The
Apex AD-600A was the first
swiss-army DVD player. Capable of playing
DVDs,
VCDs,
MP3 CDs and various
Karaoke CD formats and available for under $
US 100, the
Apex AD-600A would've been a steal as-is. The inclusion of the '
loophole menu' which allowed disabling
Macrovision and
region-based lockouts made it
Geek Ambrosia.
Only
Apex AD-600A's with certain
BIOS firmware versions contain the
loophole menu. Around March of
2000, players were manufactured without the feature in response to the
MPAA's investigation.
BIOS revisions are printed on stickers affixed to the ROMs in question. Known versions include:
Dr. Joe's
Apex Page! provides downloadable
firmware versions and offers links to several
DIY BIOS EPROM installation pages.
To access the loophole menu:
- Turn on your player with the empty disc tray closed.
- Press the 'setup' button on the remote control.
- Press the down button ('\/') on the remote control until PREFERENCES is highlighted.
- Press the 'step' button on the remote control.
- Press the track rewind button ('|<<') on the remote control.
- Press the track forward button ('>>|') on the remote control.
A configuration screen with the title, '--
LOOPHOLES --' and the caption, '
YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE' will be displayed.
Player Information
Made by the
Visual Disc and Digital Video Corporation (
VDDV,
http://www.vddv.com) these players were also branded as '
Hiteker' in
Australia and became available in
North America late
1999.
Player features (from device documentation):
The AD-600A has the following outputs on the back panel:
BIOS 'upgrades' for several other
Apex players (the
Apex AD-703, for example) exist. See the links below.
Source:
- Apex Info Pages:
- http://www.nerd-out.com
- Apex/Hiteker DVD Hacking Pages:
- http://www.dvd-wizards.com/darrenk
- Dr. Joe's Apex Page!:
- http://members.home.net/jtham/