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TICKET ARCHIVE -> dvd error (help!)
kristovj - Feb 20, 2006 - 1:22 am
[i also posted this on the apple support pages with no help yet]
hallo. the reason i am writing today is because i am getting the following error message when i insert a dvd that i just rented from my local retailer:
"You have inserted a disk containing no volumes that Mac OS X can read. To continue with the disk inserted, click ignore."
i don't understand why this is coming up all of a sudden. i just played a few other dvd's last weekend and nothing bad at all happened. my retail cd's play nicely in the drive, i also have no problems playing burned cd-r's, and no problems burning them in itunes. as this isn't a superdrive (i have a combo), i cannot burn dvd's, so this isn't related to burning--only playing.
normally when i insert a dvd, the player automatically comes up and starts playing, per my system preferences (which i've checked and they are still the same). now it isn't launching at all. when i manually launch the player, everything about it is fine, but it doesn't "see" that there is a dvd inserted in the drive.
i thought that maybe it was because it was the wrong region coding, but the dvd i'm trying to watch is region 1. then i thought it was because it was dirty, but when cleaned the same thing happens. then i tried playing a dvd of my own that i know should work because i've watched it a million times w/o any problems, and i get the same message (my dvd's are kept crystal clean).
i am using a 12" powerbook g4 with (now) os x 10.3.9 (just upgraded this morning--was prev. using 10.3.4 i think???). in the system profiler under "ata" it's reading that there is a matshita cd-rw cw-8123 drive, and under "drive type" is "cd-rw/dvd-rom" so i don't see anything wrong.
i don't know if this has anything to do with anything, but the other day i updated my version of itunes to ver 6.0.2 using the system updater, tried to upgrade to quicktime 7 (the freebie on the apple website) but it said that it wouldn't mount (???) so i threw it away (i think it was because it requires 10.3.9 which i hadn't updated to yet), added disk utility to the dock so my roommate could deal with her cd-rw's (previous to this week my computer had only burned cd-r's), and downloaded macscan from securemac.com.
other than quicktime, i had not encountered any problems of any kind during the installations and updates. then last night i tried playing the dvd and it wouldn't play due to the error above. i thought that maybe something got lost during the updates so i upgraded to 10.3.9 and that didn't help. then i upgraded to itunes 6.0.3 thinking that maybe something in the previous itunes upgrade killed my dvd drivers while they were asleep (itunes has been know to do things like that, you know!) and that didn't work. (can't say i'm totally surprised, it was a little far fetched...but itunes is pretty vicious.)
i'm still not convinced totally that this doesn't have to do with itunes. i'm equally not convinced this doesn't have to do with quicktime not mounting (which has since been updated today with the latest ver, no problems). then again, i'm also curious if the dvd optical laser is simply bum.
does anyone have any suggestions? has anyone else encountered this before? if somebody has a fix for this here, i'd really appreicate it. cheers all. kj.
hallo. the reason i am writing today is because i am getting the following error message when i insert a dvd that i just rented from my local retailer:
"You have inserted a disk containing no volumes that Mac OS X can read. To continue with the disk inserted, click ignore."
i don't understand why this is coming up all of a sudden. i just played a few other dvd's last weekend and nothing bad at all happened. my retail cd's play nicely in the drive, i also have no problems playing burned cd-r's, and no problems burning them in itunes. as this isn't a superdrive (i have a combo), i cannot burn dvd's, so this isn't related to burning--only playing.
normally when i insert a dvd, the player automatically comes up and starts playing, per my system preferences (which i've checked and they are still the same). now it isn't launching at all. when i manually launch the player, everything about it is fine, but it doesn't "see" that there is a dvd inserted in the drive.
i thought that maybe it was because it was the wrong region coding, but the dvd i'm trying to watch is region 1. then i thought it was because it was dirty, but when cleaned the same thing happens. then i tried playing a dvd of my own that i know should work because i've watched it a million times w/o any problems, and i get the same message (my dvd's are kept crystal clean).
i am using a 12" powerbook g4 with (now) os x 10.3.9 (just upgraded this morning--was prev. using 10.3.4 i think???). in the system profiler under "ata" it's reading that there is a matshita cd-rw cw-8123 drive, and under "drive type" is "cd-rw/dvd-rom" so i don't see anything wrong.
i don't know if this has anything to do with anything, but the other day i updated my version of itunes to ver 6.0.2 using the system updater, tried to upgrade to quicktime 7 (the freebie on the apple website) but it said that it wouldn't mount (???) so i threw it away (i think it was because it requires 10.3.9 which i hadn't updated to yet), added disk utility to the dock so my roommate could deal with her cd-rw's (previous to this week my computer had only burned cd-r's), and downloaded macscan from securemac.com.
other than quicktime, i had not encountered any problems of any kind during the installations and updates. then last night i tried playing the dvd and it wouldn't play due to the error above. i thought that maybe something got lost during the updates so i upgraded to 10.3.9 and that didn't help. then i upgraded to itunes 6.0.3 thinking that maybe something in the previous itunes upgrade killed my dvd drivers while they were asleep (itunes has been know to do things like that, you know!) and that didn't work. (can't say i'm totally surprised, it was a little far fetched...but itunes is pretty vicious.)
i'm still not convinced totally that this doesn't have to do with itunes. i'm equally not convinced this doesn't have to do with quicktime not mounting (which has since been updated today with the latest ver, no problems). then again, i'm also curious if the dvd optical laser is simply bum.
does anyone have any suggestions? has anyone else encountered this before? if somebody has a fix for this here, i'd really appreicate it. cheers all. kj.
Drumhum - Feb 21, 2006 - 8:03 am
Hello,
Some things to try...
Repair Permissions. If you haven't done this after all the software updates, this may well help. DiskUtility's 'repair permissions" function on your system drive.
have you tried to read a DVDRom? If your computer refuses to see a dvdrom as well as movie dvd's it would suggest a hardware problem with your combo drive - could be just dirt on the lens. perhaps try a disk that comes with mac magazines or some software install disk - just make sure its a dvd and not a cd!
Try trashing some preference files. Look in your home folder->library->preferences and drag any file with "quicktime" in the name to the trash. also remove the dvdplayer prefs too.
Let me know how you get on.
regards
Tom
Some things to try...
Repair Permissions. If you haven't done this after all the software updates, this may well help. DiskUtility's 'repair permissions" function on your system drive.
have you tried to read a DVDRom? If your computer refuses to see a dvdrom as well as movie dvd's it would suggest a hardware problem with your combo drive - could be just dirt on the lens. perhaps try a disk that comes with mac magazines or some software install disk - just make sure its a dvd and not a cd!
Try trashing some preference files. Look in your home folder->library->preferences and drag any file with "quicktime" in the name to the trash. also remove the dvdplayer prefs too.
Let me know how you get on.
regards
Tom
kristovj - Feb 24, 2006 - 7:13 pm
hallo and thank you for your response. i've tried your suggestions for repairing the system drive's permissions and inserting a dvd-rom. the dvd-rom was read without any problems, however, my commercial dvd's are still not recognised. i find that bit rather strange, as one would think that if it is having diffuculty reading a commercial dvd, it would also have trouble reading a dvd-rom (i used the system disk included with my powerbook). apparently, i don't understand the technology well enough.
i also looked at my preferences to follow up on your last suggestion, but i did not see anything having to do with quicktime or the dvdplayer. what i have is as follows:
com.apple.AppleFileServer.plist
com.apple.BezelServices.plist
com.apple.dockfixup.plist
com.apple.HIToolbox.plist
com.apple.java.util.prefs.plist
com.apple.loginwindow.plist
com.apple.print.defaultpapersize.plist
com.apple.print.FaxPrefs.plist
com.apple.RegFinalCutPro.plist
com.apple.sharing.firewall.plist
com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist
com.apple.windowserver.plist
additionally there are folders for adobe, directory service, drm, macromedia, and system configuration. none of those have quicktime prefs either.
do you have any further suggestions that i could try? thank you for looking into this matter. i appreciate the time you are spending on this.
regards, kj
i also looked at my preferences to follow up on your last suggestion, but i did not see anything having to do with quicktime or the dvdplayer. what i have is as follows:
com.apple.AppleFileServer.plist
com.apple.BezelServices.plist
com.apple.dockfixup.plist
com.apple.HIToolbox.plist
com.apple.java.util.prefs.plist
com.apple.loginwindow.plist
com.apple.print.defaultpapersize.plist
com.apple.print.FaxPrefs.plist
com.apple.RegFinalCutPro.plist
com.apple.sharing.firewall.plist
com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist
com.apple.windowserver.plist
additionally there are folders for adobe, directory service, drm, macromedia, and system configuration. none of those have quicktime prefs either.
do you have any further suggestions that i could try? thank you for looking into this matter. i appreciate the time you are spending on this.
regards, kj
Drumhum - Feb 25, 2006 - 10:37 am
It doesn't sound like you have a hardware problem as you can read DVD disks - just not dvd movies! At least you don't need to worry about getting a new combo drive!
regarding those preference files...
You are looking in the wrong Library folder - you will have two Library folders!
You are looking in the Library folder located in root of your system drive - but you need to access the Library folder of your home folder. This is where files associated with your user account are stored. This is located in your "home folder". You can normally access this by clicking on the icon in the left hand side panel of an open finder window, named usually after you: eg BillSmith. It has an icon of a little house. You can also access this by double clicking your macintosh hard disk, opening the "users" folder and then opening your home folder - the one with an icon of a house. In there you will see a library folder where you will find those preference files.
Another thing you should try is to create a new user account on your mac and try watching a dvd from this new user. By doing this you will have created a fresh environment with newly created files. If the dvd movies play ok it shows that the problem is probably with corrupted files in your normal user environment.
Create a new user by going to the System Preferences (select this from the "apple menu" in the top left of the screen). Click on "Accounts". If the padlock in the bottom left of the window is locked, click on it and enter username/password to unlock. Now click on the plus sign just above the padlock to create a new account. Choose a new username and password (eg testaccount/testpass) and fill in all the boxes and check the box for it to be an administrator account. Once all done you can log out of your current user account and then login to your new one via the apple menu (select "logout..." and then enter your recently set-up new login name and password).
You should now have a new user environment with a brand new desktop etc. Try a DVD movie from here.
let me know how you get on.
regards
Tom
regarding those preference files...
You are looking in the wrong Library folder - you will have two Library folders!
You are looking in the Library folder located in root of your system drive - but you need to access the Library folder of your home folder. This is where files associated with your user account are stored. This is located in your "home folder". You can normally access this by clicking on the icon in the left hand side panel of an open finder window, named usually after you: eg BillSmith. It has an icon of a little house. You can also access this by double clicking your macintosh hard disk, opening the "users" folder and then opening your home folder - the one with an icon of a house. In there you will see a library folder where you will find those preference files.
Another thing you should try is to create a new user account on your mac and try watching a dvd from this new user. By doing this you will have created a fresh environment with newly created files. If the dvd movies play ok it shows that the problem is probably with corrupted files in your normal user environment.
Create a new user by going to the System Preferences (select this from the "apple menu" in the top left of the screen). Click on "Accounts". If the padlock in the bottom left of the window is locked, click on it and enter username/password to unlock. Now click on the plus sign just above the padlock to create a new account. Choose a new username and password (eg testaccount/testpass) and fill in all the boxes and check the box for it to be an administrator account. Once all done you can log out of your current user account and then login to your new one via the apple menu (select "logout..." and then enter your recently set-up new login name and password).
You should now have a new user environment with a brand new desktop etc. Try a DVD movie from here.
let me know how you get on.
regards
Tom
kristovj - Feb 26, 2006 - 4:26 pm
hallo again. unfortunately, i'm still in the same boat. i went back to the home folder as you had originally suggested (duh me) and lo and behold, there were some quicktime preferences and a dvdplayer preference. i deleted all three of them, restarted, and received the same error message when inserting a commercially released dvd.
i then created a new account, ticked the box to make it an admin account, logged out of my account and on into the new one and promptly receieved the same error when inserting a dvd.
now i'm stuck again. sorry to be a pain.
regards, kj
i then created a new account, ticked the box to make it an admin account, logged out of my account and on into the new one and promptly receieved the same error when inserting a dvd.
now i'm stuck again. sorry to be a pain.
regards, kj
Drumhum - Feb 27, 2006 - 5:25 pm
Your not a pain - this is what the site is for:-)
Ok,
It reads music CD's, CDROM's, DVDROM's but not DVD movie disks.
Just to be clear, you get the error message about it not being a readable mac volume from the finder, rather than say the DVD Player software. And you cannot mount the disk - ie it does not appear on the desktop. Correct?
If this is true it sounds like your computer cannot tell what has been put in its drive - for all it knows it could be some cake! The question is "why?". I know you have tried a commercial DVD that has worked before but I'm wondering if its worth trying a few other dvd's. DVD drives don't last forever and it could be your drive is slowly fading and is consequently struggling with some DVD's. It is not uncommon for aging/failing drives to reject some disks but play others ok. If some disks work but not others it is pointing to a failing drive.
If it is indeed a hardware problem then only a trip to a service centre (eg apple store) will cure this.
It could be a software issue but usually this manifests as an inability to play the movie - the dvd disk will appear on your desktop, and you will be able to "open" it and look at its contents - you just wont be able to play the movie. Sometimes, this is due to quicktime not working properly and this has been known to be caused in certain situations by itunes messing up quicktime - but I don't think this is the problem in your case.
Three more things to try...
1) try more DVD's - I'd want to try at least 5 known-to-work-usually disks to convince myself that I don't have a dodgy disk. (I've got a feeling you've done this!)
2) Buy a special DVD/CD cleaning disk. This is inserted into your drive and it will clean the lens. It could be just a speck of dirt getting in the way!
3) insert a good DVD you feel confident with, click "ignore" when you get the error message. with the disk in your computer (ie not ejected!) launch DiskUtility (located in your Utilities folder in your Applications folder). Does the disk appear in the left hand pane - it'll be underneath your macintosh system disk? If it is grayed out can you select it and then click the "mount" button? Does it mount? can you play it now? etc.
I suspect non of the above will work but at least it confirms DVD movie disks really really really wont work ;-)
If after all this, with nothing working, I feel you may have to accept defeat and take the powerbook to a service centre.
To categorically rule out a software issue you could spend a while trashing various files and reinstalling stuff etc but the basics have been ruled out by starting a new user account. The next level (which I've never needed to do and rarely recommend) is to re-install EVERYTHING! Back-up all your files and be careful you've not missed anything. Best/easiest way is to attach a firewire drive to back-up to - just copy your entire hard disk, that way you can be sure you've not missed anything!
Now go back to your MacOS install disk/s and perform a complete "erase and install" - indeed even re-format your system disk. Once done and before you update anything via the web see if your DVD works. If it does, feel free to update the system and other software as per normal.
If you decide not to bother with this laborious task and decide to just take it to the "shop" I would still recommend you back-up all your important data, I wouldn't trust a service centre to not loose your stuff!
I really cannot think of much else to suggest.
let me know how you get on. If new info comes to light it could be what we need to get it working!
regards
Tom
Ok,
It reads music CD's, CDROM's, DVDROM's but not DVD movie disks.
Just to be clear, you get the error message about it not being a readable mac volume from the finder, rather than say the DVD Player software. And you cannot mount the disk - ie it does not appear on the desktop. Correct?
If this is true it sounds like your computer cannot tell what has been put in its drive - for all it knows it could be some cake! The question is "why?". I know you have tried a commercial DVD that has worked before but I'm wondering if its worth trying a few other dvd's. DVD drives don't last forever and it could be your drive is slowly fading and is consequently struggling with some DVD's. It is not uncommon for aging/failing drives to reject some disks but play others ok. If some disks work but not others it is pointing to a failing drive.
If it is indeed a hardware problem then only a trip to a service centre (eg apple store) will cure this.
It could be a software issue but usually this manifests as an inability to play the movie - the dvd disk will appear on your desktop, and you will be able to "open" it and look at its contents - you just wont be able to play the movie. Sometimes, this is due to quicktime not working properly and this has been known to be caused in certain situations by itunes messing up quicktime - but I don't think this is the problem in your case.
Three more things to try...
1) try more DVD's - I'd want to try at least 5 known-to-work-usually disks to convince myself that I don't have a dodgy disk. (I've got a feeling you've done this!)
2) Buy a special DVD/CD cleaning disk. This is inserted into your drive and it will clean the lens. It could be just a speck of dirt getting in the way!
3) insert a good DVD you feel confident with, click "ignore" when you get the error message. with the disk in your computer (ie not ejected!) launch DiskUtility (located in your Utilities folder in your Applications folder). Does the disk appear in the left hand pane - it'll be underneath your macintosh system disk? If it is grayed out can you select it and then click the "mount" button? Does it mount? can you play it now? etc.
I suspect non of the above will work but at least it confirms DVD movie disks really really really wont work ;-)
If after all this, with nothing working, I feel you may have to accept defeat and take the powerbook to a service centre.
To categorically rule out a software issue you could spend a while trashing various files and reinstalling stuff etc but the basics have been ruled out by starting a new user account. The next level (which I've never needed to do and rarely recommend) is to re-install EVERYTHING! Back-up all your files and be careful you've not missed anything. Best/easiest way is to attach a firewire drive to back-up to - just copy your entire hard disk, that way you can be sure you've not missed anything!
Now go back to your MacOS install disk/s and perform a complete "erase and install" - indeed even re-format your system disk. Once done and before you update anything via the web see if your DVD works. If it does, feel free to update the system and other software as per normal.
If you decide not to bother with this laborious task and decide to just take it to the "shop" I would still recommend you back-up all your important data, I wouldn't trust a service centre to not loose your stuff!
I really cannot think of much else to suggest.
let me know how you get on. If new info comes to light it could be what we need to get it working!
regards
Tom
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