Beowulf HD-DVD problems :(

[TehJumpingJawa]

Just bought this, and it appeared to be in mint condition (no scratches what so ever).

However, just tried playing it in my 360 HD-DVD player - and it frequently skips. Sometimes it's just a few black frames, other times the HDCP connection is temporarily lost & I see the white 'xbox 360' screen for a brief second.

On closer inspection of the disc surface, I can see a number of what can best be described as 'creases' in the metalic surface of the disc. (they are only detectable by their effect to the reflectivity of the surface when viewed from an oblique angle.

Is this a classic manufacturing fault? Are certain discs known for being more prone to this?

Also, the web enabled features do not seem to work (Net0010 - no network connection).
My 360 definitely has a net connection, so i've no idea why this wouldn't be working Suggestions?

[namuk]

Give the disc a clean ..and try again .

[TehJumpingJawa]

Originally Posted by namuk

Give the disc a clean ..and try again .

Surprisingly, I already tried this before spending 5 minutes posting a forum message on the subject

[namuk]

Originally Posted by TehJumpingJawa

Surprisingly, I already tried this before spending 5 minutes posting a forum message on the subject

Understand but was worth asking, thanks for posting back and saying this

[vlada]

which edition is? paramount or warner?

[reingam]

Originally Posted by TehJumpingJawa

Surprisingly, I already tried this before spending 5 minutes posting a forum message on the subject

people here are only trying to help. How we were to know that you tried that already??

Can you try the disc in another HD DVD player (this may prove difficult if you don't know someone wit a HD DVD drive)

FAiling that post a pic of the crease - have you compared this to other HD DVD's to see if fully functioning discs also have this feature?

It does sound like a HDCP issue - are other discs working in ure HD DVD drive?

[TehJumpingJawa]

Originally Posted by vlada

which edition is? paramount or warner?

Paramount - wasn't aware there was more than one.
The US version, right?
Is that why the online content doesn't work?

[TehJumpingJawa]

Originally Posted by reingam

people here are only trying to help. How we were to know that you tried that already??

Can you try the disc in another HD DVD player (this may prove difficult if you don't know someone wit a HD DVD drive)

FAiling that post a pic of the crease - have you compared this to other HD DVD's to see if fully functioning discs also have this feature?

It does sound like a HDCP issue - are other discs working in ure HD DVD drive?

Unfortunately I don't know anyone else with an HD-DVD drive - I had considered buying a 2nd one to use with my PC, and as a backup incase the primary one fails.... maybe this is just one more incentive.

Will post a picture in a minute. I think a better description of what i'm seeing would be several narrow 'bands' travelling perpendicular to the discs tangent, where the reflectivity of the surface is offset relative to the rest of the disc.
The effect is only visible toward the outer edge of the disc.
A few other discs have similar distortions - but they all seem to have the narrow bands all grouped together into a single wider band.

I have ~140 HD-DVDs, and although I have yet to try them all - every one that I have tried has worked fine.

It's worth mentioning I bought this disc off ebay as a sealed US import.
Perhaps I shouldn't have left feedback until I had opened & tested the disc

[stretcher]

I've got a US import which plays fine on my Tosh EP30

[TehJumpingJawa]

Apologies for resurrecting this thread, but I recently got hold of a 2nd copy of Beowulf (also brand new) on HD-DVD.

It displays the exact same intermittent stuttering

So, either i'm incredibly unlucky and have bought 2 faulty discs or more likely, my 360 (or it's HD-DVD drive) are incapable of playing back this particular movie.

The 360 is the newest Jasper revision, and has a net connection - so is fully updated.
The HD-DVD drive is.... well an HD-DVD drive, i'm not aware of any firmware updates, or different revisions ever being made.
It was bought 2nd-hand from Gamestation.

To satisfy my curiosity I think i'm going to put a little more effort into getting a 2nd HD-DVD drive; having a spare is never a bad thing when you have a collection of almost 200 HD-DVDs

However, in the mean-time I'd like to see if my PC is able to play the beowulf disc - can someone point me to an accurate guide for achieving this?

[Bald Monkey]

If you mean using the HD-DVD addon then it's fairly simple.. Although I can't remember how exactly it was done IIRC it was just a simple driver update..

Try searching the Xbox Addon forum.

Xbox 360 HD DVD drive - AVForums.com

[MikeKay1976]

i must say i have a boat load of HD-DVD's and not tried them.

and scarily have had 2 which didnt work.

Daylight was one, the other escapes me....

but it occurs to me, the manufactuing quality of HDDVD wasnt what it could have been, with a fair high error rate.

LUCKILY HMV took them back as were just inside the warranty, but any of the others which fail as i get to them i am SOOL.

(mind you my brand new John Woo strangle hold arrived with no disk in the box... it was lucky I tried it, i have a bagful of impulse buy xbox games i have yet to break the seal on which are getting old now. Products just aint what they used to be!!!! )

[Bald Monkey]

Originally Posted by MikeKay1976

but it occurs to me, the manufactuing quality of HDDVD wasnt what it could have been, with a fair high error rate.

I suspose you have the facts to back up that statement??

The only evidence I have is that I've not had a single HD-DVD disc that didn't play IIRC.

[DougieB]

Originally Posted by Bald Monkey

I suspose you have the facts to back up that statement??

The only evidence I have is that I've not had a single HD-DVD disc that didn't play IIRC.

Hi
Likewise have over 50 disks and all play on my HD-DVD add-on and also on my LG GGC 20L BD/HD-DVD Drive in my PC. Only problem I have with using thePC to playback is lipsync issues with HD-DVD (Cyberlink Powerdvd 7.3 ultra) Disks play ok for the first few mins and then the sync goes way off. Still have not found an answer.

DougieB

[vlada]

beowulf and and zodiac did give me sometimes a black screen, like some hdmi error, when I rewind, that is not happening again on that spot. these two are the only ones that have such quirks.