no longer plays dvds

[aldad]

My Samsung p231 used to play dvds. I made a few vcds with winoncd
and they worked fine. Now I can't play any dvds. I get a "no disc loaded" error maessage after it tries to load for a few minutes. Is there anyway
to reset it? Please help.

[macleod]

I am sorta in the same boat with my blaupunkt player. Basically, the lens has to be cleaned. From what little I have found on the net, you needto use rubbing achohol with a qutip and clean the lens. Dont try the cleaners that are offered commercially.

[jdizzy40]

Down load boo boo fixer to the left. Works everytime for me!

[macleod]

well, I tried to clean the lens on the player. After I did it, I put a dvdr in and it played great. put a SVCD,cvd,vcd, in and they all played just fine.

Turned the player off and put it in the minivan and tried to do it there. Failed on the same (even commercial DVD's) dvd-r's,vcds, and cvds.

Cracked the case open and took another shot at it and now it wont play anything "no disc" error each time.

Called the friendly blaupunkt people in IL and was told for $85 I could mail it to them and have them clean it (bought it for $100 a fry's).

I have been doing some reading on the net and found a CD site that gave me some info on turning some knobs and cleaning the lens better. Has anyone every successuly realigned their player>????


if so, HOW?????

[macleod]

Here is a potential fix for the dvd player that gives you the "no disc" error.

Going against common sense, I cracked the case last night and cleaned the lens again and tried to "align" the lens track. D-uh, newer players (at least the ones that I have looked at anyway) have it set automatically, so there isn't a gizmo to turn.

After getting no disc error again, got fed up. Now for the "fun" part. I had always assumed that the issue was with the alignment and the laser and NEVER even considered for a moment that the dvd may not be spinning. When I would put the dvd into the player, I would hear what sounded like a dvd spinning and the tray would jiggle a little bit, but upon removing the case enough to see the dvd in the player, I learned that was not happening. Basically, the mechanism that spins the dvd, was not making sufficient contact with the dvd, so what I was hearing was it spinning and NOT the dvd.

To test the theory, I inserted the dvd and as soon as it was in the tray, I used a qtip (the same one I was using to clean the damn lens), and gently spun the dvd clockwise. The DAMN thing spun up and the player started working. I tried it on all the discs that were telling me "no disc" and they all worked, NO PROBLEM. My next step is to putting something on the spinning part that connects to the DVD to maximize its grip and I feel confident that will fix the problem.

Short answer, make sure that the dvd is ACTUALLY spinning.

Now for the warning. I have read that your aren't suppose to look at the lens (I always think of "I looked at the light, Ray" comment from Ghostbusters). All I did was remove the cover far enough to see the outer edge of dvd and spin it clockwise (might be counterclockwise for you Australians, )

Anyway, hope this helps someone save a few bucks.

[scarfa21]

Im havign the same issue, whats the boo boo fix ur talking about?

And how do I go about cleaning the lens? Im assuming I have to take my cover off?

[macleod]

the person referring to booboo fixer was attempting to be a smart ass. Guessing to increase his post count. Wish the comments could be deleted as they deter from an otherwise (imho) potentially informative post.

Cleaning the lens is pretty easy to do. With the power off (sorry, had to say it), remove the top cover from the dvd player. Around where the dvd would go (have the player try ejected before turning poweroff to give you more room), there should be a silver circle with what looks like a lens. Should be the size of a pencil eraser head). With rubbing alchohol and a qtip, gently swab the lens. Afterwards, close it up and try to play some dvd's.

There are cleaners on the market which is a cd with some brushes on this (what I was told as I have never bought one of these products). From the posts I have read the majority of the people say these products are useless. Your call though.

The thing is, unless your a smoker, the place where the dvd player is very dusty, etc. etc., you may not have a lens problem. I had thought the same thing to until a cracked the case and peered inside to see what was going on.

You may have a alignment problem or it could be the same problem I ended up having. The only way to find out is to crack the case and have a look.

Let me know what happens.

[scarfa21]

Yeah im a smoker

Ill have to crack it open later to take a look

[ofbarea]

My Denon DVD-1500 has the same problem. I disassembled it once to clean the laser lens and it was able to read the first DVD I used. But that’s it. The next day it stopped reading DVDs again.

However, it’s a very good CD and VCD player.

[macleod]

ofbera, sounds like yours is a slight alignment problem. The risk/reward is you could get back to the original functionality OR you could lose what functionality you have today.

What I have been able to find out about it is there may be some gears in the player. Use a marker to mark where it is when you crack the case and then move the align knob one way or the other a little a time and then play your media and see what happens.

I told the guys at work about my "triumph" and have been branded "tim, the tool man taylor".