mac disc issues

[witko]

i have civ3 complete. suddenly, i'm having issues starting the game. despite running fine a few days ago, now when i insert the disc, the comp ejects the disc as if it can't read it. cd's still load and play. dvd's still load and play. once i can get the disc to stay in, the game won't start saying "please insert disc." i went through the whole quicktime issue, then patched and corrected it. been running fine ever since. the only recent system update is an itunes update: 9.1.1(11). still have a macbook pro running osx 10.4.11. have there been any recent update issues? does anyone have any ideas? thanx in advance.

could be disc error, i guess, but there's no reason it would be. do these things just stop working after a year or two?

 

[Blue Monkey]

I have found that gently rubbing a disk with a cloth like I use to clean my glasses will often get it to read (even when I see no visible flaws).

 

[witko]

thanx. no idea why it wouldn't read - no visible flaws, treated well, stored safely, etc. just wondering if there was anything else going on.

 

[Blue Monkey]

I'm not clear if my suggestion worked.

I wear glasses anyway so I keep a couple of the old cloths around in my work area for the occasional disk. A new one only costs about $3 - a worthy investment, imho.

 

[witko]

sorry i wasn't clear. yes, i've tried rubbing the disc with a cloth. no luck. i thought it might be a problem with the disc, but i wasn't sure because i've had other issues. and, like i said, the disc appears to be fine and has been properly cared for. just seems unusual for it to suddenly stop reading for no apparent reason.

 

[AlanH]

I had problems with my Civ3 and Civ4 disks for a while after upgrading to Leopard. Later updates seemed to fix the problem.

Maybe an upgrade to a more recent OS X might fix your problem? Or make sure you have the latest patch version of Civ 3 Complete.

 

[witko]

thinking it's actually a drive issue. after more trial & error, some discs work while others don't. dusted off another sid meier/2k game that wouldn't read either. downloaded a cracked C3C version that plays without the disc and now it plays just fine. don't think another patch would help if the disc isn't being read, besides i think i'm already updated. might try logging in with a new account to see if that sparks the drive.