Photo DVD won`t play

[IanD]

Hi,
I received a DVD containing some photos which my son-in-law sent to me and which he produced on his Windows PC computer. I have an iMac G5 version 10.4.11 with the built in DVD player and am having problems trying to play his dvd but I can play other DVD/Cd`s on it so it would appear it is not the drive which is at fault. What happens is that when I load the dvd into the drive it makes certain rumbling noises and appears to be trying to read it and start up but it does not and eventually it just shoots it back out again. Any thoughts on what may be causing this or better still any ideas/suggestions as to what I could do so as to be able to look at these photos (some 300 odd) if you don`t mind. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
Ian

[Frobozz]

I've experienced DVDs that do that on my Mac's slot-loading Superdrives but the same disc works fine in my external LaCie drive. You might try shutting down and restarting your Mac and then trying again. I believe the problem, though, is the poor-quality drives used by Apple. You may need an external drive to mount the disc.

[IanD]

I've experienced DVDs that do that on my Mac's slot-loading Superdrives but the same disc works fine in my external LaCie drive. You might try shutting down and restarting your Mac and then trying again. I believe the problem, though, is the poor-quality drives used by Apple. You may need an external drive to mount the disc.

Hi there Frobozz,
Thanks very much for replying - appreciated.
I will shut my Mac down and restart it again and see if that helps but if not I may have to get myself an external drive. Are they very expensive as I am a `senior citizen`and not a lot of money to throw around, and also have you any suggestions as to what make etc. to get as I really don`t know anything about these things?
Thanks again,
Ian

[terryj]

So your DVD Player is working and plays other DVDs that you
bought at WalMart, etc., but NOT the DVD created by your
son on his Windows PC?

My question would be the following:

1. Looking at the disc physically, does it appear to be scratched
or broken in any way?

2. Does the DVD he made play in a living room ( ie setttop) DVD Player?
if not, does it error out like it does on the mac?

3. If You go into your iMac's System Preferences, and select CD/DVD panel,
and tell it to open all Photo CDs with iPhoto, and all Video DVDs with
DVD Player, close the panel, and then re-insert the DVD,
what happens then?

If your iMac plays other store bought DVDs, chances are it is
just this DVD created by your son that is the problem.
How to fix this?
Answers to questions above:

#1. Try cleaning the disc with a bit of dish soap and cool tap water.
Wipe the disc free in a straight line sweep ( not circular) from
center to outer edge with a lint free cloth and try inserting into
the iMac again.

2. If the DVD isn't playing in a living room DVD Player, and also
not playing on the iMac, the Disc could be badly mastered,
or made of poor quality ( ie Cheap DVDs) and could be
the problem. In this case, he would need to remake the disc
(burn another) using a better brand of disc.

3. If the DVD Causes iPhoto to launch and show the contents,
rather than DVD Player, then he made a Photo Disc rather than
a DVD with Photo Slideshows, ( big difference) and that is
how you'll need to view it on the iMac.

[IanD]

Hi Terryj,
Thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed reply.
Well I did all as you suggested but to no avail. I washed it under the cold tap with soap and water and dried it off like you said.
I also tried to play it as you suggested on my living room DVD player but again without success. I also went into the `Preferences `and changed it to read iPhoto for photo cd`s.
It very much looks like the Cd itself is of cheap quality and /or it was badly compiled in the first place.
However, my thanks to you once again for taking the time and trouble to give me the benefit of your knowledge.
Ian

[Ai Haibara]

Does the disc have a manufacturer/brand mention on it?

[IanD]

Does the disc have a manufacturer/brand mention on it?

Hi Ai Haibara,
Yes there is a name on it as follows:`Signalex ` Blank Media DVD-R 120
Ian

[terryj]

Ian, your welcome.
Looks like we're on the right track then....#3 is the answer.

Only thing I could find on Signalex is that they are often sold
on ebay for WAAAY cheap. For the price of a 15pk of these,
it would have been better to buy a 5pk of Verbatim Data Life Plus
and gotten a consistent burning experience.

Aaah, further digging, they are Poundland blanks, rebranded and sold
as "Signalex". DVD Inspector code is MCC02, which is used by Memorex,
another cheap brand with spotty quality.

[Frobozz]

After reading more about your issue I agree with Terryj that the problem is most likely the poor quality of the disc itself. Burning to a Verbatim disc (available at OfficeMax in the U.S.) may be the only fix you need.

As for the external DVD drive, the LaCie online store usually has some good deals on refurbished units and the LaCie drives are excellent. If you plan to burn discs or copy discs on a Mac fairly often it will save a great amount of time to get one of those LaCie drives. As I noted before, my external drive usually can mount discs that are rejected by my iMac's and MacBook Pro's built-in drives.

[IanD]

After reading more about your issue I agree with Terryj that the problem is most likely the poor quality of the disc itself. Burning to a Verbatim disc (available at OfficeMax in the U.S.) may be the only fix you need.

As for the external DVD drive, the LaCie online store usually has some good deals on refurbished units and the LaCie drives are excellent. If you plan to burn discs or copy discs on a Mac fairly often it will save a great amount of time to get one of those LaCie drives. As I noted before, my external drive usually can mount discs that are rejected by my iMac's and MacBook Pro's built-in drives.

Thanks Frobozz for your help - appreciated.
Ian