Ubuntu Won't play DVD's, or else rarely does.

shizz · 13-10-2012 03:16PM #1

The reason I say rarely does is that after a few times of opening and closing the tray and various combinations of having it open or closed on bootup /log in, it read the disc once.

The usual scenario is that I close the tray, hear two noises as it sounds like the tray is about to spool up, but then nothing happens.

Any ideas?

I've googled this a few times and nothing has helped. I seem to have all the packages installed etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Fenster · 13-10-2012 03:46PM

1: Technically savvy people watch DVDs? O.o
2: Answer these questions:
a. Is it /only/ DVDs that won't play?
b. What kind of DVDs won't play? Would, say, a data disc play?
b. Could you list your distro, player model, and software you are using (hit Google for the relevant commands)?
c. Are you dual-booting with Windows? Does this problem persist under it?

shizz · 13-10-2012 03:59PM

Fenster wrote: »

1: Technically savvy people watch DVDs? O.o
2: Answer these questions:
a. Is it /only/ DVDs that won't play?
b. What kind of DVDs won't play? Would, say, a data disc play?
b. Could you list your distro, player model, and software you are using (hit Google for the relevant commands)?
c. Are you dual-booting with Windows? Does this problem persist under it?

1. Its Carl Sagan's Cosmos :P
2.
a.I only have one other DVD to check with and it has files on it. These can be read yes.
b. Seems to be commercial DVD's that wont play.
b. Ubuntu 12.04, I'm not sure what you mean by player and software. The OS won't even recognise that there is a disc present.
c. Yes I am dual-booting and no it doesn't persist.

Fenster · 13-10-2012 04:17PM

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats/PlayingDVDs

shizz · 13-10-2012 04:43PM

Fenster wrote: »

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats/PlayingDVDs

Thanks but I've seen this and applied everything.

I'm really at a loss as to what the problem is.

Fenster · 13-10-2012 05:11PM

shizz wrote: »

Thanks but I've seen this and applied everything.

I'm really at a loss as to what the problem is.

Have you even looked at dmesg output?

shizz · 13-10-2012 05:19PM

Fenster wrote: »

Have you even looked at dmesg output?

I wouldn't know how to interpret it? Could you?

Fenster · 13-10-2012 05:33PM

This is usually the part where you offer hardware information and dmesg output.

shizz · 13-10-2012 05:39PM

dmesg | grep -i scsi
[ 1.772504] SCSI subsystem initialized
[ 2.122274] Block layer SCSI generic (bsg) driver version 0.4 loaded (major 253)
[ 2.384580] scsi0 : ahci
[ 2.384659] scsi1 : ahci
[ 2.384721] scsi2 : ahci
[ 2.384783] scsi3 : ahci
[ 2.384841] scsi4 : ahci
[ 2.384898] scsi5 : ahci
[ 2.841386] scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access ATA ST9640320AS 0002 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[ 2.841526] sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0
[ 2.844918] scsi 1:0:0:0: CD-ROM Slimtype BD E DS4E1S EA2B PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[ 2.849551] sr0: scsi3-mmc drive: 24x/1x writer dvd-ram cd/rw xa/form2 cdda pop-up
[ 2.849784] sr 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0
[ 2.849902] sr 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 5
[ 2.895651] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk

Thanks man.

shizz · 14-10-2012 02:07PM

Just thought I'd let you know that it randomly decided to read the disc as I turned on my laptop this morning.

Eliot Rosewater · 14-10-2012 03:59PM

shizz wrote: »

Just thought I'd let you know that it randomly decided to read the disc as I turned on my laptop this morning.

Classic Ubuntu!

shizz · 14-10-2012 04:22PM

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

Classic Ubuntu!

Classic it may be, but there must be a reason for it.

Fenster · 14-10-2012 05:40PM

What specific disc was it? Does your player read data discs?

shizz · 14-10-2012 05:52PM

Fenster wrote: »

What specific disc was it? Does your player read data discs?

It was the same disc that caused the problem in the first place. Yeah it reads and writes to data disc's fine.

syngindub · 24-10-2012 07:54AM

have you tried opening the DVD with VLC ?

shizz · 24-10-2012 09:15AM

syngindub wrote: »

have you tried opening the DVD with VLC ?

Yup. Says there is none in the drive. It has been working for a while tho as i havent taken the disc out at all. Only occasionaly had it failed to read it.

BopNiblets · 26-10-2012 11:45PM

Make sure you have the libdvdcss package installed, I think I recalled having a similar issue way back when I usedubuntu even after getting the restricted stuff.

shizz · 27-10-2012 08:14AM

BopNiblets wrote: »

Make sure you have the libdvdcss package installed, I think I recalled having a similar issue way back when I usedubuntu even after getting the restricted stuff.

Yeah they are installed. It is an intermitent problem

Johnboy1951 · 28-10-2012 08:12PM

Have you checked the data and power connections to the drive?

Unplug them and reinsert them to make sure you get proper connections.

shizz · 28-10-2012 08:17PM

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Have you checked the data and power connections to the drive?

Unplug them and reinsert them to make sure you get proper connections.

I may do but its a bit of a job as its my laptop.

Johnboy1951 · 28-10-2012 11:07PM

shizz wrote: »

I may do but its a bit of a job as its my laptop.

I didn't realise that ...... but an intermittent problem like you describe is often due to bad electrical contact someplace so it would be worth while checking if possible.

There are often good guides on line for opening specific laptop models.
You might do well to have a look at a couple before you attempt it

shizz · 28-10-2012 11:21PM

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I didn't realise that ...... but an intermittent problem like you describe is often due to bad electrical contact someplace so it would be worth while checking if possible.

There are often good guides on line for opening specific laptop models.
You might do well to have a look at a couple before you attempt it

Oh I'd definitely do that haha. Its just time constraints more than anything.

Anyways, an update to this is I'm currently testing Elementary OS Luna on a separate partition. It's based on 12.04 but I am not having any of these problems.

DVD loads and is ready to play straight away.

Johnboy1951 · 28-10-2012 11:23PM

shizz wrote: »

Oh I'd definitely do that haha. Its just time constraints more than anything.

Anyways, an update to this is I'm currently testing Elementary OS Luna on a separate partition. It's based on 12.04 but I am not having any of these problems.

DVD loads and is ready to play straight away.

Sounds good

shizz · 28-10-2012 11:52PM

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Sounds good

I hate not knowing the reason though :mad:

Ubuntu Won't play DVD's, or else rarely does.

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