IMac won't play DVDs but will play CDs

For some reason my late '09 iMac won't play DVDs, at least not often. I was watching a DVD on it yesterday, left the disc in to go downstairs, and when I came back it wouldn't play again. It now doesn't even recognise that there is a DVD in it, but just spits it out again after a few seconds. I imported a couple of CDs to iTunes with it yesterday, it generally seems fine with CDs, but it has a big problem with DVDs. Any ideas on what I can do to solve this?

Hi Marcus
It sounds like the DVD drive heads have gone out of position and the drive needs to be replaced. Contact your dealer or Apple.
chris

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Superdrive won't read dvds, but will read cds?!?

My son was watching a dvd and the player quit. Then, it wouldn't read any dvd. But, it will read audio cds. I have no clue.

Hi Marcus
It sounds like the DVD drive heads have gone out of position and the drive needs to be replaced. Contact your dealer or Apple.
chris

DVD Player plays DVDs but will not play VIDEO_TS files from my hard drive

When logged into my home account DVD Player plays DVDs but will not play VIDEO_TS files that are on my hard drive. I get an error message: "there was a problem opening the media. Media type is not supported." When logged in as "root" DVD player does play these same files. Also, when logged in to my home account, I can play these same files in VLC.

Go this this thread for more details:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1075814
But the gist of the fix is to delete or rename "~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.DVDPlayer.plist" and let the DVD Player build a new one. It seems that this is caused by a migrated PPC preference that borks DVD Player 5 on Intel Macs, which is what just happened to me. Hope this helps.

Audition CS6 - won't record sound but will play...

Hi,
Hoping someone can help. I'm using audition CS6 and having a problem recording. When I arm a track and press record the song I have recorded will play, the record button highlights red, however, no waveform bar appears on the selected track and as such no audio gets recorded.
To give you some background information - I haven't come across this problem before. I have a driver booster software that upgrades drivers when new versions are available. When my built-in mic (using a laptop) driver was updated I noticed the sound recording was terrible. I'm unable to perform a system restore due to a disk error that I can't fix so I went back to the old version of the driver. I couldnt then record - it was giving me the sample rates dont match error but I managed to change the sample rate of the speakers and input to 48000Hz to match the sample rate of the session. Another thing I adjusted was the input as it was selected as none.
This hasn't helped, unfortunately. If I create a new session I am able to record no problem but I have sessions I'm still working on that won't let me record audio to.
Sorry for the long winded story but any help would be greatly appreciated and if you require any further info let me know. Also go easy on me as I am new and won't be as advanced as most of you on the technical side!
Stephen

For style council, I think ryclark's idea is a good one. If the saved session is a different sample rate than your system is set to, it could be an issue.
For orbsphere, one suggestion is that you go to your Windows control panel (assuming you're on Windows--I assume Mac has similar but don't know about it) and shut down all system sounds. Also, when doing sound recording shut down things like browsers etc. that may try to grab your computer's sound system and change settings on you.
Also, it involves spending money, but an external USB sound card with ASIO drivers will both improve quality and bypass the internal sound system with one that won't be "grabbed" by other programmes.

IMac not reading DVDs (but will read CDs)

Hi all,
I am currently using the 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 20" iMac, about 4 months ago i had a problem with the superdrive on the imac and it would not eject a DVD i was using. It repeatedly tried to spit the DVD out every 30 seconds or so without any luck. After about 2 days it eventually spat the DVD out.
I was then hesitant to stick anything back in the drive in case the problem occured again. I then bought an external DVD drive and had no problems for the last 2/3 months or so with it until yesterday afternoon. I was trying to install the optional installs from the software that came with the iMac and it got half way through and said the disc was unreadable (which i thought was strange as its the first time the media had been out of the plastic wallet). I then thought nothing of it until early this morning when i tried to play a DVD on the external drive and it spins for about a minute and then spits the DVD out. This happens with any DVD i have tried films, to backup dvds to games and everything and nothing will read. I tried a CD this reads no problems at all.
I then tried the superdrive on the iMac and it also spits out DVDs after about a minute but will read a CD no problems at all but just not a DVD.
Does anyone have any clues to what has happened since yesterday as i used to be able to play every DVD i had on the external drive no problem. I have not installed any new software and there are no new updates to install on the OS and no firmware has been installed (all firmware is up to date).
The drives i am using are:
Matshita DVD-R UJ 85J (supedrive in the iMac)
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GP08 LU10 (external drive - its an LG GP08 drive)
Any help is greatly appreciated
Regards
Christian

Hi Albos, This is a known problem. These superdrives die after a while. See the various threads on this site and the internet. I have the same problem with my Imac 20" 2.16 ghz. Just wants to burn and read cd's. Its has to do with the laser. For DVD an CD are two different laser and the one for DVD's has probably died in yours (as it did in mine). I bought an external LG burner and problem solved. (And a lot cheaper than replacing the superdrive)
Hope this helps you.
Robert

Drive won't recognize DVDs but will CDs

My Macbook (6months old) has stopped reading or recognizing DVDs. It recognizes CDs, blank discs, etc. fine but not DVDs. They do not show up on the desktop or in the Finder sidebar. It tries to open it a few times and then spits it out. This is a new occurrence. I used to watch DVDs all the time on it.
So, what I can gather is that a laser may be dirty or the drive may be dead somehow. It is not a problem with DVD player, front row, any type of system preference. I even downloaded VLC, to no avail. It is the drive that is not working.
Problem: I am living in Jerusalem for the year. There are no Mac stores or any Mac help in Israel. I need my computer, so I can not send it off for a few weeks to America to be fixed. But, by the time I get back to the states, my warranty will no longer be valid. Also, I have not tried to play an Israeli movie or any foreign movie in the drive. Only my movies bought in America that I have watched on the computer before.
What can I do? Is there any hope for some kind of other miracle cure? HELP!

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
Purchase AppleCare in Jerusalem. AppleCare is available worldwide, and AppleCare purchased anywhere will work anywhere else.
As for Israeli films not working, they are a different DVD region than that of the U.S. You may want to find a region free, or Israeli region DVD player to play Israeli DVDs on. To learn more about DVD regions see this article:
If U.S. DVDs don't work either, once you've purchased AppleCare, have your optical drive looked into for damage and/or dirt by an authorized service center.

20" iMac will read/play dvds but spits out cds and games

I have a 20" intel iMac 2.0GHz (old model) with isight, 1gb ram, 160gb hd, and a superdrive of course. It has been an awesome machine until just tonight I was going to import a cd into itunes and the you can hear the drive spinning the disc 4 or 5 times like it wants to read it and then it just spits it out. This also happens with the Sims 2 on the Windows partition under Boot Camp. I have never had this problem before until now and I AM HOPING AND PRAYING I DON'T HAVE TO SEND TO APPLE FOR WORK. I have had this machine under a year so it is still under warranty. I should also mention that I have tried - 1. resetting the PRAM, 2. rebooting in Safe Mode, and 3. verifying and repairing disk permissions - all to no avail. Please please please help anyone. Thanks!!

Richard:
I've been using an OWC Mercury DVD/CD external burner. It's actually a Pioneer unit in their case. It costs $99.00 and has FW/USB2.0 capability.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/optical-drives/
I bought it because I didn't want to go through the hassle and expense I had when my 17" Powerbook Super Drive went out. It cost me about $400 to have it replaced by Apple. When I got my 24" iMac, I decided I wasn't going to go through that again. Anyway, the external unit worked great until I upgraded to 10.5.2. It still read and burned DVDs and burned CDs but it couldn't read CDs. OWC had me send it back to them for repair/replacement. ( I just sent it last week so I haven't gotten a status report from them yet). Then I found this discussion group which makes me wonder what is the problem. OWC is great about making things right. I've ordered several items from them and have been very pleased with their products and support. I tried an Iomega CD burner with my iMac and it burns fine from an iTunes playlist, but does not show CDs on the desktop when I insert a commercial disk. I just get a message that the computer can't read this disk, - the same as I got on my other external drive even though I just burned the disc successfully using that drive!

Drive plays DVDs but not commercial CDs

MBP 15" from ~2008. Today, my wife's MBP won't play any commercial CD's we've tried but it does play a home-made DVD video our son made for a school project. Does it use different lenses for reading CD v DVD & could the CD lens be dirty/etc? Or is it a sign of impending failure/death of the drive? How do cleaning discs work & are they safe?
Thanks.

Is there an extended warrenty or no? You might have to poke around and get a sense of your options. Here is a start:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/superdrive/MacBookPro15
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Superdrive starts playing DVDs but spits out CDs.

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PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-110D:
Firmware Revision: AA06
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Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2000 KB
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CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +RW, +R DL
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Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
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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?

On my Mac (vers 10.7.5) I use Disk Utilites to burn a DVD. The DVD won't play on my 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?

I used iDVD to create an IMG file
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OT

IMac will play DVDs but not CDs

My 2009 iMac will play DVDs but not CDs (bought music CDs and burnt CDs). The last time I tried (successfully) was December 2013. Can anyone help?

Start a new topic and don't hijack this one. You're problem is different from the OPs. When you start the new topic give your system version, iMac year and model and what type of CDs you can't read, i.e. commercial or those you created yourself. Also if you can read DVDs.

DVD +R will play on computer but not on DVD player, what happened?

Hi,
I burned a dvd on using DVDSP and it will not play on our dvd player but will play on the macbook pro dvd player. Should I try a DVD-R or are there other considerations that I should be aware of?
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Andy

I created dvd's using idvd and successfully played them in our dvd players, but when I created dvd using the same videos, I cannot play them on the dvd player.I used the standard menu template in idvd to create the dvd. I created a menu with HD video in DVDSP is that the issue as to why it won't play?

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I have a Imac G5 with a superdrive and if will play DVD but not CD. Anyway i can fix this?

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Resetting the SMU on a G5 iMac:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1767

Superdrive won't play burned audio, but will play store ones

Superdrive in late 2008 Macbook pro won't play audio from burned cd, but will play store ones
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The problem is 2 fold.
You must use good quality Media. Not bargin basement cheap media. This more than any other thing is a huge problem. I find that using 16X DVD-R Media. This is the most recognised of all media for player, and computer recognition.
Most users make there biggest mistake by buying cheap media and then can't fiqure out why they have a problem.
Next It is a Software problem. Apple's media can sometimes be a problem to learn and use and is very limited as to it's capability.
I find that if you plan on doing a lot of burning you need to have a top of the line software.
http://www.roxio.com/
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Video TS
Audio
Data
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http://www.videohelp.com/dvd
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http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm

Apple store installed optical drive replacement. It plays CD and DVD but will not let me change a DVD to .mp4 without stalling and or going very very slow. Can I fix the HL-DT-STDVDRW GA11NR?

Apple store installed optical drive replacement. It plays CD and DVD but will not let me change a DVD to .mp4 without stalling and or going very very slow. Can I fix the HL-DT-STDVDRW GA11NR? The Apple store is a two hundred mile one way trip.

I didn't imply anything; I simply explained the terms of the ToU here because you had not specified what you were trying to do. Most such related questions are about copying protected content and I would not appreciate having my post removed with the obligatory email from Apple because I violated the ToU. In any case, you can find dozens of threads googling (or here) about the newer burners being slow copying content if it is protected. FWIW, if the DVD was produced by a commercial outfit, they may have used some sort of protection or an unusual file format - that problem has been discussed here previously.
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IMac won't play DVDs but will play CDs

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