There I was watching Fawlty Towers and laughing my butt off when at the end of one of the episodes, I get a blue screen and every time I try to restart the player, I get the above message. I even tried different discs, same thing. I tried unplugging for a “re-set”. No go. If y’all have any answers (that the instruction booklet doesn’t address), I would appreciate your advice.
FYI the model is called Ortitron and I bought it for about 80 bucks a couple of years ago at Target, and it’s hooked up to a Sanyo TV.
Check to make sure the disc is spinning. I had the exact same thing happen to my DVD player. Played a disc and got an error. I noticed the motor wasn’t working any more and had to send it back to the store (good thing I had an extended warrenty, got a replaced).
If the motor is working and the CD is spinning, could be another internal problem.
My opinion as a media technician is that if unplugging, resetting, and a but of shaking have no result, toss it. It will cost as more to diagnose and repair it than replace it.
If you are an electronics hobbyist, or you would like to be, however, ignore my above advice. Go at it, and as as with any other hobby, be prepared to spend spend spend.
Several things could be the problem:
as noted above, mechanical transport problem.
laser not lasing or misaligned.
optical receiver obstructed/misaligned/misfunctioning.
Some interior chip has failed in a way that directs input down the wrong branch of the logic tree.
Most likely causes of such problems are either power surges or physical impacts. The former blows out circuitry, the latter tends to knock components out of alignment and/or jam up moving parts.
Some info from the alt.electronics.repair FAQ on CD players (somewhat the same tech as DVDs). Note that Sam says NEVER (his caps) use a lens cleaner disk in a DVD. Hand cleaning is probably the best place to start. Pay very special attention on how to do this as in the FAQ.
BTW Quasi, you bought one of the crappiest brands around. Next time, spend a few bucks more and get a more reliable brand.
Same thing happened to me, the DVD wouldn’t recognize a disc. I took it apart, cleaned the lens carefully, checked all the connections, watched it spin up, but the DVD player still did not recognize the disc.
I bought a better one, with more features, for less money!
Does anyone want the old one? You pay shipping (via paypal) and you can have it.
Handy thanks, but I think buying cheap is what got me this piece of Scheisse in the first place. I think I will take ftg’s advice and spend a little more on a decent unit.