DVD won't play movies

My DVD player has stopped playing movies. I've tried several different DVDs and they come up, but operates slowly, skips frames or just stops.
CD player works fine.
DVD-R works fine.
It was working fine a few weeks ago. There was an OS update since then.
Any ideas?
Also, I wanted to test using the "lesser" video card, but I forgot how you switch. I don't see anything in Preferences for this.
Thanks for any help.

Never mind..had Apple replace the drive, but it also seemed to be a corrupt preference file and perhaps some negative interaction from a USB hub.

Similar Messages

IMac 2008 OS10.9.1 external dvd won't play movie DVD's

iMac 2008 OS10.9.1 external dvd won't play movie DVD's. Other DVD/CD's are recognized.
My internal DVD/CD p-layer/burner stopped working 3 years ago like many other iMacs did.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is all red because I am ******!

I have discovered, no thanks to Samsung techs, what the problem is, and it might be revealing for others, as well. It seems that DVD Player, which is the app Apple provides in OS x for (naturally) playing videos, doesn't work with external drives if the computer has an internal drive – even when, as in my case, the internal drive is dead.
I have learned, however, of the existence of a couple of alternative, free applications that run video and audio disks with external optical drives, and one of them, at least (VLC), seems to be widely acclaimed. Does anyone know whether bypassing DVD Player could be a bad idea? There were some gripes from one or two reviewers about awkwardness with playing audio DVDs with iTunes, but I'm not sure what they meant when they said that you have to click on individual items in a selection. Would that mean, for example, having to click on each movement of a Mozart trio? That I couldn't play an entire album's contents of another kind of music without clicking on each song?
Getting the internal optical drive replaced would be prohibitive, even if the parts could be obtained, so I guess I'm stuck trying to deal with the external drive I have and finding the best replacement for DVD Player that I can find. The interesting thing is that the drive works beautifully with a MacBook Air I tried it with, so I guess that is because the Air doesn't have an internal drive?
Wouldn't you think that Samsung techs would know all this? The one I spoke to told me to make sure that my system preference for CDs and DVDs was set to open automatically with DVD Player and sent me all kinds of FAQs, plus a way to get an RMA number for a return. Not a word about difficulties with Macs having an existing internal drive. And all after spending a very long time talking with me about what was going on, what the error message was, and so on. I guess the message hasn't gotten to them.
I hope this information will be helpful to someone.

My 3 year old MacBook Pro, with OS 10.7.1, won't play movie DVDs I burned on Panther. Why?

My 3 year old MacBook Pro, with OS 10.7.1, won't play movie DVDs I burned on Panther.
Why?

But to answer your question, you might be able to create a ISO of the DVD and burn that to a new DVD.
Insert your DVD.
Open /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app.
In the left side of the window, select the “DVD”.
Click “New Image” from the Disk Utility toolbar and select where you want to save the temporary image. For “Image Format”, choose “DVD/CD master” and for “Encryption”, choose “none”.
The image extension in the “Save As” box will be .cdr (this is what you want) — click “Save”.
Once the temporary image is created, it will show up on the left side of the Disk Utility window. Select it.
Insert a blank DVD (I prefer Verbatim discs).
Click “Burn” from the Disk Utility toolbar.
Another problem could be that you burned the DVD using a codec that your new machine doesn't have.
Install Perian, VLC and Flip4Mac, that combination will play anything.
Also install Flash for web content and Silverlight for Netflix.
http://flashbuilder.eu/flash-player-version.html

Satellite A200 does not play DVDs won't play

I'm a first time user on this forum so hello to everyone.
My problem is that my (Vista-running) A200 Satellite will not play DVDs. When I try I get the following message: "Windows Media Player cannot play DVD video. You might need to adjust your Windows display settings. Open display settings in Control Panel, and then try lowering your screen resolution and color quality settings. Needless to say, I've played around with the relevant settings and there was no change to the situation. In a response posted at a different forum, someone suggested that I ditch Windows Media Player in favour of something better. I thought the alternative program he suggested would be free but it wasn't. Anyway, I've tried playing DVDs with other programs and got the same basic message. So it's not a Windows Media Player thing, it's a playing DVDs thing. Also, it doesn't matter if WMP isn't the BEST DVD player - I just want to play DVDs!! I've written to a Microsoft customer care helper person and they wrote back saying that it wasn't their problem. They consider it a "hardware matter". I don't buy that.
Just some history - I bought the computer second hand from a good friend. Now I can't remember ever playing a DVD on the computer, which slightly confuses things for the following reasons. Just after I bought the computer, which runs Vista, I installed MP3 player software that disagreed with the CD/DVD player drivers. This I think is a fairly common problem. That time Microsoft reps were happy to help me and told me to delete two key lines of the registry. That fixed the problem to some extent because now the drive a) existed again and b) could read and play CDs. But when I tried to play a DVD I got the above-mentioned message.
So like I say, as I don't remember ever even trying to play a DVD on the drive, I don't know whether or not the problems are related to the MP3 software clash problem, although it doesn't seem unlikely that they are related. Finally, the computer was less than a year old when I bought it and in every other respect it has been fine (Vista's intolerable sluggishness notwithstanding). Sadly the extended warranty has now run out so I hope it's not a hardware problem. The point is that since I've never even played a DVD on this thing, and it plays CDs with no problems (furthermore, the drive can READ DVDs, it can tell me all the chapters that are on a DVD and read files off it - it just won't play movies), I don't think it's hardware. I think there's some bug going on.
If anyone could shed any light on this matter, I would be eternally grateful!
Regards
Tom

Turns out that my confidence in Windows Media Player was misguided.
I wrote and said as much to the Microsoft rep who advised me to look elsewhere for advice.
I further told him that from now on, if I meet anyone with the same problem I will give them the advice with which I was originally provided - don't use Windows Media Player.
Heeding the rep's advice, I looked around on the website for the company that produced my DVD drive (Mat****a DVD-RAM UJ-850S ATA Device) and in other forums, I forget where I found the advice but this media player:
Videolan Media Player Downloadable for free at:
http://www.videolan.org/
seems to play DVDs with no problems. I hope someone else might benefit from the information.
Good luck to all

HT4108 Can I connect my external apple DVD player to play movies on my ipad 3?

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MacBook Pro won't play .mov or .wmv files.

Since "upgrading" to Lion my MacBook Pro won't play .mov or .wmv files, all I get is a black screen and the audio. It's so frustrating!!
I've read many other posts all along the same lines and wherever possible I've tried to follow the advice which has been given but nothing works.    I've updated all the drivers I can and I've even reinstalled Lion, nothing makes a difference.
I'm not really looking for any more advice, all I want is someone from Apple to read these posts, realise there is problem and get working on a fix or update.
I had no problems when running Snow Leopard and it would seem, looking at everyone else's problems, that the common issue is Lion.   Seriously, this is one area where Lion is a backwards step.   It should just work (like most things from Apple), but it doesn't.
Personally I believe there is a problem with Lion but from what I've found out from speaking to friends with other Apple kit, this might be a random issue only affecting some people as some have said they've had no problems while others have had the same issues as me.    One guy reinstalled Lion and it resolved the issue for him, I've not been as lucky.
As I say, I'm not really looking for more advice, simply some sort of update from Apple to fix it.   PLEASE!!!

I'm not really looking for any more advice, all I want is someone from Apple to read these posts, realise there is problem and get working on a fix or update... As I say, I'm not really looking for more advice, simply some sort of update from Apple to fix it.   PLEASE!!!
This is a peer-to-peer user forum. Perhaps you would see more action if you and others would file a formal "Bug" report with Apple QuickTime technical people rather than repeatedly reporting a possible problematic problem which may or may not affect others on a random basis. QUICKTIME PRODUCT FEEDBACK
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QT 7.6.6 "Open URL" - both files play correctly.
QT X.1 "Open File" - WMV file plays correctly. MOV file plays video without audio.
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VLC "Open File" - WMV plays correctly. MOV file doesn't open,
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MPEG Streamclip "Open File" - both files play correctly.
MPEG Streamclip "Open URL" - both files play correctly.
GarageBand - WMV file will not import but MOV file does.
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Safari - WMV file URL auto-downloads and playes in the QT X.1 Player. The MOV file URL opens and plays in Safari.
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SAMPLE WMV FILE
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"Probably" the reason nero doesn't have the problem is the same as for ImgBurn: it automatically pads the total size. I never remember to pad tiny disks anymore, because I have become dependent on the autopad!
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On my Mac (vers 10.7.5) I use Disk Utilites to burn a DVD. The DVD won't play on the Mac but will play on my Windows PC and on a DVD player. A DVD created on my PC will play on the Mac. Any ideas why this is happening?

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My OSX 10.2.8 DVDs won't play in OSX 10.6.8. What do I do?

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Firefox 2.0.0.20 is the last ever release for Mac OSX 10.3.9 and earlier versions. <br />Get it here: <br />
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QT won't play .mov files any more

After a complete system re-install, QT player won't play .mov files any more. It tells me, some components were missing. Hey, this is its own file format!
MPG files run OK.
Thanks a lot for a good idea!
Peter

What format are the videos that don't play.
WMV...Windowa Mwdi Videos you'll need the flip4mac component. Free trail:
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http://perian.org/
Flash videos like the one on youTube. Adobe Flash comonent and it's free.
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/?promoid=DXLUJ
You should download all three and install. Remember to rebuild your Permission after install any or all of the above.

HT1338 Multiple dvds won't play. Just make spinning noises for a few seconds then ejects.

Multiple dvds won't play. Just make spinning noises for a few seconds then ejects.

Because this is affecting multiple DVD's it suggests a faulty drive. If you were willing to spend a few $ or € and purchase an external optical drive from any electronic shop, that would be a sound diagnostic step to take; possibly a solution and cheaper than replacing the internal drive if counting labour is a factor.

Cd/dvd won't play on win 7,

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External optical drive won't play movie DVD

The SuperDrive on my very late 2009 MacBook (OS 10.5.8, Leopard) died, and I got a well-rated CD/DVD player/writer, Samsung SE-218BB) instead. It is meant to be compatible with my Mac. It works with things like Disk Warrior, but recently, I tried to play a video disk and got the message "Utilization error. A valid DVD player could not be found (-70012)." I've read a lot of other messages about this same error and have done what was recommended (throwing out the appropriate plist file from DVD player, for example). The messages were for other Mac models and/or versions of OS X, so maybe there is some advice that is specific to my Mac that would pertain? By the way, the DVD does show up in the Finder in a generic kind of way (that is, I think it is the kind/manufacturer of the disk,but it certainly isn't the name of what is on it), and when I click on that, it opens a bunch of separate files that don't seem to have much to do with watching the movie.
I also tried one of the tips given in the DVD Player manual (dragging the file to the DVD Player icon. All that did was make the DVD disappear. I had to restart,, with the mouse "button" (really not a button) on the Mac pressed, which released the DVD from the external drive.
I don't think the problem's with the hardware, since I can play Disk Warrior in it (that opens automatically after I insert the DVD. So what's with the movies? I've checked Software Update, and my software (DVD Player 7.7) is up to date for my Mac and OS version. I don't even know whether I should be using DVD Player for movies. (I haven't tried a music DVD, but I suspect that should open in some other app.) I don't remember playing movies on my computer when the internal SuperDrive was still working, so I can't make that comparison.
I hope you can help me. I'd be very sorry if I had to give up on playing the DVDs I now have. My VHS/DVD player-recorder used to be just fine, but my cable company set it back up wrong when they installed a new cable box, and now they want $50 even to look at it, so for now (until I find some company, say, the manufacturer of the player, that can tell me how to set it back up) the only way I can play and burn movies is with my computer.
Thanks,
jenny

I have discovered, no thanks to Samsung techs, what the problem is, and it might be revealing for others, as well. It seems that DVD Player, which is the app Apple provides in OS x for (naturally) playing videos, doesn't work with external drives if the computer has an internal drive – even when, as in my case, the internal drive is dead.
I have learned, however, of the existence of a couple of alternative, free applications that run video and audio disks with external optical drives, and one of them, at least (VLC), seems to be widely acclaimed. Does anyone know whether bypassing DVD Player could be a bad idea? There were some gripes from one or two reviewers about awkwardness with playing audio DVDs with iTunes, but I'm not sure what they meant when they said that you have to click on individual items in a selection. Would that mean, for example, having to click on each movement of a Mozart trio? That I couldn't play an entire album's contents of another kind of music without clicking on each song?
Getting the internal optical drive replaced would be prohibitive, even if the parts could be obtained, so I guess I'm stuck trying to deal with the external drive I have and finding the best replacement for DVD Player that I can find. The interesting thing is that the drive works beautifully with a MacBook Air I tried it with, so I guess that is because the Air doesn't have an internal drive?
Wouldn't you think that Samsung techs would know all this? The one I spoke to told me to make sure that my system preference for CDs and DVDs was set to open automatically with DVD Player and sent me all kinds of FAQs, plus a way to get an RMA number for a return. Not a word about difficulties with Macs having an existing internal drive. And all after spending a very long time talking with me about what was going on, what the error message was, and so on. I guess the message hasn't gotten to them.
I hope this information will be helpful to someone.

DVD won't play in my DVR player

I've read the other posts on this already, but they don't seem to address what I believe is my issue.
I took an mp4 movie into iDVD as "One step DVD from movie", it took 8 hours to burn a 120 minute movie. When the screen said "done" it also said there was 21 minutes left to go. I clicked "close" and it popped an error that it wasn't finished, so I clicked on "continue", I left it go for another hour and the screen never changed from the done/21 minutes screen so this time I clicked "close" and "cancel".
The DVD plays on my MBP, though I'm not crazy about the quality. When I put it in my Panasonic DVR it won't play at all. I know it's not the media, as this is the same media I use in the DVR to burn movies with never a problem (Memorex DVD+Rdl).

Greetings,
I would not rule out the media. You can have a bad disk in a stack, they are just bits of plastic after all.
I would also suggest using DVD-R rather than +R for better compatibility with more DVD Players.
Open your iDVD project.
Go to Advanced > Delete Encoded Assets
Go to iDVD > Preferences > Advanced and lower the Preferred DVD Burning Speed to as low as you can stand. The lower the number the more likely the disk is to be recognized by various DVD Players.
Burn again.
Hope that helps.

Dvd won't play widescreen

Using iDVD 6.03. I've made a widescreen project and burned the DVD, but it doesn't play in widescreen format on my widescreen TV...neither of them. It plays standard (4:3 format).
What am I doing wrong?

Any reason not to update to 10.4.11?
The fdollowing is much easier than it looks!
HOW TO MAINTAIN 16:9 ASPECT FROM IMPORT TO BURN
This is the way I do it. There is no compulsion on you to do it my way, but this works (for me). I started this method before iMovie and iDVD were upgraded to 6.0.3, and because not all elements of the various iDVD themes (particularly the pre-iDVD 6 ones) are consistent in keeping to 16:9 throughout the process.
The widescreen preview works just fine when you check your finished project within iDVD. The problem only happens when you either burn a project or save it to an image.
In this ‘How To’ article: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2938
Apple suggest one reason why this is so:
“When you play a widescreen DVD on a standard size television, the text or buttons on a widescreen menu may approach the edge of the display, or appear cut-off.
When you are creating your DVD, be sure to keep in mind the audience who will be playing this disc. If you use a widescreen (16:9) theme and import widescreen footage for example, this will create a widescreen DVD by default. Consider whether the intended recipients of your DVD may be using a standard size TV (4:3) or a widescreen TV.
The movies you import as part of this project will likely play back letterboxed on standard television sets so that all of the content is visible. However, the DVD menu screens may be played as full screen with this configuration. As a result, some of the text or buttons in a widescreen DVD may not be visible on a standard size television.
To avoid this, turn on the options for both Show TV Safe Area and Show Standard Crop Area from the View menu when assembling your menu screens in iDVD. Make sure that all buttons, text, and other elements that you want visible for both widescreen and standard screen audiences are positioned inside the innermost area indicator.”
However, a bug in iDVD 6, particularly when working with PAL, and which has been reported to Apple, is that the sub-menus in many of the themes (the chapter settings) default to 4:3 aspect, NTSC and mpeg 1, instead of the desired 16:9 in mpeg 2 in PAL. This may be partly a leftover from iDVD 5 or even a newer ‘feature’ of iDVD 6. Here is my failsafe workaround, which sounds a lot more complicated when reading about it, that it is in practice.
Living in the UK, I use PAL (25 fps). Wherever you see a reference to PAL (25 fps) in the following you may substitute NTSC (30 fps) in the various settings mentioned (if you don’t live in Europe), the basic idea is the same. I still use this method, and take these steps, regardless of whether it is always necessary. Worst case scenario: it would have worked anyway. Best case scenario: it works perfectly where it otherwise wouldn’t!
The object of the exercise is therefore to ‘fix’ all constituent parts of the project (video, titles, theme, effects, even audio!) in the desired 16:9 aspect to avoid producing a DVD where the movie is in 16:9 and the menu is in 4:3 or where other irritating surprises lurk in your project, which you only discover after burning a coaster!
First go to http://www.mydvdedit.com/index.php?lang=english and download myDVDedit. This is shareware although the download is free. Send the guy a few dollars/euros, he deserves it. While you are there, read all about it. Now install it in your Applications Folder. You will need it later.
You have finished your iMovie project with music, transitions and so on, and saved it to you Movies Folder. Before you started the project you naturally set it to DV Widescreen.
Open iDVD. Give the project a name, and save it as Widescreen if it didn’t default to the same aspect as your iMovie project. Now import the iMovie project into iDVD, choose a theme (any theme you like, even if it prefers to stay at 4:3) and save the project. Do what you would normally do to the theme and its drop zones. Save the project.
Now save as Disk Image on your desktop. Leave it there for the moment when it has finished/appeared.
Open your Movies Folder. Create a new folder. Name it PROJECTNAME – TS FILES (where ‘projectname’ is the name of your project!). Close the folder. You can of course call it anything you like, but this aids identification.
Now double-click the disk image on your desktop. It contains two folders: AUDIO_TS (which is empty, but please pretend that it isn’t) and VIDEO_TS. Drag and drop these to the folder you created in your Movies Folder. (This takes a moment).
Click on the AUDIO_TS folder and go to Get Info in the file menu. Right down the bottom is where you have to change the permissions. Under ‘Ownership & Permissions’ change this from Read Only to Read & Write. Click the small triangle next to Details, scroll down and click on ‘Apply to enclosed items’. You will be asked for your root password. Close the get info window, and now click on the VIDEO_TS folder and do the same. Close the Projectname-TS Files folder. You have now allowed yourself to change the properties of the contents of those folders, which leads us to the next all-important step.
Open myDVDedit. Go to File and open the projectname TS Files folder. By all means stare at it shock and awe, but don’t bother finding out what it can do, except for the following:
Top left you fill see a list of files. Lower centre you have a large window. On the vertical menu to the left of that, click te middle one (VTS or VMG).
In the window at the top left, ignore ‘First Play’ (if there was anything to correct in that, myDVDedit will have done so and told you).
Click on VMG Menu en (English). Now the whole thing springs to life.
Set Coding Mode to MPEG-2 (if it isn’t already)
Set Standard to PAL (or NTSC if that is what you want)
Set Aspect to 16:9 (not any of the other options)
Now save the file.
Click on VTS Menu 1 en (English) and repeat as above.
Click on VTS Menu 2 and repeat as above.
You have now permanently ‘fixed’ the entire contents of the TS folder (the disk image) in 16:9 aspect. Close myDVDedit – you won’t need it again until the next project!
If you have Toast 7 Titanium, open it. ‘Select DVD-Video from VIDEO_TS’. Choose Select from the main Toast window and select your projectname-TS Files folder. You are now ready to burn! You can set the burn speed (2x recommended) before the burn commences. Allow Toast to verify the burn before you eject the DVD-R disk.
If you don’t have Toast 7, then I assume you can burn the projectname-TS Files folder (disk image) via Disk Utility. I say ‘assume’ only because I have never tried it that way.
Either way, you now have a DVD which will play as 16:9 widescreen on any TV set, even the old ones where you can’t ask it to letter-box.

DVD won't play movies

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