My iMac is not reading photo dvds

Question

Hi:
I am relatively new to Apple so, forgive me if this an obvious question. I have several photo cds and dvds from various sources that are not being read by the iMac. When the disc is loaded into the iMac, I receive a message that I have inserted a blank disc. However, if I load the same disc in another computer the photo images appear. Help! Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Answer 1

If the CDs & DVDs system preference panel can't be changed
to allow these to do more for you, something else is required.
Could be the discs these image files are on were not formated
to an open standard the Mac can readily see; perhaps they are
of a type of format requiring a third party or other software to
open and use in the Mac. Odd that they'd be seen as blank.
There are freeware and shareware types of software available
for the Mac which may help; and then you'd have to choose
a software different than the native one selected as the OSX
default for those discs.
Are these photo discs ones with Kodak or other proprietary
data on them needed to see the stuff that's stored there?
This is a bit of a mystery to me. I have limited experience
with someone else's DVD photo media; I have two digital
cameras and almost no other images (from film) on disc.
And I have saved a few thousand images to CD-RW or
CD-R media, but have chosen a Mac + PC format to do it.
Maybe someone you know has a PC sitting around, between
crashes, that is hoping to save the day? Could be you need
to get some other software or maybe check the settings on
your CD & DVD system control preference, to see if there is
a built-in way to tell what is on those discs. If they are of a
proprietary format, the files could be converted and saved
again into a folder, then burned to another disc format.
Are there any identifiers on these non-readable in Mac image
discs? Sometimes, a brand such as Kodak can invite you to
search their site for free software players or editors which may
allow the user access into a proprietary format. I did that once.
{Hopefully someone who has solved this issue will see this.}
Good luck & happy computing!