DVD Player, External DVD drive, iMac

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Level 1

48 points

DVD Player, External DVD drive, iMac

I had to add an external DVD/Blueray drive to my mid 2010 iMac a few years ago. It has worked very well until recently. Now when I insert a DVD, DVD Player does not show up, the inserted disc does not show up. I just connected the external DVD drive to my wife's even older Mac Book Pro and the disc was immediately recognized, DVD Player started up, the DVD started to play. That tells me the external DVD/Blueray drive is OK and the problem lies in the iMac.

This external drive takes two USB ports on the back of the Mac. These I've connected directly to the iMac. I'm looking for a way to re-install DVD Player to perhaps solve the problem. Is there a more direct way to identify and solve the problem?

Mid 2010 27" iMac. Mac OS 10.13.6, DVD Player 5500.71

Posted on Sep 2, 2019 10:05 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

den.thed

Level 9

77,254 points

Sep 3, 2019 6:21 PM in response to Gil Woolley

Personally, I would start out with a few simple things and then reinstall macOS as a last resort.

If it works on the wife's Mac, then your Mac may just need a couple of simple resets.

Start with an > How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

and then follow up with a > > Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

If that does not help?

Move on to > Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support

Then if it is still not working,?

Create a new admin. user account to test your Drive and Blu-Ray software in.

Now' if none of the above help?

Then by all means, follow the reinstall advise given by the others ASC users.

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Answer 2

TheLittles

Level 10

192,605 points

Sep 2, 2019 10:42 PM in response to Gil Woolley

Gil Woolley Said:

”I'm looking for a way to re-install DVD Player to perhaps solve the problem.”

———-

Reinstalling DVD Player Anew:

To fix a corrupt, built-in Application, you have to rid of it from your MacOS (drag it to the Trash), and then reinstall the macOS.

If you reinstall the macOS, nothing would be deleted. All intended, original files and Apps that came on your macOS would be reinstalled, including DVD Player.

So, by ridding of it, nothing of a corrupt application would stay intact in the reinstallation — It would be installed anew. It’s all about keeping your system files intact.

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Answer 3

Gil Woolley Author

Level 1

48 points

Sep 3, 2019 10:00 PM in response to den.thed

I tried starting in Safe mode with my normal(admin) login and DVD Player did not work.

Then I opened a Guest login and then DVD Player does operate.

I reinstalled the High Sierra operating system and opened in my normal login. DVD Player does not work The Guest login still allows DVD Player to work.

I created and opened a second admin login and found that DVD Player will not work in that login.

I read the articles above > How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

and then follow up with a > > Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

Before doing the Hi Sierra re-install and upon my own reading, it did not seem as though those resets would solve the problem but since re-installing Hi Sierra did not help, I will revisit those articles and try them out.

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Answer 4

Gil Woolley Author

Level 1

48 points

Sep 3, 2019 1:34 PM in response to TheLittles

This isn't working. I tried simply dragging DVD Player to the trash and Option Key dragging DVD Player to the trash. I get a message that DVD Player cannot be deleted because it is part of the Mac OS. Do I have to use Terminal? Gosh, I'm not a virtuoso on Terminal.

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Answer 5

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,682 points

Sep 3, 2019 5:02 PM in response to Gil Woolley

Nobody said delete the DVD Player app, that is not what you use to play Blueray media. You need to locate the Blueray app you use. If you suspect DVD player is part of the problem, then you will need to re-install Mac OS. This will not affect your data however please ensure you have a backup of your entire system prior to starting in case of a possible problem.

Restart in the Recovery Partition (Command + R on startup), then select the option that says to install Mac OS and then direct it to the drive you currently have Mac OS installed on.

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Answer 6

Gil Woolley Author

Level 1

48 points

Sep 4, 2019 3:04 PM in response to den.thed

I just used the link to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac. That did the job. Now inserting a DVD turns on DVD Player, the disc appears, and the media on the disc starts playing. Wow. That was. pretty neat. Kudos and thanks to den.thed.

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Answer 7

den.thed

Level 9

77,254 points

Sep 4, 2019 3:14 PM in response to Gil Woolley

Glad to hear what worked, you're welcome!

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DVD Player, External DVD drive, iMac

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