Why does my DVD drive in my MacBook Pro keeping skipping over nonexistent "damaged areas" in movies?

Question

Why does my DVD drive in my MacBook Pro keeping skipping over nonexistent "damaged areas" in movies?

I've had my MacBook Pro for a couple months, and everything works perfectly fine with it, except the DVD drive. Whenever I try watching movies on it, it always keeps skipping over nonexistent "damaged areas", even though nothing is wrong with the actual movie DVD. I watch the movies on my TV, and they still work fine, so the problem has to be something with the Mac laptop. Anything suggestions as to what might be going on? Thanks!

MacBook Pro (13-inch Late 2011)

Posted on Mar 31, 2012 10:22 AM

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Answer 1

fane_j

Level 4

3,697 points

Apr 1, 2012 4:20 AM in response to themagicalsunshine

themagicalsunshine wrote:

nothing is wrong with the actual movie DVD

How do you know?

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Answer 2

Apr 4, 2012 4:57 PM in response to fane_j

I've re-watched the movies using other DVD players, such as my PC and the DVD player that goes with my television, and neither one of those seem to have trouble with "damaged" areas in the movie DVD, so it makes sense for the laptop to be the one causing the problems

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Answer 3

fane_j

Level 4

3,697 points

Apr 4, 2012 7:36 PM in response to themagicalsunshine

themagicalsunshine wrote:

I've re-watched the movies using other DVD players

You're on the right track, but it's not definitive. Some drives are more fault-tolerant than others. That applies especially if the DVDs are recordable media, rather than commercially-pressed media.

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Answer 4

Apr 6, 2012 7:23 AM in response to fane_j

Yes, I realize that, but all of these movies are of commercially-pressed media. Plus, some of them are brand-new movies that have never been watched before and just came out of their packagining; I highly doubt that there would be damaged areas present on those DVDs.

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Answer 5

fane_j

Level 4

3,697 points

Apr 6, 2012 2:39 PM in response to themagicalsunshine

themagicalsunshine wrote:

all of these movies are of commercially-pressed media.

In that case, continue to isolate the problem. Try VLC. If VLC plays the DVD w/o problems, then the drive is OK. If it, too, has problems, then the problem is probably related to the drive, not the software.

If the problem is with the drive, try

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964>

If that doesn't work, it's back to the store with it for check and repair. Make a note of the timing when the problem occurs in a couple of DVDs and take them with you, to be able to demonstrate the issue if asked.

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Answer 6

Apr 8, 2012 10:01 AM in response to fane_j

Okay, that helps immensely! I shall try what happens with VLC, and see what happens. Exactly what does Resetting the System Management Controller do though?

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Answer 7

fane_j

Level 4

3,697 points

Apr 8, 2012 3:29 PM in response to themagicalsunshine

themagicalsunshine wrote:

Exactly what does Resetting the System Management Controller do though?

It forces its firmware to revert to factory settings. See

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Management_Controller>

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Answer 8

Apr 8, 2012 4:13 PM in response to fane_j

Ahhhhh, I see. Hopefully, just downloading VLC or resetting the SMC will solve the problem, so I don't have to resort to bringing it in. Thanks so much for the advice! I shall reply back soon to say whether either of your suggestions were successful.

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