My Samsung DVD-P721M DVD player has stopped working properly. I need some
guidance to see if there is anything I can do to make it work again
without
sending it out for service. It's not under warranty any more.
Okay, here's the story.
A few days ago, I tried to watch Yes Prime Minister, Disk Two, for the
first
time. The disc loaded okay, I selected the first episode from the menu,
and
the episode started. Less than 10 seconds into the episode, the display
froze and nothing I could do would get the picture to advance. I thought
that doing an Open/Close on the drawer and then starting to view the
episode
from the beginning might resolve the problem so I opened the drawer (with
the remote) and then closed it again. The display said "LOADING" but
wouldn't get past that point; no matter how long I waited, it continued to
say "LOADING" but never finished and never ejected the disk.
Since then, I have tried all of the following with no change in the
behaviour of the machine; it always accepts the disk, it always displays
"LOADING", but never finishes loading:
- I used a lens cleaner (dry) to try to clean the lens. The brand was
Intec
and the label says "Laser Lens Cleaner".
- I used several blasts of compressed air from an aerosol can to try to
dislodge any dust. The brand was Falcon and the label says "Dust-off".
- I used the lens cleaner with a wee bit of cleaning solution dabbed onto
the brushes. The label on the cleaning solution says "DVD and CD Cleaning
Liquid" and the active ingredient is 2-Propanol.
- I unplugged the player for several minutes and plugged it back in again,
in the hope that this would case an electronic reset of the components.
- I have tried several other disks, including ones that had played
successfully before this problem arose, and none of them get past
"LOADING"
now.
I can't think of anything else to try so I was wondering if anyone was
aware
of anything else that an end user without skill in electronics could try
to
revive this machine. Maybe there's a way to reset the machine by pu****ng 5
different buttons on the remote in the while standing on my head and
reciting the Koran backwards or something....
I should mention a couple of things since they may be relevant:
1. We are in the midst of a major heatwave here and the highs have been
above 30C since before the DVD player started experiencing problems. (It
is
also very humid here and I have no airconditioning or dehumidifier.) It
seems entirely possible to me that the player has suffered the electronic
equivalent of heatstroke. [My computer was also having problems that
appear
to be heat-related but I have an extra fan blowing into the case now; the
CPU and system temperatures now seem acceptable and the computer is
behaving
okay. None of my other electronics, including TV, VCR, stereo, or
microwave
is having any problems.]
2. This player has always been pretty reliable in the past. The only real
problem I ever had with it before was that the player froze on Homicide:
Life on the Streets Season 5, Disk 1, episode 1 a few weeks back: I can't
remember if that was before our previous heat wave or not; I think it was
but could be mistaken. In that case, I opened and closed the drawer, then
positioned myself to shortly before the point where the episode froze and
then fast-forwarded over it. This was successful and I had no other
problems.
--
Rhino
---
rhino1 AT sympatico DOT ca
"There are two ways of constructing a software design. One way is to make
it
so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies. And the other way is
to
make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies." - C.A.R.
Hoare
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