• AnyStream is having some DRM issues currently, Netflix is not available in HD for the time being.
    Situations like this will always happen with AnyStream: streaming providers are continuously improving their countermeasures while we try to catch up, it's an ongoing cat-and-mouse game. Please be patient and don't flood our support or forum with requests, we are working on it 24/7 to get it resolved. Thank you.

OPPO .... firmware and related stuff. And also unrelated stuff.

It was off and on for a while. My understanding is he was having trouble with the fact that 203/205 doesn't allow firmware flashing from USB or disc. He was finally able to figure out a solution where you connect three pins on the player's board to a PC's USB, then use software to tell the player to load firmware from a thumb drive attached to the player's USB. Oppo 205 has to have a million screws removed though in order to detach the sound boards which block access to the 3 pins you need to attach to.
 
Last edited:
It was off and on for a while. My understanding is he was having trouble with the fact that 203/205 doesn't allow firmware flashing from USB or disc. He was finally able to figure out a solution where you connect three pins on the player's board to a PC's USB, then use software to tell the player to load firmware from a thumb drive attached to the player's USB. Oppo 205 has to have a million screws removed though in order to detach the sound boards which block access to the 3 pins you need to attach to.
Would you recommend this firmware? What about updates?
 
A friend bought an LG 4K blu ray player recently. It has no Cinavia. Do not have model number.
 
Would you recommend this firmware? What about updates?
That is something to consider. I purchased a custom firmware for my 103D awhile ago and the seller is no longer available. That unit ended up being one firmware update behind as a result though it didn't seem to hamper the player in any way that I noticed.

I do recall reading something about Oppo disabling the ability to alter the factory firmware but I think that's only on the 203/205 models. That's probably why the 3 pin MB board modification.

I would email the seller and see what they say, that website looks awfully sparse with next to zero information and it would make me somewhat suspect of ordering firmware through it without some sort of assurance or contact with the seller.
 
Would you recommend this firmware? What about updates?

I have to get the 205 players first, then I'll try it and report back. I found a source for some remaining 205 players close to normal Oppo retail... really bit the bullet there.

But from what I've heard the firmware works well... we'll see.
 
I would email the seller and see what they say, that website looks awfully sparse with next to zero information and it would make me somewhat suspect of ordering firmware through it without some sort of assurance or contact with the seller.

He's been making those firmwares for years now. It can be hard to communicate with him as he doesn't speak English that well. (Which is better than my ability to speak any language besides English, which is zero.) The instructions he provides are usually OK. I suspect someone might help him with that. :)

The Oppo 205 firmware he's currently offering took him about a year to develop. (I've been following his progress... the site looks sparse now but used to contain news and updates and such.) There used to be a public page with the 203/205 instructions but it's offline (or moved) now.

As far as updates I don't know... I would think he would try to provide them only if they are needed, and if he is able. No idea if they would be free to existing users. That might depend on how much work it would take him. From what I have researched, updates usually aren't needed as the players continue to work even though the custom firmware is behind the official.

You can always flash back to official Oppo, as it doesn't mod the player itself. JVB Digital has an external mod for the Oppo 203/205 which plugs a "loop" in between the RS232 and USB port on the back of the player, with a small board in between. Allows for DVD/Blu-Ray region select. (Doesn't stop Cinavia or allow for .iso playback.)
 
Last edited:
I ordered the firmware for 205.

The guide he includes tells sort of "just enough" but there are some holes. For example, when he had his web guide up, it mentions that the custom firmware needs to be on a "u-drive" (usb drive) attached only to the front connector of the Oppo 205. The guide he includes with his custom firmware - a .docx file - omits this.

I got unexpectedly blocked when it came time to connect the USB to TTL cable. My cable has 4 single pin female connectors. When I bought the cable, it looked like it would be what I'd need. However, these pins are too big to fit onto the necessary port on the Oppo 205 board. The pins are too close together.

YDKhrrI.jpg


I spent some time researching this... it seems the "standard" size for a 4 pin PCB header is 10mm. The Oppo board looks like it uses something custom... I can't really get calipers properly around it but it looks like it's probably about 8mm. (A 10mm connector WILL NOT fit.)

Here's a pic of the port:

gBqHMbW.jpg
(There is a voltage pin but it isn't supposed to be connected; only RX, TX, and Ground.)

Here's a pic of a 7 pin connector that gets disconnected when you remove the sound cards to gain access to the port. It looks like you would need the same kind of connector, but 4 pins instead of 7:

D5UzGXd.jpg


I guess I could try direct soldering to the pins but I **DO NOT** want to do that... I don't want to permanently mod the board, nor am I confident in my solder skills... yes even for something this big.

I tried e-mailing and asking him if he knows what kind of connector / header to use.

Anyone here have any idea?

(I suspect it's some custom thing that's not readily available in order to discourage people from flashing custom firmware... according to the firmware mod guy, this is a port intended by Oppo for manual firmware flashing. It's weird... I found a few threads online from people who bought and flashed the 205 firmware and no one mentioned this connector problem.)
 
Last edited:
I did reorder a new USB to TTL... his guide specifically says to use a CH340 chipset USB to TTL, and says to use the CH340 drivers, which he includes. I ordered this one, as well as some grove cables with 4 pin connectors. We'll see if they fit, but I doubt it. I **MAY** try clipping the connectors off and soldering to the pins otherwise, unless someone knows if there some kind of connector that I can order and use to make connection to the pins.

Update - the CH340 cable I ordered didn't work. The TTL cable you use must support a 115200x8 baud rate, and the one I ordered above only supported 115200x4 max.

One thing of note... once the cable is connected correctly to that connector, there is no reason to disconnect it. That way, if you ever need to load custom firmware in the future, you will only need to open the top of the player to get access to the cable.
 
Last edited:
This is good info, please keep us posted with your progress, thanks!
 
I received a reply from the firmware guy... very terse, as expected: "2.0mm"

So I believe he's referring to pin pitch. In other words, I need connectors that have 2.0mm pin pitches. The cable I tried has "standard" 2.54mm pin pitches.

I ordered the following items, hoping at least one will work:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DUC1S7S/
This has a 4 pin JST 2mm connector going to 4 bare wires. I'm not sure what the pin pitch is on the CH240 USB to TTL adapter is. If it's 2.54mm standard, I can crimp single pin dupont connectors onto the ends, as I already have a kit with these connectors and a crimping tool. Providing, of course, that the JST connector fits into the port on the Oppo board.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077X99KX1/ <--(Update: This is the best option)
These have the connectors already attached, and include Dupont single pin connectors, both 2.0 female to 2.0 female and 2.54 female to 2.0 female. So this should work. But, they are "ribbon" cables, and would have to be pulled apart, which can be tricky to do without exposing wire. (The description does say "just peel off" so hopefully will be OK.)

The cables are short - 6 to 8 inches each - but a USB extension cable should be able to extend the length (hopefully).

Part of the flash procedure calls for powering on the Oppo 205 player while simultaneously holding down the ENTER key on the computer keyboard. :p
 
Last edited:
Hey Pelvis,
This is very interesting information. However, I'm just mulling over the value of this custom firmware. You can rip Blu Rays and UHDs to a folder structure on an external drive or NAS and as long as you put them under a folder called AVCHD, the player plays them just fine with full menus and even DolbyVision for UHD. In addition, the latest firmware does not detect Cinavia when played this way. I've tested it myself with several Sony titles that certainly have Cinavia (checked with CloneBD) and there's no issue. I'm also told that mkv files are not checked either but I haven't tried that.

So, unless you want to make optical backups of your collection, is there really much value to this firmware ?
 
So, unless you want to make optical backups of your collection, is there really much value to this firmware ?

Yes. I have a massive library of 1:1 backed up Blu-Rays. (Original Blu-Ray + IsoBurn + AnyDVD to Verbatim BD-R 25 or BD-R 50.)
 
Last edited:
So, unless you want to make optical backups of your collection, is there really much value to this firmware ?
The reason for this firmware, is that you *don't* need to make optical backups (which actually suck big time, IMHO). AFAIK it plays straight from an .iso file or folder via network.
 
Never had any problems with optical backups at all. Better than hard drives IMHO because the optical disc can't fail, if stored properly and good quality BD-R's are used.

I value an Oppo 205 player than is 100% Cinavia free, has region switching, and can play .iso files. It is worth the $200 to me.
 
Never had any problems with optical backups at all. Better than hard drives IMHO because the optical disc can't fail, if stored properly and good quality BD-R's are used.

I value an Oppo 205 player than is 100% Cinavia free, has region switching, and can play .iso files. It is worth the $200 to me.

Fair enough. In fact, I have backed up all my Blu Rays (about 2000) in iso format on my NAS. I currently use a Dune to play them but would be great to use the OPPO for those as well. I'll be very interested to know how you get on - I might just be tempted myself.

Do you know which firmware version this guy used as a base ?
 
I'll find out if I'm successful with flashing it. :p

I'm pretty sure it isn't the current one.
 
Hey Pelvis,
This is very interesting information. However, I'm just mulling over the value of this custom firmware. You can rip Blu Rays and UHDs to a folder structure on an external drive or NAS and as long as you put them under a folder called AVCHD, the player plays them just fine with full menus and even DolbyVision for UHD. In addition, the latest firmware does not detect Cinavia when played this way. I've tested it myself with several Sony titles that certainly have Cinavia (checked with CloneBD) and there's no issue. I'm also told that mkv files are not checked either but I haven't tried that.

So, unless you want to make optical backups of your collection, is there really much value to this firmware ?
This is incorrect. The Oppos will trigger Cinavia in folder structures, just not in media files like MKV or M2TS. Always have and always will.
 
This is incorrect. The Oppos will trigger Cinavia in folder structures, just not in media files like MKV or M2TS. Always have and always will.

Well, I've tested it with several UHD rips that have Cinavia and it didn't trigger. Haven't tried normal Blu Rays.
 
Back
Top