Playing movies on external DVD drive no longer works

I am no longer able to watch movies from an external dvd drive with my 2011 MacBook Pro. I'm using VLC.
The external dvd drive worked correctly until recently. Still works on another (Windows-based) machine. The DVD spins up, idles, but does not play. I've un-installed and re-installed VLC. No error messages given.
I'm fairly new to Macs. Is there something I can reset to get this working? I don't understand why this would just stop working on this one machine.

With the External HD still disconnected Restart the iMac and then re-connect the External HD.
Optionally if you have already reconnected the External HD, open Disk Utility and see if you can select and re-mount it using the blue Mount button.

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****Click the White thumb to say thanks****
****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****
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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1151
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Hi Everyone,
I am hoping for a positive response. I have a SimpleTech (SimpleDrive) Model 96300-40001-001 external hard drive that I have been using for about 2 years now. The drive has extermly important information on it.
I just returned from vacation and attempted to reconnect my drive, using it's standard USB Cable, and received the error message of, "The disk was not ejected properly." After reading several previous topics, I attempted to do the following, with negative results:
Reset SMC and PRAM
Change USB Cable
Change Power Supply
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I am currently running a MacBook Pro, Mac OS X, 10.6.8, 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, with 4GB of Memory.
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Raffi

Hi, Glenn900. Welcome to the Discussions.
Assuming the hard drive mechanism itself isn't damaged (and that's a big assumption given what you described) the partition map of the drive may be damaged if it was connected to your computer and running when it went for its flight.
The partition map on a running, mounted external hard drive can become corrupted if the external drive is disconnected or powered-off without first being Ejected.
I frankly think there's a good chance that the drive may be damaged if it is not a portable external drive, i.e. one specifically designed and somewhat hardened for carrying around. The enclosure for a conventional, desktop-oriented external hard drive is not hardened, meaning they generally don't respond well to becoming projectiles.
However, if there's a chance to recover any of the data from the drive, my "Data Recovery" FAQ may help you with this problem.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

Playing movies on external DVD drive no longer works

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