Ubuntu is ruining DVD's

[Aslinsky]

Hey, I'm new to using Linux, and whenever I play a DVD on my computer using movie player the movie will play about halfway through and then the computer for some reason starts writing to the disk and ruins the DVD. Any idea of why this is happening? I've searched for the solution myself using google, but haven't been able to come up with anything, so any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

whenever I play a DVD on my computer using movie player the movie will play about halfway through and then the computer for some reason starts writing to the disk and ruins the DVD. Any idea of why this is happening?

Are you saying that when you play DVD using Movie Player, Linux starts writing in DVD after a while?

[Rubberman]

Given that a DVD is a read-only medium, unless you are playing a rewritable DVD-RW, this is not possible. Also, how do you know it is writing to the disc? If it is a DVD-RW then how was it recorded in the first place?

[Aslinsky]

I don't know how it does it, but it writes directly over the disc that is in the player even if it is a commercial DVD movie straight out of the box. The disc becomes unplayable after whatever point in the movie in which the machine decided it wanted to write over.

[elija]

Sounds like a faulty dvd drive to me. It is probably damaging the surface as it spins so that the laser can't read the disk. It might also be worth checking for a foreign body in the drive.

[TaZMAniac]

Have you installed the restricted codecs and libdvdcss per the instructions found here;
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Re...ts/PlayingDVDs

If they aren't installed then playback of a DVD will be scrambled on the computer which may make you think it was ruined.
Have you tried playing that 'damaged' DVD in a regular DVD player?

There is no way a video player can write to a DVD nor is it possible to write to any DVD that was burned then had the session closed . Closing the burning session makes it a read only disk. No way you can write over it again.

[Rubberman]

Sounds like a faulty dvd drive to me. It is probably damaging the surface as it spins so that the laser can't read the disk. It might also be worth checking for a foreign body in the drive.

This would be my best guess as well that something physical is ruining the discs. As we said, what you say is happening, simply isn't possible. Commercial discs have recording media that is physically "embossed" with little pits that make up the 0's and 1's of the digital data. A recordable disc uses a phase-change technique with a special recording substrate which changes the opacity of the media when the recording laser heats it up, and a re-recordable disc has a different substrate that can phase-change back when heated and a magnetic field is applied to the heated bit. In the case of a commercial pre-recorded disc, it has no phase-change substrate to affect and the lasers used in current DVD recorders is not powerful enough to physically alter the substrate used. In the case of a recordable disc, the phase-change is permanent and once a sector has been recorded, it is permanently locked in that state. With a re-recordable disc, one can erase and then record on it again.

[Packrat1947]

Taz,

Are you saying that it is impossible for the burning laser to turn on, and damage a disc/dye. I do understand about finalizing. It seems we are painting with a pretty wide brush here.

Also, you mentioned "video player". The poster did not say he had a DVD ROM, only that he was playing a DVD.

Packrat1947

[TaZMAniac]

@packrat

OP said

whenever I play a DVD on my computer using movie player

Movie player is a video player. Not a burning device. Type of DVD is irrelevant as a player is not coded to turn on a write function laser when a video player is in use!

My actual reply about impossible;

Nor is it possible to write to any DVD that was burned and had the session closed

In a normally functioning unit while using a video player, the write laser will not turn on and write to a finalized DVD or any DVD for that matter. Also there is software and hardware encoding to insure that a laser will not turn on when a finalized or pressed DVD is inserted.
Nowhere did the OP mention he was using a piece of burning software. He said "Media Player".

Make sure you take note of my saying

normally functioning

We are still waiting on the OP to respond to see if the DVD unit is causing physical damages such as scratches and gouges to his discs. This would indicate a piece of hardware has broken and is causing physical, not software related damage.

Sure hope you can fully comprehend this clarification!