CD won't play

[_Scotty_]

Barry you might by able to rip the CD to your hard drive with EAC and then burn a copy to a CDR that will play. Sometimes you can rip a CD on a computer that won't play in your CDP.
Good luck,glad you like them.
Scotty

[Barry (NJ)]

I'll give that a try, but it wouldn't play in my lap-top either, so I'm not sure how successful that would be, but it's worth a shot...

[_Scotty_]

If it fails in your laptop and everywhere else it's probably time for a refund if possible.
I have had some discs that would not play all the way through on my CDP but could be ripped on my computer.
It seems like there may be more discs nowadays that deviate from the Red Book standard for CD production.
One of the reasons the Red Book Standard exists is to insure near universal compatibility between discs and playback mechanisms and this seems to be less important to manufacturers than getting the product out the door. End of rant.
Scotty

[richidoo]

Even if it doesn't "play" music at 1x speed, it may still be able to be ripped, using a persistent ripper software like EAC or dbPoweramp. They keep trying to get the data even if it is difficult, then they put it all together into a bit perfect track. If that fails, ripping with a consumer ripper like WMP may still be able to assemble a whole track, even if there are some audible clicks, usually it is not severe, and those could be edited out with Audacity.   But sometimes it's just toast. Polishing out the scratches can help. There is a thread about how to do that here on AN somewhere.
Rich

[BobM]

Get some McGuiers fine scratch removal paste from an auto parts store (or any other brand of fine, not large, paint compound paste). Apply it in tiny swirls all over the disk surface until it is no longer visible. Rinse with water and pat dry with a paper towel.

I've been successful in repairing just about any scratch short of an actual crack in CD's using this method.

Enjoy,
Bob

[richidoo]

Sorry guys, I botched the topic split.  The original post for this thread is:

Hey Scotty, I finally got around to getting some Thievery Corporation, and wouldn't you know it, the cd doesn't play all the way through. I do like what I've heard though, and will get some more. Thanks for pointing me in their direction.

[tmazz]

I use polishing compound or a clear coat conditioner and then follow up with a coat of auto paste wax. Usually does the trick on CDs although I have not been as successful suing this method with DVDs. I guess the pits are smaller, making them even more sensitive to scratch damage.

[richidoo]

On both CDs and DVDs, there is a thick plastic layer between the optical surface (bottom in this picture) and the data. So you can really dig into the plastic to remove scratches, if necessary.  Not all modern CDs are as thick as the original Phillips CD specification. They are much more flexy now. But still thick enough to polish aggressively if needed. But you have to polish it all out to glass smooth with progressively finer polish. Starting with the finest, and see if it's good enough is the wtg. Then go more aggressive if it doesn't fix. 

Uncle Sam's Guide to Optical Disks:
http://www.itl.nist.gov/iad/894.05/docs/CDandDVDCareandHandlingGuide.pdf

This guy recommends brasso, another liquid fine abrasive.
http://www.chipchapin.com/CDMedia/cdlayers_527.gif

[Barry (NJ)]

Well I've tried my CDP, my Lap-Top, and my Desk-Top, and it doesn't play properly once it gets mid way through track 5. It starts playing at odd speeds and skipping around. It does this even if I skip ahead a track. It's very odd, as the CD doesn't look bad at all. There is a small scratch here and there, but nothing that looks like it would cause this issue. The ebay vendor said I could get a full refund, abuot $9, but I need to see how much it'll cost me to send it back to CA, to see if it's even worth it.

[mfsoa]

When I was ripping my discs to HD, some of my old war-horses were scratched like crazy - I never thought they would rip but some did perfectly w/ no errors.

Some newer discs barely had a mark yet required EAC to really work hard to get it right. (I prefer dB but if it has to re-rip too many sectors I bring it to EAC which is quicker on damaged discs IME)

And my brand-new, unplayed Joe's Garage would barely rip at all, took forever.

Also found big differences between the internal drive in my laptop vs. my external Plextor burner - Internal is far more forgiving of scratches but slower - maybe that's why.

Just by feeling the discs you can tell that they don't make 'em like they used to.

Barry, I have some McGuire's Plast-X polish if you want to try at the Rave.  It hasn't worked wonders for me, but I guess I need more elbow grease.

-Mike

[Barry (NJ)]

Well I just DL'd EAC, I'd been using Roxio on my PC, so I'll give it one more go tonight after I install EAC on my PC at home.

[tmazz]

Well I just DL'd EAC, I'd been using Roxio on my PC, so I'll give it one more go tonight after I install EAC on my PC at home.

Sounds like the data errors you are getting could be coming from the substrate itself and not as a result of surface flaws in the polycarbonate coating. Hopefully the stronger error correction algorithms in EAC will do the trick for you.

Good Luck & let us know how it turns out.

[ltr317]

Well I've tried my CDP, my Lap-Top, and my Desk-Top, and it doesn't play properly once it gets mid way through track 5. It starts playing at odd speeds and skipping around. It does this even if I skip ahead a track. It's very odd, as the CD doesn't look bad at all. There is a small scratch here and there, but nothing that looks like it would cause this issue. The ebay vendor said I could get a full refund, abuot $9, but I need to see how much it'll cost me to send it back to CA, to see if it's even worth it.

Barry,

USPS is $1.73 via first class in bubble wrap envelope.  I've sold several used cds on Amazon and Ebay, and have got it down to a science. 

Paul

[Barry (NJ)]

Barry,

USPS is $1.73 via first class in bubble wrap envelope.  I've sold several used cds on Amazon and Ebay, and have got it down to a science. 

Paul

Thanks Paul! I'll try the EAC tonight, and if that doesn't work, I'll send it back.

[bpape]

If EAC in persistent mode won't read it, I doubt much else will have a chance.  I've had some things that were basically completely unreadable that EAC along with my Plextor drive got through.  Takes a while sometimes but it almost always makes it.

Bryan