This one's a bit of a “blast from the past”, but I found so much confusing and contradictory information on the subject that I decided to write down the exact steps myself.
To region unlock, and get rid of the crippling 4x ripping speed of a Pioneer DVR-106 DVD writer (a very popular SuperDrive Apple used in many G4 towers and iMacs back in the day), complete these easy steps:
- Download and unzip DVRFlashX Apple 106
- Download and unzip OEM_Pioneer_DVR-106_UNIVERSAL_Flash
- Open DVRFlashX - Apple 106/DVRFlashX/Contents/Firmware
- Create a folder named Pioneer 106D 1.07 RPC1
- Move the files R6100106.107 and R6100006.105 from the OEM_Pioneer_DVR-106_UNIVERSAL_Flash archive to the newly created folder
- Run DVRFlashX and select Pioneer 106D 1.07 RPC1 from the dropdown menu, click though the dialog(s)
- Reboot and test. System Profiler should say 1.07 as the revision and the drive should be region free.
After this procedure, my MDD G4 can rip a dual layer Region 1 DVD in 17 minutes (MTR 2.6.6, Full Disc Extraction). The drive seems to still work as a native burner, at least in Disk Utility - haven't tested with the iApps.
PS. You can simply download the “modded” DVRFlashX app from here as well.