PS3 says "This Disc is Invalid 80029906"

[CarolinaBlu]

I was watching Lost Season 4 Disc 2 last night with the old lady and all of a sudden it freezes up! I tried ejecting the disc and it took so long that I actually manually shut off the power and powered back on. I popped back in, saying "Huh! That's weird...". The disc freezes in a different spot, but I can eject it with my remote this time. "Ok, lets try this once more...". Now it won't even recognize the disc or when it does, it gives me an invalid disc error message! Whattya mean invalid disc?!?! So I pop in some other blu's which play fine but take forever to pop up on the menu... then I pop in another disc from the Lost set and it is only recognized after like every other time. What is the deal? Is my PS3 the issue or is it these Lost blu's? What should I do???

[cdot2four]

check for finger prints on the disc that was my problem with another movie.

[brewp13]

Do you have the most recent update?

[jstutman]

2.70 update, check for it.

Smudges, fingerprints, and anything else on the disc.

[CarolinaBlu]

I've DL'd the 2.70 update and it's still happening. I've also checked the disc for smudges and I can't see anything. So... I guess I'm gonna try reformatting my drive and see if that helps...

[AppleCrumbDlite]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBlu

I've DL'd the 2.70 update and it's still happening. I've also checked the disc for smudges and I can't see anything. So... I guess I'm gonna try reformatting my drive and see if that helps...

hmmm, thats strange. I hope your laser isnt going.

[gxprix05]

I have the same problem..Have you figured out why its doing this? I can play dvd's in it and it works fine..

[Anthony P]

I agree, try cleaning the disk. Clean it as if it is eye glasses. Yesterday after eating chicken, my Nephew gave me Batman return to watch, it had big greasy finger prints all over it. Took a bit of cleaning to clean it, but it worked perfectly after that.

[repete66211]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBlu

I was watching Lost Season 4 Disc 2 last night with the old lady and all of a sudden it freezes up! I tried ejecting the disc and it took so long that I actually manually shut off the power and powered back on. I popped back in, saying "Huh! That's weird...". The disc freezes in a different spot, but I can eject it with my remote this time. "Ok, lets try this once more...". Now it won't even recognize the disc or when it does, it gives me an invalid disc error message! Whattya mean invalid disc?!?! So I pop in some other blu's which play fine but take forever to pop up on the menu... then I pop in another disc from the Lost set and it is only recognized after like every other time. What is the deal? Is my PS3 the issue or is it these Lost blu's? What should I do???

A game I was playing froze. When I restarted the PS3 it wouldn't read any discs (but everything else was normal). I did the quick and long reset with no luck. After poking around online I see it's not an uncommon problem. I tried two things. First, I did the fan test (see YouTube for demonstration) then I pressed down on the area of the PS3 shell right above where the disc goes in. I don't know which one did the trick but things have been working well now for a month or so.

Before I got it to work again I expressed my displeasure in an email to Sony. They of course claimed ignorance and said it would cost me $149 to repair the PS3 since I've had it for more than a year. My response was that I'd rather buy a new Samsung Blu-ray player than spend $150 fixing something that shouldn't be broken in the first place. They didn't budge.

[andyparhelia]

I've just got this error. One day the ps3 is working flawlessly, the next it won't play any blu rays or games. Looking this up on the net suggests this is a fairly widespread problem with the older blu ray drives.

I have a 60gb ps3 since March 2007, don't use it that much for games - mainly just watch movies on it.

I'm well out of warranty at this stage but have contacted sony anyway to see what can be done.

[dave4192000]

These discs that keep freezing are they mail order rentals such as Netflix or Blockbuster? If so, check the back of the disc for hair line cracks. Usually you will see a slight discoloration in the disc. DVD and Bluray discs donot run very well in Postal machine and often crack the discs during shipping.

[andyparhelia]

Originally Posted by dave4192000

These discs that keep freezing are they mail order rentals such as Netflix or Blockbuster? If so, check the back of the disc for hair line cracks. Usually you will see a slight discoloration in the disc. DVD and Bluray discs donot run very well in Postal machine and often crack the discs during shipping.

Not sure about the OP, but my discs are from my own collection and are in pristine condition - it's the actual blu ray laser thats faulty, dvd's (which use a different laser in my PS3 60gb model) run fine as does anything off the hard drive, narrowing the problem down to the blu ray laser.

[repete66211]

Originally Posted by dave4192000

These discs that keep freezing are they mail order rentals such as Netflix or Blockbuster? If so, check the back of the disc for hair line cracks. Usually you will see a slight discoloration in the disc. DVD and Bluray discs donot run very well in Postal machine and often crack the discs during shipping.

Both times it happened to me the PS3 wouldn't read CDs, DVDs, games or Blu-rays, whether from Netflix or my own collection. So it's not the discs, it's the player.

[repete66211]

Originally Posted by andyparhelia

I've just got this error. One day the ps3 is working flawlessly, the next it won't play any blu rays or games. Looking this up on the net suggests this is a fairly widespread problem with the older blu ray drives.

I have a 60gb ps3 since March 2007, don't use it that much for games - mainly just watch movies on it.

I'm well out of warranty at this stage but have contacted sony anyway to see what can be done.

My PS3 failed again a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't able to get Sony to reduce or eliminate the $149 charge. It's due back from the shop today. I'm a little disappointed that I paid rather than switching to another player, but I have too much invested in the PS3--especially Rock Band and the Harmony adapter--to switch to anything else. Besides, I enjoy the games.

I used to be a PS3 advocate, but since I'm $550 out of pocket in just 18 months I won't hesitate telling it how it is. I realize many people have experienced no problems and the failure rate of the PS3 is (apparently) much lower than the competition. But as you said, the problem is common enough to be called a widespread, systematic failure. Sony should own up to it, just like Microsoft did with the RROD failure.

[andyparhelia]

Sorry to hear about your repeat problems repete66211.

I've been a loyal playstation fan since 1995 - my original playstation had to be replaced 3 times due to optical drive faults, I should have learned my lesson then! However, the PS2 performed perfectly for 7 years so I felt confindent enough buying a launch date PS3.

I won't be sending it back to sony for a refurb though, I'll see if there are any local guys who can do it or if I can install a new blu ray laser myself.

[repete66211]

Originally Posted by andyparhelia

I won't be sending it back to sony for a refurb though, I'll see if there are any local guys who can do it or if I can install a new blu ray laser myself.

Thanks for the condolences. I checked out the threads detailing laser replacement, but I don't trust myself to do it. Between the cost of the laser and the effort (not to mention frustration) I'd rather have Sony do it. They broke it so they should fix it. I wish you all the luck though.

[carbonS54]

GL resolving the issue OP.....all my old gaming systems still work....except my POS PS3

[Arcam_or_bust]

I had those problems, I have the 60gb, had to send it to a sony repair shop, cost $170 CND and they replaced the laser and cleaned and updated the system and this have been highly superior... and gave me a new 3 month warranty

[repete66211]

My latest email to Sony:

I received my 40GB PS3 as a gift in December 2008. I took very good care of the machine, but after regular use--Blu-rays and games mainly--it stopped reading discs of any sort. I thought I would check online to see if there were any solutions to this problem. It didn't take long before it became clear this laser failure is a problem common with the PS3.

Mechanical failures happen. However, when a specific failure is as widespread as the PS3's laser failure, the manufacturer should own up to the problem and, in good faith to its customers, offer relief of some sort. I do not begrudge Sony for making a profit with the PS3, but to charge $149 for fixing something that should never have broken to begin with is no way to treat a loyal customer.

For example, take the competition: The Xbox had a systematic failure (the "red ring of death") similar to the laser failure I and many others have experienced with the PS3. How did Microsoft respond? They extended the Xbox's one year warranty to three years in instances of the "RROD". I don't believe they did this out of kindness, but rather because competition demands it. What would have happened to Xbox sales if Microsoft didn't demonstrate that they are willing to stand behind their product? What does Sony's policy regarding the repair of failed lasers have to say in this regard?

In my opinion, I shouldn't have to pay $149 to repair a SYSTEMATIC problem, especially after only 16 months of use and especially for a device with a $400 price tag. Where would we be if everything failed after 16 months, due not to customer abuse but rather build and parts quality? Where would we be if repairing such failures cost 37% of a brand new model?

If Sony will not waive the repair cost all together you should at least assume some of the expense. I did not cause the failure, so I shouldn't have to pay 100% of the repair cost.

I appreciate your attention to this matter.

Here's the response:

We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you. If you are outside of the 1 year warranty period, or cannot provide a copy of your store receipt, you will be required to pay a fee of $149 U.S., plus applicable taxes, to have your console serviced no exceptions.

[PurpleJesus74]

Originally Posted by repete66211

My latest email to Sony:


Here's the response:

Sorry to hear about that,i'm just coming up on owning my PS3 a year,i got the MGS4 bundle version,so i'm hoping i'm not a ticking time bomb(so to speak). .