[Thanar]

Hello,

I have a 12" iBook G4, as well as a 14" one. I have rented 10 DVDs, but I found that half of them (the same ones) do not play on both iBooks. However, they play fine on a PowerBook 15" and a G4 MDD.


Both the iBooks have the same Combo drive, the MATSHITA CD-RW CW-8123. So I guess it's a drive model issue.

All the DVDs I tried were Region 2 (I am in Greece) with no visual damage.

Any ideas/helpful links?

[jerry1]

Maybe the combo drives on the iBook are "region-locked". Not sure though.

[Thanar]

Nope, you are wrong...

All DVDs were region 2 coded.
Furthermore, I have seen several similar reports on Apple's discussions.

Any more ideas?

[SupahCoolX]

Try downloading VLC player from www.videolan.org and see if that plays them. If it does, you know it's a software issue with DVD Player and can start narrowing things down.

[Thanar]

OK, I guess I wasn't clear enough on my first post, so let me rephrase:

On both iBooks, the DVDs in question DO NOT EVEN MOUNT! They all eject 10-20 seconds after insertion!

So this is a hardware problem FOR SURE! I would appreciate reports from other iBook G4 owners, positive or negative on the issue...

[ccsccs7]

They might be scratched or dirty (you did say you rented them, correct?). Seeing as you are trying them with different drives perhaps error correction or different laser (or some other feature unique to the drives that can play the DVDs) is missing from the iBooks' drives.

PS. the iBooks use trays while PowerBooks use the slot—another difference.

[Thanar]

iBook G4s have slot-loading drives

the DVDs were not dirty

[Uday]

I have had similar problems with CDRW. If I use one that has been formated in the iMac (combo drive) then it will not mount in my Ti 1Ghz Superdrive. I did spend a lot of time on the telephone with Apple and they even changed my Superdrive but this has not sorted out the problem.

With the DVD's, the only problem I have had is that, even using Apple media, the final DVD will not play on all DVD players. Sony palyers are OK but Phillips will not always work.

You may be experiencing problems on your rental DVD due to media/drive incompatibility.

Do you have the same problem with DVD'd hat you have made on your own?

[Thanar]

It is a slightly different problem, but thanx for your reply.

What you said about drive/media incompatibility interests me most. Any additional info?

The DVDs that wouldn't stay into the iBooks' drives play perfectly well on 4 other Macs I tested them on.

I tried only 2 authored DVDs and they both play fine.

However, I tried 2 brand-new DVDs from a friend of mine (bought, that is) and one of them doesn't mount as well!

[tooki]

Some drives are just picky when it comes to media that's not quite right. It might work in drives that are more tolerant, but not in all.

tooki

[mgl]

Originally posted by Thanar:
I have a 12" iBook G4, as well as a 14" one. I have rented 10 DVDs, but I found that half of them (the same ones) do not play on both iBooks. However, they play fine on a PowerBook 15" and a G4 MDD.

I've played countless DVDs on my iBook G3 and iBook G4 without a problem. I had one that wouldn't play on my iMac G4 though.

Sounds like either there's something wrong with your drive. Sorry I couldn't be of more help in offering a solution. If you could find a DVD that did not play in your iBook G4 but did in a friend's similar model then you'd be able to easily argue for replacement.

[Thanar]

Well, I guess that at least SOME of the drives inside the iBook G4s are buggy.

I'll get a replacement as soon as I can and then go ahead and rent some tens DVD and do some more testing...

Thanx to anyone who contributed to this post, especially mgl, who stated that he's never had a problem playing-back DVDs on his iBook G4!