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How to use mini or other nonstandard optical discs on your Mac

Most optical discs are a standard 12cm in diameter, are round, and besides some potential manufacturing incompatibilities with certain optical drives, are expected to load and be recognized in most systems. Despite this, some companies will distribute device drivers or other content on mini or oddly shaped optical discs.

While the novelty of nonstandard discs is fun, it does pose a problem for many systems that cannot read them. While there is no difference in the way the discs are read, the odd shapes will get them stuck in many slot-loading drives seen in MacBooks, MacBook Pros, Mac Minis, and … Read more

Burned discs not being recognized on Macs running Snow Leopard

A growing support forum is highlighting issues with Macs running the latest update to Snow Leopard (10.6.4) having issues reading previously burned discs. Users claim the discs had been operable on previous versions of Snow Leopard as well as earlier operating systems and even work on other machines.

The Apple Support Discussions forum thread, started by user c9ky6qk3, has yet to offer a concrete solution, though some suggestions that may work for other users are present. The problem, as reported by c9ky6qk3:

"So I'm not sure when this started happening exactly, but my Mac stopped being … Read more

Burning and managing blu-ray discs on your Mac, if you need it

While Apple has been on the blu-ray consortium for a few years, it has been reluctant to pursue blu-ray playback in the Mac OS. Meanwhile, Apple has been focusing on online delivery of HD content with the iTunes store; but even though the use of Blu-Ray movies is limited, you can still manage and use blu-ray disks on your Mac.… Read more

Blu-ray disc compatibility: It's still an issue

Disc compatibility issues have plagued Blu-ray since the format came out. At first, we figured it was part of Blu-ray's growing pains and would eventually go away, like the annoying confusion about Blu-ray profiles. However, disc compatibility issues have persisted and manufacturers regularly have to issue firmware updates for their players when certain movies won't play.

We recently posted a review for the LG BD570 and shortly afterward we saw several user opinions complaining about playback issues on "Up"--primarily, the movie skipping ahead at 1:03. That's frustrating for us; "Up" wasn't a disc we looked at during our tests, but obviously glitchy playback is a serious issue. Our review of the BD590 is also coming soon, so we wanted to investigate.

We contacted LG about the issue (they're looking into it) and rush ordered a copy of "Up." The first time we tried to load "Up" on the BD590, the player froze and we were forced to power it off. But after that, to our surprise, the movie played fine on both the LG BD570 and BD590 on several attempts, with no chapter skips around 1:03. (We had no issues with "Terminator: Salvation," either, another disc that some found problematic.)

Considering the initial freeze-up was the only time that happened during our testing period with the BD590, it's hard to consider it a major flaw. We don't doubt that people are having trouble with playback issues, but since we don't have any firsthand evidence that the BD570/BD590 have significant playback or disc compatibility problems, we're not going to ding it in our review. … Read more

Using CD/DVD sharing on any Mac

Apple's "remote disc" feature is implemented in the OS so computers that do not have optical drives (specifically, the MacBook Air) can access drives from Macs or PCs on the local network to install software. This is a convenient feature, but while sharing can be enabled on any Mac by clicking the box next to "DVD or CD Sharing" in the "Sharing" system preferences, Apple has limited its use to MacBook Air systems only. Despite this, you can easily get around this restriction and allow any Mac to view shared DVDs or CDs.… Read more

Dragon's Lair on iPhone: Fire-blast from the past

Equipped with a great video player and easy touch controls, the iPhone is fast becoming a spot for Laser Disc arcade games of yore to get a second life on the go. First came Space Ace early this year, but for a roll of quarters, iPhone and iPod Touch users can now reach back into their bowling alley/arcade memories and get Dragon's Lair, which was released this week, on the App Store, too. It's a perfect adaptation of the Don Bluth-animated game that I remember all too well from many, many weekends at Chuck E Cheese.

For … Read more