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iMac G4 won’t run a DVD.

According to the System Profiler it has a CD-RW/DVD-R. I don’t know why it won’t play a movie.

— Gary McNeil

Comments: 13 Responses to “iMac G4 won’t run a DVD.”

    14 years ago

    What exactly are you doing? What are you running to play a DVD? Are you getting an error message? What is happening? Did you try more than one DVD? A store-bought DVD or a handmade one?

      Gary McNeil
      14 years ago

      It is a movie and nothing happens in the dvd player or if I just put it in with no app open. I can here it running but nothing happens.

        14 years ago

        So, just to be clear, you did run "DVD Player" and it did nothing. Even when you pressed the play button on the controls?
        Try another DVD.

    Gary McNeil
    14 years ago

    It a regular store bought dvd.

    Gary McNeil
    14 years ago

    I tried still doesn't work.

    Gary McNeil
    14 years ago

    Even if music cd's will play.

      14 years ago

      I'm not an optical media hardware expert, but I'm sure there is a lot more involved with DVD playback than with CD playback. No matter, because if it won't work it won't work. You've got to have someone take a look at your optical drive to see if they can fix it -- if you think it is worth it on such an old machine.

    Taijistrat
    14 years ago

    Hi, I bought a iMac 21.5" late 2009 version less than a week ago. It came with Applecare DVD and some application DVDs as well.

    I put the DVD/CDs in, the computer seemed to be reading the DVD/CD, it produced some reading sound. It repeated producing the sound about 5 times, then it just ejected the DVD/CD.

    However when I put in the music CDs, iTunes opened automatically and played the music.

    I bought a Microsoft Office 2008 edition today from a local store, it is a genuine DVD.

    I put the DVD in the computer and it still produced some reading sounds and ejected the DVD.

    I am not sure what the problem is.
    Is it due to the DVD itself or the DVD/CD driver that is the problem?

    Can you help me?

      14 years ago

      So your new iMac is not able to read any DVDs? It might simply be that your optical drive is not working properly. You should arrange to have it serviced by Apple since it is under warranty. Make an appointment at the genius bar. Back up your drive before taking it in.

    Samuel Coorchado
    14 years ago

    I have an imac G4, version 10.4.11 700Mhz, which when I insert a dvd in, spins but it doesn't read it and ejects quickly. So I tried using an external dvd-rw and it kind of worked because it burns dvd's and recognizes them (they appear in the desktop); but when I try to open the dvd player (which is in the applications folder) to watch a movie , I get a window that says:

    A valid drive could not be found.[-70012]

    Can you help me? What is going on? Or is it just that IMacs G4 700Mhz don't play dvd's?

      14 years ago

      Hard to tell. The simplest explanation is that your internal DVD drive is broken. Not unusual for an old computer. Then, your external DVD drive isn't working properly or maybe it isn't compatible with the DVD player application. Have you contacted support for the product?

    Samuel Coorchado
    14 years ago

    no I will then thank you!!

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