Trouble with Certain DVD/VCD Discs and Pioneer DV-525

[deesto]

I've had my DV-525 for a few years now, and it's always been great for playing just about any format. But lately I've had trouble with a few discs, and I can't figure out why.
On load, the player indicates the discs correctly as "VCD" but won't play them, showing just a blue screen (with 'PBC PLAY') and no sound while playing.
Some examples of these troublesome VCDs are:

• 'Hey Arnold! The Movie' (TCF Screener, 10/2002)
  'Austin Powers in Goldmember' (TCF DVD rip, 10/2002)
  'Spider-Man' (9/2002 DVD rip, says 'CDI' but I can't find info about that group)

According to VCDHelp (unless I'm reading something incorrectly), my player should be able to handle all formats except subs:
http://www.vcdhelp.com/dvdplayers.php?DVDnameid=293&Search=Search&#comments
All the discs above play flawlessly in my PC's DVD-ROM using Power DVD.
If anyone could relate similar experiences, or key me in on some similarities I'm not seeing, or a solution, please let me know!
Thanks in advance.

[BJ_M]

try cleaning it -- does it play pressed dvd's ok ?

[deesto]

Yes, it plays true DVDs just fine, so maybe it just needs to be cleaned, as you said? It would make sense, as I've never cleaned it since we got it!
Then I wonder what the deciding factor is when playing discs, because it's only a small sub-set of my CD-Rs that it won't play...
In any case, can you suggest a cleaner? I'm embarrassingly clueless in the area... thank you!

[EricB]

My Pioneer 343 did the same kind of thing and just got worse and worse. It would play some DVDs perfectly, and others it would stick on the menu or not be open the menu.

I brought to a local center for repair and they cited several problems like solder joints etc. I think if you check the player reviews, you'll see a few issues with the Pioneers.

[deesto]

I searched the forums for more info on the Pioneer 525, and to see whether anyone else had had similar issues (where it just stopped playing VCDs and SVCDs after playing them for years, while continuing to play DVDs with no problem), but I didn't find anything.
Your point about the thing just falling apart may be true; I'm just hoping someone else has another solution instead of my having to go out and buy another player!

[deesto]

OK, the more I learn about VCD encoding and the more research I do, the more frustrated I'm getting. I did some testing on different VCD formats, CDR brands, etc. Click here to see the results in XLS format.
Of ten different discs tried, only two worked on the Pioneer player, and there are no simiarities whatsoever shared by those, nor by the discs that didn't work.
If anyone takes a look and notices anything I've missed, please give me some feedback, because I'm at a loss!
Thanks in advance.
UPDATE: I tried the recent UTI release of Harry Potter II, and the same thing happened: plays just fine on my PC DVD drive, but doesn't do anything but a blue screen when playing in my Pioneer DV-525.