Help! Panasonic RV31keeps freezing and I can't get my disc out! (1 Viewer)

[RobP]

When watching dvd's that I own I have no problems but when I rent a dvd (that might be a little dirty) I have this problem. I understand that the player might have problems reading the disc but I was just watching a rented dvd and after it froze up on me I can't get the disc tray to open. After messing around with it for about 20 min. it finally opened. So I flipped the dvd over to see if I could fare better with the full screen version of the movie. During a different scene same thing. Its been about 15 min and the disc tray still wont open so I got frustrated and decided to see if any one has any ideas for me. I'm going to go back up now and see if I can't get it open. Do you think I have a defective unit?
Rob

 

[Jeremy Little]

I would assume that it could be just that disc. Rental discs always screw up at my house (that is unless I was the first one to rent the disc). Try turning the unit off. If it won't turn off, unplug it. Whenever you plug it back in, just hit eject. Don't even power it up first. Panasonics turn on with any button press and it should open right up.

 

[RobP]

I tried that and it wouldn't work. I finally tried smacking the top of the RV31 when I hit the eject button and sure enough it popped right open. Do you think its possible the disc is causing this. That sounds like a hardware problem to me although what do I know.
Rob

 

[Nick G]

Rob, I have the RV31 too, and I have played about 25 rental DVDs through it with no troubles so far. Is it new enough so you can exchange it for new one?
Nick

 

[Wes]

I can not tell you why the player will not give the disc back but I can tell you that it will not harm the disc to wash it off with mild dish soap and inspect it to see if there is a problem with the disc. I wash rental discs all the time!
Wes

 

[Adam_S]

Note: I found this thread after i found the other one about the rv 31 locking up, and because this one seems more active, is more recent and actually has replys I'll post this here to (I'm not spamming, just worried about my player and want it to work perfectly again).
This exact same thing happened to me. I was watching "How Green was my Valley" for the first time, having not even taken it off the spindle before this, the disc was in perfect shape, but for some reason my player locked up. It locked up a little over 8 minutes in, and although i could press buttons on my remote and the LCD screen would show the change, nothing would happen to the display on my monitor. The disc would not eject and after i pressed power it took over minute for it to actually turn off. i tried turning it back on, which it did, but the disc would still not eject. the player would sit in read mode forever, or it would sit with the LCD and screen showing open, but the player remained stubbornly shut. after sitting on open for about a minute hte display would switch back to read mode, in which nothign happened. I unplugged the player and pluggd it back in to no avail, so i unplugged it, left it for about five minutes, then plugged it back in. It seemed to be working fine once again so i jumped to the 8 mminute mark where i was before and started watching again. at about the 16:30 mark the same thing happened! it froze up again! disgusted i got up left to go do some other things. When i got back later that night, i saw my mom had moved the dvd player out of my room and to the big tv in the living room in order to watch dancer in the dark, and memento, which she had rented, both of which played fine. Earlier this morning my little sister watched spy kids (also rented) on the same setup with no problems. So just a half hour ago i set down to watch "The third Man" which i got from netflix. This time my panny froze up around the thirteen minute mark, i tried for about five minutes to coax it into to working, finally i just unplugged it, and headed here to see if anyone has had a similar problem.
So does anyone know what could be causing this? and how it might be fixed? I got my Panasonic in mid may new from sears, and i haven't had any problems with it besides this.
Help someone, i wanted to watch Dancer in the Dark, third man, memento, last temptation of christ, and how green was my valley this weekend, but i'm already way behind
Adam

 

[Adam_S]

anyone?

 

[RobP]

Hey Adam just though I'd let you know what I did. I had been trying to watch Kalifornia. The disc is double sided with one side being the full screen and the other wide. Well after the wide screen side kept locking up on me I tried the full screen side and the same thing happened at a different point in the movie. So I finally sat down with a bottle of windex and a paper towel cleaning the disc for about ten min. It wasn't even dirty but I was out of options and it was a rental so I thought I'd try something before returning the disc. Well wouldn't you know the disc then played through flawlessly. Even if the disc had been dirty it doesn't make sense to me why the panny wouldn't eject it. This has happened to me twice once with Kalifornia and the other with Bringing out the Dead, both were rental discs. You're the first person I talked to that also has had these experiences. I am as clueless about it as you are though so if you pick up any more info about the panny having some hardware issues or anything let me know. Thanks.
Rob

 

[Adam_S]

Except for me the first time this happened was with my own disc, it was bradn new, and I hadn't even taken it off the spindle. I'll try the windex next time, though, this seems to be a hardware problem to me rather than a software one.

 

[Adam_S]

Okay, i've stopped being annoyed, and am starting to get really mad. last night i was watching roughnecks: the pluto campaign, a disc which i got from netflix, well it froze again, same thing, lcd screen shows command open, stop, play, read etc, but nothing physically actually happens. turn the power off, try unplugging, doesn't work, after about five minutes get disgusted, leave unplugged for the night, wake up, plug in, still not working dammit! leave plugged in, turned off, go to school, get home try, and still not working, ten minutes trying to get it to work, in frustration stop, and watch jeopardy, damn trebeck looks ancient without that mustache, just one more thing to annoy me. grrrrr

and here i thought i was buying a good quality piece of equipment.
Adam

 

[Bill McCamy]

Don't force it. Get a bigger hammer.
[Edited last by Bill McCamy on October 03, 2001 at 11:33 PM]

 

[Steve Berger]

It's possible that a rental disk had a center label that had come off. When it went in it left glue or even part of the label on the spindle motor or chucking table and subsequent disks are actually sticking to the mechanism (not necessarily on center). I had seen some postings to that effect but discounted them until I had two players in my service shop with disks stuck in them on old label glue. If that is what happened then the parts need to be cleaned, not terribly difficult but does require some disassembly.

 

[Wes]

Even though a disc is new never been played it still could have cardboard or paper fibers that will/could make a DVD player skip. I have a RV31 also and have so far experienced two discs that would not play and in both cases it was a dirty disc. It is recommended not to use Windex, the ammonia might attack the plastic. Just use a liquid dish soap or liquid hand soap.
Wes

 

[Adam_S]

Thanks for the advice all, rental glue sounds like the most plausible explanation so far, as things go, i got my disc out, by pressing eject and giving hte top of the machine a good firm smack, the little motor whirred and the tray (finally) opened.

 

[Saurav]

I've been thinking of buying this player, and this thread is a little alarming