I just got this HD DVD and my Toshiba XA2 says "disc not DVD format. Cannot play this disc". Has anyone had this problem? I'm assuming it's maybe a defect and I need to get another one or possibly an XA2 firmware update to 2.8 might solve the issue (I have 2.7).

Some things to try.
Clear the persistant memory of the player in setup.
Hold the power button on the player in for ten seconds until the player turns off and on the next powerup it will reboot fresh.
Clean the disc even if it is new.
In setup there is an option I believe for "Format" that defaults to "auto" change that to "HD DVD".

Good luck.

I've played Sky Captain on two different XA2s with nary a problem...

I got Sky Captain & The World Of Tomorrow last week and had the same problem on my HD-A2. I get "Drive is not ready" on my PC with Xbox360 HD DVD add-on.
I think it will go back to Deepdiscount.com this week.

Yeah, I did all the tricks mentioned (thanks, btw) but no change. I'm going to send it back to DeepDiscount myself. Sounds like maybe they have a bad batch.

Interesting but I've had a couple of bad HDDVD's this was one. I took it back the second played fine through several plays.

Art

I tried Sky Captain on my XA2 and the same problem.It says not dvd format.
Went back to 2.5 then to 2.7 firmware it was on 2.8 so firmeare cant fix it.Also having the same trouble with daylight although eventually got daylight to work on 2.8.Once daylight worked it was fine when put it back in.

I've got this still unopened will try on 2 different xa2's wtith different firmware and a30,a3..works on xa2 ver2.0, 2.7 a3 ver 1.3 both ends of movie...hopefully you can return it if you tried the above..was it a former rental any scratches

Hold the power button on the player in for ten seconds until the player turns off and on the next powerup it will reboot fresh.

From page 30 of the user manual:

holding down ON/STANDBY button on the front panel for about 10 seconds can force the player to turn off. However, this
is an emergency measure, which may cause damage to the player. Avoid casual use of this measure.

Re-initializing the player from the setup menu is probably safer (and will also reset all the player settings back to factory defaults)

Bad batch of discs?

I've got the same problem with the Sky Captain disc and my HD-A2. I got the disc from DeepDiscount last week.

I'll cross my fingers and try the recommendations otherwise I'll be returning it for replacement.

Maybe consider it a bonus? I *wish* it wouldn't have played on my player. lol. That is in top running for the worst HD DVD I've watched.

I've got this still unopened will try on 2 different xa2's wtith different firmware and a30,a3..works on xa2 ver2.0, 2.7 a3 ver 1.3 both ends of movie...hopefully you can return it if you tried the above..was it a former rental any scratches

My particular disc was immaculate. No scratches. Brand new.

I hope I don't run into a situation where DeepDiscount will just send me another bad disc from their stock (because who knows how many bad discs they received).

I may have to contact the movie studio if this is the case if my replacement gives the same issues.

FWIW this thread inspired me to load-up my Sky Captain (from November batch of "get 5 free" discs) and my XA2 saw it just fine. We haven't watched it yet--if it loads then it's likely good?

If it loads "HD DVD" then you should be ok. Of course, I'd wait until the menu appears and wait for the first minute of the movie to play, but that's just me. Your copy should be just fine.

Thanks! With all the new movies I've acquired recently via the "closeout sales" I don't know when I'll get 'round to watching this, having seen it not that long ago in SD... Surprisingly enjoyable/entertaining movie as I recall!

DeepDiscount shipped me another copy. Will update with results...

I was wondering if this title has any issues on the XBOX 360 add-on player. I have this on order/present thing from DeepDiscount.com and was hoping there aren't any playback issues. I was going to make a new thread but decided to post in this one.

I don't have the 360 HD DVD add-on, but maybe others here do.

i have this disc and it played fine in a xbox add on, i only watched it once but it did play fine

i have this disc and it played fine in a xbox add on, i only watched it once but it did play fineThanks for the help!:D

Yeah, there are some issues with a pressing of "Sky Captain" on HD-DVD not playing. Search the xbox.com forums for example to see the issues of others.

Email PHE_CustomerService@Paramount.com and they will send you a replacement.

By the way, I had also purchased my copy from deepdiscount.com.

I just got this HD DVD and my Toshiba XA2 says "disc not DVD format. Cannot play this disc". Has anyone had this problem? I'm assuming it's maybe a defect and I need to get another one or possibly an XA2 firmware update to 2.8 might solve the issue (I have 2.7).
My copy of "Sky Captain" was part of the 5 free discs deal. It plays fine on my two A-20s. My friend brought his Xa2 over the other night to hook it up to my 1080p Sharp Acquos for comparison purposes.
We tried the "Sky Captain" on his Xa2 and it played perfectly. His Xa2 has 2.7 firmware.

ilovenola2,

Yeah, I'm thinking DeepDiscount got a bad batch. Seems like 3 people on this thread alone have had bad issues with this movie and purchased it from DeepDiscount.

I got mine from amazon and they are sending out a replacement,hope that one is ok.

Simply email PHE_CustomerService@Paramount.com and they will send you a replacement. I received mine within a week and it now plays fine on the 360 HD-DVD. They will simply as for a sku # on the back and where it was purchased from.

Simply email PHE_CustomerService@Paramount.com and they will send you a replacement. I received mine within a week and it now plays fine on the 360 HD-DVD. They will simply as for a sku # on the back and where it was purchased from.
Do I need to send the disc back? I already e-mailed them. Hey, one out of four not to work from the last gift thing/order not to work isn't bad. Didn't work on my 360 HDDVD add-on drive. But The Chronicles of Riddickulous, Mission: Impossible and THE THING loaded to their menus. Not the case for Sky Captain.:(
The SKU is the five digit number on the back, right? I already sent them my real address too. So they'll only send a replacement disc I hope?:confused:

SCATWOT has same error message (Disc not DVD format) on my Tosh A2.

-Mike

I've e-mailed Paramount and have yet to receive a response. Should I still wait?

the two I recieved from amazon will not load.Have now emailed paramount giving all relevant details--no response back yet--hope I can get one that works.All my other hd-dvd's are problem free

I sent my problem Sky Captain disc back to DeepDiscount and they promptly sent a replacement. The replacement disc works perfectly in my A2.

Yay!

Still waiting for my replacement. Should be here this week...I hope. You live next door to DeepDiscount's warehouse, or something? :)

My copy of Sky Captain would not initially play either. I tried it on my laptop and it wouldn't read. Took it home, put it in my A3 and it wouldn't read. I took out some dish-soap and a little warm water and washed the back of it and carefully dried it - popped it in and it worked find. Only thing is, as much as I wanted the movie because I did enjoy it (probably a 7/10) the first time I saw it, I don't know how much better the HD version is when compared to an upconverted SD version. So much of the film is soft due to the effort to make it a 40's retro-feel, that the HD doesn't really have a lot of close-up details to enhance - so a little disappointed there, though I expected it. Haven't tried playing it in my laptop since - I rarely watch movies on it, us it more for work.

Received the replacement from DeepDiscount today.

Won't play in my HD-XA2, either.

I'm gonna have to contact Paramount. DeepDiscount probably has a bad batch and getting one which doesn't work is a crap shoot. And I don't feel like waiting another friggin' month just to get a replacement.

Well Just played Sky Captain on HD, bought it even though I have it on sd and enjoyed it every time I've seen it...And it ran throw flawlessly on HD XA2...

Didn't want get this because I heard it looked very similar to the SD version, but to me it looked very clean...And enjoyed it the fourth or was it fifth time around? Great family fun.



DJoel

My Sky Captain disc from Deep Discount wouldn't play ("disc not dvd" error), and rather than send it back to them I e-mailed Paramount at the address earlier in this thread, and they sent me a brand new sealed copy...which has the exact same problem. So its not just Deep Discounts batch. Anyone get a bad replacement disc from Paramount? What now?

I emailed Paramount about the issue, and they're sending me a replacement as well. Looks like it's probably another 50/50 on whether it will play or not.

agentalbert ,

We'll have to talk to Paramount and request they investigate not only your disc replacement, but mine as well if it doesn't work. And it does appear as if the problem is not just DeepDiscount but a large batch of discs which are all over the place, including Paramount's own warehouse--but I wonder if B&Ms sent their HD DVDs back to Paramount so we're actually getting discs which were at Best Buy and other places. Paramount asked me when I purchased the disc, so we'll see. I gave them some numbers off my current problematic disc, however I wasn't even asked for them.

I havent even recieved a reply from paramount and its been nearly 2 weeks:mad:

just tried washing the discs and no luck

I emailed Paramount about the issue, and they're sending me a replacement as well. Looks like it's probably another 50/50 on whether it will play or not.

agentalbert ,

We'll have to talk to Paramount and request they investigate not only your disc replacement, but mine as well if it doesn't work. And it does appear as if the problem is not just DeepDiscount but a large batch of discs which are all over the place, including Paramount's own warehouse--but I wonder if B&Ms sent their HD DVDs back to Paramount so we're actually getting discs which were at Best Buy and other places. Paramount asked me when I purchased the disc, so we'll see. I gave them some numbers off my current problematic disc, however I wasn't even asked for them.

What numbers would be helpful in narrowing down the bad batch?

My original Deep Discount disc has the following matrix code:

(294908) NA34341HVR1 05 - this is the inner band
(294909) NA34341HVR1 06 - this is the outer band

My replacement disc from Paramount has the exact same numbers in the exact same array.

(294908) NA34341HVR1 05 - this is the inner band
(294909) NA34341HVR1 06 - this is the outer band

Same info on my disc.

(294908) NA34341HVR1 05 - this is the inner band
(294909) NA34341HVR1 06 - this is the outer band

Same info on my disc.Same info on the original copy from DeepDiscount AND the one Paramount. So I'm going to sell both and hunt down an earlier pressing with the silver border on the cover and where the disc says "Paramount High Definition". I just don't think my 360 add-on can play the later pressings.:confused:

Hmm. Anyone have a picture of what this earlier pressing looks like? Are these discs only problematic on XA2 and 360 add-on players, or on everything?

maybe toshiba might do a fix

maybe toshiba might do a fixHopefully Microsoft will too.

I'm just going to sell the two I have and use the money from them to buy the earlier pressing. Won't be selling them on AVS though.;)

I got mine from DeepDiscount, wouldn't play. Sent it back. I got one from Paramount, still wouldn't play. I throw my hands up...

Hmm. Anyone have a picture of what this earlier pressing looks like? Are these discs only problematic on XA2 and 360 add-on players, or on everything?

My copy has this cover, and plays perfectly in my XA2:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HH4C4AAGL._SS500_.jpg

You're probably best off looking for a used copy at this point, as the vast majority of copies sold -- I'd imagine -- were the "old" pressing. When I received my 5 free discs from Toshiba late last summer, I received a copy of this pressing. I'm guessing the older disc is probably much more available, and common, on the secondary market than this defective one.

Anything new is, as you guys have found out already, likely to be this defective one.

My copy has this cover, and plays perfectly in my XA2:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HH4C4AAGL._SS500_.jpg

You're probably best off looking for a used copy at this point, as the vast majority of copies sold -- I'd imagine -- were the "old" pressing. When I received my 5 free discs from Toshiba late last summer, I received a copy of this pressing. I'm guessing the older disc is probably much more available, and common, on the secondary market than this defective one.

Anything new is, as you guys have found out already, likely to be this defective one.I have TWO of the newer pressing without the silver border and the "Paramount High Definition" on the disc. Gonna look on Amazon Marketplace for a used earlier pressing. Guess I'm selling off both of the current pressings on HTF.com in order to get the earlier one... The second one was the replacement from Paramount. Fat lot of good that did.:rolleyes:

I tried mine for the first time last night after reading this thread, and it played just fine in my Onkyo 805. I got mine from Amazon around January timeframe

I've been having the same problem with copies of this disc.

An ordered copy from DeepDiscount, a replacement sent by DD and a third when requested from Paramount.

The disc(s) will not load on either my HD-XA2 or HD-A2 players and my Xbox HD-DVD drive shows either no disc in drive (windows) or ejects the disc after trying to read it (mac).

On the stand-alone players I get the: "This is not DVD format disc. Cannot read disc" on the TV and "MSSG" on the HD DVD player display.

My HD-XA2 is firmware 2.7 and the HD-A2 is firmware 2.8

This is consistent with all three copies of the disc and all three seem to be the same pressing - no silver border around the case cover picture and
the same code on the disc:

(294908) NA34341HVR1 05 - inner band
(294909) NA34341HVR1 06 - outer band

I have emailed an update to Paramount - see what happens...

Anyone know where to e-mail Toshiba and Microsoft about releasing a fix for this?

Microsoft won't have anything to do with this. Toshiba maybe, but I think it's more of a Paramount issue. I think Paramount manufactured a batch of discs with miscoded headers or something. I would bet if the HD DVD player could start directly at the movie beginning, it would play. But the way the HD DVD player must "sense" the HD DVD is in fact an HD DVD disc, the appropriate headers are missing. Just a guess, however.

Been weeks and no reply to my email from paramount.My two without the silver border don't play either.:mad:

Microsoft won't have anything to do with this. Toshiba maybe, but I think it's more of a Paramount issue.

I just figured that since one of the players it's not playing on is the 360 Add-on, that Microsoft could release some sort of patch. Now I understand what you're saying.

Question:

The only two players this batch isn't playing on is the XA2 and the 360 drive?

The older version is this

(293471) NA34341HVR0 03 Inner
(293472) NA34341HVR0 01 Outer

This is from the Silver cased with the Paramount High Definition label on the bottom (the one pictured a few posts up)

These #s may be backwards as I can't tell which is the "inner" vs the "outer" as they are about the same place on the disc.. the one I have labeled "outer" is the one closest to the edge (I think)

Just got a replacement from DeepDiscount. Same case, no silver border...but it works!

Had to do an update through XBOX live....I wonder if this fixes all of them?

P.S.
Just tried my copy Paramount sent and it still doesn't work...


So apparently they pressed some new ones with the new case.

Been weeks and no reply to my email from paramount.My two without the silver border don't play either.:mad:

I haven't received a new disc yet from Paramount. Still waiting. Will update when I get a new disc.

I just figured that since one of the players it's not playing on is the 360 Add-on, that Microsoft could release some sort of patch. Now I understand what you're saying.

Question:

The only two players this batch isn't playing on is the XA2 and the 360 drive?

I don't really know. I think there are posts where an A2 and an A30 had issues. It also goes to show we don't have many viewers of this movie or we'd see a lot more posts. At least, I would think so.

My copy plays on my A30 but not on my XA2.... I will try washing the disc and the memory clearing function..

Finally received the replacement disc today. It works. :)

Bought my copy from Amazon, plays fine on A3, no issues.

Received a copy from DD today, same numbers as the defective couple listed above...doesn't work.