OldBoy

Anyone have a fix for this? It’s getting worse.

Only 2 or 3 year old player, up to date firmware, but discs (Netflix, especially, but store bought as well) just keep loading. Can’t stop, only eject. I shut power off and stuff once, twice (unplugging as well for awhile) then maybe it will work.

Usually, but after all this. What’s up? Blu-ray player done? I just don’t want to buy another considering I would need 3D and all that...

slybone

I also have a Sony BD player, different model, but same overall problem. Recently I took it to our local electronics repair shop, they did a $15 interior cleaning of the machine (said it was pretty dusty in there). Since then it does perform better, although not quite as new, but better than before.

Josh-da-man

Blu-ray players seem to shit the bed after a few years. I've had two that stopped working after 3-4 years; they would still play DVDs, but blu-rays wouldn't boot up.

My first DVD player lasted for ten years until I replaced it with a DVD recorder, and that recorder is still going strong.

OldBoy

Damn, that sucks. Really don’t want to buy another. This does so well streaming and such (always good and never loses connection) and 3D. Hate to part, I mean I get it working eventually but probably last legs. That’s too bad bc it’s Sony and I just love Sony products. I guess I could use Xbox but that would be annoying and harder...

cseyer

If you are about to give up on it I would try to take the cover off and clean the inside of the system. But given the way new electronics are designed/built they just dont last like they used to. Wouldnt be suprised if the laser lens is plastic and is distorted or discolored making it impossible to read the discs reliably.

OldBoy

I don’t want to jinx it (too late), but since I blew what I could with compressed air, just in the slot, it seems to be booting all discs fast and easy with no hiccups. Even the Netflix blus that gave me the most trouble. Retail movies never really gave me any trouble. Fingers crossed...

Jon2

Had this same issue pop up twice.

First time was last year with our first blu ray player, a 10+ year Panasonic (sorry, don't recall the model number). Worked well playing DVDs... right up until I tried to play a blu ray after it had been sitting around unused for a few months. Couldn't get it to read Blus anymore, no matter what I tried. Even after I took it apart and carefully cleaned it with compressed air and a vacuum. I even tried one of those lens cleaning kits for CD/DVD/Blu-ray players. Nothing worked. Still played DVDs afterwards.

The second time just happened last night and it's why I came here. I had intended to make a post asking if anyone else had this issue.

We have one of those small form factor LGs... just a basic player with no internet connection for streaming, apps, or firmware updates. It would loudly spin for a few seconds, then eject the disc with a message saying to check the disc. At first I thought it was the disc (Capra's Lost Horizon) which was new and I hadn't watched yet. Tried another disc, also a new one and it did the same. Ok... I think they're just too new for the player and since it's not updatable, I'm out of luck. Then I tried an older Blu I had watched a couple of weeks ago... it did the same thing. The player is toast I think. I try a DVD just to see if it will work. It did.

Then I remember the only stuff I had been watching for about a couple of weeks were DVDs borrowed from the library.

Now don't ask why I did the following. It just came to me.

I put in Lost Horizon again and turned the player off before it could eject the disk. Then I restarted.

It worked. It did seem to take few moments longer than normal to load the disc... but can't say for certain. I don't know anything about players so I can only presume that starting it up with a disk already inside may have reset something.

Don't DVDs and blue used a different color laser to read disks? I presume there is a mechanical component to that. If so, is it possible it could get stuck reading the same type of disc for extended periods? In both cases, the players had been setting around unused for some time. Many weeks at least, possibly months.

Josh-da-man

Yes, I think blu-ray players have separate lasers for blu-rays and DVDs.

It seems fairly common for players to either suddenly or gradually stop reading blu-rays while DVDs still play perfectly. My first player, a Sony, gradually stopped loading blu-rays... it started out not loading one or two specific discs, and that gradually increased to the point where I'd have to eject and reload any blu-ray I put in multiple times to get it to load. By the end it wouldn't boot any blu-ray, but DVDs worked fine.

morriscroy

This sounds like what happened with an LG bluray player I had from 5+ years ago.

I opened up the player and noticed the spindle which was suppose to be spinning the cd/dvd/bluray disc, was not grappling onto the disc properly. Basically not enough friction to grapple the disc.

As a last ditch effort with a junk disc, I tried pushing down slightly on the chasis directly above the spindle when the disc was being loaded into the player. Lo and behold, there was now enough frictional force to grapple onto the disc.

Without pushing down slightly on the chasis directly above the spindle, this LG player was back to not grappling the disc properly.

Jon2

Just a bit of followup to my previous reply.

It appears our small form-factor LG has given up on playing blu-rays altogether. After the "fix" mentioned above, I played a few more blus (along with several DVDs after them), but it no longer reads blu-rays.

Repeated attempts to restart with a blu-ray in the drive fail. It keeps ejecting them with a message to check the disc.

It was about 3 years old and only a $50 player, so reasonable performance is a bit much to expect. Guess I'l have to pick up another player, but not anytime soon I expect. This is only for our little summer vacation place.

ftsoh

I had the exact opposite problem with my 8-year old LG Bluray player, namely it will play Bluray but not DVD or CD. Go figure...

Viper187

Ugh. These things all wear out too fast. I burned out the laser on a PS3 (fat model) years ago. Now I've got an Oppo 103 that's almost 3 years old and selectively having loading issues. I need a UHD player anyway, but those Cambridge Audio ones are 800 fucking dollars and STILL only offer a 2 year warranty. I watch a lot of fucking discs. I don't want to be spending $800 every few years on these things.