Commercial Dvd's won't load.

I have tried to play a couple of commercial DVD's on my MacBook but only some will play, most just get ejected. Apparently I'm not understanding all the nuances of watching movies on my computer. I insert them in, they spin and then they get ejected.

That's not an iDVD problem but an optical drive, DVD Player and system issue. You'd be better served by posting your question in the Using Mac OS X Leopard forum.

Similar Messages

Mac Pro DVD drive won't load some software discs

I just bought two sets of Photoshop Elements, and my 2007 Mac Pro failed to recognize all six DVDs. I'm realizing I've had this problem with a few software discs in recent years, including some Final Cut Studio install discs. CDs and regular DVDs work fine - just some software DVDs are eventually ejected by the computer without showing up on the desktop. I have tried cleaning the drive with a disc cleaner.
My way around it has been to put these discs in my PC, make a copy, and then these copies load fine in my Mac. But it's a nuisance, and my PC won't be around forever.
Can anyone suggest what the problem might be? Or a decent external drive (Blu-ray?) that I might want to replace it with?
Thanks.

I'll try that tomorrow. Thinking it could also be:
1) The PRAMM battery. found info on that they can wear out close to 5 years. This MAC PRO is close to that now. And I use a lot of power on it.
2) MAC PRO is plugged into a SURGE PROTECTOR, instead of right into the wall outlet.
3) Been doing a lot of FORCE QUITS and HARD BOOT -- unplugging it directly when it wouldn't shut down soon enough -- lately this past year.
I just assumed that this MAC PRO with the XEON QUAD CORE etc., was a heavy duty enough NLE,
that i wouldn't have these problems. It's not fully loaded with all the chips it can carry...and I don't have near enough external terabyte hard drives for storing video and audio files to edit. I've been storing wayyy too much
on the internal hard dives and just have to stop that.
I noticed these past few days that much of the LETTERING for hard drive icons and folders' titles
were starting to look in OVERLAPPING of the lettering. That was my first hint that something was up.

DVD backup won't load

hi
i had an iMac G5-which has 'died'. before that happened, luckily i backed-up my photos (using iphoto 2.0). i'm trying to load them into a powerbook with iphoto 4 installed, but keep getting a message saying...'can't open using this version...you've made changes, using newer version....please quit and use newer version'. since my old computer isn't working and the only other computer doesn't read DVDs, i wonder if/what i can do. i'd appreciate any suggestions, but please keep it simple-i'm not very savvy to all of this. thanks.
cal

michel
thank you so much for taking time to help me. i'm sorry it's been so long since you answered. i may have made a mistake about which version of iphoto i used to back-up my photos. i took the info i posted from my daughter's computer [i had borrowed it], instead of from the G5, which i had burned the DVD-R on. i believe i used the 'burn button'. after rereading the message while trying again to load the DVD into iphoto, i think it may indicate i saved on a newer version of iphoto. (sorry, if i'm not making myself clear.) would it be possible to download the version that i saved it on, if i can determine which version was the original in the G5? thank you for taking the time to try and help me.
cal

CD/DVD drive won't load disks...is it dead?

The HL-DT-ST DVDRW GA11N drive had always worked with no problem. There was a CD I left in it (without playing) for a couple of months, and when I tried to eject it, the drive kept trying but it would not eject - - a tiny bit of the edge would peek out momentarily, but then it would get sucked right back in, after which the drive would spin up and the disc would reappear in the Finder. After repeated attempts to eject it (including using Finder, iTunes, and Terminal, and restarting the iMac), I was finally able to grab hold of the tiny bit that showed on one eject attempt and forcibly pull it out. That may have been a mistake.
Now, attempting to insert another disk results in absolutely no reaction. It will not trigger whatever is supposed to sense a disc is trying to be inserted. Is the drive dead? Am I pretty much screwed and left with no choice but to hook up an external drive or take my iMac to the Apple Store (where it is out of warranty, of course). I cannot find any way to test or check the status of the disc drive in the built-in disc diagnostics.

I don't really see how that could be the problem -- a) because it was the latest TurboTax disc I was trying to load, which should be compatible with everything, and b) how could the drive possibly know what kind of disc it is if trying to insert the disc doesn't even activate the loading process?
The disc that wouldn't come out was somebody's privately made audio CD, so yes, that could have been a problem (though it didn't have a paper label). But the problem now is that no matter what disc I attempt to insert, I push it in to the point where it meets resistance and nothing at all happens.

Duplicate titled dvd's won't load in organizer

I have multiple DVD's to import to Elements Organizer. They are all titled the same (vts_01_1_vob) though they all have different content. Organizer says "this file already exists in catalog," though it acutally doesn't. How can I override this so I can import all of my content?

stevem
Typically I ask what version of Premiere Elements and on what computer operating system is it running?
The answer would appear to be the same nonetheless.
The Elements Organizer contains only thumbnails to the originals at a computer hard drive location.
You cannot have files with the same name in the same location.
Rather than rename all the VTS_01_1.VOB, before you import any into the Elements Organizer browser area,
a. store each VTS_01_1.VOB in a different location - one document, one pictures, one videos or more practically...
b. store each VTS_01_1.VOB in its own folder in the same place, like Videos.
Please give it a try and determine if that works for you.
ATR

Macbook Pro won't read SOME commercial DVD's

I found some people with similar issues, but no one with my exact problem, so I thought I would post it here.
I have a MacBook Pro that I got in November of 2007. Recently I noticed my drive stopped playing certain discs. I did some test and determined that it will play/write pretty much anything you throw at it except for some commercial DVD's. I actually brought it to the apple store and foolisly grabbed some dvd's at random, assuming that NONE would work. The one's I brought mounted just fine. Since I couldn't replicate the issue, I couldn't get much help. He said to try logging into a different user, I guess to determine if there was an issue with my Library. I tried that, it does the same thing regardless of the user.
Basically, some discs spin, and spin like the computer is struggling to read it, then it spits it out. Young Frankenstein and X-Men: The Last Stand, work fine. Children of Men doesn't (it used to work just fine).
I initially noticed the issue when trying to install the digital copies that came with my Back to the Future Trilogy boxed set. Back to the Future's digital copy disc mounts fine. The discs for Part II and Part III don't.
I doubt the drive is busted since so many discs work fine and it isn't ALL commercial discs that won't mount. Only some. My theory is that it's software related. Maybe something with reading certain encoding.
This is the second time I had this problem. The first time I read that verifying and repairing disc permissions would fix it, and it did....but now that doesn't do the trick.
It is consistent though. The same discs either work or don't work EVERY time. I thought maybe the lens needs cleaning. I read conflicting things about using lens cleaning discs in slot load drives so that's a last resort. But I imagine it wouldn't be so consistent if it was a dirty lens. Also, other players I've had with dirty lenses just skipped or had a disc read error of some sort. I don't get any errors. I also ran the Hardware Test on my OSX Install disc, which found no errors/issues. I wonder if it would have detected my drive as an error if it indeed was a hardware issue? Makes sense to me, but I'm not sure what the Hardware Test tests exactly, if the drive is included in that.
Any suggestions? I saw a thread from 2006 where someone suggested that deleting (Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist) helped him, but I am really hesitant to delete an item from my Library. That just seems like asking for trouble and I'm not sure what my finder preferences have to do with my DVD's not mounting. Next I will probably try resetting my SMC. I'm not sure how that could help either, but it's a suggestions I've seen floating about and it's easy enough to do.
Here are some of my specs:
Macbook Pro, Intel Core2 Duo, 2.4 ghz
4gb Ram
Boot ROM Version:    MBP31.0070.B07
SMC Version (system):    1.16f11
MATSHITA DVD-R   UJ-857E:
Firmware Revision:    ZA0E
Interconnect:    ATAPI
Burn Support:    Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache:    2048 KB
Reads DVD:    Yes
CD-Write:    -R, -RW
DVD-Write:    -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies:    CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media:    To show the available burn speeds, insert a disc and choose View > Refresh
Thanks. Sorry for the long and overly thurough post, but I thoguht that might help get me better help. Any input is greatly appreciated as it may save me the hour long trip back to the apple store.

I'm also having the same exact issues with some commercial DVDs and music CDs. It continues to read DVD-RWs but around two days ago it stopped reading commercially bought discs.
I've tested with brand new DVDs today (out of shrink wrap in pristine condition) all of which have the same region and have been tested on a DVD player, PS3, and another laptop without any glitches but only some of them played on my Macbook and the others would either spin for a bit and then ejected or it would read them as blank discs where the 'You inserted a blank DVD' message comes up.
I also tried testing older DVDs that used to play fine on my Macbook but only some of them mounted.
I then tried the following cleaning methods:
- Laser Lens Cleaner
- Compressed air
- Credit card with iPhone cleaning cloth
All of which failed to fix the problem so it's safe to assume this isn't a dust issue, the driver have also been very lightly used as I have only watched a handful of DVDs on it and written less than 10 DVD-RWs since I first purchased it in 2009.
My warranty has expired and replacing the drive would cost over $250 which I currently can't afford, therefore I plan to buy a cheaper external DVD burner but that is only a temporary workaround and I still hope for a solution other than replacing the driver.
Here's my info:
MacBook, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GHz
2 GB RAM
Boot ROM Version:    MB52.0088.B05
SMC Version (system):    1.38f5
MATSHITA DVD-R   UJ867A:
Firmware Revision:    KK08
Interconnect:    ATAPI
Burn Support:    Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache:    2048 KB
Reads DVD:    Yes
CD-Write:    -R, -RW
DVD-Write:    -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies:    CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media:    Insert media and refresh to show available burn speeds

Burns DVDs, WON'T play commercial DVDs

So I seem to be having the REVERSE problem from everyone else. My iMac G4 (17", 1GHz processor, 512 MB RAM), which I just bought for a piddling $200, will play and burn CDs / CD-RWs just fine. It will also correctly identify blank DVDs that I stick in the drive. It will BURN DVDs. In a few hours, I'll be able to tell you if it will read data DVDs.
The ONLY THING it won't do is play COMMERCIAL DVDs. I pop in a video DVD, it spins up, tries to read it, then spits it back out. Now, I know the not playing DVDs problem is not a unique one, but in reading on these forums, that seems to always be a symptom of the DVD laser diode having gone bad, which is certainly NOT the case here (as it's merrily burning away).
My GUESS would be that--somehow--my installation is missing the CSS library necessary to decode commercial DVDs. I had a similar problem getting my iPod Touch to talk to iTunes. But is that even possible? And, if so, how do I go about rectifying this issue?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I FIXED IT!!!!!!
I read somewhere else on this forum about someone having a similar problem to mine. He took the iMac to a service depot, but when he got it there, they couldn't replicate the problem. He took it home, and HE couldn't replicate the problem. As in, it was now fixed. Turns out that just unplugging the unit gave the Superdrive a chance to "reset."
So I unplug my iMac to test this out, as well as to see if I can unscrew the access panel to determine how easy it'd be to upgrade its RAM. Well, I could only get one of the screws out, but when I plugged it back in, turned it back on and popped in the collector's edition of "2001: A Space Odyssey," DVD Player came up and began playing the disc! Never has "Thus Sprach Zarathustra" sounded so amazing!
So, thank you, John Westwood1! Thank you!

IMac won't accept commercial dvd, but do accept commercial cd

Hi all,
I have an iMac Core 2 Duo, 2 GHz, 3 gigs RAM, 500 gigs hard drive, 10.6.8. I can ripe commercial audio cds with no problem, but it won't take any commercial dvd. When I insert the dvd, drive's iMac makes some sounds, then spits it. I've tried with an external superdrive (Lacie) to no avail. In my MacBook the same dvd plays flawlessly.
Thanks for the input.

Is this a new machine or an older machine. If it's new then contact AppleCare ASAP the number is in your owners manual. However what I think the issue is Region of DVD and what the region is set for on the system. If you're not familiar with DVD's there are different regions for different parts of the world, the US is Region 1, I'm not sure what Mexico would be to be honest. With most computers they can only play one region, the region can be toggled but only one at a time if I recall correctly. So that is what I suspect the issue is. Check the packaging of your DVD's and it will let you know the region. On the Mac to be honest I'm not sure how to check the region.

CD/DVD won't load

iMac G5 slot loading SuperDrive won't accept discs. Put a music cd in to transfer to iTunes, worked fine. Then put in a blank cd and it won't accept it. Feels like there is some sort of resistence, slides in easily but just sits there without being 'grabbed'. Won't take DVDs, CDs (blank or music), or installation discs. Ran permissions, cocktail, restarted, unplugged and restarted...still nothing. Purchased on 12/7/05 so I'm just off the 90 days -- any suggestions?
Thanks.

I understand your intent, but this is a user-to-user help & discussion forum, one with specific rules of behavior that you agree to by posting here. One of those rules, intended to benefit everyone, is to keep on topic.
The topic here is CD/DVD's that physically won't load into the drive. This is almost certainly a mechanical problem that requires service by a technician. Teresa should know that the warranty is generally one year for parts, so she should contact Apple ASAP.
Your problem is entirely different. It is unlikely that it is caused by an innate flaw in the drive, since tens of thousands of them are in use & relatively few people report problems. Lumping all the various symptoms together helps no one since it diverts people from looking for the real cause of their particular problem -- after all, why look for any other issue if you are convinced the hardware is to blame?
Sample a few threads. You will see that people often blame Apple for problems that turn out to be caused by corruption of the OS, third party login items or drivers that are incompatible with it, user error, substandard RAM, cheap media, or other factors limited to a few users. Only by treating each set of symptoms individually can anyone help them solve their problems.
This is why the rules are as they are. Abide by them & you will find many people willing & eager to help; otherwise, you will probably find mostly people looking more for something to blame than for a solution to their problems.

OS X 10.5 won't load TDK -R DVDs but 10.4.11 will?

I can't understand why -R TDK DVDs won't load on my Powerbook G4 (15") which is running OS X 10.5, but work perfectly on my wife's Powerbook G4 (12"), we both appear to have very similar internal superdrive's (in System Profiler under Disk Burning mine is shown as a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-846 and hers is shown as 845, although my Firmware revision is FAAG while hers is DMP2 but everything else seems to be the same)
Could it be a problem with OS X 10.5, as I am pretty certain these DVDs worked in my machine before I updated to Leopard?
As always any help or suggestions most welcome (as I've just been bought 100 blank DVDs as an Xmas present and it's a pain having to wire up to a disk burner to use them every time) and if it is related to installing Leopard, is there likely to be an upgrade which might resolve the problem any time soon
Wishing one and all a Merry Xmas and a Happy & Healthy New Year
My utmost thanks in advance for taking the trouble to respond
Kind Regards
Bernard

I would suggest trying different media in your 15"...we had the same problem, sometimes certain drives don't like certain media...

2009 iMAC running 10.10.2 won't accept or play commercial DVD movie?

I have recently installed OS X Yosemite version 10.10.2 on my late 2009 21.5 iMac. I have just tried to play a movie for the first time in a long time. I stream from netflix from time to time but this is the first commercial DVD I have put in in a year or so. Anyway, I put the disk in the slot and the computer accepts it for a short time and then ejects the disk. Nothing ever shows on the desk top to indicate a disk was inserted. I don't remember what application I used to play movies with. I thought I just popped them in and they ran. I thought perhaps it was Quick time that I used to use so I started that from applications I get some sort of iCloud version that I don't understand. If some kind person could tell me what is going on it would be most appreciated. Thanks.

I don't know what's going on with your Super Drive, but you might have better success with a better and faster player - that's also free. VLC Player http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html
is the best, most well-supported player out there, and many use of instead of Apple's software. It's that good.
If the player still doesn't work, the issue is more complicated.
1. Make sure you're completely up to date with your software. If you're not, it's possible your player won't work.
2. Clean up your Super Drive. Dust can accumulate in a Super Drive over the years. You'll want a DVD lens cleaner that you pop into your Super Drive slot. Maxell and Memorex sell them, and they're well under $10.
Chime in with your results!

Itunes won't load CDs automatically and I have to restart it everytime to load 1 CD. I have ensured I have latest Itunes, latest DVD driver, start itunes from program library in safe mode but nothing works. Any ideas ?

Itunes won't load CDs automatically and I have to restart it everytime to load 1 CD. I have ensured I have latest Itunes, latest DVD driver, start itunes from program library in safe mode but nothing works. Any ideas ?

I have had a similar problem with my system. I just recently (within a week of this post) built a brand new desktop. I installed Windows 7 64-bit Home and had a clean install, no problems. Using IE downloaded an anti-virus program, and then, because it was the latest version, downloaded and installed Firefox 4.0. As I began to search the internet for other programs to install after about maybe 10-15 minutes my computer crashes. Blank screen (yet monitor was still receiving a signal from computer) and completely frozen (couldn't even change the caps and num lock on keyboard). I thought I perhaps forgot to reboot after an update so I did a manual reboot and it started up fine.
When ever I got on the internet (still using firefox) it would crash after anywhere between 5-15 minutes. Since I've had good experience with FF in the past I thought it must be either the drivers or a hardware problem. So in-between crashes I updated all the drivers. Still had the same problem. Took the computer to a friend who knows more about computers than I do, made sure all the drivers were updated, same problem. We thought that it might be a hardware problem (bad video card, chipset, overheating issues, etc.), but after my friend played around with my computer for a day he found that when he didn't start FF at all it worked fine, even after watching a movie, or going through a playlist on Youtube.
At the time of this posting I'm going to try to uninstall FF 4.0 and download and install FF 3.6.16 which is currently on my laptop and works like a dream. Hopefully that will do the trick, because I love using FF and would hate to have to switch to another browser. Hopefully Mozilla will work out the kinks with FF 4 so I can continue to use it.
I apologize for the lengthy post. Any feedback would be appreciated, but is not necessary. I will try and post back after I try FF 3.16.6.

HT2499 Won't play commercial DVD.

MacBook Pro with 10.6.8 won't play some commercial DVDs. Just inserted "The Double" straight from RedBox and the drive gets caught in a search loop and won't recognize the disc. Was very hard to finally eject the disc. Restarting the computer does nothing

Although this disc worked in DVD player, I've now discovered it won't play in 2 other players. So, I believe I have a "disc problem" and not a MacBook problem. Other DVDs do work in my Mac, so I dont suspect a dirty lens, but I will seek out a lens cleaner.
Thanks.

Super Drive won't mount any commercial DVD.

Since I use an eSata cage to back up the majority of my stuff, I can't say how long this has been going on. I believe it happened last week after I did a software update.My superdrive (PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-117D) will not mount or read any commercial DVD as well as ripped DVD's of movies. This includes not only any movies but also any original software installation dvd's from vendors (including apple). The superdrive does recognize dvd's to burn and dvd's I have burned on it. It also has no problem w/ any cd. The same thing has happened on my 15" PB w/ superdrive.
Thoughts? And thanks,
Drew

by the way...
my 15" PB 1.5 w/ combo drive doesn't have a problem. Also I was able to mount my OSX tiger upgrade DVD w/o a problem on the G5. I can't however mount the iLife 5 installation DVD (get the message that "this disk is unreadable by this computer"). It (iLife 5) does show up in disk utility and I am currently trying to make a disk image.

Leopard won't recognize commercial dvd's

Hello.
I first noticed this problem when I first inserted my Leopard installation disc. It didn't show up on the desktop. I then kept the disc inside the machine while I held down the "c" key and restarted. I then got the installation window and went ahead and installed. Whew.
Things seem to work fine with the OS, but now when I insert a commercial dvd ( TV shows on dvd, a self made dvd, or for instance, a new Photoshop Elements 4.0 install disc, which I had to upgrade to today ) the dvd tray doesn't open and close. It opens well with a hard push on the eject button on the keyboard, but only wants to close with little half-hearted closing motions, or if I ( gulp ) push it in manually.
I was able to get the PSE install disc to show in the desktop after a few trys and fortunately, I was able to complete the installation. But when I manage to get a commercially made dvd in the dvd tray nothing happens. It used to just open to the dvd screen and remote controls etc.
I also noticed that when I try to run repair permissions from disk utility, a Sony dvd drive ( looks like the one that came with my power mac ) shows itself on the left pane along with my hard drive. Also, when I try to run repair permissions ( on the hard drive ), the blue and white progress bar just shows blue and white, fast moving and endless waves.
Any help or advice will be much appreciated!

Are you using known high quality jewelcase based media that hasn't been written or labelled on?
Here's a website to find high quality media:
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia/
Also are you burning at less than maximum speed?
Are you sure the drive is known to handle that kind of media? Look at the System Profiler in Apple menu -> About This Mac -> More Info -> Hardware -> Disk Burning, and read the kinds of media known to be able to be burnt.

Commercial Dvd's won't load.

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for