First of all thank you to those who previously mentioned this trick...it will save you alot of returning hassle!!!

I purchased Children of Men on March 27th at Best Buy...at first it worked, then it froze up 56 minutes into it, then it would never load again. So, I returned it, got another "defective" copy and returned it again. I saw a post on here about "curing" DVD's with hot water, so rather than boil my disk as the original poster suggested (im clumsy and I knew if I tried it I'd end up with 3rd degree burns) I simply ran the disk under scalding hot tap water for 15 seconds...low and behold....it works just fine now, no problems here, just FYI for those on their 8th copy of COM!!! :)

Ok, when you're boiling the disc, you're just dropping it in a pot and waiting on it for 15 seconds. When you run it under the faucet, don't you have to hold it the whole time? How are you less likely to burn yourself this way?

If you have the XA2, the latest firmware 1.5 should fix this.

I have the latest firmware... it doesn't fix it for everyone. What the hell is this water trick!?

Could this be a new trend not unlike the "Blow-into-the-cartridge" classic method (ala. 8bit NES)? Heh

HA! I had to blow 3-4 times on my Madden 93 cart for the SNES but it eventually "worked".

And for the record, I have cleaned my CoM disc with dish soap and warm water. My wife wouldn't let me near the boiling water but the cleaning did let me watch the extras on the HD side. I know they're SD resolution but I couldn't watch them at all pre-cleaning.

lol, the things people do in order to watch a movie. I hope my copy of COM does not make me resort to this. I remember when I was a beta tester for XBOX Live you had to boil your XBL disk to get it work, good times. :D

I never knew there was a problem with children of men until I read this post. I purchased mine on release date and just finished viewing it with NO problems. Great movie

I have the latest firmware... it doesn't fix it for everyone. What the hell is this water trick!?

It seems, perhaps, the problem that some people are having with CoM is that some manufacture defect resulted in a fine "layer" on the disk that makes it unreadable, and the hot water by way of boiling or whatever u decide to do removes this layer. I'd say it's a good guess but I have no way of knowing for sure. I have heard that ALOT of people with XBox 360 addon have been having the most problems with this disk...I wonder if the May 7th Xbox update will address Xbox HD DVD addon issues? One can hope

First of all thank you to those who previously mentioned this trick...it will save you alot of returning hassle!!!

I purchased Children of Men on March 27th at Best Buy...at first it worked, then it froze up 56 minutes into it, then it would never load again. So, I returned it, got another "defective" copy and returned it again. I saw a post on here about "curing" DVD's with hot water, so rather than boil my disk as the original poster suggested (im clumsy and I knew if I tried it I'd end up with 3rd degree burns) I simply ran the disk under scalding hot tap water for 15 seconds...low and behold....it works just fine now, no problems here, just FYI for those on their 8th copy of COM!!! :)
I would really, truly NOT recommend this trick for any bonded dual layer disc.

Wipe it with a damp cloth if you like, but not this.

Just my advice...

I would really, truly NOT recommend this trick for any bonded dual layer disc.

Wipe it with a damp cloth if you like, but not this.

Just my advice...


Can you please specify why as in can it damage the disc granted we keep it less then 15 seconds under the scolding water. I have the movie on order and was thinking I'd resort to this if I need a fix :D. Thanks.

Can you please specify I have the disk on order and was thinking I'd resort to this if I need a fix. Thanks.

I ran tap water until it got very very very hot, not too fast of a stream tho...then I placed the disk into a totally clean bowl and put the bowl under the water until it was completely submerged. After 15 seconds I pulled out the disk by the edges. I let the disk cool and dried with a soft cloth. I played it and it totally worked, even the U control features. Just to be more of a test rat, I did it several more times and it never affected the disk itself, no scrathes or warping, looked crystal clear. It is a HD DVD / DVD combo, and I considered the risks of it "unglu-ing"....but after 4 baths it still works perfectly (I guess I figured if I screwed it up I could still take it back to best buy time number 4) :D

If you have the XA2, the latest firmware 1.5 should fix this.

1.5 firmware does not address the problems with Children of Men or The Good Shepherd.

1.5 firmware does not address the problems with Children of Men or The Good Shepherd.

Water-soap-water cleaning "fixed" both CoM and GS for me. I'm 100% convinced the problem is manufacturing related with a residue on the discs. Authoring may also be a factor, but the incidences where washing worked is too persuasive to ignore. I freely admit I was highly skeptical until I tried it. I am using cool water only; I don't trust the glue with boiling or hot water.

The 1st gen player may be more tolerant of this film so appear to play the discs more consistently than the 2nd gen players. Nevertheless, there does not seem to be any pattern related to FW.

ss9001

My guess is Blu-Ray has a mole inside one of the factories and he's spraying the discs with something before they enter the package. How devious!

It really does sound like a disc manufacture issue, and NOT a player problem. Given how compact the data is on the HD-DVD discs, I can't blame a player for not being able to read thru a "film" left on the disc during manufacturing. This seems like the authoring houses need to work on their QC, as opposed to the players being "problematic" as many a BR fanboy would have you believe.

My guess is Blu-Ray has a mole inside one of the factories and he's spraying the discs with something before they enter the package. How devious!

Do you think that HD DVD has a mole in the BD factories spraying The Descent as well? :)

"I would really, truly NOT recommend this trick for any bonded dual layer disc."

I originally posted about the boiling fix for COM and Good Sheppard and glad others are able to use this trick to get the disc to work.

I agree under normal working conditions boiling discs is probably not a great thing, but when my copy did not work I knew I had nothing to loose so I tried the old Xbox game trick.

So don't boil your discs if they work :) but if they don't work you have nothing to lose a quick 15 second boil will not ruin the disk visually so you will still be able to return it.

The whole boiling water trick seems a bit off the wall to me. I generally wash any problematic discs with warm tap water and liquid hand soap while gently rubbing the surface with my fingers to remove any smudges or fingerprints. I then dry them off with a clean terrycloth towel. I rent a lot of discs and I'm amazed at how some people treat them. Fortunately, I've had very few discs that would not play after a thorough cleaning using this method. I would never dream of tossing a plastic disc into a bath of boiling water. That's just plain nuts! :rolleyes: You could end up with a warped disc that will be totally unplayable.

Chances are the problems you guys are having with certain discs is just a side affect of the manufacturing process, resulting in a fine film or residue on the surface of the disc. Just clean it the way I outlined above and I bet it will play just fine without resorting to some sort of alchemist's voodoo. Had you considered twirling a dead cat over your head while running naked through a cemetery under a full moon? I hear it works for some. :D

Can you please specify why as in can it damage the disc granted we keep it less then 15 seconds under the scolding water. I have the movie on order and was thinking I'd resort to this if I need a fix :D. Thanks.
as with a copy of superman returns I used to have it seems to separate the HD-DVD and DVD discs into individual layers rendering your movie useless.

I would say try to clean your discs with another method.

Now hear this......I heard this works with scratch disc,and just might work with problem Hdvd's...It's a bit sick now ,when I my bosses assistant was telling me this..which she looked a bit embarrass telling me, well she said to put it in a toilet!!!!!!! :p And let the water do it' job,she said she tried it several times and it work every times.....I was like I have the worlds most powerful toilet it would blow the disc up to pieces.
Has any one heard about this??? Would love to know how true this is.

Djoel

If it wasn't true before, this thread has officially become ridiculous.

Had you considered twirling a dead cat over your head while running naked through a cemetery under a full moon?
Actually, yes I have. But it had nothing to do with HD-DVD's. :D

But seriously, with any problematic discs I just use the same method you did. Works almost every time.

Had you considered twirling a dead cat over your head while running naked through a cemetery under a full moon? I hear it works for some. :D

That's for Hi-Vision LaserDisc only, dummy! :p :D :p :D :p

good thing my disc has always worked, or I would be preparing children of men soup.

Guys, wouldn't using an actual disc cleaning product be preferable to the boiling water trick? I'm thinking of something like this that actually says "Removes accumulated surface grime that causes skipping and mistracking": http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7043521&st=disc+cleaner&type=product&id=1099396842235

Ok after buying a 2nd disk from a BB and updating my firmware to 1.5 my COM still wouldn't play. This thread sounded crazy but I have been desperate to see this flick in hd.
I went the lessor of 2 evils and mixed hot water and pamolive dish detergent. I submerged the disk and thouroghly cleaned it. Now it WORKS !!! Haven't played it through yet but I think this needs to be a sticky thread.

This so-called "trick" is a crock of sh*t that started back in the early Xbox days when some of the demo discs supposedly ran chopy until someone claimed they boiled water and dropped the disc in and it supposedly started working fine. It didn't work and it doesn't work now. You can't "cure" a pressed disc with boiling water.

"It didn't work and it doesn't work now."

But it has worked for many people, it is even on a FAQ for the company that produced the Xbox Demo discs for the official Xbox magazine. The main point is if you have a disc that simply will not play, you currently have a useless and broken disc. Boiling it does not physically damage the disc so you can still return it. Boiling the disc is a no lose situation, you already have a broken disc, it doesn't hurt to try.

Water-soap-water cleaning "fixed" both CoM and GS for me.

Cleaning both discs did nothing for me. Neither will play.

"Today we are going to make some 'Children of Men' stew with a delightful and exotic pesto sauce..."

Now hear this......I heard this works with scratch disc,and just might work with problem Hdvd's...It's a bit sick now ,when I my bosses assistant was telling me this..which she looked a bit embarrass telling me, well she said to put it in a toilet!!!!!!! :p And let the water do it' job,she said she tried it several times and it work every times.....I was like I have the worlds most powerful toilet it would blow the disc up to pieces.
Has any one heard about this??? Would love to know how true this is.

Djoel

hehehehe
I have a Toto Drake myself, and I certainly wouldn't put my discs in there!!!

"Ooooooooo shooooot!!, Honey, run down to the basement quick, disconnect the trap!!"

I would imagine a quick drop in hot water would be ok, I would not suggest folks leave it in there and go out to eat though......

Wow - the boiling water trick solved all problems for me. Amazing.

Cleaning both discs did nothing for me. Neither will play.

Same here :(

Still waiting for Uni to respond............quick.......

imagine this response from Universal

"dip it in hot water" ;)

:p

Cleaning both discs did nothing for me. Neither will play.

Actually I was amazed how dirty the COM disc was. I got through the movie until chapter 17 and then it froze. A simple rinse with cold water and gentle wiping did the trick.

This so-called "trick" is a crock of sh*t that started back in the early Xbox days when some of the demo discs supposedly ran chopy until someone claimed they boiled water and dropped the disc in and it supposedly started working fine. It didn't work and it doesn't work now. You can't "cure" a pressed disc with boiling water.

yes you can if the problem is on the outer layer of the disc. If there is a (say) thin glue residue or dried oil speck, the heat will somewhat thin/melt the residue and the water will wash it away.

The water trick worked for me! The disc would not load before I submerged it in a bowl of warm water...now it works fine.
It sort of looked like there was residue on the disc that washed away.

This thread is hilarious.

all of this time reading this thread I forgot that my CoM disc is also troublesome. So I submerged it in a bowl of warm water. Funny that looking at the surface of the water in the bowl I can see an extremely thin layer of film (oil?). I haven't watched the entire movie just yet, but it definitely loads far quicker (this disc used to take the longest time to load, now it's about the same as my other discs).

Maybe I should try to do the same with Happy Feet :D

This thread is hilarious.
I imagine it would be unless you have problems. How about staying out of the thread unless you do? After cleaning the 2nd disc I still have a freeze at track 14.
Replaced 2nd disc and still a problem at that track.

imagine this response from Universal

"dip it in hot water" ;)

:p

Didn't they clearly state that in the insert in the case?
"To make up for our inattention to quality control, we highly recommend that you....." :D

ss9001

I went through 4 copies of the Children Of Men HD DVD - all of them unplayable. I took the alst one back to Circuit City earlier today and had them play their remaining stock (3 copies) on the store HD-A2 demo unit. None of them would play. I ended-up taking a refund and plan to send a letter to Universal with a copy of all of my receipts from dealing with this issue. Even after reading all of the testimonials in regards to the "hot water trick", after spending $35 on the disc, there is no reason why I should have to do anything to get it play. It's Universal's issue.

I had a bad disk as well, and though 'AWW WHAT THE HELL', and TADA it worked!!! I cannot believe it but it worked.... I am happy and watching Children of Men...

HECK YEAH!!

I imagine it would be unless you have problems. How about staying out of the thread unless you do? After cleaning the 2nd disc I still have a freeze at track 14.
Replaced 2nd disc and still a problem at that track.
If I had problems, esp. with two copies, I'd just return it and get my money back, instead of boiling it in water. :rolleyes:

P.S. I have a little trick. Problem discs will play fine if you put a green disc ring (http://www.mcminone.com/product.asp?catalog_name=MCMProducts&category_name=3829534&product_id=AV00040) on it. ;) <-- Hint...

If I had problems, esp. with two copies, I'd just return it and get my money back, instead of boiling it water. :rolleyes:

uhmmm..

your way: you don't get to watch the movie
their way: you get to watch the movie AND you don't need to spend time and/or gas to return the movie.

;)

"It didn't work and it doesn't work now."

But it has worked for many people, it is even on a FAQ for the company that produced the Xbox Demo discs for the official Xbox magazine. The main point is if you have a disc that simply will not play, you currently have a useless and broken disc. Boiling it does not physically damage the disc so you can still return it. Boiling the disc is a no lose situation, you already have a broken disc, it doesn't hurt to try.


Doesn't help either. And if you had seen some of those Xbox demo discs you could at least understand why it had a chance of working, many of them shipped with some sort of sticky film on them. Cleaning them with soap and water worked just fine, no need to boil a disc. As for the HD DVD discs in question here, they look nothing like the old Xbox demo discs, in fact, the look just like a pressed disc should look. Boiling them will do NOTHING.

dude, it's not boiling the disc that helps the disc to play, it's the removal of the gunk.

Funny that so many of us tried it anyway... and the method WORKS! Have you actually tried it before calling this method bunk?

Mine didn't lock up until 74 minutes in. Then I had to unplug it to get the disc out. Boiled it, got through that section of the movie but had many more sputters, freezes, audio drops. It finally locked up totally again one minute before the end credits. I unplugged it again and flipped it to the dvd side to finish the movie. On top of everything, my samsung dlp is having a problem where it shuts off. 10 times during CoM! Needless to say, worst movie experience i've ever had. Should I boil the damn thing again? I sure wish Universal would fix the problem and replace these discs, it's ridiculous to pay that much money to go through that.

I went through 4 copies of the Children Of Men HD DVD - all of them unplayable. I took the alst one back to Circuit City earlier today and had them play their remaining stock (3 copies) on the store HD-A2 demo unit. None of them would play. I ended-up taking a refund and plan to send a letter to Universal with a copy of all of my receipts from dealing with this issue. Even after reading all of the testimonials in regards to the "hot water trick", after spending $35 on the disc, there is no reason why I should have to do anything to get it play. It's Universal's issue.

Your right, no one should have to do ANYTHING to get a movie to play, it's a quality issue Universal needs to address. I myself spent 34.99 originally and alot of time and gas to replace this movie again and again. But, the bottom line is I saw this movie late last year and I loved it, and I wanted a copy that worked! After I read about this "trick" on here I tried it and it worked for me, and in the hopes that it might help someone else I reposted it. For all those that say "no way", I and dozens more can attest that it does work in many cases. I tried reloading the disk probably 30 times with only a error message. Now afterwords, it works, 100% of the time, I'd say it did something...

..this is my new favourite thread... I wonder if boiling the A1 will help the HDMI>DVI issues?

Glad it works, hope it's not a panacea and that you've started a process of de-bonding the layers...

For me on my A1, Happy Feet is the only disc that I can consistently get to barf (at the 28ish mark), with some light CoM problems scattered throughout and not repeatable...

Still, it's certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that a manufacturing error has left a thin film on the disc that should have been cleared with some solvent during the QC process...

at any rate, enjoy!

I think if I boiled that Toshiba HD-A1 I had, it'd boot up faster. Also, if I boiled my 360 add-on I think that might fix my audio sync issues. Or should I boil the 360 itself instead?

Well, my copy of Children of Men would not read at all, and last night I put it in boiling water for 15 seconds, wiped it and let it dry...
Lo and behold, it started playing! Unfortunately, it only got to 1 hour 20 before freezing, which was really frustrating as I haven't seen this movie and am now dying to find out what happens in the last half an hour.
I will try boiling for another 5-10 seconds tonight and see if I can get the rest of it to play. Thanks to the original poster, great solution.

It sure doesn't have any affect on The Good Shepherd. I haven't been able to see so much as a menu on that disc. I didn't boil it though, I used a cd/dvd approved cleaning solution without any machine.

I ran Good Shepherd under scalding hot tap water for ~ 15 secs and it worked for me. The funny thing is, that the only other time I got it to work was when I washed it with dish soap under hot water. Any other wiping, rinsing, etc. did not work.

If you look at the disk under some lighting, you can see what appear to be some residual oils under/ in the plastic. I think the hot water disperses the soap/ oil so it begins tracking.

Unfortunately, I only made it through 1:40 of the 2:45 movie. I'm sure I'll need to burn it again to get this thing to play (on a 360). Good thing it's a rental :p

Hey guys,

Just wanted to let you know about 30 min ago I used cold water and light generic hand soap to clean my disc. Holy crap it actually worked, I can watch COM in all of it's glory! I watched about 25 min to make sure it ran ok, worked like a charm.

This HAS to be some issue with a light residue being left on the discs.

And on second note, does the 360 player have problems with U-Control? It seemed like the system was chugging a bit when I turned it on.

Hey guys,

Just wanted to let you know about 30 min ago I used cold water and light generic hand soap to clean my disc. Holy crap it actually worked, I can watch COM in all of it's glory! I watched about 25 min to make sure it ran ok, worked like a charm.

This HAS to be some issue with a light residue being left on the discs.

And on second note, does the 360 player have problems with U-Control? It seemed like the system was chugging a bit when I turned it on.


King Kong has U-control and it's packaged with the 360. I never had an issue with it. I haven't tried the U-control on the Good Shepherd yet, but others said that they had issues with the U-control on these disks even after they got the movie to play.

Its ok, I'm not really interested in it anyways.

Well - it looks like this has worked for many, so I take back my concern.

I guess I was more worried about water getting between the bonded layers from the center hole - and corroding the aluminium data layers over time.

Of course, a warm cloth with a little detergent would have probablly done the trick too, if the problem was a grease film :)

The whole boiling water trick seems a bit off the wall to me. I generally wash any problematic discs with warm tap water and liquid hand soap while gently rubbing the surface with my fingers to remove any smudges or fingerprints. I then dry them off with a clean terrycloth towel. I rent a lot of discs and I'm amazed at how some people treat them. Fortunately, I've had very few discs that would not play after a thorough cleaning using this method. I would never dream of tossing a plastic disc into a bath of boiling water. That's just plain nuts! :rolleyes: You could end up with a warped disc that will be totally unplayable.

Chances are the problems you guys are having with certain discs is just a side affect of the manufacturing process, resulting in a fine film or residue on the surface of the disc. Just clean it the way I outlined above and I bet it will play just fine without resorting to some sort of alchemist's voodoo. Had you considered twirling a dead cat over your head while running naked through a cemetery under a full moon? I hear it works for some. :D

My sure-fire remedy (washing gently in Dawn dishwashing liquid in warm water) did not work. :confused: I am now prepared to try again--this time with hotter (if not boiling) water. Pray for me--I'm going over the top now!

This thread is hilarious.
NOT if your CoM disc will not play! :(

Well, after reading many a frustrated soul got to see CoM on the HD side, finally, like me using HOT tap water and Palmolive to get it to load, it's on its way back to Universal Studios.

I was so excited that the cleaning worked, but extras still lock up my HD-A2. Through calling and e-mailing ushe.consumerrelations@worldmarkinc.com , I got a pre-paid padded mailer to send CoM back to M. Kustanovich, at Universal Studios in California, for evaluation. (If that doesn't sound like a great software tech name, what is???)

It's shipping out from work today, so who knows if I'll get my $35 back, a movie that plays in its entirety, or a replacement. At least they're trying to look into it.

I'll keep you all posted. -Jason

Well, I got my copy last week (Friday) and sad to say it would not play at all on my XA2. I Returned it the next day but they had no more copies, too bad I didn't want read the threads before I returned it. Well...I'll check if they have any copies today and if it doesn't work then I'll try the dish wash soap and warm water trick.

My sure-fire remedy (washing gently in Dawn dishwashing liquid in warm water) did not work. :confused: I am now prepared to try again--this time with hotter (if not boiling) water. Pray for me--I'm going over the top now!
Mother of Pearl, it worked!! :eek:

Actually, I don't get the "no dvd" message and it loads to the opening menu. I haven't the time right now to watch it. But the hot water trick MAY have worked!

I would really, truly NOT recommend this trick for any bonded dual layer disc.

Wipe it with a damp cloth if you like, but not this.

Just my advice...


Well its just a worthless coaster anyways, how can it hurt?

Mother of Pearl, it worked!! :eek:

Actually, I don't get the "no dvd" message and it loads to the opening menu. I haven't the time right now to watch it. But the hot water trick MAY have worked!

Jump to Chapter 14 using the scenes selection menu and see how long before the disc freezes.

Jump to Chapter 14 using the scenes selection menu and see how long before the disc freezes.
Gulp! :o

Sorry these discs haven't been working for some of you, but frankly, the manufacturers should get smacked upside the head for even producing discs that require you to run them under hot water, rinse with mild detergent, or perform a voodoo chant on in order to get them to play. That's so LAME. Makes me angry. I shouldn't have to resort to outlandish methods to get brand-new discs to play properly. A badly-pressed or authored disc here and there, I can understand. But seeing numerous people have problems with the same movie is ridiculous. You'd think we wouldn't have to deal with stuff like that in this day and age.

Jump to Chapter 14 using the scenes selection menu and see how long before the disc freezes.


He shoots, he scores! (no problemo...) :D

i had a probleme with payback from netflix(movie not playing )try hot water for 15 secondes .work perfectly after,thank you for the trick.

Look at the disc under light and you can see an oil film sandwiched between the plastic and the "foil"

Don't waste your time with dish soap.

Just burn that byotch!

Of course you need to scorch it every time you want to watch it. I get home to Queue it up tonight and "raspberries

Add me to the list of those who've cleaned the disc with hot water and got it to work. Would not play at all prior to the treatment. I have not had a chance to watch the whole thing; we shall see.

We used to do that trick with OXM demo disc. It always worked. Looks like there is a thin residue on the disc surface given read error. This is definitely a manufacturing defect.

Sorry these discs haven't been working for some of you, but frankly, the manufacturers should get smacked upside the head for even producing discs that require you to run them under hot water, rinse with mild detergent, or perform a voodoo chant on in order to get them to play. That's so LAME. Makes me angry. I shouldn't have to resort to outlandish methods to get brand-new discs to play properly. A badly-pressed or authored disc here and there, I can understand. But seeing numerous people have problems with the same movie is ridiculous. You'd think we wouldn't have to deal with stuff like that in this day and age.


Wow, what wisdom, thanks for sharing. It's not like anyone here actually likes or excuses this. It happens and we have to deal with it, complaining does nothing.

He shoots, he scores! (no problemo...) :D

So it played through?

the manufacturers should get smacked upside the head for even producing discs that require you to run them under hot water, rinse with mild detergent, or perform a voodoo chant on in order to get them to play.

Get a grip girl, it ain't a perfect world.

I used a product called 'simple green' which is an excellent degreaser that does not harm plastic. That and a little hot tap water made my disc playable. This simple green trick turned a coaster into a movie.

Thanks to the OP again.

-Byrd

Could this be a new trend not unlike the "Blow-into-the-cartridge" classic method (ala. 8bit NES)? Heh

ROFLMAO! I don't have CoM, but I hope this is a joke.

OK, I previously boiled my CoM disc for 15 seconds and it froze 1 hour 20 into the movie. I boiled it again last night for a further 10 seconds, wiped and dried and now...
Voila! It plays all the way through. Thanks again to the OP

So it played through?
Not yet: I sampled the disc, especially chaps 14 through 18. They played fine.

I get all of my HD-DVDs through Blockbuster online. Interestingly enough, Children of Men is not listed as being available yet but is indicated as "Coming Soon." I'm guessing that they've had issues with the disc and have pulled it from circulation until such time as they get copies that will play without problems.

Chapters 14-18 were troublesome the first time I boiled as well. Now they are fine.
They are releasing a non-combo version of CoM in the UK in May, maybe they are making these at the moment for distribution in the US as well?

In fact, now I come to think of it, I haven't seen any combo discs released in the UK. I picked up a non-combo copy of American Werewolf in London yesterday, looked the same as the US version.

This so-called "trick" is a crock of sh*t that started back in the early Xbox days when some of the demo discs supposedly ran chopy until someone claimed they boiled water and dropped the disc in and it supposedly started working fine. It didn't work and it doesn't work now. You can't "cure" a pressed disc with boiling water.

I have saved myself over 30 discs using this trick. It does work. In fact, I swear by it. I have never had a problem recovering a brand new disc that was unreadable, by using this method.

I imagine it works with HD DVDs as well, since they use the same manufacturing process as DVDs.

I'd try it, but I'm afraid it would make it STOP working on my A1. My CoM works on my A1 but not my A20. Go figure....

Wow, what wisdom, thanks for sharing. It's not like anyone here actually likes or excuses this. It happens and we have to deal with it, complaining does nothing.

Well thank you for your pointless reply and for putting words in my mouth. What "wisdom" of your own. :rolleyes:

First off, my post wasn't meant to attack anyone on this thread for trying the method, so good job on misinterpreting that. Some reading comprehension courses might help. And I'm entitled to air my opinion on poorly-authored discs, whether you like it or not. Instead of replying like a jackass, you should treat me with *respect* just like any other member here. I didn't single you or anyone else out with sarcastic remarks, did I?

Grow up.

Get a grip girl, it ain't a perfect world.

I used a product called 'simple green' which is an excellent degreaser that does not harm plastic. That and a little hot tap water made my disc playable. This simple green trick turned a coaster into a movie.

Thanks to the OP again.

-Byrd

Get a grip yourself. I don't need a lecture on the nature of this world. I'm well aware things don't always work as we'd hope. I was simply stating my opinion that we as consumers shouldn't have to deal with stuff like this, and as I duly noted, I wasn't speaking about the occasional issues people have with DVDs, but situations like CoM, which are rampant. When there are widespread reports of a disc not playing properly on various brands of DVD players, that's not something we as consumers should have to deal with with a tired shrug of the shoulders and boiling water. Maybe you don't agree with that, but I can damn sure state my feelings on the matter.

And I just love it how guys reply with "get a grip!" or similarly irritating comments anytime a woman speaks her mind with passion. You don't see me tearing all you bickering BR vs. HD-DVD fanboys a new one everytime you b*tch and rant about the superiority of one version over another, do you? Give me a break.

Slightly back on topic, the soap and water trick did not work for me.

When I first got the HD DVD I was able to watch the movie with a few problems, but when I went to watch it a second time a week later, it wouldn't and still won't recognize it as an HD DVD. Tried the soap and water, but no successful result. I did not use super-hot water though.

I still haven't had time to try the boiling water trick. I may try it tonight if I get a chance.

Does anyone think this might work with Superman Returns? It also locks up in similar places for a lot of people.

I think anyone trying Soap and Water should just stick with BOILING. I think the Soap does jack and it's actually the HEAT from the boiling water that helps...I've heard of this remedy before and hope I don't have to use it (CoM and Smokin Aces are coming from Amazon) but if they give me troubles, I'm putting a pot on.

I was getting the dreaded 4094C504 code for my V for Vendetta disc. This disc would cause my player to lockup and require me to unplug the player. I tried the boiling trick and so far no problems playing it on 3 different occasions. Thanks again to the OP.

Get a grip yourself. I don't need a lecture on the nature of this world. I'm well aware things don't always work as we'd hope. I was simply stating my opinion that we as consumers shouldn't have to deal with stuff like this, and as I duly noted, I wasn't speaking about the occasional issues people have with DVDs, but situations like CoM, which are rampant. When there are widespread reports of a disc not playing properly on various brands of DVD players, that's not something we as consumers should have to deal with with a tired shrug of the shoulders and boiling water. Maybe you don't agree with that, but I can damn sure state my feelings on the matter.

And I just love it how guys reply with "get a grip!" or similarly irritating comments anytime a woman speaks her mind with passion. You don't see me tearing all you bickering BR vs. HD-DVD fanboys a new one everytime you b*tch and rant about the superiority of one version over another, do you? Give me a break.


Though I am glad there is a method to fix the problem and escape the hassle of multiple returns, I have to agree with GamerGirl. I have had some problems with COM and I had to finish it on the SD side. Now today I have Smokin Aces, and I expect it to work properly. Again, I'm glad there is a quick fix method, I just don't want to have to rely on it whenever I buy certain new releases.

x.

There is definitely some crappola on the disk, when I held my new disk up to the light i could see some "gas in a puddle" translucent serpentine pattern.

I recommend sparkle-brand glass cleaner an a soft 100% cotton cloth (like a white t-shirt). Sparkle has no ammonia and does not streak.

I guess I will be boiling Smokin' Aces today to see if it works... Nothing to lose! Either way, this is my last UNIVERSAL title for a looooong time!!! :mad:

Well, after watching the first half the other night with hot water ...

I sat used hot water to load it last night. It loaded fine, but I could not get the movvie to skip forward past Scene 11. Tried about 6x until I just said screw it and watched the rest in SD.

POS! I thought Universal said they were going to stop this Combo crap, and then they go and release Smokin' Aces. I would have bought that one too.

POS! I thought Universal said they were going to stop this Combo crap, and then they go and release Smokin' Aces. I would have bought that one too.

Unfortunately, they only changed their strategy so that new releases are Combos but catalog titles are straight HD DVD.

As anyone who's been following Universal's DVD output for a while will remember, the studio has also had many problems getting dual-sided DVDs to work properly. Almost all of their DVD-18 releases (e.g. the Casino Special Edition) have been problematic across many brands of DVD players.

No luck here. The water trick did not work. It plays the titles but then still gives the damn code... Back to Amazon...

Unfortunately, they only changed their strategy so that new releases are Combos but catalog titles are straight HD DVD.

As anyone who's been following Universal's DVD output for a while will remember, the studio has also had many problems getting dual-sided DVDs to work properly. Almost all of their DVD-18 releases (e.g. the Casino Special Edition) have been problematic across many brands of DVD players.

How could we forget! :)

That's why I'm hoping they'll do single-sided re-releases for these titles, since they did that for Casino. Of course they didn't say why they did it for Casino, but when you release a single-sided Special Edition missing some of the features of the glitchy Anniversary Edition, and less than a year later, I can't think of many other reasons to do that.

I still haven't had time to try the boiling water trick. I may try it tonight if I get a chance.OK. I did get a chance to boil my CoM disc last night, and in drying it created a few slight scratches on the disk. I started up the add-on and it said it was reading the disc...and reading...and reading. I ejected a few times, retried, and still had the same result, even after letting it read for about fifteen minutes. I thought it was progress since the other times I got the "Can't read disc" error or whatever it says.

Decided to try the soap and water trick again to see if that would get it going. I put it in the tray, closed the drawer and...

THREE RED RINGS of DEATH :mad:

Children of Men killed my Xbox! Seriously. My launch week Xbox had been working fine for the last seventeen months. Now no more HD DVDs, no more games, no more Live arcade. Gone, all gone.

^^Wha...?^^^

I bought my Xbox 360 at Costco, so that's the only reason I am not really fuming about it right now, but all my game saves and Live arcade stuff will be lost on the old drive. I know I can download the Live arcade stuff again, but I'm thinking of begging the customer returns person to let me keep the old hard drive because it has sensitive data on it. Not sure if that is true or if MS stores my credit card number on their server, but if I don't know that then I'm sure the Costco person won't either. But that's for another forum.

The point is, in trying to get CoM to play, my Xbox f-ed up. Coincidence? Perhaps, perhaps not.

I bought my Xbox 360 at Costco, so that's the only reason I am not really fuming about it right now, but all my game saves and Live arcade stuff will be lost on the old drive. I know I can download the Live arcade stuff again, but I'm thinking of begging the customer returns person to let me keep the old hard drive because it has sensitive data on it. Not sure if that is true or if MS stores my credit card number on their server, but if I don't know that then I'm sure the Costco person won't either. But that's for another forum.

The point is, in trying to get CoM to play, my Xbox f-ed up. Coincidence? Perhaps, perhaps not.

yeah you'll be alright without keeping the old drive... all of your "sensitive material" as in cc number and everything is kept on a server by microsoft that is connected to your windows live id aka your msn email address

Unfortunately, they only changed their strategy so that new releases are Combos but catalog titles are straight HD DVD.

As anyone who's been following Universal's DVD output for a while will remember, the studio has also had many problems getting dual-sided DVDs to work properly. Almost all of their DVD-18 releases (e.g. the Casino Special Edition) have been problematic across many brands of DVD players.
Okay...

You asked about my hot-water disc playing all the way through. I haven't had time until today to test it. The answer? Yes, it played all the way through.

It is "fixed."

And, yes, I do agree that this should not be necessary. The disc should be playable from the get-go.

It works now...and what a beautiful disc! Fantastic PQ! :D

No luck here. The water trick did not work. It plays the titles but then still gives the damn code... Back to Amazon...

The first time I tried it I was unsuccessful. Perhaps I did not let the water get hot enough or I needed to increase time submerged but upon my second attempt it worked.

Wow, my HD-A1 sure is a fighter!!! I haven't had any titles freeze on me since I bought my player last year!!

Hi, I just bought a hd-a2 from Best Buy (got the whole 4 movie deal and stuff). Well, CoM doesn't work; like everybody is saying.

I thought I would try the hot water thing but I chickened out and just used cold water and then dried it with a cloth. So now it is working!!

Are there any playback issues on non-combo discs?

^COM was the first disc to give me a problem from an otherwise flawless A2.

the scene at the abandoned school was unplayable on my a1 with lots of lock ups and stuttering, this was with 2.1 firmware. however, after chaptering back it played through flawlessly. i tried this several times and it always played fine after the first rough time through. not sure if it puts it in a buffer or what, but it definately "learned" to play smoothly through the scene.

well I went to watch COM last night and my XA2 (1.2)would not even recognize the disc. So I gave it a little bath-and viola! watched the whole movie with no problems..still amazes me. i say give it try-it can't hurt-or better yet it may work wonders.
thetman

COM played flawlessly on my HD-A1, just as all my other movies.

I just got The Good Shepherd... having stuttery play back..... XBox 360

I'm gonna try this trick

Update: Wow, immediately the stuttering stopped. I had only gotten up to the part where Mr. Secret CIA Matt Damon took the dollar bill before I decided to try the water trick. It was stuttering constantly, now it has played smoothly up to that part. I wonder if it is a combo disc issue

I tried water. No luck. I tried soap and water. No luck. My Children of Men disk (the HD DVD side) does not work.

Now I've got trouble with Dreamgirls, Disk 2.

I called Toshiba and they said I have the latest firmware, since the update has been causing more problems than it's solving.

I'm going to slow down on my HD DVD buying for awhile, until some of these issues are settled.

I've never had a DVD that was unplayable, right out of the box.

I had success with the GOOD SHEPHERD.

Didn't work at all in my A20. Did the boiling water trick. No dice YESTERDAY but...

...tried 24 hours later, and now works perfectly. I couldn't even get it load previously.

Who discovered this trick? I never would of thought of it.

"Ohh stick the HD DVD in hot water for 15 seconds"

I didn't do the boiling water, too afraid of melting my disc or something.

I would never dream of tossing a plastic disc into a bath of boiling water. That's just plain nuts! You could end up with a warped disc that will be totally unplayable.

You could, but I'm now 2-for-2 with the boiling water trick now! :) I had to do it because conventional cleaning didn't work for me, and after I was able to successfully "boil" The Good Shepherd (can't believe I just typed that) as I wrote earlier, I needed to do this a second time.

Anyway, I repeated the same thing on Smoking Aces tonight. The disc wouldn't load at all on my A20 so I repeated the same trick.

15 seconds in boiling water, take it out and have a paper towel to drop it on ready, then LET IT COOL (give it a couple of hours), then try it.

It works PERFECTLY now for me, just like Good Shepherd.

Note neither worked IMMEDIATELY in my case -- you need to let the discs sit for a while (get back to room temp) and let the junk on it evaporate or what not.

I agree with an earlier poster that there is likely a residue on the disc itself that is the cause of the problem here. Some have had success just cleaning it off, but that didn't work for me and I think getting it hot and then letting whatever's-on-it evaporate is the key if the former doesn't work for you. Wait for it to get back to room temp. and then try it.

At least, I've gotten success now twice trying it between Good Shepherd and Smoking Aces, and it didn't harm the disc either, which makes me think there's just something ON the disc (a film or something) left over from the manufacturing process that could well be the problem.

No reason to be chicken here -- I can attest that this, yes, actually works!

I'm sorry, but this is THE BEST darn thread that has EVER existed in the history of AVS!

I mean, hilarity AND handy tips all in one?? It's a twofer!

IMHO, first prize goes to the dude who recommended the toilet flushing method!! I mean who doesn't want a little bit of dookie on their discs? I damn near BUSTED A GUT over that one!

:D

Naysayers can laugh all they want ... CoM had a slight but annoying stutter (playing on the 360 HD-DVD). Ran the disk under hot water with a little soap ... wiped it dry, and it played fine.

Only other time I've seen this is with "Pursuit of Happyness" (Blu-ray). The disk kept feezing ... when I looked at it, there was clearly a visible amount of residue on the disk. Returned it before I saw this thread, so don't know if cleaning would have worked.

Thanks to all who posted their success with the method ... otherwise I would have thought it was a bit goofy :)

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking it (and I haven't tried it), but seriously, this whole thread, intentionally or otherwise, is a laugh riot!

Anyone try this for Happy Feet? As my sig says, I had no problems with CoM (or really, any other HD DVD that I've bought or rented at Netflix). But, I do get the famous freeze on Happy Feet.

Oh man, I just tried the boiling water trick and now my CoM is not playing anymore:

http://mrevil.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/interesting/cd/burnt_cd_top.jpg















O.k. just kidding. ;)

I posted this thread in the hopes of helping others with CoM, because I saw how rampant the issue was...but this is all very sad, Happy Feet, Good Shepherd, and now Smokin Aces too? I really think if Universal wants to stay in the HD DVD business, since it's the lone formant they are supporting, they REALLY need to look at the way they are manufacturing their disks...I work for a retail "giant", and we get product recall requests from companies all the time, so per their request we pull that item. It usually happens because a few of said product was found to be faulty in some way, so they pulled the whole line as an issue of quality control to do what's best for the consumer so that their brand name isn't tarnished in the long run. I think this issue has caused enough loyal HD DVD supporters headaches that it would easily fall into a "recall needed" category...is Universal really so blind?

but Happy Feet is not Universal.

but Happy Feet is not Universal.

True....my bad. But as far as I can tell from message boards the CoM problem is by far the most rampant.....perhaps Amazon listing CoM as unavailable now is a step in the right direction, afterall why sell a 1,000 disks and have 500 returned back? I bet they are not happy about that one

:eek:

I can't believe this worked. I had the issue with Hollywoodland and my A2 with 1.5 firmware. The picture would freeze at exactly 1:20:06. I tried cleaning the disc using the same cloth and solution that I use for my 60" screen. Disc still froze in the exact same spot. I ran the disc under scalding hot water for about 15 seconds. Completely dried it off and it plays!!!!

This was worth it to try for me because it was a Netflix HD disc. The heat of the water must do something to the disc. That's the only thing I can figure out about the process. Crazy isn't it?

I can't believe it, but the water trick worked for my previously unplayable CoM. I didn't boil the disc-- just held it under hot water from the faucet for 20 sec. or so. No more "This is not a DVD format" messages on my A20.

i don't see what's so hard to believe. if there is really some type of residue left on the disc that's not being thoroughly cleaned during manufacturing, it could come off with very hot water.

Even though the fix worked for me, I admit I still want to giggle at the thought of having to boil my HD disks before playing (I'm not very good in the kitchen!). Makin' me a little nervous, as I've got HollywoodLand and Good Shepherd sitting on the shelf - not played them yet.

Did it work for anyone a second time? Mine did not work after the first time I watched it. No amount of water fixed it again.

I ended up taking it back to get a new disc. The new disc failed so I took that one back BUT it worked at the store on each player except mine! So they gave me a different movie; one that I already have on regular DVD because there were no other new movies.

I am so glad the movie was free.

i don't see what's so hard to believe. if there is really some type of residue left on the disc that's not being thoroughly cleaned during manufacturing, it could come off with very hot water.

When I was running the hot tap water on the disc I could see a film (or liquid something) coming off the disc. I simply held the disc under the water until I saw the "stuff" come completely off all the way around. Dry off, let it cool. All is ok.

Sheesh, does the crap they put on the discs help protect it in anyway??

Did it work for anyone a second time? Mine did not work after the first time I watched it. No amount of water fixed it again.

I ended up taking it back to get a new disc. The new disc failed so I took that one back BUT it worked at the store on each player except mine! So they gave me a different movie; one that I already have on regular DVD because there were no other new movies.

I am so glad the movie was free.


Actually YES!!

I hate to admit that on Satruday I boiled about 15 of my disks!! :eek:

And honestly all of them look better when held up to the light... On MOST combo releases to date I noticed a funny squiggle either under the first layer or perhaps ON it, but no longer is it there, I CRAP YOU NOT!!!

AMAZING!!!