DVD Player troubleshooting

If a “Supported disc not available” message appears: DVD Player doesn’t recognize video content burned onto certain types of DVD-RW discs. Try burning the content onto a DVD-R disc instead. This message also appears if there’s no disc in the DVD drive.

If a DVD automatically ejects: If parental controls are on and the disc is deauthorized, it ejects automatically (see Turn on parental controls and authorize discs). If you insert a disc that uses a region different from the one the DVD drive is set to, and you don’t change the region when prompted, or if you’ve reached the maximum number of region changes, the disc ejects (see Set your DVD drive region).

If DVD Player doesn’t open automatically: Check if the preference is enabled (see Play a DVD or DVD movie file). Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click CDs & DVDs. Click the “When you insert a video DVD” pop-up menu, then choose Open DVD Player.

If a movie doesn’t start playing where you expect: Make sure you have set your replay preferences (see Reuse a disc’s preferences). You could also check to see if there is a default bookmark set (see Use movie chapters and bookmarks).

If a “Not Permitted” message appears: You may see this message if you try to use a DVD Player feature that isn’t supported by the movie (either at that time or at all), or if the movie was burned onto a type of DVD-RW disc that DVD Player doesn’t recognize.

If a “Skipping over damaged area” message appears: The DVD is scratched.

If a movie stops playing: If a movie suddenly stops playing and you see a disc error message, the problem could be a damaged disc, the connections to your audio devices, or your audio preferences.

If bookmarks don’t have thumbnails: Create new thumbnails (see Use movie chapters and bookmarks).

If you can’t use the pointer or your mouse or trackpad to select DVD menu items: Click the arrow buttons on the Controller bar or the Controller to highlight the item, or press the arrow keys on the keyboard. Press the Return or Enter key to select the item.

If lines appear in the video during action scenes: Change your deinterlacing option (see Change video zoom, quality, and color).

If a movie’s picture or sound has changed: If you adjusted video or audio settings for a DVD the last time you played it, DVD Player should reuse those settings the next time you play the disc. Otherwise, choose DVD Player > Preferences, click Previously Viewed, then make sure that Audio Equalizer, Video Color, and Video Zoom are selected.

If changing the volume in DVD Player doesn’t work: If you set the volume to the maximum level in DVD Player but it’s still too low, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Sound, then increase your computer’s volume using the “Output volume” slider. If you’re using digital audio output, you control the volume on your audio equipment.

If system alerts or other audio conflicts with movie sound: To turn down the volume of computer alert sounds, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Sound, then click Sound Effects. Drag the “Alert volume” slider to lower the volume.

If the volume fades while a movie is playing: Dolby audio automatically reduces loud sounds to protect your speakers. You can increase the volume by disabling this protective feature. To turn off Dolby audio, choose DVD Player > Preferences, click Disc Setup, then select “Disable Dolby dynamic range compression.”

If you can’t hear a movie: If you’re using DVD Player to play a movie but you can’t hear any sound, check and adjust the settings on your computer or your audio equipment (see Customize audio output).