DVD drive wont read DVDs on Ubuntu 14.04
 

I'm a newbie, running 14.04 on a Dell Optiplex 755, dual install with windows xp

the drive reads and plays audio cds and data cds fine. all DVDs spin for a few seconds, light blinks, then no more action. under Volumes it shows No Media. i installed and unpacked the extra codecs etc suggested at http://howtoubuntu.org/how-to-play-a-dvd-in-ubuntu and looked a bunch of questions at howtoubuntu, none of which were solved.

the offending drive is a TSSTcorp DVD+/-RW TS-H653F (D200), aka /dev/sr0

when i brought up Disks, in Mount Options, Automatic Mount Options was originally ON.
i've fiddled around in Disks with many restarts: mount at startup/not; different "identify as", for which there're 3 options:

/dev/disk/by-id/ata-TSSTcorp_DVD+_-RW_TS-H653F
that one was the one it was originally set to

then there are

/dev/sr0
/dev/cdrom

all with corresponding mount points that appear automatically when i change the identify as. when i changed the mount options in Disks, away from ata-TSSTcorp_DVD+_-RW_TS-H653F (that guy), and restarted, i got startup errors, but audio cds would still play.

filesystem type is listed as auto

this is the current contents of /etc/fstab:

i also note that there are no such folders as /dev/sr0 or /dev/cdrom
there is a /cdrom/ directory at root (?)
and folders for both sr0 and ata-TSSTcorp_DVD+_-RW_TS-H653F in /mnt/

and that's about all i know how to do.
any help would be greatly appreciated! i just need to install some software off a DVD! i dont even want to watch pirates of the carribean!

It sounds like the drive is slowly dying.
If I get that correctly, it won't read dvds but until recently still played audio cds?

There are 3 laser adjustments on a drive and they are very fine. It takes machinery to set them up. they gradually drift over time (Forward diode voltage, and resistor values all change slightly, adjustment potentiometers develop resistance, applied voltage can even change). sometimes running this command a few times restores temporary function
If it does restore temporary function, your drive is borked. Replace.

hiya, thanks for tip. the drive still plays audio & reads data CDs, just doesnt read DVDs at all.

i still "feel" like it's a software thing, like the OS doesnt know where to find the dvd or something, but I don't know if that's possible cos i'm clueless.

i ran your command and got this:

& no change to situation.

but does it matter that there's no directory called dev/sr0? (but there is a directory mnt/sr0?)
on the other hand when i tried same command on dev/cdrom, one of the drive's "logical names", it said no such directory.

thanks for your help anyway. reluctant to replace drive before i find out if it's a software problem.

first of all i think what you describe in post #1, you should undo (=restore to default) all of it except the extra codecs/libraries.
you probaby messed something up there.

afterwards, try to open the dvd directly from vlc => media => open disk.

Is dvd working in wins?
Do you have libdvdcss & libdvdread?

ondoho, this is what i got -

"Playback failure:
DVDRead could not open the disc "/dev/sr0".
Your input can't be opened:
VLC is unable to open the MRL 'dvd:///dev/sr0'. Check the log for details."

drive is now set to "automatic mount options" in Disks

i must stress tho that in Disks, even with the DVD in the drive, it says there's no media. the drive isnt even detecting the DVD, it's not that i can't play it or open it.

cheers, thanx for help

---------- Post added 09-29-14 at 11:53 AM ----------

what's wins

duh windows i guess, hang on i'll check

doesnt work in windows either :/ dumb
i guess i didnt check it before because i must have played dvds pretty recently before installing ubuntu
time to get a new drive i suppose?

i have the extra packages etc, btw.

Follow the alternative steps described in this link

https://help.ubuntu.com/14.04/ubuntu...estricted.html

Or buy fluendo as suggested on that link too.

yep, already installed those codecs, thanks.

Codecs won't help if drive is failing.
I wiuld say that if it's not working in either os then drive is bad.

If the hdparm thing sees a disk, but can't read it, the fix is to buy a new drive. Don't bother fixing anything else - the drive is broken. .

Installing libdvdcss to enable dvd play using VLC and/or Dragon Player
 

In fact, I found a page citing needing it but know not how to install the thread. My "Apper" distribution doesn't have it; where do I get it and how is it installed. Please be my answer. :scratch:

Simple instructions at the Ubuntu site below:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Re...ts/PlayingDVDs

sometimes physically cleaning the drive, esp. lens, can help.

Installing libdvdcss to enable dvd play using VLC and/or Dragon Player
 

Sorry, meant to mention am running Debian using KDE desktop; really need the libdvdcss feed to correct problem with VLC and 'Dragon Player.' Already have the 'libdvdread4' thread suggested at Ubuntu site. However, need to know how to insert the code libdvdcss (or begin an entry) using a terminal. Desperately need a course; hopefully, I'll find a tutorial here or somewhere that will help we 'seniors' battling cognitive memory 'glitches' or 'rusty rails' in our brains. Any direction you may have to offer will be greatly appreciated.

Libdvdcss is in the repo's.

Btw if you're trying not to replace hdd you need to take it apart & clean the lens, I use alcohol to clean mine, but maybe someone else might recommend something else

What "repo's?"

Haven't a clue what you're talking about with "hdd" what that is or why I'd need my lens cleaned. This thread makes little sense.

no, you obviously haven't.

how about web searches? btw, web is just a shortening for world wide web.

repos
lens
hdd

Maybe creating a new thread would be better. just ask there in the new thread the specific question you got.
Check below some information regarding the your previous questions

Repo is short for Repository
In short the repository of a Linux distribution is like its own app store.