Angrifying: or my DVD hates me

[fuzzyoctopus]

So I'm sitting here home alone and thinking "I'd like to watch Memento again."   I have it on my shelf, it should be easy yes?  No.

First of all, I had forgotten that the two discs in the box look identical, and I can't tell which one is special features and which is the movie.  No biggie, I figure, I'll put one in and see what it is.  

Oh wait. Except that I forgot that since Memento is supposed to be a psychological thriller whatever, they made the DVD menus into a series of psych tests, the choices of which have no discernable bearing on what you're choosing.  Or in other words, you either need a map or to be schizophrenic in order to figure it out.

And when I finally determine which disc is the movie, I get 30 seconds into the credits....

"Unable to read disc"

I take the disc out. Is it scratched? No... Is it dirty? No..., actually it looks completely pristine. Have I watched this exact DVD before so I know it *used* to work?  Yes.

Help?

[Spriggan]

lens is probaly dirty.  If you don't have a lense cleaner try putting a different DVD in, if it reads it I don't know what to tell you.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Alas, if only it made that much sense.  The Memento  special features DVD played fine. The Pirates of the Caribbean I put in, out of desperation for somthing to watch, is playing fine.

*shrug*

Perhaps the lens is having an argument with that particular DVD.

[Spriggan]

it could just be dirty, sometimes you cant realy see it.  All it takes is a small amount of dust/dirt where the load info is.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Best way to clean it?

[Spriggan]

Well the  best way is to use an acutaly CD/DVD cleaning kit, but windex and a tissue will work fine so would water.  Just don't use any drying cloth that's rough (like a towel).

edit: when you dry don't do it in a circle.  Start from the center and move out to the edge in a straight line.  If you move it in a circluar motion you can actualy damage the CD don't know how but that's what the stuff I have says.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Will do. As long as I don't scratch it, i can't do much to it if it's currently unreadable

[GorgonlaVacaTremendo]

Well, don't feel too bad.  We've gone through two DVD players in the last six months.  Strangly the cheap one that we bought because we have no DVD money left is holding up the best.  Strange...

And the circular motion ruins DVDs and CDs because the imprints that the lens reads are in a circle, and rotating a cloth over them could change those imprints/bumps (for lack of a better term...).  If your cloth were to do any slight scratching on the DVD in a spoke motion the lens wont pick it up because it is reading a circle.  Unless you REALLY screw it up, then it doesn't matter what you do, you've ruined your DVD anyway...

[Spriggan]

Ah ya, that's why you don't do it in a circular motion.  I had forgotten that, thanks Gorgon.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Perhaps the reason my DVD will not play is because the gnomes have been sneaking in at night and rubbing it in a circular motion.

[Spriggan]

Or maybe your husband sleep-clean CD/DVDs with out even knowing it.