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.

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 ?

[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.

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.

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! :)

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.