Matshita CW-8124 + Leopard = DVD Problem

I have not found any difference in media either of my PPC minis will read after installing Leopard in comparison to what they were capable of under Tiger - they have both equally worked.

I would agree that there are indications the first Leopard release has brought a number of issues to light, and that there are some things Apple didn't appear to get right or test as thoroughly as one would reasonably expect, but I'm not sure this issue is one of those.

I've been pondering possible explanations, and there really aren't any obvious things, above and beyond the usual suspects of damaged/smudged media or dirt or debris in the drive. In a broad sense I am so generally unimpressed with the slot loading drives however that I sometimes wonder why we don't see rather more of these kind of reports being posted here.

It might help if you could tell us which media brands/types are failing and what's on the media, and which optical drive you have. Other than that, I've found these drives benefit from an occasional scrub with a lens cleaner.

Above and beyond that, A PMU reset has been known to help with unpredictable hardware behaviors in the G4 minis (instructions below) and depending on what may already be on the DVD media being rejected, it's also possible that there's an issue with permissions on the system, so a repair permissions via Disk Utility might be a wise step - though of course that's one of Leopard's rather odd issues in itself!

To reset the PMU
-Unplug all cables from the computer, including the power cord.
-Wait 10 seconds.
-Plug in the power cord while simultaneously pressing and holding the power button on the back of the computer.
-Let go of the power button.
-Press the power button once more to start up your Mac mini.

That permissions repair log shows very similar results to the ones I am seeing in my systems. The ones reporting 'change but not repaired' are not of consequence and can be ignored - indeed, it's not clear why Apple haven't suppressed them.

I'm not sure that TV shows would be burned in a different format, but even if so, the chances are the format would (or should) be sufficiently compatible to play.

Incidentally, downloading and installing the 10.5.1 updater from http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/ has been reported to resolve a number of small issues in Leopard, so it might be worth considering this as a possible assistance.

I have a similiar problem with my Mac Mini. After I installed Leopard all dvd's are spitted out from superdrive. I didn't have any media problems under Tiger so Leopard installation disk did something bad to my superdrive.

Same problem. DVD drive is now VERY selective on what it mounts and doesn't mount ever since I upgraded to Leopard. Very frustrating... I even tried to downgrade back to Tiger but it wont take that DVD either so looks like i'm stuck...

Apple, please please please provide a solution!

same for me.

although with a pioneer drive..

Welcome to Apple Discussions!

I even tried to downgrade back to Tiger but it wont take that DVD either .....

Which unfortunately tends to suggest that at least in your case the problem is with the optical drive itself rather than anything else - particularly if you tried to boot to the Tiger install disk and couldn't, since this would circumvent any impact Leopard could have had on the drive.

If your mini is under warranty, I'd have Apple or an approved service provider look at it without delay. If not, then first and foremost I'd be inclined to run a lens cleaner though it, since the slot loading drives are a little more prone to dust and debris.

I have exactly the same problem, some BBC DVDs will not work; everything else fine. Anyone know how to fix this?

I think i know what your problem is, Leopard seems to have given your Mini Taste !!!! chuckle!!!

I think it's the drive. I have the same problem (it goes in and spins, then after a period of time pops out unread) but with commercially produced DVDs (Like Netflix movies or something) it works fine.

But Data files I burned to DVD, no.

I also get a "failed to calibrate the laser power level for this media" when I try to burn anything from my iTunes to CD.

And since we have the same model and same manufacturer for our Drive MATSHITA (I have a MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-835F), I think there's either a firmware issue or hardware issue.


But there's obviously a drive issue and it seems to effect a large amount of Mini users.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5601049

Following on from last post, I have found that the DVDs play fine in VLC (see http://www.videolan.org/) so it is just Apple's media player that is incompatible? 🙂.

You mentioned that some BBC DVDs will not work, but others play fine. You don't indicate where you are. The fact that VLC player does play your DVDs in this situation might suggest that the DVDs that won't play have a different region code. The DVD player app in MacOS won't play out-of-region DVDs, while VLC player will.

Thanks for the suggestion but I don't think it is anything to do with region codes. I'm in the UK. All the DVDs are for this region and they all play fine on my other Mac, an older G4 PowerBook running 10.4.something.