DVD Burner Dying? Failing to play DVD's...

[Dav0s]

I'm not sure if my NEC 3520A is dying, or whether there is some sort of other hardware/software problem. Basically when playing a DVD in media player classic it gets to a point in the film (sometimes the same point, usually not) and it just goes extremely laggy, unwatchable and freezing for periods at a time. In VLC as soon as it gets to this point it just abandons playback and stops the dvd. Media Player 10 wont even load the film half the time.

I'm sure the films are fine as ive watched them on my pc before...

Interestingly though I can still burn DVD's fine

Anybody got any ideas, or has this happened to anybody?

 

[Ham]

May seam like a stupid question but the disc is clean right? no finger prints, scratches etc.

I found that dvds messed about while switching between layers on my dvd drive, but i put that down to the fact its nearly 10 years old...

 

[Rastalovich]

I can get issues with a DVD that I`ve just taken out of a stand alone player, and then put into a windows pc.

MP will come up, play for a bit and stick.

MP will not recognize a DVD.

Explorer won`t recognize something is in it.

All the above are software related, a reboot sorts it all out without a problem. (the pc is usually on for days solid b4 hand)

It could be u`r resources under windows or dvd playing software fighting each other, which happens particularly with dvds that try to install their own players.

 

[Dav0s]

ive tried over 10 dvd's, tried cleaning them aswell, and they have all worked fine previously

ive tried many reboots, its been going on for a couple of weeks now

also doubt its a codec/software problem because i have VLC and also windvd codecs, neither work :S

it may have been in my head, but i thought i heard the drive spin down last time it happened, like it loses its buffer and then refuses to refill it

 

[FarFarAway]

New drive tbh

 

[chudley]

My NEC died after only a couple of months use, started witht he same problems a syours and then just refused to work, couldnt be bothered sending it back as it only cost £18. Just bought a new one but not NEC

 

[Rastalovich]

New drive tbh

The only thing that stops me from saying this is that he says it writes ok.

hmmmm.. try doing a write with verify-on, then u`ll know if it`s writing & reading ok. If that works I`d say it`s software.

U can stick another one in to test it prehaps - otherwize.

 

[JN]

I had a similar problem with my plextor, but the other way round. It had problems writing and detecting writable media (stuff i'd used b4), but could read CD's and play DVD's fine.

 

[Dav0s]

after some more investigation it seems it can read pressed dvd's fine, but on written ones it struggles :S

 

[Rastalovich]

Damn strange, is the unit hot on top ?

 

[Dav0s]

god knows, its in my case!

 

[Rastalovich]

Whilst it`s on, slip off a side panel and have a grope ?

 

[Toxcity]

Have you tried a clean intall of your DVD decoder?

Worked for me!