DVD disks not recognized in pangolin preformance laptop

**ardshiel** · November 1st, 2012

I have upgraded to ubuntu 12.04 for my Pangolin Performance laptop. I want to be able to play DVDs but cannot. I have been to several Ubuntu forum sites and allowed all their instructions implicitly, including downloading the libdvdcss-2 repository. When I insert a dvd into the disk drive, it whirrs but nothing happens. The disk does not appear on nautilus and cannot be accessed by vlc or movie player. Can anyone help?

**dniMretsaM** · November 1st, 2012

It could an issue with the DVD. Check the instructions found here. They work fine for me, and I have the same laptop.

**ardshiel** · November 2nd, 2012

I have followed all these instructions carefully. The dvd disk is not recognized as being inserted in the laptop in any way.

I put a blank CD-R disk into the disk drive and it appeared on Nautilus, the Unity toolbar, and launched a window asking me which application I want to proceed with. So, I know the issue is not the hardware. The dvd disk I tried is a new HD-DVD movie bought commercially.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

**Bluebearbevis** · November 2nd, 2012

Hello Ardshiel,

This might sound silly, but I had a similar issue- blank disc recognized, disc with something on it not, and Ian at System76 suggest a simple cleaning of the player. Worked for me on my panp6. Hope that helps.

Richard

**Carborundum** · November 2nd, 2012

Originally Posted by ardshiel

The dvd disk I tried is a new HD-DVD movie bought commercially.

Well, there's your problem. An HD-DVD is not a DVD, and will not play in a regular DVD player. Try it with a normal DVD.

**isantop** · November 2nd, 2012

Another thing to make sure of is that you followed the instructions available on our website:

https://www.system76.com/support/

These are the steps that we've tested and are known to work on our systems.

**ardshiel** · November 3rd, 2012

The cleaning did it! I am happy again. Many thanks to all of you for your generous help.

**samalex** · November 2nd, 2012

Originally Posted by ardshiel

I have followed all these instructions carefully. The dvd disk is not recognized as being inserted in the laptop in any way.

I put a blank CD-R disk into the disk drive and it appeared on Nautilus, the Unity toolbar, and launched a window asking me which application I want to proceed with. So, I know the issue is not the hardware. The dvd disk I tried is a new HD-DVD movie bought commercially.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Are you talking about this HD-DVD format?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_DVD

If so I thought this format was rendered legacy after BluRay won the battle a few years back. At any rate neither BluRay DVD's or HD-DVD's will play in a standard DVD player, it's completely different hardware. You'll need a drive made specifically for those formats.