Can DVDs Kill DVD Players?

aidanpryde asks: "In the weirdest situation I've ever seen. My DVD player died on Saturday while watching the episodes of a favorite sci-fi series. I was watching disk 5 with my wife and noticed that it was getting jumpy. I took the disk out to see if it was dirty or scratched, but seeing nothing, we put the disk back in. Now the DVD player won't read anything, not the Season 5 disk, none of our other disks...nothing! So, we take the DVD player as a loss. Hardware failure happen all of the time, right? So I go downstairs with my wife on another day and try it on her DVD player in her computer. We get through one episode of the disk and it starts to jump again. We take it out, try another disk and sure enough -- nothing works. Has anyone ever run into DVD's that kill DVD players? Is there any way that I can get compensation for my dead DVD players? Is there any ideas as to why this has happened. Can I download firmware updates for the computer drive that may fix the problem?"

Comments

obvious

[Anonymous Coward]

The DVD is possesed. Call a priest, and if one isn't available, burn it immediately.

Re:obvious

[Orion]

> Call a priest, and if one isn't available, burn it immediately.

Burning a priest just because he isn't available seems a little excessive.

Now, burning a priest just because he is a priest... that sounds much more reasonable.

Please place this disc for sale on ebay

[Anonymous Coward]

I need it to leave around my workplace in some strategic places. Can't explain the details in a public forum, sorry.

Re:Please place this disc for sale on ebay

[Xaviar21]

Heh.. You probably could actually get some money for a magic DVD that kills DVD players... There are a lot of malicious people out there...

firmware updates

[XO]

There are also often firmware updates for non-computer based DVD players as well.

I know that CyberHome and Panasonic have released firmware updates for some of their players over the past, and I'd bet others have too..

it works like:
burn a CD with the firmware file using a computer
put the CD into the DVD player
press "Play".

Hope you didn't fry it. :D

are you TEH PIRATE??

[Anonymous Coward]

Have you ever traded in illegally pirated software? Did you ever copy a disk for a friend? Used Kazaa or other filesharing systems? Swapped tapes in your youth? Been to a friends house and listened to (i.e., pirated his record? Played your music too loud at red lights? Memorized parts of books you read at the library without previous authorization?

If so, you are automatically placed on the global MPAA shitlist. Any DVD you buy automatically detects your unique fingerprints (even if you just grip by the edge, you crafty pirate), and instructs even the cheapest korean DVD player to self-destruct.

You agreed to this on May 27, 1996 when you walked within 50 feet of our EULA in that wal-mart (you know, the one that uses the act of disagreeing with the terms and/or being unaware of them, to indicate agreement to the terms..our lawyers love that one).

Sorry old pal. Hate to do it to you. But that's the price of being a pirate.

**

Note, this post was a work of fiction. However, a young MPAA intern reading this post ejaculated approximately 65% of the way through. After changing his trousers, he is on the phone with his supervisor explaining this cool new invention he read about on "The Slashdots".

Two possibilities...

[TheSHAD0W]

I can think of only two possibilities:

(1) A disk whose decoder disrupted your device's firmware; this may be related to your DVD's region setting, especially if it was set to "zone-free". This may have been deliberate or accidental. Does the player turn on? Do you get the big DVD screen when no disk is inserted? If so, try resetting the DVD's region settings. You may need to access a "hidden" menu; anyone have a source for how to bring up those menus handy?

(2) Because of the way the MPEG encoding on DVDs works, some encodings may require more CPU usage than others, and on a hardware decoder like in standalone DVD players, this may actually cause the processor to overheat. While letting the unit cool down may solve the problem, too much heat might actually induce a hardware fault.

Re:Two possibilities...

[autarkeia]

While number one sounds like it might be feasible, number two sounds like a load of bull. While it's theoretically possible (like it's theoretically possible that you could be hit by a falling airplane wing at any moment), in practice it's rather like saying that you need to be careful about doing kernel compiles or playing Doom 3 lest your GPU or CPU overheat.

DVD players are meant to play DVD's and have specialized DSP's that don't run ridiculously hot like a Prescott. The idea that some DVD's are "just too much for your DVD player to handle" is slightly ridiculous.

Killers on the loose

[cpsc2005]

I'd suggest carefully reading the DVD itself along with the case and any other material. If it says nothing about copy protection, or something like "This DVD smites computers" I'd immediately take it up with the studio that produced the DVD. Try to be nice, but at the same time exacting. If I were you, and there were no notices, or you can clearly prove that these DVD players were stand-alone devices, I'd take it to small claims court and get my $300 bucks back if they don't strike a reasonable deal.

Don't take no for an answer. Manufacturers should and are held responsible for damage to property under tort law.

Re:Killers on the loose

[jcwren]

Might be worth "test playing" it on all the DVD players in your local Circuit City and Best Buy. That should get their attention.

Disc balance ?

[frumin]

The disc could be badly balanced and that's why it would shake and such. It could have damadged the drive mechanism.

Re:Disc balance ?

[MBCook]

Something mechanical like this would be my guess. I would think it would have upset the mechanism as the parent said. Making the shaft the DVD sits on slightly crooked or off place, maybe hitting the laser or something so that it doesn't aim/focus correctly. If you're willing, open up the drive (or the drive in the stand alone player) and see if you can see anything. The disc might have scratched the lens or some such. My guess is it's something reparable like that. It may be something you can fix with an adjustment screw and a little time.

If it is something "good" though (like scratching the lens or something), then go after the manufacturer of the disk or the place that rented it to you (if you rented it) and ask that they do something about it. They should be nice enough. If not, you may want to go through small claims court as another poster suggested. And if you keep the "killer" disc, you'll have great evidence.

Re:Disc balance ?

[Halfbaked Plan]

I tried an 'out of balance' experiment on my CDROM at the workplace once. It was the first time I had access to a 'high speed' CDROM drive (i.e. one faster than 4x). I noticed that it was noisier than any drive I'd encountered before.

I began by putting progressively larger pieces of tape on a CDROM disk to put the disk 'out of balance' in the drive. It got progressively noisier.

Then I taped a small metal washer on the CDROM. It spun up and made the whole CPU case shake loudly.

I had to unplug the computer quickly and use a bent paperclip to extract the CD. It would have been embarassing to explain why the computer in my cubicle was making so much noise.

Shintaro Blank DVDs

[thegrassyknowl]

I have seen a warning on the back of Shintaro blank DVDs that says not to use it with Pioneer (some specific models that I can't remember) drives.

Apparantly unless you put in some after-market firmware the drive will be irrepairably damaged by burning onto these Shintaro blanks.

Wierd!!!

Re:Well...

[mnmn]

Those big black things are records. Laser disks are same size as records, but shiny and with bigger holes.

I know how you lost your laserdisc player! :)

Heard of something similar

[Ondo]

A similar incident was mentioned on the DVDAuthor users mailing list. Here's a link.

I had a similiar problem with a CD Recorder...

[Orion]

It was a nice Sony recorder, except for one little flaw... after you put in a scratched-enough CD, it stopped working forever.

Here I was, trying to use cdparanoia to recover some CDs, and my drive stopped working.

It took three RMAs before I finally convinced Sony to stop shipping me back the drive and fix the damn firmware. The next time the firmware was upgraded, and the drive gave several more years of good service (probably still works, wherever it is).

I've tried a DVD too

[schnits0r]

I've tried all my DVDs and they all work fine, and I have suffered absolutely no proble#$#$%$%$#%@#%%@$%@#$%REF$%$F^............NO CARRIER.

Re:Not a DVD but...

[technos]

I bought a copy of a Kid Rock album a few years ago, and after opening it and playing through it once I thought it was about the worst thing I had heard since.. Well, probably since Sammy Hagar decided he needed a solo album.

So I walk back into the Sam Goody and stood around with the case in my hand, flipping it open and closed till I got a sales drone to see me.

me: Hi, I need to return this.
drone: I'm sorry, but we don't take returns on opened merchandise. Store policy.
me: I know what your store policy is. The disc is defective.
drone: Oh, is it scratched? Sometimes that happens in the packaging process.
me: Naw, the disc looks fine. But whenever I put it in my player, all I get out of the speakers is noise.
drone: Wow, I've never heard of that happening.
me: Only happens with this one disc. The copy of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours I bought here at the same time sounds great.
drone: Hmm. I think we've still got a couple copies on the shelf, we can exchange it for another.
me: I'd rather like to return it versus exchange it, because it was supposed to be a gift and I already had to buy an alternate gift in a hurry thanks to it throwing up through my speakers.

After discussing the model of my player, the fact it also produced garbage when played in my car stereo, the clerk gets his manager to sign off on a refund.

So I'm up at the register with the salesdrone and the cashier to get my money back.

clerk: Wow, I don't think I've heard of any problems with that album.
me: Don't ask me.
clerk: I ought to go stick it in one of the demo players and see how bad it sounds.
[clerk hands me my money and a new reciept]
me: Go for it. Don't put the volume up too loud though, I'll warn you.
[clerk pops it in a player stuck under the counter, player spins up and starts playing "Cowboy"]
clerk: Seems to work just fine, that's weird.
me: Funny, I paid $26 for a CD full of music, I expected music. That sounds like overmodulated static with some profanity thrown in. Not music. It's gotta be defective.

Is the disc warped or uneven?

[the_brat_king]

If the disc is warped, uneven, or unbalanced, it will cause DVD player failure. I know this because we've been through 6 DVD players in 3 1/2 years. My wife gets children's movies for my daughter from the library, they put stickers on them (on the center hub)... when these stickers are not placed on correctly they cause the disc to wobble, this kills motors dead.

Listen to the drive when you put a disc in, can you hear the disc spin up? If not, you've fried your motor, if so it's most likely a firmware issue. Since you've killed two DVD players though, it's more likely that the problem is the motor fried.

Re:I SECOND THAT! MOD UP!

[aminorex]

Not at all. In a future life you will be reincarnated as a VAX emulator.