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[Bowdon]

I've just had my first experience of my ps4 not being able to read a disc (the witcher 3). After trying to read it for over a minute it comes up as unrecognisable.

As anyone else experienced this issue before (on any system)? and if so, how did you fix it? What worked for you?

[chenks]

well does the ps4 read other discs ok?
you need to work out if it's the ps4 that's needing cleaned or the disc.
of course, the disc could be faulty in which case cleaning it won't make any difference.

[parkdale]

I use something similar to one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FDQLHM6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3OM4IJ4IX3ULF&psc=1

[Bowdon]

well does the ps4 read other discs ok?
you need to work out if it's the ps4 that's needing cleaned or the disc.
of course, the disc could be faulty in which case cleaning it won't make any difference.

Yes the ps4 reads other discs. I noticed on this disc there are smudges. I did try cleaning it with a tissue. But it didn't work.

@parkdale - I wonder if that would work for a ps4 disc?

I noticed some videos recommend dabbing water on the disc, then letting it dry for 2 minutes.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Yes the ps4 reads other discs. I noticed on this disc there are smudges. I did try cleaning it with a tissue. But it didn't work.

@parkdale - I wonder if that would work for a ps4 disc?

I noticed some videos recommend dabbing water on the disc, then letting it dry for 2 minutes.

Microfibre cloth that came with my glasses IMO is the only safe and reliable way.  Always a straight line from the center outwards, as any scratches that line up with the tracks on the disk will make it unreadable.  I imported Stranger Things in 4K from the US and one of the season 1 disks was ruined on arrival because it had rotated in the box making scratches perfectly aligned to how the disk is read.

I do not believe they make Blurays with as tough a scratch resistant coating as they used to, ones from the first couple of years were almost impossible to scratch but I've noticed recently they are quite fragile.

[Bowdon]

I managed to get it working by pouring some water on the disc (not in the centre) and then with a tissue just wiped it outwards from the centre to the edges.

The main issue I think was just smudges as I don't really put the discs back in the boxes after I've done with them. But until now I've never had a cd-based format fail on me like that one did.

When I was looking on youtube I saw some strange suggestions. A popular one was to put toothpaste on the disc and rub it all over, then wash it off and use a tissue to dry it. I didn't want to waste good toothpaste so I just tried the water part, and it worked.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Toothpaste is a terrible idea unless the disk is already trashed and you're trying to grind off the surface to make it work again.

I always used to use water and tissues until I had some more recent disks that actually got scratched that way, plus it often wont remove the grease but just spread it across the disk more.

[jelv]

I've successfully used the little spray and cloth you use for cleaning spectacles in the past.

[sevenlayermuddle]

I’ve had a few damaged DVDs over the years.    First thing to try is, obviously, gentle cleaning with a soft cloth, which sometimes works, especially if combined with a spray of IPA to remove oils and greases.   Or on a lower budget, a puff of breath polished off on your shirt sleeve often fixes things.

Otherwise, if the disc resists and there’s nothing to lose, I’ve resorted to more aggressive tactics, including toothpaste and abrasive polishes.   They rarely do any good but interestingly, they rarely make things worse either.   

I’ve even tried wet-sanding with fine-grade abrasive paper until the disc surface was completely hazed, followed by polishing with a cutting compound until it was shiny again.  That certainly wasn’t a cure as the disc still struggled, but it didn’t seem to do any further harm either.

[displaced]

First I'd try just 'hurr'ing on the disc and wiping from the centre outwards with a lint-free cloth.

After that, I'd use some Novus Plastic Polish.  It comes in three grades (1 just cleans, 2 removes mild scratches, 3 for deep scratches).  Use the appropriate grade (e.g. 3), then use 2, then 1 to finally clean.  Works a treat whenever I've used it!

[j0hn]

Tissue is about the worst thing you can clean an optical disc with.
It's very easy to scratch a disc with tissues.

A cloth for cleaning glasses or a microfibre cloth would be much better