Pioneer DV-434 No Longer Playing VCDs

[Matchstick]

Hey, all.

Hoping someone has encountered this problem before.

I've got a Pioneer DV-434 player. Last week, it was working just fine. Played all VCDs I burned using Nero with no problems. However, a few days ago the player decided it no longer likes VCDs. It will recognize the disk and start playing it, but after approximately one second, the picture will freeze and the player will then stop trying to play the VCD. DVDs still play with no problems at all.

Anybody have a clue what would suddenly cause a player to reject VCDs it read before but still work perfectly with DVDs? Appreciate any help.

[Baldrick]

have you tried to play in both pbc-mode* and only "play-mode"? to play in play-mode you press the button 1 on the remote and to play in pbc mode you press the play button after you inserted the vcd.

*pbc-mode = PlayBackControl, so you can use vcd menus,chapters,still pictures.

[Matchstick]

>>have you tried to play in both pbc-mode* and only "play-mode"? to play in play-mode you press the button 1 on the remote and to play in pbc mode you press the play button after you inserted the vcd.

*pbc-mode = PlayBackControl, so you can use vcd menus,chapters,still pictures.<<

Just tried this. Unfortunatley, the player is still doing the same thing, playing the VCD for about a second, then freezing, then shutting down.

[Baldrick]

does this happens for all vcds? maybe just a bad cdr/cdrw.

[Matchstick]

>>does this happens for all vcds? maybe just a bad cdr/cdrw<<

All VCDs and SVCDs, including ones that I burned months ago and ones I burned last week (which were working fine until this week on the player).

[vitualis]

Does it do so for DVDs too?

In any case, it sounds like your DVD drive may have a fault... You could try one of those DVD lens cleaners...

Regards.

[GreyDeath]

Hey Matchstick,

I too have a Pioneer 434 that used to play my burned VCD's but not anymore. Mine starts up with "PBC" in the display, but I just get a black screen. I sometimes was able to get it to work by sticking a DVD in and switching it before it hit the menu, but that was early on when the problem started.

I don't know the cause of this and I'm reluctant to take it in to get it looked at since it's a modifed player to play all regions. I don't know if the authorized repair shop would change it back or something.

It is puzzling, I too would like to know if there's a solution.

[Matchstick]

>> I too have a Pioneer 434 that used to play my burned VCD's but not anymore. Mine starts up with "PBC" in the display, but I just get a black screen. <<

That's exactly what happens. I get "PBC" in the display, hit Play, the disc will start spinning, I'll get about a second of video, then the disc stops spinning and the display says "Stop."

I opened it up and cleaned the lens. No effect. Still plays DVDs just fine, but will not play any VCDs or SVCDs that I've burned. I don't know enough about DVD players to know if there's anything else I can try.

Any suggestions?

[GreyDeath]

Hello Matchstick,

Actually, I've just tried what Baldrick suggested and it worked on mine with VCD. I assume then it must be some sort of Menu issue and Pioneers. It didn't work so well with SVCD's, it was like it was playing it in slow motion. On the DVD Compatability Guide it says the 434 should play SVCDs. Then again, there is no little "S" in front of the VCD on the display panel...

I use Nero to burn, but actually, alot of the time I get an incompatability notice which I ignore and they work fine in my other machines. I've found this site very helpful in the specs for VCD and SVCD, but I don't have the numbers for what Pixel Size they should be in, and if I should render it in Progressive, Top, or Bottom Fields first?

Anyone got the numbers?

[Matchstick]

>>Actually, I've just tried what Baldrick suggested and it worked on mine with VCD.<<

It does the same thing on my player whether it plays in PBC mode or as individual tracks.

>>I assume then it must be some sort of Menu issue and Pioneers. It didn't work so well with SVCD's, it was like it was playing it in slow motion. On the DVD Compatability Guide it says the 434 should play SVCDs. Then again, there is no little "S" in front of the VCD on the display panel...<<

It can't be a compatability issue (I don't think) because the player won't play discs now that it was playing perfectly only a couple of weeks ago. (I made some SVCDs out of the Quicktime Star Wars trailers and they looked absolutely gorgeous. Now that disc won't play, nor will any other VCDs or SVDCs).

[GreyDeath]

Hmmm... I'm not a techie, and I don't have a complete understanding of how these players work, but here's what I'm thinking...

The VCD might have been off spec that may have caused the player to sort of freak out and go alittle buggy, so much that it causes whatever firmware that runs VCD to lock up or crash. I'm not saying that the chip or whatever got fired, but it may be stuck in some sort of "off" position. Maybe there's a way to "reset" it, but I don't think just unplugging it for a while will work. I've never opened my machine, but there's probably a tiny battery in there that keeps your settings when it's unplugged. Maybe taking it out would let it reset... Science Fiction? :P

BTW, Audio CD's play fine...

[riojames]

Hello I am newer than a newbie. I am having a simular problem with the same model. The DVD player has never had a vcd in it before. It does play comercial DVD's and audio CD's just fine. I tried both methods mentioned in the earlier post. When I try to play the VCD I get a blue screen that shows Track 1, time: 71 minutes and compact disk, thats about it. This is a concert. On the DVD display it shows CD, the VCD indication does not light. The timer starts running but it appears to be running faster than when a DVD is being played. I don't know if this is normal or not. The VCD plays fine on my computer using windows media. The VCD was sent to me from a freind, who used Nero to produce. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks for the help.