Trying to play my only HDDVD that I have. (Well, I have the DVE HD disc, and it seems to play ok, it does say HD DVD on the display when it loads.) When I put the disc in, it tries to load, and I get the error,

"The disc is not DVD format
Cannot play the disc"

I have the D2 model connected via HDMI and have updated the firmware to 1.6.

DVDs play just fine.

Any ideas on what is happening?

I'll be monitoring this thread with great interest. I have the A2 arriving from Amazon tomorrow and Corpse Bride is the first HD-DVD that I purchased.

Did you try basic things like removing the disc and trying again, restarting your machine, or unplugging your machine?

Yes, yes, and yes. If I power off the machine, and it tries to load it after its initial boot sequence, it tries to load it for about 20-30 seconds before I get the error. If I boot the machine with no disc in it, and eject the drive to read it that way, it only takes about 10 seconds to get the error.

The disc when I took it out had a dirty film on it, eventhough it appeared to be factory sealed. I am chalking this up to a bad disc at the moment. (as my DVE HD disc reads just fine)

I should be getting another movie in the mail today, (Serenity or Batman Begins) so I should be able to test it again.

It just sounds like a bad disc. Try cleaning it. If that does not work, I recommend returning the disc and getting a replacement.

I didn't even want to bother cleaning the disc. I called buy.com and having them send me an RMA for so I can get a replacement.

For whatever reason, I have noticed that a lot of HD DVDs will arrive with little flecks of 'dust' or other particles on them. I always make a habit of blowing these off the disc with a can of compressed air. Although, to be honest, it does sound like you have a bad disc.

This isn't just a fleck of dust, this was a dirty film. It is gross.

You sure it's not a rental copy of Joone's Pirates?

I've had the same problem with two brand new copies of The Departed and two copies (rentals) of Discovery Atlas: Italy Revealed. I'm considering doing an exchange on my player because this rate of failure is so high....