Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by Muyfa666

I made the "maiden voyage" with my 820 yesterday. Really solid player, very happy with it.

Looks like your copy of Crank 2 is from another region.

My copy of Crank 2 would not load correctly in my Panasonic UB420 or UB9000.

A quick look online, I found the answer is this disc looks for on board storage and then doesn't load correctly without it. I put a USB flash drive in the player on the rear input and the problem was instantly solved.

I think this is my only disc that needs this but the take away was the player works better with on board storage so I leave the USB drive there.

[Muyfa666]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Looks like your copy of Crank 2 is from another region.

My copy of Crank 2 would not load correctly in my Panasonic UB420 or UB9000.

A quick look online, I found the answer is this disc looks for on board storage and then doesn't load correctly without it. I put a USB flash drive in the player on the rear input and the problem was instantly solved.

I think this is my only disc that needs this but the take away was the player works better with on board storage so I leave the USB drive there.

Good to know! Thanks. I'll put a empty USB memory in and leave it there.

What format for the USB stick? The manual doesn't say.

[Gold Ranger]

What size would be good?
32gb, much smaller, much bigger?

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Gold Ranger

What size would be good?
32gb, much smaller, much bigger?

32GB should be plenty.

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by chip75

32GB should be plenty.

Excellent, thanks!
What does it need to be formatted to, or does the player do it automatically?

[Naiera]

exFAT

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by Naiera

exFAT

Thanks!

[Tchotchke]

Hello all!

My 820 player, which was bought in December, suddenly today won't open. It keeps going from OPEN to READING. I followed Panasonic's instructions in the manual for a jammed tray, but it didn't work. Any ideas, or should I just try to get a replacement from Amazon?

Thank you!

[sephirothkefka]

Originally Posted by Tchotchke

Hello all!

My 820 player, which was bought in December, suddenly today won't open. It keeps going from OPEN to READING. I followed Panasonic's instructions in the manual for a jammed tray, but it didn't work. Any ideas, or should I just try to get a replacement from Amazon?

Thank you!

Id try actually physically opening the machine and going that route. It's not too difficult to do. Once you get the drive out flip it over and theres a gap with a white piece of plastic and a tiny hole in it. Slide it and the tray should pop out or remove the top entirely off of the drive. Theres 3 screws and 2 clips. Putting the top back on requires sliding the dront kf the top into some slots near the front and then pivoting it back down so its level.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by trekky76

Usually I can just hard reboot the player and it works but today News of The World refused to play.

Did you used the screwdriver to unclick it from the back or from the front? I just didn't want to put too much pressure to lift the cover.

Edit: Gave it another try. Managed to clean the optical drive carefully. The lock however was pain in the ass to put back. I managed to break that tiny plastic pin to the front but still it works now. The movie actually played now as well. Not a very reliable player it seems.

Mine is having playback trouble too.

I tried opening it, but I don't see how you guys did so, can you explain in a bit more detail?

There are three little black screws on the back which were easily removed. They seem to hold down the top, but removing them did nothing.

There are no screws on the bottom.

There are two huge black screws on the sides, I'm not sure what they hold in place but I'm slightly nervous to remove them.

Other than those two two enormous screws on the sides, all the screws are on the back: five little black ones and 8 big silver ones that seem to hold the various connections in place.

[James Luckard]

Here's a photo of the back.
The small black screws are circled in red.
The large silver screws that hold the various plug elements in place are circled in yellow.


Here's a photo of the side.
The one big black screw is circled in red:


Those are the only screws visible on the exterior.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Paul.R.S

Has anyone with problems with an out-of-warranty player tried this service?

https://peproductsupport.com/

James, especially given your trepidations I can't help but think having an e-mail or phone conversation with perhaps a technician about what specifically to do and how to best go about it might be a good idea.

I checked out their website and looked around online.

My machine is out of warranty, so they would require me to pay shipping both ways. With a tracking number, I'm guessing that shipping the machine safely would probably cost about $40 each way.

They also charge a $50 flat fee for the item to enter their facility. The charge is applicable to any repairs done. This is similar to the situation with my first DVD player that broke years ago, which caused me to give up and buy a new one.

In this case, there's a base price of, say, $130 just to start the discussion about repairs. Additional parts and labor costs would build from there.

I generally don't like to spend more than half of an item's cost on repairs. I paid $350 for this new, on sale.

They also say on their website that they charge $50 even to give an estimate. That charge is also applicable towards any repairs, but is clearly designed to scare people off from bothering them. I've encountered it at car repair places too.

In addition, I can't find any reviews from Yelp or any other customer sites for this business. That gives me pause too. It does legitimately appear to be Panasonic's licensed repair center, now that they've shut their own center in Texas down, but it seems profoundly odd not to have any reviews online.

It also appears geared primarily towards cameras. The pages of the website are all titled "Panasonic Lumix Support" and the only mentions I could find of this business at all were a couple of people mentioning sending their cameras there for repairs.

I'm hoping I'll get some pointers on how to open up my machine and dust it out, and perhaps that will help.

However, barring that, I'm leaning towards buying a new one, while they're still available new from Amazon, rather then going down the repair route and spending nearly half of the cost of the item to have, at best, a repaired used machine.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I checked out their website and looked around online.

My machine is out of warranty, so they would require me to pay shipping both ways. With a tracking number, I'm guessing that shipping the machine safely would probably cost about $40 each way.

They also charge a $50 flat fee for the item to enter their facility. The charge is applicable to any repairs done. This is similar to the situation with my first DVD player that broke years ago, which caused me to give up and buy a new one.

In this case, there's a base price of, say, $130 just to start the discussion about repairs. Additional parts and labor costs would build from there.

I generally don't like to spend more than half of an item's cost on repairs. I paid $350 for this new, on sale.

They also say on their website that they charge $50 even to give an estimate. That charge is also applicable towards any repairs, but is clearly designed to scare people off from bothering them. I've encountered it at car repair places too.

In addition, I can't find any reviews from Yelp or any other customer sites for this business. That gives me pause too. It does legitimately appear to be Panasonic's licensed repair center, now that they've shut their own center in Texas down, but it seems profoundly odd not to have any reviews online.

It also appears geared primarily towards cameras. The pages of the website are all titled "Panasonic Lumix Support" and the only mentions I could find of this business at all were a couple of people mentioning sending their cameras there for repairs.

I'm hoping I'll get some pointers on how to open up my machine and dust it out, and perhaps that will help.

However, barring that, I'm leaning towards buying a new one, while they're still available new from Amazon, rather then going down the repair route and spending nearly half of the cost of the item to have, at best, a repaired used machine.

all of your comments here are further proof that we have become a "throw away" society. Buying a new one is always the answer... because logic forces you.

[sephirothkefka]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Here's a photo of the back.
The small black screws are circled in red.
The large silver screws that hold the various plug elements in place are circled in yellow.


Here's a photo of the side.
The one big black screw is circled in red:


Those are the only screws visible on the exterior.

To open the up 820 top 3 screws remove then the top should slide towards the back and lifts up. The 2 lower back screws as well as the side screws remove as well which lifts off the top steel cover. all of the back screws are the same size Phillips

[James Luckard]

I discovered it's two steps to remove the cover:
- remove the first three screws and then you can slide the decorative shiny plastic cover off by pulling it gently towards the back of the machine
- remove the other small black screws and the two big ones on the side, and you can remove the actual metal shell that covers the insides

I was too nervous to try messing with the actual disc drive, which is completely sealed within its own black plastic case, about the size of a paperback book.

Not that I expected it to help, but I used some compressed air on the innards of the machine.

I tried again and my new Singin' in the Rain UHD still broke up like crazy.

I thought it was just my West Side Story UHD, but then I remembered my trouble with The Last Duel and Casino Royale, all of which broke up into rainbow-colored pixels. And now Singin' in the Rain.

Something is clearly wrong with the disc drive itself.

Time to buy a new one, I think, while Amazon still stocks them.

[sephirothkefka]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I discovered it's two steps to remove the cover:
- remove the first three screws and then you can slide the decorative shiny plastic cover off by pulling it gently towards the back of the machine
- remove the other small black screws and the two big ones on the side, and you can remove the actual metal shell that covers the insides

I was too nervous to try messing with the actual disc drive, which is completely sealed within its own black plastic case, about the size of a paperback book.

Not that I expected it to help, but I used some compressed air on the innards of the machine.

I tried again and my new Singin' in the Rain UHD still broke up like crazy.

I thought it was just my West Side Story UHD, but then I remembered my trouble with The Last Duel and Casino Royale, all of which broke up into rainbow-colored pixels. And now Singin' in the Rain.

Something is clearly wrong with the disc drive itself.

Time to buy a new one, I think, while Amazon still stocks them.

Opening the drive is easy peasy. Theres 3 screws on the drive after which theres 2 plastic clips near the back.pry both to release and pull back which should reveal the laser mech.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by sephirothkefka

Opening the drive is easy peasy. Theres 3 screws on the drive after which theres 2 plastic clips near the back.pry both to release and pull back which should reveal the laser mech.

Do you mean the three circled in red here?

[sephirothkefka]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Do you mean the three circled in red here?

Yep! I'd remove the drive itself first to make things a little easier (4 long screws on each corner and a single ribbon).

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by sephirothkefka

Yep! I'd remove the drive itself first to make things a little easier (4 long screws on each corner and a single ribbon).

How do you remove the ribbon? I'm not the kind of person who usually goes into the innards of their computer, so I feel a bit like I'm doing brain surgery here.

That said, since I'm moments away from just buying a new one, I guess there's no real risk...

[sephirothkefka]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

How do you remove the ribbon? I'm not the kind of person who usually goes into the innards of their computer, so I feel a bit like I'm doing brain surgery here.

The ribbon is just pressure fit. Carefully pulling it out should remove it and reinserting reconnects.