BDP-S300 Playback Issue w/ WALL-E

[karen_c]

Hey ya'll,

This is my first post, although I've visited the main site for quite a while now. I purchased WALL-E the very day it came out on my lunch break and was able to watch it once through with no issues. A couple of days later, I had some friends over who wanted to watch and it kept freezing up on me.

I figured it was the firmware not being up to date, and sure enough I was runnin' 3.95 instead of 4.30. I was able to update it yesterday, however my WALL-E keeps freezing up.

This was after I had realized that I should have gotten a PS3 instead last summer because both the Cinexplore and Geek Tracks features require BonusView and BD Live obviously requires online capabilities.

Anywho, I was wonderin' if anyone else has been havin' playback issues with Wall-E (both disk 1 & 2) on the S300 or if my player was busted and needed to be sent back (still under warranty.) And if it is the hardware that is the problem (i.e. sending it back won't fix it,) is there any list of movies with known issues that is maintained anywhere on the forum or main site?

Thanks,
karen

[hourglass]

I have the BDP-S301 (same as the S300, but from Costco).

Wall-E has been doing the same thing to me.

If I start it up fresh after the machine has been off for a long time (like over night) it will play all the way through with no problems. But, if I've been watching other stuff, or if I let it sit on the menu for an hour while I'm waiting for people to come over, it will freeze at some point during the film.

It usually (but not always) freezes in Chapter 25 at the about an hour and ten minutes in. The first few times it happened, it was always the same spot -with the Captain's face big in the frame. Something I noticed that's never happened before - THE TIME KEEPS TICKING WHEN THE IMAGE FREEZES.

I can also access the pop-up menu and navigate the buttons, but if I select anything the whole machine locks up. No matter what, I have to power it down to get the image un-frozen.

If I start it up and resume the film at chapter 25, it freezes at exactly the same spot. If I wait a few minutes to start it (approximately the time it takes to do the 4.30 firmware update - gee... I wonder how I know that...) it keeps going past chapter 25, but freezes later.

Something even more curious - after Wall-E froze twice during a party on Saturday, I put Ratatouille in. It froze within 30 minutes.

I called Sony yesterday, and they say they haven't heard of these players freezing with the clock still ticking away.

To test if it was something overheating the player, I tried a test last night. When I got home from work, I put in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I watched it all the way through with no problems. I then watched most of The Last Waltz (up through Muddy Waters) and had no problems. Then I put in Spiderman 3 and watched about 40 minutes. Put in Ratatouille and watched 45 minutes (past where it froze on Saturday.) No problems. Finally, I put in Wall-E and started it on Chapter 25. It played through chapter 25 and started chapter 26 with no problems. Then I went to bed.

Today, my plan is to start Wall-E when I get home from work and play it repeatedly until it freezes.

-- Something to note -- I'm pretty sure Wall-E is the only disc I have with a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. Since that's the only choice, it's possible it could be the problem. The machine doesn't decode DTS Master Audio - it gets only the core 5.1 information. Perhaps there is something screwy in the implementation. Anyone else try any discs using DTS Master Audio in their S300 or S301?

ryan

[bkholmblad]

same thing happening on my bdp-s301, freezing when doing home theater optimizer. also about 15 minute into the flick when wall-e goes into his truck for the first time. must be a disc issue. seems a lot of the disney flicks have this problem. same thing with pirates 3 and rat.

[hourglass]

I turned on my player and let it sit on the Wall-E menu last night for about 90 minutes.

I then started up the movie, and it froze in Chapter 24 - about 1:05 into the film. Powered down (still worked from the remote control) and turned it back on. Picked up again from Chapter 24. Went about five minutes and it froze again. This time I let it sit there for a really long time. When I checked the details with the Display button to see if it was showing something other than zero for the bitrate, it said it was at 11:20 into the chapter. Below that it said the chapter was 5:05 in length. Kinda wacky. Bitrate was reported as 0.00.

I then put in Ratatouille, and it played from start to finish with no problems.

After that, I tried the Wall-E bonus features disc. This has typically given me problems when loading - I usually need to press the menu button about ten times before I finally get the spinning white icon and then the menu actually loads. Yesterday, it worked fine. I stuck in the disc, saw the blue LOADING status bar, then the spinning circle popped up, immediately followed by the main menu. I watched all of the trailers and then started the History of Pixar feature. I didn't watch all of it, but I didn't have any freezing problems.

At this point, I'm thinking the Rat freeze on Saturday might have been a fluke. It's one of my first Blu-rays, and I have a little boy who loves it, so it could have some fingerprints.

If it's just an issue with this disc on this player I'm going to be a lot happier because I really don't want to send this player back to Sony for a 2nd time. Hopefully more people can chime in with any problems they've had with Wall-E on these Sony players and maybe that will get us a firmware update.

ryan

[Mike Z]

You can also throw it out the window and get a new player. My S300 won't even play Die Hard 4, Robocop or Planet of the Apes. I've always done my firmware updates, etc. and nothing. Sony customer service is completely useless too.

Either getting an S350 or a Panasonic player soon.

I know none of this helps with Wall-E but I don't own it. Just wanted to show that you're definitely not the only one with S300 problems.

[Buddy Repperton]

This is great news. Not only do BDP-S300 owners get screwed not having BD-Live but we are also getting screwed with a player that freezes. I am loyal to Sony for most of their products but I hate PCs and this player acts like one!

In other words, hourglass, I am having the same issues with mine (also with the 4.3 update) and I believe this happened with Wall-E only after the first viewing was fine. I don't remember this happening at all with any other Blu-rays.

Thanks for writing everything you have done to diagnose the problem. It saves others from going down the same path. I guess our only option is to call Sony and complain?

[LisaP]

Hi
I'm having the exact same problems with Wall-E on my Samsung BDP-1400.
It sort of speeds up for a dew seconds and this gets worse as the film goes on.

I've found if you rewind back through the scene that's frozen it then plays ok, but will freeze up again a few minutes later.

I'm totally P'eed off about it and will speaking to Samsung later today to see what they have to say.

Lisa

[ahearst]

Also having playback issues with WALL-E. I own an S-300 using latest 4.3firmware. I chatted with a Sony rep Tuesday morning and I hope a new update is issued sooner rather than later.

This continual update crap is getting on my last nerve.

[themetz]

Also having issues with Wall-E.
Using a Pioneer BDPLX70A.
Losing will to live.
Asked Pionner for an explanation and will update (if and) when I get a reply!
Help!

[geoffc]

From what I can tell here in the UK this disc does not require Profile 1.1 for Cine explore mode ( I can can confirm just tried on my previous player Sony BDP300) but have experienced problems with cine explore - sound mutes couple of times - like layer change, PS3 & Panasonic BD-30.

[jling71]

Hi have the 500 model doing the samething. Freezes up. Not always on the same spot though.

[Blu-Raider]

I was the owner of the s301 for a while. I don't see how Sony gets slammed for providing continual timely updates on a discontinued model for the benefit of early adopters.

Give me a break.

[rob1984]

Same here with my S300..... Wall-E played fine the first time around. Then the next day it froze about an hour in. The image froze and the time continued counting on the display. So I reboot it and it started getting really wacky. I let it cool and other movies have played fine since. I haven't tried wall-e again yet. I thought it was a overheating problem also, glad i'm not alone. Can anyone confirm that there will be an update for this?

[LisaP]

Pretty sure my Husband has found where the problem lies, and that's with the Audio.
We've just watched it with the audio Description on (annoying I know) and it played perfectly. this is only 2 channel.
Played it again with the BIT rate turned down in 5.1 DTS and it went back to it's old tricks of skipping!
Don't know if it will be the same for all players, but this is the case for the samsung BD-P1400.

Hope this helps
Lisa

[Buddy Repperton]

Originally Posted by Buddy Repperton

This is great news. Not only do BDP-S300 owners get screwed not having BD-Live but we are also getting screwed with a player that freezes. I am loyal to Sony for most of their products but I hate PCs and this player acts like one!

In other words, hourglass, I am having the same issues with mine (also with the 4.3 update) and I believe this happened with Wall-E only after the first viewing was fine. I don't remember this happening at all with any other Blu-rays.

Thanks for writing everything you have done to diagnose the problem. It saves others from going down the same path. I guess our only option is to call Sony and complain?

Update: this issue seems to be with Wall-E and possibly the firmware update. Hopefully, they will have a new one soon!

[ghostwriter]

I have also had trouble with Wall E. My first issue in a year of use for the S300. I was running a 2.x firware, went through the upgade to 4.3. Originally the movie would not launch from the play menu. After upgrade, I watched the movie entirely without issues. I replayed this morning. It froze within 10 minutes. I had to shut off all power to get a response from the player.

I wonder if one were to turn off the DTS, if the freezing would stop. I plan to take the movie back to "Wally World" and demand an in store credit or refund. They will likely only offer a replacement of the same movie.

I found the firmware download process to be cumbersome. It took me nearly 2 hours to download on PC, burn the image, and load the player. I think it is important that Sony and Disney hear the "voices of discern" regarding this issue. I spent $500 for my player and $30 for the movie. I expect a positive experience for the investment, not a negative experience.

[Mike Z]

Originally Posted by ghostwriter

I spent $500 for my player and $30 for the movie. I expect a positive experience for the investment, not a negative experience.

That's how I felt with my S300. It simply wouldn't play certain movies. I had it completely up to date with the 4.30 firmware. All I had were negative experiences with Sony customer service.

Sony normally makes good products but I just went with the Panasonic BD35 and it's awesome.

[vltor]

I've had an S300 since last years black friday and I experienced my first ever BD freeze with wall-e. Seems random and I always have to power off the player to get it back. Doesn't always happen as I've played it many many times without incident (son loves it). Running 4.2 fw.

[squint]

Call the company that makes your blu-ray player and tell them about it. I called mine for the P1400 model.

1-800-SAMSUNG (726-7864)

So I'm figuring the more calls they get the more they're going to get to it to fix the firmware.

The guy on the phone said since it's reported they'll work on the fix for the next firmware update.

Thanks, and hopefully we get this fixed up soon!

[Blu Ray McHone]

I have a 300 and had no problems with Wall-E. I'm also running the latest firmware.