Can't see DVD'S

[KAZZBAR]

Greetings everyone, I'm back to see if anyone can advise me as to why my trusty old FX 701 (yes I know it's old, but you guys have been a contributing factor as to why it's still running) .. can not see any DVD movies ?

Its running XP home and is all up to date.

The CD - DVD drive is working OK, IE- it can see music CD's data disc's etc but not movies

The original OEM included a version of Win DVD which would play movies ok, but after a spot of bother, I had to re-install (this time with an original XP disc)

While I know Windows Media Player will not play movies without buying a codec pack or downloading a partner media player from their site, I thought I would get myself a copy of VLC player (good idea thought as it sorted out the same issue on the wife's Amilo laptop) ... but .. no ! .. windows can not see the disc !!?? ... I have also tried using the GOM Player and downloaded the mpeg2 codec as advised by their site but still no luck.

Both players say they can not play the dvd and windows after a few minutes pops up a window telling me to insert a disc ... the cd drive spins the disc for a while ..stops, starts, stops, starts and that's it !!

Any ideas please ??

[KAZZBAR]

Sorry to bump this post, but I'm still at a loss.

Any idea's please ??

[Blencogo]

Hi KAZZBAR,

As you say, XP does not support DVD authoring but I would expect VLC player to work.

It is possible that the DVD laser in your drive is faulty. See if you can borrow an external USB DVD drive and try to view movies in VLC Player. If you can then your drive needs replacement.

[KAZZBAR]

Thanks for your reply, I don't know where I will find someone with a usb drive, but I will work on asking about,

Does the fact that it will read other disks not suggest that the laser is OK though ?

Oh .. forgot to mention, that when I insert a DVD, the hour glass appears intermittently until I eject the disk.

[Blencogo]

Not necessarily. Does it read other DVDs?

The drive uses a different laser diode for CD and DVD as the two systems use a different wavelength laser.

I think CD uses 780nm and DVD 650nm. (Blu-Ray uses an even shorter wavelength of 405nm).

However, the 'hour glass' would suggest to me that it is a software problem. Have you checked for firmware updates? I don't really know what to suggest apart from seeing what happens if you install WinDVD.