DVD problems on my Quicksilver 800 mhz

[mueng]

I got an 800 mhz powermac g4 with the dvd-rom/cd-rw combo drive. I'm on 10.1.4 with 256 mb ram (just ordered more!).

I tried watching star wars episode 1. The title screen was okay and I started watching the movie. After a while, the movie begins to skip and then just freezes. After the beachball comes on for a while, a window pops up saying "DVDManager Fatal Error. Error reading from disk (-36).

I thought it might be the dvd, so I tried it on my PS2, my brother's HP laptop dvd player, and then my mom's 933 mhz g4 with superdrive. It worked perfectly.

So I assumed it was just the movie itself. But then I watched some other movies...Gladiator, Remember the Titans, The Mexican to name a few, and the same thing happens. The movie works okay for a while then, freezes. However, other movies work perfectly...this problem only happens 1/3 of the time. (of 20-30 dvd's that I've tried).

Is this a known issue? I got the mac late march/early april, so it's still on warranty. Should I call a Apple authorized repair place?

Thanks

 

[AlphaTech]

I'd suggest booting into OS9 and running the software update control panel. Download and install everything it finds, including any firmware and updates for your optical drive.

I'd also run the software update within OS X, and also install whatever it finds (especially if it finds items for the dvd player/playback and quicktime.

After all that, try the movie(s) again and see how they play.

 

[mueng]

Booted into 9, updated everything. 10 already updated. I tried play Episode 1 again and got the same message...

Unless anyone else has a suggestion, I guess I'll be making a call to the Apple repair place.

Thanks.

 

[AlphaTech]

Did you try turning virtual memory off within OS 9??? Also, zap the pram. Hold down the apple+option+p+r keys on startup while the screen is black, right after the first chime and wait for three more before releasing.

If that doesn't help, call Apple and see if they can assist.

 

[Ensign Paris]

Does it do the same thing in OS9 and OSX? I would try putting a temporary OS on a disk, either OSX or OS9 and trying again.

If that makes no difference I would seriously advise taking it back to Apple.

Ensign

 

[mac15]

have you rang apple care they should fix you up
I have never had any problems with my DVD but this sounds bad
best of luck

 

[britboy]

Just a thought, but have you tried using the videolan player? It plays dvd's and mpeg2 media within OS X, and is free. It might not suffer from the same problem as what you're having now.

You can get it by clicking here.

 

[desmosedici]

i've had the same thing a few times on an 867 quicksilver superdrive. same error message. eventually traced it back to scratched discs. they were rentals. i went to the menu and selected the next scene from where it stopped. ran ok after jumping the scratch. the scratches were deeper then the usual fine scratching that usually happens.

 

[mueng]

Calling Apple...boooo

Well I tried everything that all of you suggested.

Tried Episode 1 (only tested this one) in OS 9 also... but it still froze.

Zapped the PRAM...still skipped, then froze and got the fatal error message

Downloaded VideoLan player and tried playing Ep. 1. The disc played for a bit as usual, then froze and then the window quit.

I even received my 512 RAM today and installed it... extra ram (768 MB) didn't help.

Guess I"m calling Apple tomorrow.

Thanks everyone!

P.S. I just realized just how awesome OSX is. I hadn't used OS9 ever since I got the new comp, until I did all this testing. I'm never going back!