"Skipping Damaged Area" error on DVD playback

My new 24" Intel iMac (early 2009 version) has an intermittent problem when playing any DVD via the DVD Player application. The message "skipping damaged area" appears for a second or two, then video momentarily freezes, then it continues from where it stopped. This occurs with all the commercial DVDs I play, and most of the DVDs are new (i.e., not damaged). I've reset parameter RAM, disconnected all peripherals but the factory keyboard & mouse, uninstalled Norton AV, deleted the DVD Player temp files in the administrator's library folder, and run the DVD Player from a newly created user account to rule out bad user pref files. The results are the same. It'll play fine for about 30 minutes, and then skip once or twice within a two minute period, and then run fine for another 15-30 minutes. This occurred with OS 10.5.6 and with 10.5.7 (latest system updates installed as of yesterday). I called Apple Support and they said to drop it off at an Apple store for a few days to have the optical drive diagnosed. I'd rather avoid being without the machine, so I'm trying to determine if (1) others have this same issue (meaning it's software related or "normal"), and (2) if there's anything else I can do on my own to fix it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Message was edited by: Doug in MD

Hello,
I did just that, and the Apple authorized repair shop replaced the optical drive. Unfortunately, I still have the same problem (not to mention some dust stuck under the glass screen). This makes no sense, considering the problem occurs with all the disks I've tried, and they're new store-bought movies. Could there be some kind of software conflict that causes this?
-Doug

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Skipping damaged area

I have burned a few discs using the same exact programs (Keynote autoplay presentation with a soundtrack and iPhoto slideshow loaded onto iDVD). They all play fine in Preview and Disc Image. Some of the discs are fine and yet others produce the "Skipping damaged area" message. After a long wait they do continue. The message appears in different places on different discs And again, I have a couple of discs that work fine. Any ideas as to whether this message a result of a damaged disk or a problem with burning? Anyway to test? Also, what are the best discs to be using for a Macbook Pro? As a test for the programs etc. right now I am simply using Staples discs that come in the big cylindrical container.
Thank you.

Hi bbbjim
Welcome to apple discussions. The way to test the disc image is with apple's dvd player app. Assuming it plays as expected then burn to Verbatim, Maxell or, Taiyo Yuden. Avoid Memorex or bulk media while troubleshooting this issue. Thereafter feel free to use whatever brand works best for you and your mac.
Disclaimer: Apple does not necessarily endorse any suggestions, solutions, or third-party software / products that may be mentioned in this topic. Apple encourages you to first seek a solution at Apple Support. The following links are provided as is, with no guarantee of the effectiveness or reliability of the information. Apple does not guarantee that these links will be maintained or functional at any given time. Use the information above at your own discretion.

Encoding errors in dvd playback need help ASAP

I have a 80 minute program that i made in FCP. I've encoded it in compressor about 7-8 different times with various settings bit rates, job segmenting etc. primarily with 2 pass best 90 min and 120 min. I then burn them in DVDSP. the problem is some players are having issues reading the discs (Maxwell Verbatium) I used avg it rate of 5.5 with a max of 6.9 and as high as 7.2 It's an dance performance with movement.
Sometimes the issue is reading the disc other times is that the dvd will stop playing after about 10 mins or so. It starts freezing and there is the green digitizing. I've worked for a satt company that uses telco and it seems that the data is interrupted but the file size of the video averages 3.5 GB
Does anyone have ANY suggestions that may help in this playback issue. I've even burned the discs in different burners from two different computers.
Bit rates?
Region codes?
CBR?
Anything
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2ghz G-5 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hi:
I would stay with the 90 min standard preset and try changing the burning workflow.
DVDSP burns at max speed. You can try Creating Disc Image in DVDSP and burn it with Disk Utility or Toast and set a slower burn speed.
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Burned DVDs Skipping over damaged area

My C2D 1,83GHz Mac mini (10.5.2) has problems with burned DVD movies. Both DVD Player and VLC will crash or give an error at some point: *Skipping over damaged area*. VLC will just crash and DVD Player will hang, you can´t pause or rewind.
The movies will play just fine on a standalone DVD Player. Commercial DVDs (not copied) will work just fine also. I´ve been using Verbatim DVD-R dics and the same movies play just fine in my PowerBook G4 and my MacBook Pro. I just got a movie from a friend on a TDK disc and that disc did not cause any probelms on the mini. What could be the problem? Is there a problem with the drive? I´ve tried burning the discs on 3 different Macs but that doesn´t seem to make a difference.

I can't help but wonder if this is an issue relating to whatever means has been used to burn the movies rather than the drive or the discs - particularly since commercial DVDs play properly.
It may be, for example, that the software used to rip or duplicate the originals has mis-read the original due to copy protection, and the disc is therefore not copied fully.

DVD player say's it's skipping over damaged area when dvd is fine

I have a problem playing box sets from abc studios on my Macbook Pro. They play perfectly well through the trailers and set up but as soon as I select play all or select an episode, they stop and I either get the error message "skipping over damaged area" before they hang or they just hang straight away. This has happened with four different box sets so far. The DVDs are fine and undamaged.

We have had the same problem ever since we bought our machine 60 days ago... Here's where we are: DVDs, even brand new ones, skip - "skipping over damaged area" on our iMac while our MBP and MB play them flawlessly. There is no loss in the movie, only the pause in play.
Our software is up to date, we took it into Apple over three trips: 1.) had them clean our dvd drive, 2.) problem persisted so we replaced the dvd drive, 3.) problem persisted so we wiped out our entire hard drive and did a software re-install and update... and problem still persists! We are are packing it up for a fourth time and will take it into Apple to have them replace the machine or all the parts...
We're bummed, it's our 3rd Apple computer and the 'biggest' and yet it cannot do the simple things? We'll keep you posted as to what happens.

Movie-DVDs "skipping over damaged area" all the time

I just wanted to share this with you to see whether others suffer the same problems before calling AppleCare.
I have a 20" 2,4 GHz iMac (Alu/Intel) which quite often gets a hickup when watching a DVD. Many times DVD player is claiming to skip over a damaged area. In fact, this only happens when the computer has been running for a while and gets quite warm and it obviously has nothing to do with the DVD media but with the iMac hardware as I can play these DVDs without a problem on a freshly booted iBook as well as on any DVD player.
Do you suffer the same? I find this rather underwhelming for a computer that costs 1500$ or more.
Thanks for your comments.
Message was edited by: krrrrrks
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Message was edited by: krrrrrks
Message was edited by: krrrrrks

I can't help but wonder if this is an issue relating to whatever means has been used to burn the movies rather than the drive or the discs - particularly since commercial DVDs play properly.
It may be, for example, that the software used to rip or duplicate the originals has mis-read the original due to copy protection, and the disc is therefore not copied fully.

HT2499 I inserted a brand new DVD and it quit half way through and gave me the "skipping over damaged area" message.

I got this laptop refurbished from Apple in July. It was originally released in October 2011. I have watched DVD's on it previously, but lately, in the past 3 weeks, it's been pooping up the "skipping over damaged area" message. I put in a brand new DVD and half way through, it did it again, and I can't get past it. Any thoughts on what the problem may be?

You can just open Terminal (in Utilities) and run the rm command (make sure you type it exactly) and then reboot. With /.AppleSetupDone gone the system will think it is the the second part of an installation, i.e., after it installs and reboots and starts the Setup Assistant. You will see the Welcome and music all over again and then you can go through the setup prompts again, this time specifying a password.

Dvd skipping over damaged area

Hi,
This is in reference to a MacBook Pro DVD issue:
13-inch, Early 2011
Processor: 2.3Ghz Intel Core i5
Memory 4GB 1333Mhz DDR3
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB
Software: OS X 10.9.2 (13C64)
After inserting the Prometheus DVD disk I get the message right away: "Skipping over Damaged area"
When I put the same disk on another PC or DVD player the DVD plays without issues. I also tried other DVDs on this MBP and they play without issues. Is there any known issue or fix for this problem?
Thank you,
Christopher

Get a replacement disc.

DVD Player "skipping over damaged area"

My macbook has worked wonderfully for a year now. But as of late when I rent DVD's from blockbuster or family video some won't read very well. I always clean the DVD's before I play them and the ones that are having issues are the ones that look very very clean. It does the whole "skipping over damaged area" thing. It's rather frustrating. And the disks are in very good shape. It doesn't do it all the time. But now it's starting to become more frequent. It'll skip a few seconds sometimes and sometimes a whole scene. Any thoughts? I think I'm literally 3 days past my warranty.
Thanks
Message was edited by: secondtim45

Possibly a failing optical drive. Bring the computer to an Apple store as soon as possible, explain the issue, and see what the folks there have to say.
~Lyssa

I have created a DVD via iMovie and burned several copies. When played the DVD's will stop and display a message SKIPPING DAMAGED Part. It is not the DVD. When trying to export the project, I get an error message.

I have created a DVD via iMovie and burned several copies. It is a large file. When played the some DVD's will stop and display a message SKIPPING DAMAGED Part but will not resume. Some work fine. It is not the DVD. I have burned from several batches. When trying to export the project, I get an error message with the following message: The project could not be prepared for publishing because an error occured (-108).

TV video typically is copyrighted content. We'd be breaking several rules trying to help you. Good luck!

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My DVD player does not play DVDs correctly! Moments after i put in the dvd a message will come up on the player saying "Skipping over damaged area".... But here is the thing... These dvds arent damaged! They are new!
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Hi benrmay18,
Unfortunately, this is a user-to-user discussion board so no one from Apple is going to respond directly to your inquiry. Do all DVDs give you this error message or only specific ones? Have you tried movie DVDs or data DVDs?
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Welcome to the discussions!
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I use only TDK and Fuji disks and I have never received that error and never burned a bad disk either.

"Skipping Damaged Area" error on DVD playback

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