DVD Player Philips dvp3040k can't play movies dvd

The only thing I can think of is to unplug it for a while, then plug it back in and let it initialize again.
My dvd player sometimes goes funky if a electrical "blip" hits it just right, and that fixes it for me.

I guess I will end up taking the player to tech support...

After receiving the moderator comments, I realized that I could still receive help with this issue if I post any useful feedback to comments posted by other experts...
I would like to keep this question opened and see what happens
Thanks

Thanks coral47, but the electrical issue I guess is not the problem. I also thought it could be that, but reinitializing the player does not solve the problem.
One more note... I updated the firmware of the player to the latest version (downloaded from Philips support site), but it didn't solve the problem either...

Thanks

hmmm... checking for a Firmware update was my next suggestion.
Other than running a cleaning disk, or try tinkering with Menu Settings, I have no idea why it is having issues reading a DVD leadin, and playing with the Mic button makes it work.

Strangely, I never even checked that... For sure that pressing the button could never "untwist" the player... But it is possible that it is a bit "twisted" or "tilted" frontwards... I am not sure how, but I need to test putting the player somewhere else and checking if it works...
Right now it is placed on top of the tv set... and now that I look at it, the top of the tv set has a little inclination, about 3 or 4 degrees...
I'll check this, and give you the 500 plus send you a postcard from Buenos Aires if it works...
;)

Ok... I used a very scientifical method to verify if the player is actually at 0º. I placed a perfectly round pen on top of it, and as I suspected, the pen rolled to the front immediately... After some serious deductions, I concluded that the player is tilted to the front... ;)
I the placed another pen under the front part (I found out now that pens can be used for multiple purposes... not as useful as a Victorinox, but still very useful)... Ran the "perfectly round pen" test again, and now it does not roll
Just in case, I also checked "side tilting"... seems like it's perfect
Tested our original GOLDEN COMPASS dvd... not working...
I didn't mention one little detail that could be important. Besides the fact that our home-created multi-movies dvds work perfectly, even if the player is placed upside-down, when I use an original movie, before getting the BADDISK message, I hear a sound every 4 or 5 seconds, like the lens is moving fast, like a small "swish"...
Some time ago, trying to see if I could find the problem, I opened the case, and inserted the disc, and I noticed that this sound occurs at the same time with a small "displacement" of the disc from it's center... every 4 or 5 seconds it seems like the disc tries to move from it's center about 2 millimeters, and then it get's back in place... I will try to get that on video and upload it to youtube, in case I am not being very clear...

Thanks... no postcards yet...

>> ...not working...

Bummer.   : /

Here you go... this is the video, where you can hear the "swish"/"clatch"/whatever noise the disc does... the displacement is not clearly seen on the video due to camera quality, but it occurs together with the noise, and displaces the disc a couple of millimeters to the left

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONxgYPRUZLI

Thanks

PS. in this precise moment the video is being processed in youtube. Guess it will be ready in a couple of minutes

hmmmm... kind of looks like it isn't sitting on the spindle correctly for some reason.
Is there a noticeable difference in the center holes between the dvix and dvd disks?
Maybe something to do with the drive or idle spindle?

Not sure what you mean with "difference in the center holes"... A friend of mine just told me that he once had a problem similar to this, and he noticed that the DVD's that worked had their center hole all painted in white (the surrounding area, of course... hard to paint a hole... ha, ha) and the ones that did not had that area without color (transparent). So he tried painting the area with white paint... and it worked...

Not sure if that is the difference between my dvd's, but as soon as I get home today I will see if I can find any differences and try to solve them...

On the other hand... if it were something about the spindle... wouldn't the problem exist also with non-original discs? Just wondering....

Thanks.. will post update as soon as I get to paint my DVD's... ;)

Now that's some creative thinking!  :-)   LOL

Don't know about down in BA but replacing the drive is fairly inexpensive and much less than repair shop.

hmmm.. painting sounds interesting.   : )

I was just wondering if the diameter of the center hole is different between the commercial and burned disks.
It sort of "seems" like the movie disks are having a problem getting centered on the spindles. The burned disks might have  ...errr... customized the spindle and the commercial disks are having a problem with it. (just shooting in the dark here).

Hi... I checked the diameters... they are the same...
I checked to see it he "painting" solution would apply, but all my divx discs have transparent center area, same as the originals...
Now, I did notice an important difference. All my copied discs are blue or green... and the two or three original discs I have (like most of the original DVD's) are silver (white, no color)...
Could this be a problem for the laser?? I heard somewhere that blue and green surface discs are read easily by laser lenses...

Could this be the problem (I mean, maybe the problem is that the laser is not working properly, but it reads green and blue discs easily because those are easier to read)

Very strange.
Have you tried the "problem" discs in a different player to make sure it is not the discs?

What about making a backup and try that disc?

I did, and they work...

Didn't consider the backup solution.... I guess it could work, but I'd like to solve the problem without adding myself more work (buying the movie, ripping it, etc)

Well, unless the discs are something like HD, which your player has a problem with, I'm stumped for where to go next.

It looks like your options are (besides burning backups):
- see if a repair shop can figure it out.
- keep pressing the REC button and see if it fixes itself.
- say some dirty words, and get a new dvd player (though I have seen little bitty players for about 20 dollars that you could plug into the current DVD player for use when needed)

Burn a boot disc, any boot disc, using the problem discs and boot from it.
If your system doesn't boot get a new player.
Not totally conclusive but a good option.

Coral47... I guess I have already tried the last of the options (at least the first part: "say some dirty words".. ha, ha!!)
I think I'll end up taking this thing to a repair shop, see what they say, and maybe I'll buy a new one...

Centerv.. thanks for your ideas, but I guess you misunderstood the nature of the problem. I am having problems with a Philips DVD Player (those you connect to your TV set, not a DVD Player Unit in my PC) and the "problem discs" are original movies bought at blockbuster that won't play (I get BADDISC display)

I'll decide what to do next week.. I guess I'll close the question in the next few days, and share assign points correspondingly...

Sounds like a plan.

whoops, "...pressing the REC button..." should be "MIC button".    : /

:-(

Anybody knows a way to "paint" a DVD surface so I can make it work like a blue or a green dvd??

I haven't really thought about it, but nail polish come to mind. Or a hobby paintstick (fancy magicmarker).

That works for me.   : )

You can probably find paintsticks in Arts & Crafts shops,  where models (cars, airplanes, ships, etc) are sold, or sometimes around school supplys (consruction paper, white glue, glitter). They look kind of like magicmarkers, but use a paint instead of an ink.

Thank you much.   : )