Help! My DVD player is not recognizing any disc (1 Viewer)

[David Nguyen]

As if my stress level hasn't been high enough lately, I was watching The Mexican today, when it suddenly froze. This sort of thing has never happened to me until today, and this is with a year old Sony S560D DVD player.
I first tried to return to the main menu, but the player didn't respond to any of my commands using the remote control or the buttons on the machine itself. So I proceeded to eject the disc, and put 3 other ones in, and each time, the machine read "No disc."
The troubleshooting section in the manual has no real advice, and the player never did a self diagnostic check either. HELP!

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I have heard that unplugging it for 5 minutes might clear it up. Best of luck!
Glenn

 

[Richard Travale]

I second Glenns suggestion. If a player is acting up, just unplugging it for a minute or two will "reboot" the player and probably fix things.
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Rich
"A) You can never go too far and B) If I'm going to get busted it is NOT going to be by a guy like DAT."
My Website

 

[Jesse Skeen]

The laser pickup on my Pioneer suddenly died once, I had to have it replaced.

 

[Steve Berger]

On early S560D units a hard to focus disk can cause the servo drive to short the tracking coil out requiring an optic replacement AND circuit modification to prevent a repeat failure. The S560D has one year parts and labor warranty. If you find a friendly authorized servicer you might be able to stretch it a couple of weeks. If not, a call to consumer relations might get results (if you can get through the automated phone system and a talk to a sharp rep).

 

[David Nguyen]

Unfortunately, unplugging the power cord and leaving it overnight didn't work, as it still doesn't recognize that a disc is already inside. I will be taking it into a service center tomorrow, but before I do, does anybody have an idea as to how much this might cost to fix? If it is a lot, then I'd rather just get a new DVD player.

 

[David Nguyen]

Well, I went to the Sony service center today, and the guy looked at me with a straight face, and told me that it would cost $160 to fix, and I would receive a 90 day warranty. No mention of what the problem is, or might be. I said no thanks, as I can buy a brand new one for 200 with a 1 year warranty. I ended up taking it to one of the recommended service centers on the Sony website, and they charged me 20 bucks just to look at it. I should be getting a call from them within a few days, with their diagnosis of the problem.
Talk about Murphy's Law... It has only been about a month since the warranty period ended. Argh!

 

[Tom Weeks]

This may not apply to your situation, but my Panasonic started doing that several months ago. I got a dvd cleaning cd (its like a cd with little brushes on it) used it several times and the problem went away. They say that dust, smoke, and various other agents will make this happen. TJW

 

[Todd B]

David,
My 560 just went out last night with the same problem (also on JP interestingly enough).
What eventually happened with your DVD repair? How much were you finally quoted? Did you repair or replace?
Todd
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[John Stone]

My Sony DVP-S530D started doing what you are describing just 2 days after its warranty expired.
I called Sony the following day, and after holding for a very long time I was told that they could do nothing to help me since the warranty had expired.
With nothing to lose, I decided to take the DVD player apart. It didn't take long to discover the problem: The little servo motor that spins the disc was dead. Sony wants $160.00 to replace a $10.00 motor--a motor that seems to be failing on a large number of their DVD players (this seems to be a very common problem with the Sony 530 and 560 series).
No more Sony products for me. Their service sucks, and this is the 3rd Sony product to fail within 2 years of purchase.
BTW, I am extremely careful with my equipment, I use APC UPSs on everything, I'm a non-smoker, etc.
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John
http://www.twowiresthin.com

 

[David Nguyen]

I eventually took my DVD player to one of the recommended shops I pulled off the Sony website, and they charged me $95 to diagnose and repair the problem. You guys are right; the spindle motor which spins the disc is the part that dies an untimely death.
Here's the part number, if you're tech savvy and want to try replacing it yourself.
- Motor assembly - 1-707-615-11
On the receipt, it states that the motor assembly was approximately $20.75, so the rest was "labor."
These things must be on some internal clock that tells it when to crap out, because it seems like a lot of people experienced this problem shortly after the warranty period ended. Hmm...

Read on...
http://www.audioreview.com/reviews/D...ct_47678.shtml

 

[Eric Stuckey]

Is this a problem with just this modle of Sony?
I just bought a Sony DVP-300 for my brother's Christmas present.Being it Oct I found it at Target for only $169 and thought It would be ok.But since he wont even open it for 2 more months,Im not sure what to do ?! Target's return policy only last 30 days.
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[Todd B]

Eric,
Not sure about the 300. The 360 seems to have a lot of problems. Your best bet is to go over to www.audioreview.com and look at the comments on the 300. My unit is the 550D.
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