Does Macbook Recognise Copy Dvds?

[sleepyjohn]

Hi

I got 3 DVD movies from a rental store recently. One played. Two didn't. (using Mac DVD player)

When i went back she said Ahhh I think this one is a master and these two are copies. Presumable these would all have played with a simple DVD player machine or they'd be out of business.

Today someone lent me a British series and said i'll have to give you copies. I tried number one with Mac DVD player and VLC, but it just waited a minute or two and spat it out.

What's the story here chaps?

[nikster]

Most likely your DVD drive is bad or just very sensitive and won't play those DVDs. The problem isn't that they're copies per se but that the DVDs that were used for recording are bad quality. My old MBP had a very sensitive DVD drive that just wouldn't play DVDs that played fine in my standalone DVD player.

On my new one, I've used the DVD so rarely that I removed it and replaced it with a second hard disk. I download movies, instead of getting copy DVDs - more convenient and better quality.

you could rip the DVDs onto hard disk on another computer... or try an external DVD drive, cost about BHT 2000.

Other than that Macs play "copy" DVDs just fine. Region coded DVDs like you'd buy in a Thai DVD shop might cause problems, but it will show you a warning, not just spit them out.

[bubba]

I've had the same problem with Macbook Pro DVD drives. One of the problems I think is that they travel and get exposed to a lot of dust and dirt along the way. My symptoms have begun with the drive not wanting to write to DVDs about 10% of the time. Then half the time. Then they begin to lose the ability to read DVDs and CDs. Both times this has happened to me, I was able to clean the drive. Here are some tips that I copied from an Apple discussion site:

1) Don't use compressed air since it will just make things worse: it's going to blast all the dust inside...

2) Don't try to squeeze cotton swabs through the optical drive since it's too big and will leave some stuff...

3) Cleaning CDs may work but cheap ones may damage the lens by scratching it.

4) Quick free solution: I used a thin plastic (came with the packaging of an SD card, but you can get any plastic used for packaging goods - usually the ones for electronics are tiny enough and strong enough for the job) + iPhone cleaning cloth (other similar cleaning cloth that's thin and doesn't leave marks for example for cleaning glasses). I wrapped the cloth around the plastic (like U shape around the front of the plastic), then while holding the ends of the the cloth I inserted few centimeters from the front of the plastic covered with the cloth in the optical drive, pushed and pulled a bit and it was all cleaned. The drive works perfectly. Just a few tips: I placed the cloth a bit to the left since LT pointed the lens should be at the left hand side. Don't use too bulky plastic or cloth since you may damage something or get it stuck inside. Hold the loth so it doesn't get inside the slot. You don't need to insert it so much since the lens is not so deep inside. It's just few cm in. All took me exactly 10sec to do. NB> turn off your laptop while doing it.

I used a credit card with the above.

If that doesn't work and if your Macbook is out of warranty, you can try having it disassembled and cleaned. If you need help with that, I highly recommend Mac Home Service, a small, family run Apple-only repair shop that is very reasonable with their service rates. If you have a Macbook repair done, they will even clean it all up, get all the dust and dirt out of the speaker grill and keyboard, buff the case, and it will look months younger when you get it back!

Here is their site:

http://www.machomeservice.com/

[sleepyjohn]

Thanx for the help guys, though I'm not sure about poking anything at the lens without it all open!

Found this page

ttp://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1684759&tstart=0

which indeed points to a non clean lens often being the problem and I shall try a lens cleaning disc today. Odd how it seems so common with Mac though, and my disc drive has been little used even after 3 years. Could it be the software is rather over-demanding and the least dirt on the lens exacerbates?

cheers

[bubba]

Thanx for the help guys, though I'm not sure about poking anything at the lens without it all open!

Found this page

ttp://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1684759&tstart=0

which indeed points to a non clean lens often being the problem and I shall try a lens cleaning disc today. Odd how it seems so common with Mac though, and my disc drive has been little used even after 3 years. Could it be the software is rather over-demanding and the least dirt on the lens exacerbates?

cheers

Careful with those cleaning disks...they can damage your drive. I really think that something like an iPhone cleaning cloth folded over a thin piece of plastic would be a much less aggressive way to start.

Also, I don't think it's not really how much use your drive has had that contributes to a dirty lens. Assuming you travel with your Macbook, it's been exposed to a lot of gunk over those three years. I've also found that the drive lens becomes dirty faster in tropical climes such as Thailand, maybe because of the humidity. Or maybe in Bangkok because of all the nice particulate in our ambient air. My Macbooks have usually begun to show a need for cleaning after about 18 months.