# DVD player won't load DVDs

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-player-wont-load-dvds/265281>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 21, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-player-wont-load-dvds/265281 "2004-09-21T06:08:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-player-wont-load-dvds/265281/1 "2004-09-21T06:08:28Z")

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I finally get all my DVDs back from a friend after four months, and I sit down to enjoy The Big Lebowski, when I get a “no disc” message. I mentally curse my friend for scratching one of my favorite DVDs and take it out and look at it. No scratches, not dirt, it’s perfectly fine. So I run a lens cleaning disc, still doesn’t work. So, I try other DVDs, one which was brand new, another two which worked perfectly last night, nothin. I unplugged it for 15 minutes and tried it again, still nothing. It did, however, play the audio on the cleaning disc.

Is there anything else I can try, or am I doomed to either having the player serviced or buying a new one? It’s a three-year-old Samsung.

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-player-wont-load-dvds/265281/2 "2004-09-21T06:15:49Z")

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If the lens cleaning disk didn’t do a thing for you, then it’s pretty well hosed. These days DVD players are literally throw-away cheap. Unless it’s under some sort of warranty, it’s not worth the repair cost, unless it’s a very high-end model.

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-player-wont-load-dvds/265281/3 "2004-09-21T06:19:56Z")

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One thing you _can_ try is unplugging the player for several hours. Sometimes there is sufficient memory backup (usually a largish-value capacitor) to keep the thing in whatever scrambled mode it may have gotten itself for quite some time. I’ve salvaged things before by doing this.

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**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-player-wont-load-dvds/265281/4 "2004-09-21T06:41:03Z")

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If the broken player is 3 years old, I’d suggest spending $50 on a cheap new player instead of worrying about fixing it. It’ll have a ton of features that the old one probably lacked (region free hack, MP3/JPEG/VCD playback, CD-RW/DVD-RW/+RW compatibility), and if _that one_ breaks, well, you’re only out $50.

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**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-player-wont-load-dvds/265281/5 "2004-09-21T06:56:56Z")

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Yeah, I’m going to try **Q.E.D.'s** suggestion of unplugging it for several hours, and it that doesn’t work, I’m off to Best Buy tomorrow. Thanks!