Harry Potter on UNITED 5054M

[rene@neukirch.dk]

Does anyone know how to make Harry Potter/The Goblet of Fire play on a UNITED DVD 5054M.

The DVD starts allright, but frezes at any transition to a menu.

[Cobra]

Just a wild guess, but this might be the media. Have you tried a different brand of DVD? I know that my Pioneer doesn't get on with certain discs (or, more specifically, the dye used on the disc).

[garryheather]

If it's an original it could be faulty, but hands up (in the air) anyone who remembers the compatibility issues with The Matrix a few years back ? There were a lot of players that stumbled on that when it first came out and I seem to recall WB re-authored it slightly to make it more compatible.

Look on the sleeve and see if it has any disclaimers on it about some features not working in all players. If it has you might not have a lot of come back if your player hates it that much but it doesn't sound like you're doing anything complicated with it - my guess is it's faulty and you should take it back.

If you've got the ability to back it up then try removing the user prohibitions (bastard things that they are, who says I can't use a disc they way I want to...) and write it onto a blank. You might find that helps.

[Cobra]

That's also a possibility - I do remember The Matrix being a real pain in a Logix player I had (once upon a time when I knew no better). Switched to Pioneer, and that solved the problem.

[rene@neukirch.dk]

Thanks - everybody,

Re media - no I don't think it's faulty, it plays all right on a PS2.
I have HP, 4, GOF on two differnet, original medias, and they both act the same way.

Re The Matrix - yes this sounds like it.

Re WB - I've tried contacting WB several times, but they just refer to their own FAQ, which does NOT answer the question at all.

Re UNITED - the danish distributor replied, that this being an old, (outdated) model, which is not produced any more, they cannot help. My BIOS version is OK.

SO does this lead to try again - head on - with WB ???

/René

[Cobra]

If it plays OK on a PS2 then it's the DVD player. Do other DVDs burned on to the same media work? If so, it's the film itself. If not, it's the DVD player.

[garryheather]

I'd go with backing it up onto a dual layer disc (if you can) after pulling out the P-UP's in ISO mode (DVD Decryptor can do this if it still works with the latest Harry Potter). I'd say it's got to be worth a try.

Alternatively rip all the content to your hard disc, go through the files in turn with something like IFO edit and make sure all the prohibitions are gone, and then burn it onto a fresh DL disc. I would recommend Sonic's offerings (say RecordNow! Deluxe) as it seems to do a better job of getting the layer break right than some, and see where that gets you.

Or, if you're really fed up, take the disc and your player back to the retailer of the disc to prove it doesn't work in your player and get a refund. Shops don't like refunding on discs but if you can prove it doesn't play you may have a fighting chance.