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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Image Distortion In Dvd Player
mysticsmick - Jun 5, 2005 - 6:00 am
I received my 17" G4 PowerBook (1.5 MHz processor, 80 MB hard drive, 2 GB memory, MATSHITA DVD_R UJ-825 drive) in January. I immediately noticed a problem while running DVD Player. An intermittent horizontal break up appeared, usually in the mid 50% of the screen, during scenes which had a lot of activity or the movement was quite fast. Although all the DVDs were zone 1, the films were of both U.S. and international origins. I had work to do at the time and this did not seem all that big a deal as I bought a 3 year Apple Care Plan with the laptop and I reckoned that I would take it in to the Genius Bar later on and a remedy would be at hand.
Recently, I acquired some DVDs of films from the 30's, 40's, and 50's. These films cause a second type of visual distortion which is much worse. When played the screen image appears to be constantly melting vertically. So, I at last hauled myself and the laptop to my local Apple Store.
Before going in I erased the hard drive using Tech Tool Pro / reinstalled OS 10.3 using the original disks / restarted using the installation disk and repaired the permissions / restarted using the newly installed system and updated everything via "Software Update" / restarted using the installation disk and repaired the permissions again / restarted on the E-Drive (the hard drive is partitioned with Tech Tool Pro on one partition) and ran all the tests as well as defraging the hard disk / restarted once again using the newly installed and tuned system. The 2 problems had not gone away.
I then took one of the 30's movies and the laptop with me to the Apple Store. The Tech at the Genius Bar ran all through all his necessary tests and then tried: using an external hard drive with OS 10.4.1 / using another screen / and finally ran the DVD on a demonstration iBook where the presentation in DVD Player was flawless. The Super Drive was eliminated because I have been using it successfully to burn CDs and DVDs, as well as play music CDs, etc. … in other words it seemed to be functioning normally in most functions. The collective guess was that it was the logic board, and so it was sent off to Texas with the DVD.
5 days later the laptop was returned via mail. The enclosed papers included the original outline of the problem and the repair person's report. The repair person placed one of Apple's DVDs in and everything worked fine. His/her report stated that I had sent a "Bad DVD". For some unexplained reason the DVD was not returned with the machine.
I went back to the Apple Store and was able to see the Tech I had seen previously. This time he tried another DVD (a 1939 American film) that I had brought in with me. It distorted on mine, a 15" demonstration model PowerBook, but again not in a 15" demonstration model iBook. The Tech stated that he saw no value in returning my PowerBook to the repair facility as they would just do the same thing over again, so he said he would write the "engineers" to see if a firmware update could be written … thus disavowing himself of the earlier diagnosis of the problem lying physically within the logic board.
I'm going to do the erase and reinstall again. Then, without running "Software Update" I'll test it with my "benchmark" DVD and see what happens (after permission reparing, etc., etc.)… perhaps the problem is in one of the many updates. If the problem is immediately apparent then I'm out of ideas.
Recently, I acquired some DVDs of films from the 30's, 40's, and 50's. These films cause a second type of visual distortion which is much worse. When played the screen image appears to be constantly melting vertically. So, I at last hauled myself and the laptop to my local Apple Store.
Before going in I erased the hard drive using Tech Tool Pro / reinstalled OS 10.3 using the original disks / restarted using the installation disk and repaired the permissions / restarted using the newly installed system and updated everything via "Software Update" / restarted using the installation disk and repaired the permissions again / restarted on the E-Drive (the hard drive is partitioned with Tech Tool Pro on one partition) and ran all the tests as well as defraging the hard disk / restarted once again using the newly installed and tuned system. The 2 problems had not gone away.
I then took one of the 30's movies and the laptop with me to the Apple Store. The Tech at the Genius Bar ran all through all his necessary tests and then tried: using an external hard drive with OS 10.4.1 / using another screen / and finally ran the DVD on a demonstration iBook where the presentation in DVD Player was flawless. The Super Drive was eliminated because I have been using it successfully to burn CDs and DVDs, as well as play music CDs, etc. … in other words it seemed to be functioning normally in most functions. The collective guess was that it was the logic board, and so it was sent off to Texas with the DVD.
5 days later the laptop was returned via mail. The enclosed papers included the original outline of the problem and the repair person's report. The repair person placed one of Apple's DVDs in and everything worked fine. His/her report stated that I had sent a "Bad DVD". For some unexplained reason the DVD was not returned with the machine.
I went back to the Apple Store and was able to see the Tech I had seen previously. This time he tried another DVD (a 1939 American film) that I had brought in with me. It distorted on mine, a 15" demonstration model PowerBook, but again not in a 15" demonstration model iBook. The Tech stated that he saw no value in returning my PowerBook to the repair facility as they would just do the same thing over again, so he said he would write the "engineers" to see if a firmware update could be written … thus disavowing himself of the earlier diagnosis of the problem lying physically within the logic board.
I'm going to do the erase and reinstall again. Then, without running "Software Update" I'll test it with my "benchmark" DVD and see what happens (after permission reparing, etc., etc.)… perhaps the problem is in one of the many updates. If the problem is immediately apparent then I'm out of ideas.
bobw - Jun 5, 2005 - 9:27 am
Hi Robert
Although your machine can burn CDs and DVDs, as well as play music CDs, your Superdrive could still be bad, could also be the logic board.
When you erase the drive, use the OS disks to do that and install the system and nothing else, not TechTool, nothing. Then try at least three different DVD's, new ones if possible. If the problem is still there, call Apple rather than going to their store. It's a hardware problem.
-----------
Bobw - Macosx.com Tech Support
Although your machine can burn CDs and DVDs, as well as play music CDs, your Superdrive could still be bad, could also be the logic board.
When you erase the drive, use the OS disks to do that and install the system and nothing else, not TechTool, nothing. Then try at least three different DVD's, new ones if possible. If the problem is still there, call Apple rather than going to their store. It's a hardware problem.
-----------
Bobw - Macosx.com Tech Support
mysticsmick - Jun 6, 2005 - 1:32 am
Thank you for the advice. I took it and did the following:
1. Started on Apple Installation Disk and erased the hard drive. Then installed the
original system (OS 10.3.4).
2. I restarted on the Apple Installation Disk and using Disk Utility verified the disk and repaired the Disk Permissions.
3. Restarted on the laptop's hard disk and new system. I tested several DVDs and all (including the "bad" one) displayed perfectly.
4. I decided not to use Software Update. So, I went to Apple's Download page and downloaded all the Delta and Combined updates.
4. I then installed the Delta version of the OS 10.3.5 updater.
5. I installed the OS 10.3.5 updater and restarted on the Apple Installation Disk and ran the Disk Utility again.
6. I restarted on the laptop's hard disk and tried the same DVDs again. All performed perfectly.
7. Using the above manner of installation I tried continuing, but the DVDs began to be displayed in the unacceptable manner described in my first post. I tried erasing and installing various combinations of Delta and Combination updaters, but in anything over OS 10.3.5 the laptop produced very poor images in DVD Player.
8. Tomorrow I will install Tiger and use Apple's Download page to upgrade to OS 10.4.1 … then I'll test DVD Player. If it fails the test (and I expect it to given what I saw happen on the demonstration models at the Apple Store (all running Tiger) I can then call Apple about this issue with the observation that I have a new PowerBook that can't be updated above OS 10.3.5 without a loss of function.
The drive is a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-825. I haven't read of any specific problem with this drive in Apple's Discussion Groups.
Any comments?
1. Started on Apple Installation Disk and erased the hard drive. Then installed the
original system (OS 10.3.4).
2. I restarted on the Apple Installation Disk and using Disk Utility verified the disk and repaired the Disk Permissions.
3. Restarted on the laptop's hard disk and new system. I tested several DVDs and all (including the "bad" one) displayed perfectly.
4. I decided not to use Software Update. So, I went to Apple's Download page and downloaded all the Delta and Combined updates.
4. I then installed the Delta version of the OS 10.3.5 updater.
5. I installed the OS 10.3.5 updater and restarted on the Apple Installation Disk and ran the Disk Utility again.
6. I restarted on the laptop's hard disk and tried the same DVDs again. All performed perfectly.
7. Using the above manner of installation I tried continuing, but the DVDs began to be displayed in the unacceptable manner described in my first post. I tried erasing and installing various combinations of Delta and Combination updaters, but in anything over OS 10.3.5 the laptop produced very poor images in DVD Player.
8. Tomorrow I will install Tiger and use Apple's Download page to upgrade to OS 10.4.1 … then I'll test DVD Player. If it fails the test (and I expect it to given what I saw happen on the demonstration models at the Apple Store (all running Tiger) I can then call Apple about this issue with the observation that I have a new PowerBook that can't be updated above OS 10.3.5 without a loss of function.
The drive is a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-825. I haven't read of any specific problem with this drive in Apple's Discussion Groups.
Any comments?
bobw - Jun 6, 2005 - 12:46 pm
Robert
If the problem is the same after installing Tiger, definitely call Apple. There are a lot of people having this same problem.
--------
Bobw - Macosx.com Tech Support
If the problem is the same after installing Tiger, definitely call Apple. There are a lot of people having this same problem.
--------
Bobw - Macosx.com Tech Support
mysticsmick - Jun 7, 2005 - 2:28 pm
Hello Again ~
I've done 7 system installs and updates in order to see where the problem begins. Beginning at 10.3.6 and going to 10.4.1 the DVD Player distortion is quite apparent. Only 10.3.4 & 10.3.5 don't exhibit the problem.
I have received one e-mail from the tech at the Genius Bar regarding his communication with Apple engineers:
"Engineering is currently investigating reports of issues with incorrect rendering on certain DVDs with PowerBook G4 15 and 17-inch PowerBooks. Further information will come in the form of a Software Update, Software Release or Knowledge Base article."
My only comment for the moment is if the problem began with OS 10.3.6 and we're at OS 10.4.1, then I have no great expectations of a quick solution. How many months has this existed without a resolution?
I've done 7 system installs and updates in order to see where the problem begins. Beginning at 10.3.6 and going to 10.4.1 the DVD Player distortion is quite apparent. Only 10.3.4 & 10.3.5 don't exhibit the problem.
I have received one e-mail from the tech at the Genius Bar regarding his communication with Apple engineers:
"Engineering is currently investigating reports of issues with incorrect rendering on certain DVDs with PowerBook G4 15 and 17-inch PowerBooks. Further information will come in the form of a Software Update, Software Release or Knowledge Base article."
My only comment for the moment is if the problem began with OS 10.3.6 and we're at OS 10.4.1, then I have no great expectations of a quick solution. How many months has this existed without a resolution?
bobw - Jun 7, 2005 - 2:48 pm
Robert
I've seen it reported a few times until I did some searching on your question, then I saw a lot of people with the same problem. The same for just about every post I read, moving past 10.3.5 and the DVD problems appeared.
Apple knows about this and has known. It's been on their boards a lot.
--------
Bobw - Macosx.com Tech Support
I've seen it reported a few times until I did some searching on your question, then I saw a lot of people with the same problem. The same for just about every post I read, moving past 10.3.5 and the DVD problems appeared.
Apple knows about this and has known. It's been on their boards a lot.
--------
Bobw - Macosx.com Tech Support
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