DVD help needed

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Level 1

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DVD help needed

Hi guys, I'm looking for help with a 2005 PowerMac 6.4 1.25Ghz.

On startup it reports an initialization error -70012 : A valid DVD drive could not be found. I can use the eject key to open the drive tray and the computer will read and play audio cds but if I load a dvd, there are a couple of quiet beeps and it spits the disc back out.

I have been told that dvd would play on this pc in the past and there are DVD software applications on the system.

If I look under System Profiler there doesn't seem to be any disc drive listed, and Disc Burning says no device found.

I'm not a mac user so if anyone out there can help, please use simple ideas )

I believe the computer has a DVD drive fitted that isn't being recognised at startup, although it is able to play cd discs - I'd like to fix it so that it will play DVDs too.

Any help will be appreciated, many thanks

tid

PowerMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on May 19, 2014 3:42 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Allan Jones

Level 9

68,600 points

May 19, 2014 6:28 AM in response to beanist

According to the MacTracker database, a DVD-capable drive was still an option in the 1.25gHz eMacs:

A DVD drive was not standard until the 1.42gHz version. (The "no-drive" option can be ignored in this case because it was for a special 1.0gHz USB2 eMac for educational institution orders).

The optical drive in an eMac is a standard form-factor tray-loader. If you don't need to burn DVDs. the combo drive (CD-ROM; DVD read-only) from another eMac or even a G4 minitower would work and would be cheap.

The better option would be an external DVD player. The reason is that taking apart a USB2.0 eMac is not trivial and improper reassembly can wreck the power switch. The USB1.0 eMacs and the later USB2 eMacs like yours do not have identical takeapart and reassembly procedures.

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Answer 2

beanist Author

Level 1

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May 19, 2014 9:33 AM in response to Allan Jones

Thanks for the reply, is there a way to see what the Order Number of my model is?

Oddly enough the machine started life in a school, and came to me third-hand.

It makes sense that the drive is CD-ROM not DVD, maybe the information I was given is wrong... will need to check that out.

Going with the idea that there is no DVD player, would you expect the applications

DVD Player v.4.6.5

iDVD v6.0.4

to have been added in some sort of redundant upgrade?

Anyhow I'll go back to previous owners and confirm whether they have ever used DVD discs.

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Answer 3

beanist Author

Level 1

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May 19, 2014 9:57 AM in response to beanist

Also if there is no DVD drive, why is it looking for one at startup and how do I stop the error message appearing?

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

238,979 points

May 19, 2014 12:26 PM in response to beanist

Thanks for the reply, is there a way to see what the Order Number of my model is?

If you don't know the model, find the Serial# , but don't post the Serial# here...

Use this serial number locator:

https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do

How to find the serial number of your Apple hardware product...

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1349

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Answer 5

beanist Author

Level 1

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May 20, 2014 5:03 AM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for the reply.

As it stands from the information I have about the pc and Allan's response above, my belief is that it has never had a DVD drive installed.

Previous users have confirmed that the error message was always displayed on startup and dvd discs were never recognised.

So now I just want to tidy up the computer to get rid of the error. How do I stop it looking for a DVD drive when it boots up ....what reason would it have to look for one if one has never been there?

Is it likely that installed software could make this happen?

In a Windows pc I'd be expecting to see a Registry fault cause this, but I'm not sure how Macs work.

Maybe even a legacy effect from an old external DVD drive?

I'm lost on where to start looking.

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Answer 6

BDAqua

Level 10

238,979 points

May 20, 2014 10:39 AM in response to beanist

One way to test is to Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, does the error happen in Safe Mode...

Reboot, test again.

If it only does it in Regular Boot, then it could be some 3rd party add-on, Check System Preferences>Accounts>Login Items window to see if it or something relevant is listed. Also look in System Preferences' Other row.

Also look in these if they exist, some are invisible...

/private/var/run/StartupItems

/Library/StartupItems

/System/Library/StartupItems

/System/Library/LaunchDaemons

/Library/LaunchDaemons

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Answer 7

beanist Author

Level 1

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May 21, 2014 4:53 AM in response to BDAqua

The error only shows in Regular Boot.

At SystemPrefs>Accounts>Login there is a listing for DVD player - if I check the box to hide it, all that does is suppress the error message showing onscreen. The drive icon still appears in the bar next to Trash Can, and clicking it there brings up the message.

SysPrefs>Other only had Flash Player

/private/ was invisible to me

the two /Library/ folders were empty

/System/Library/LaunchDaemons had no DVD files, nothing jumped out except bootps and maybe com.apple.atrun

/System/Library/Startup has a Disks folder > Disks icon and StartupParameters.plist

What an educational morning, I've learned a lot so far ))

At first I thought I had a faulty DVD drive. Now it seems this emac has never had a DVD drive - maybe the answer is just to delete the DVD Player application? The software was added 2008 with a bunch of other programs; the machine is 2005 so I'm guessing at the end of its school life folks took the educational setup away and installed a set of applications that private users might find useful.

My only worry there is that it'll disable the cd-rom drive somehow.

Thanks for your reply BDAqua, it was very helpful.

Thoughts about deleting the application would be welcome if none of the info I gave above pushes you to a different conclusion.

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