PowerBook G4 refuses to read a particular CD

[Omnirizon]

I have an audio CD that my PowerBook will not read. I've read this CD in other media drives (such as my car's CD player and another computer's CD player), and I've read a different CD in my Mac's drive.

It appears to me that the issue then is this particular CD and my computer.

First, the CD is in very good condition, with no visible scratches unless you really scrutinize the read side. the label side has no damage at all. It is a 15 year old CD, but was probably played very few times when it was new, and has been simply sitting on a shelf for over a decade.

sometimes I insert the CD and after several seconds of unusual noises from my CD drive, I am able to begin to play it in itunes. However, after 1 to 3 minutes it inevitably will begin to skip so badly that itunes stops playing it, and often hangs up, forcing me to use 'force quit'. other times I insert the CD and after several seconds of unusual noises from my CD drive, the drive simply spits the CD back out, without ever having read it at all.

Is it possible that there was something about the way an older CD is encoded that my mac cannot deal with?

has anyone else encountered this? is there a solution?

 

[shanshor]

I have an audio CD that my PowerBook will not read. I've read this CD in other media drives (such as my car's CD player and another computer's CD player), and I've read a different CD in my Mac's drive.

It appears to me that the issue then is this particular CD and my computer.

First, the CD is in very good condition, with no visible scratches unless you really scrutinize the read side. the label side has no damage at all. It is a 15 year old CD, but was probably played very few times when it was new, and has been simply sitting on a shelf for over a decade.

sometimes I insert the CD and after several seconds of unusual noises from my CD drive, I am able to begin to play it in itunes. However, after 1 to 3 minutes it inevitably will begin to skip so badly that itunes stops playing it, and often hangs up, forcing me to use 'force quit'. other times I insert the CD and after several seconds of unusual noises from my CD drive, the drive simply spits the CD back out, without ever having read it at all.

Is it possible that there was something about the way an older CD is encoded that my mac cannot deal with?

has anyone else encountered this? is there a solution?

Very possible that it was encoded differently, but this is rather unlikely due to the fact that the powerbook is also a bit old. Not too bad though. What I would recommend is using a "disk doctor" or a similar product. It fills in any scratches on the surface.

 

[Omnirizon]

Very possible that it was encoded differently, but this is rather unlikely due to the fact that the powerbook is also a bit old. Not too bad though. What I would recommend is using a "disk doctor" or a similar product. It fills in any scratches on the surface.

Thanks for your response, but I am 99.99% sure it has nothing to do with any scratches on the disc. For one, as I noted in my OP, there are not really any scratches. For two, I've tried the CD in car CD players, home stereo, and a PC's cd/dvd ROM drive; all these things played this disc flawlessly.

It seems as if my computer is actually having difficulty reading the disc. It refuses to play anything but about a minute of track one. During the whole time, the CD drive is making a *whir...cckgggckckggg...whir....ccckgggckkkgg...whir...* ad nauseum. Like its able to read just a little of the CD, and then gets confused and has to find where it is again. If I insert the CD and then simply try to play any track other than track one, it will play nothing at all, begin making the above sound, and hang up immediately. If I leave the CD in the drive it will continue making the noise, even after I've stopped attempting to play it. As mentioned, it sometimes won't even read the disc at all, and will spit it out a few seconds after I insert it.

 

[apfhex]

Definitely the optical drive on the PBG4. Mine has problems reading certain discs too, a problem that developed over time since it originally was fine. It's so many years old that it's not surprising to me. It's the same as how your described, clicking noises for a while and spits them out. Maybe some of those drives were just prone to going bad after a few years (like the first gen PS2, hah).