DVD drive won't read one of my DVD disks. It has a spot that is a bit darker and blurry. What is that? Can it be repaired?

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Short answer: that 1 cm blurry/dark area is almost certainly internal degradation (disc "rot" / delamination of the layers), not a simple surface smudge — so a surface cleaning alone often won't fix it. This fits what described (inner-edge spot on cheap discs) and what suggested about rot: recordable discs use organic dye and thin metal layers that can discolor, corrode or separate over time, producing opaque/dark patches that block the laser. (canada.ca)

Practical, ordered steps (what to try now):

  • Try gentle cleaning first (mild soap + water, dry with lint‑free cloth) as recommended — it’s low risk and worth doing.
  • Try the disc in several different drives (older laptop drives, different manufacturers). Different optics/lasers sometimes read marginal sectors one another cannot.
  • If that fails, make a sector-level image (don’t keep re-powering/retrying the same drive) and try file extraction from the image. On Linux, GNU ddrescue is designed for this; a common workflow is:
ddrescue -n -b2048 /dev/sr0 dvd_image.img mapfile
ddrescue -d -r3 -b2048 /dev/sr0 dvd_image.img mapfile

On Windows, IsoBuster can read damaged DVDs and extract VOB/IFO/files directly. Using imaging tools lets you retry, combine reads from multiple drives, and merge partial images. (gnu.org)

About physical repair and next steps: attempts to peel and reapply the reflective layer are not practical — the data and reflectivity live in bonded microscopic layers and adhesive failure or metal corrosion cannot be reliably “patched.” Polishing/resurfacing can help scratches on the plastic surface but will not restore oxidized or delaminated layers. If the content is irreplaceable, consider a professional optical-media recovery service; otherwise, accept the loss and treat this as a reminder to copy remaining discs off to more stable storage and use archival practices (multiple copies, ECC tools/workflows used by preservationists). (nypl.github.io)

Summary: try cleaning and multiple drives first, make sector images with ddrescue or use IsoBuster to extract files, do not attempt to peel or relaminate the disc, and assume internal degradation if the spot is inside the layers — copy everything salvageable now. (gnu.org)

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DVD drive won't read one of my DVD disks. It has a spot that is a bit darker and blurry. What is that? Can it be repaired?

too funny ,you are looking at the dot and asking us what it is !
first try mild [disk]soap and water ,dry it with lint free cloth and try again

What? You really think I would post a question about something that is on the surface? I mean - do you REALLY think someone would post such question?

...I see I would have to find some picture on the 'net to demonstrate it...
...
...
...Here - I've found it:
That guy explains similar problem.
You can see it on this photo he posted:
http://img180.exs.cx/img180/5641/img33773es.jpg

On my DVD it's larger (about 1 cm) and it appears close to the inner edge of the reflective layer of the DVD... It just seems a bit darker - it's inside the layers of the DVD disk...

DVD is one of 15 DVDs (TRANSFORMERS G1 15 DVD collection), Chinese stuff...
Other DVD's also show symptoms (but mostly it's only on the very edge of the reflective layer - not on the data area)... I guess it's something like what happens to mirrors - the reflective layer start oxidizing... or something...

DVD drive can't read it at all... it doesn't even recognize it - it tries loading it - it struggles and then it gives-up and acts as if nothing is in DVD drive.

What cure is there?
Can the DVD be physicaly repaired somehow?
Is there a program that can read raw binary data from a DVD regardless of errors and copy it to hard-drive or something - like those programs used for data rescue from hard-drives?

What? You really think I would post a question about something that is on the surface? I mean - do you REALLY think someone would post such question?

..

yup!i read some whoppers over the years ,as a few my self ,way back when !
ok i read the link and it seems people think it a bad batch of disk ,his is burn spots on disk he is creating , looks like you got a program burnt on a set of cheap disk,and i doubt it can be fixed

How come there is not some program which overrides error-checking on DVD drives - so the motor just spins the disk and reading head just sort-of doesn't give a damn - reads RAW BINARY data - whatever it may look like - 0 or 1 - I mean - everything is divided (formatted) into some standard outlook - there are tracks and clusters and sectors etc - the reading head just sort-of rails-in on that.
And, so, the data is dumped in a single raw data file on your hard-drive.
Second step is to have a program which analyzes and recognizes stuff like End Of File marker etc. - Just cutting up that raw data file into separate files (name is not important, extension is not important - only data).

(I post the question here because I suppose someone is into these problems and knows what utilities exist thus now - and can what I described be made at all.)

How come there is not some program which overrides error-checking on DVD drives - so the motor just spins the disk and reading head just sort-of doesn't give a damn - reads RAW BINARY data - whatever it may look like - 0 or 1 - I mean - everything is divided (formatted) into some standard outlook - there are tracks and clusters and sectors etc - the reading head just sort-of rails-in on that.
And, so, the data is dumped in a single raw data file on your hard-drive.
Second step is to have a program which analyzes and recognizes stuff like End Of File marker etc. - Just cutting up that raw data file into separate files (name is not important, extension is not important - only data).

(I post the question here because I suppose someone is into these problems and knows what utilities exist thus now - and can what I described be made at all.)

way over me head Fred !
Ok ,you know what you want and seem to know how a cd/dvd is formatted , i guess you will have to learn some computer language and write you own software .I use nero and alcohol120% to do most of my burning and there are places to check off error reporting in bot !not sure if that is what you are talking about !i think not!

OK
Now, how about physical repair. I see that reflective layer is not the layer on which data is recorded.
Here, look:

http://www.computeroutlook.com/mp3/Forum%20Photos/VERB%20DVD-R%20Disc%20Structure.gif

( http://www.computeroutlook.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=358 )

Had anyone out there try to (sort-of) peel-off damaged part of reflective layer and replace it with something?

____________________
(PS: Wow. DVD data under microscope: )

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