a Reset Factory Defaults (Device Setup), Erase BD-Video Data (Device Setup->Persistent Storage) and disable BD-Live (Network Setup).

"Disconnect all cables form the player. Bring the player to a surface (such as a table) which will allow the front panel to hang off the surface when the player is placed upside down.

"Connect a power cable and press Eject. When the tray ejects, remove the power cable.

"Turn the player right-side up.

"Reconnect the power cable. Eject the tray several times.

"If the tray still fails to eject, then the player will need to be returned for repair. Under this condition please respond with your shipping and contact information so we may have the player returned for repair servicing."

After trying the upside down procedure three times and the tray not ejecting, I placed the player right side up and gave the tray a gentle nudge UP with my thumbs (i.e. simulating the effect of gravity on the tray if it were upside down). It then opened. It has then opened 3 or 4 times while empty, and I am crossing my fingers it will continue to do so.

Thanks to Oppo for their quick response!!

I apologize if this information has already been posted, but a quick search did not turn it up.

^ Thanks for posting that. The detailed steps you posted have not appeared here before.

Please note that if the problem recurs, rather than doing this upside down procedure over and over again, you should definitely get back in touch with Oppo.
--Bob

I am buying a new 93 (for Netflix etc) and am selling my 83.
On Ebay most the 83's for sale all say Multi region.

Are all the 83's multi region ?

My manual says on page 4 :
BD-video region A and a triangle of A-B-C
DVD-V says 1 - 124-ALL

Dose that mean multi regional

thanks.

greg

OPPO does not sell multi-region players. The ones you are seeing for sale have had one or another 3rd party modification added to them to make them "region free".

If you have a "normal" OPPO 83, there are people who sell "install it yourself" region free mod kits that you can purchase. A piece of hardware you add. Region free for just SD-DVDs can be accomplished by just playing the "super disk" -- no hardware mod needed. The super disk is something you download and burn on a writeable disc. Search this thread for more.
--Bob