Good DVD won't read on computer

[bigjimintn]

I apologize if this has been covered, but I have searched the forums and come up with nothing.

My problem is that I have encountered one DVD that simply cannot be read by my computer. I have tried it in two different drives, a Sony DRU-500A and a generic Pioneer DVD-ROM, but neither drive even recognizes the disc. When I insert the disc in either drive, it just sits there with the read light blinking like it's trying to spin up the disc...forever. While trying to recognize the disc, activity on the computer pretty much ceases until I manually eject the disc then everything goes on just hunky-dory.

I have backed up dozens of discs in the past and this is the first time I have experienced this little problem. What makes this really interesting is the fact that the disc plays perfectly in my set-top box, and there are no obvious defects (scratches, smudges, etc.) on the disc that would explain the read error. Because the system won't even acknowledge the disc is inserted, it is impossible for me to even attempt any sort of repair or diagnosis.

I'm curious, is this some sort of insidious new copy protection scheme or just a fluke?

If it helps, the disc is a porn movie produced by New Machine Publishing.

[Rocker74]

I am having the same problem with a burned dvd that someone else made that I want to copy. It plays fine in all of my dvd players, but in my computer it won't rcognize it. One time it did recognize it, but when I tried it again it wouldn't take it.

[rcb]

what app are you using to try to play ?

[johns0]

I have a dvd like that,just means your dvd readers cant read it due to a poor burn or copy.

[mlm45069]

In my case, I have found that if using DVD Shrink and you select "Region Free" dvd's will not play in my PC. If I uncheck region free and select Region 1 they will play on the PC. Must have something to do with the playing software that is set up for a specific region. That's my theory anyway, Good Luck.

[jimmalenko]

Thats weird. There must be DVD Drives that cannot play Region Free DVDs.

Never seen that before !

[lordsmurf]

If a Pioneer DVD-ROM won't read it, the disc is likely flawed.

[jimmalenko]

Does it surprise anyone that a porno has been pressed on a poor quality disc ???

[bigjimintn]

Thanks for all the input. I never was able to access the disc, but I feel better knowing that it was just some sort abberation.

As far as what app I was using, I wasn't using any because I could never get the drive to even recognize that the disc was inserted.

I also thought that the disc might be bad, but if it is then the error must be very specific because it plays fine in my set-top box. It just won't play in either of my DVD drives in the computer. Whatever it is, if hollywood figures this out we're in trouble because it seems like excellent copy protection scheme - plays fine for the TV but won't do squat on the computer.

[VicodiN]

This would be the first instance Ive heard regarding this... Did you actually try to play the disc in your computer via a WinDVD/PowerDVD? Im curious of the output if any.

[OldGuy100]

In my case, I have found that if using DVD Shrink and you select "Region Free" dvd's will not play in my PC. If I uncheck region free and select Region 1 they will play on the PC. Must have something to do with the playing software that is set up for a specific region. That's my theory anyway, Good Luck.

I have one DVD that wont play in either my reader or the writer that made it, but works on my set top player just fine.

The region thing isn't an issue for me. I select region free on everything and this is the only disk I've had this problem with. I burned another copy and it can be read by both my reader and writer no problem. It was just one bad copy as far as I can tell.

[bigjimintn]

This would be the first instance Ive heard regarding this... Did you actually try to play the disc in your computer via a WinDVD/PowerDVD? Im curious of the output if any.

Vicodin,

I could not play the disc using windvd because the OS never recognized that the disc was even inserted. If I inserted the disc then went to select the source for windvd, nothing would even show up in the drive list.

In addition, the computer just about stalled every time I inserted the disc while it was trying to recognize the disc. During this period, everything worked in slow motion until I ejected the disc and everything went back to normal.

As far as reading on the computer is concerned it really acted like an error of some sort. The stalling was similar to what happens when Windows has trouble reading a file on a hard disc that may be failing. I would have written it off as an error were it not for the fact that it played flawlessly on my set-top box. My guess is that there was an error, but it was specific to something that only the computer needed. I don't know enough about the disc format to speculte beyond that.

[dvdflea]

I saw something similar, I burned a DVD that plays in my friends Apex standalone, but not in her Compaq EVO laptop. Very strange. I always use RITEK discs and burn with Nero 5.5.10.28 in UDF/ISO mode using UDF version 1.02 and eliminating all long filename options. I found that this has the most compatiblity with any set top standalone player box.

My friend only has one computer and I figured something was wrong with her notebook.

I'm curious, did you try other computers? What operating system are you running? Also, are you running anything like AnyDVD? If you are, did you turn it off - or if you aren't, maybe try the download and see if it makes a difference.