Cleaning discs are usually CD audio.
There are many variations of DVD's so it may be an incompatibility issue.
Picked up an old DVD recorder / HDD recorder combo today (free)
Naturally enough the DVD doesn't play.
So, explain to me why no DVD will play, but my 2 cleaning discs will ?
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Cleaning discs are usually CD audio.
There are many variations of DVD's so it may be an incompatibility issue.
loopyloo (21-07-19)
One is for DVD, the other CD. I tried them both cos the brushes are in a slightly different position.
The DVD's are purchased movies and work in other players.
I'll have a look at the flat ribbon laser cable tomorrow.
when you are playing with it make sure its not in daylight cos it wont go Don
loopyloo (21-07-19)
I doubt there is a separate ribbon for the CD and DVD laser but sure, try reseating every connection you can find in that thing.
Try playing a DVD with the lid open, sometimes there is a microswitch stop you from doing that on older models but more often there is not.
You should see the red glow of the LASER, when you play a CD you will see nothing as it is Infra-Red but your phone camera will.
When you say that one cleaner disk is for DVDs, is it supposed to display a video ?
Otherwise it would just be another CD.
The position of the brushes is not relevant.
Forget the cleaner disks, especial if the DVD recorder has been standing around near a coastal environment. The mid north coast has destroyed every rubber belt and pinch roller on my Tascam multitrack reel to reel, the rubber around speakers and so many other things. The CD spindle has no belt, just the loading mechanism but mold loves the coastal air.
The first thing to do is clean the lens carefully with an earbud slightly moist with Isopropanol. Then check with a magnifier if there are still any stubborn particles or scratches. Repeat cleaning, soaking a bit longer with the moist earbud, until it all looks shiny.
Last edited by Uncle Fester; 21-07-19 at 12:43 PM.
Update: A deletion of features that work well and ain't broke but are deemed outdated in order to add things that are up to date and broken.
Compatibility: A word soon to be deleted from our dictionaries as it is outdated.
Humans: Entities that are not only outdated but broken... AI-self-learning-update-error...terminate...terminate...
loopyloo (21-07-19)
The flat ribbon looked fine and so did the laser lens but I cleaned it anyway.
Still won't read disks though.
The cleaning disks I have both display a menu and play music while cleaning. If they don't work I go in to clean manually.
This unit has only one belt for the door and raising mech, the rest is just gears. So I also cleaned the belt which always gives back the grip even if for only a short time, but that's good enough for testing.
DVD/CD players are a pest to fix. I check cables and ribbons, clean the laser and clean belts, then it seems there's nothing else I can do after that.
Last edited by loopyloo; 22-07-19 at 03:27 PM.
9 times out of 10 laser unit is faulty, not worth buying new laser. Go back to record player, easy to fit new needle/stylus,. belt etc. Sounds better anyway!
loopyloo (23-07-19)
The DVD is a similar size and shape to a computer DVD. I wonder if I can fit the mechanical guts of one into the player chassis.
check if it is locked to a zone
loopyloo (23-07-19)
You mean locked to a region ? ... Interesting thought.
It comes up with the error "no disc" after a long attempted read.
It does have selectable area codes (countries) so I could check that.
PS....I take that back, can't check the menu as I don't have the correct remote for it. yet it does have for Australia printed on the back of the unit.
The manual states if it's the wrong region it will display “Incorrect region code. Can’t play back”
Last edited by loopyloo; 23-07-19 at 10:28 AM.
Swapped the mech from a computer DVD and it reads the disc but comes up with "unknown disc - please check the disc".
I can see the red laser operating and the head moves.
Interesting ! I wonder what's different.
Last edited by loopyloo; 23-07-19 at 11:34 AM.
I used to know, but they are def incompatible, saw an explanation why somewhere . Be good if they did mate!
loopyloo (23-07-19)
From memory the comp reads from the center and dvd from the outside ????
loopyloo (27-07-19)
DVD's read from the center some have a look at the outer edge for a region code then back to the center to play.
CD's also read from center.
loopyloo (27-07-19)
Optical readers have been plagued by dust since their inception. CD with its longer wavelength was more immune to lens contamination than DVD.
Having had access in the past to factory analysis of optical reader failure data, the most common was accumulation of airborne particulate matter UNDER the lens.
No cleaner will remove these deposits. Heat convection will draw up particulates that eventually reside under the lens destroying the focus tracking circuit's ability to lock.
I am glad that optical storage has gone the way of the dinosaur; it was never robust or durable, merely a product that provided mass storage at an affordable price.
"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom." - Issac Asimov
loopyloo (27-07-19),tristen (26-07-19),Uncle Fester (26-07-19)
Well that sounds very logical. Perhaps the lens might even be prone to degradation since it's plastic, like a car headlight deteriorates from the sun's UV rays, it might deteriorate from the IR or just age.
I have a stack of old computer DVD's of which some might be faulty. I should have checked this one in a computer before swapping over.
Reading the disc from the centre or the outside shouldn't matter here since the one in the recorder and any that I try are all meant to read CD's and DVD's.
Might try again with another one and see what happens.
Last edited by loopyloo; 27-07-19 at 03:24 PM.
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