Problems with the Sony BDP-S350

[bestmanfall]

Over the past week or so I've started to have some serious problems with my Sony BDP-S350.

My two major problems are:

1) there are certain discs that cannot be played by the machine. I get an 'unknown disc' message before new discs, such as those from the recent Battlestar Galactica box set, as well as those that are older (and have been watched, perfectly, before these problems set in).

2) I'm unable to hear any dialogue when playing any disc at all. The soundtrack (score/sound effects/etc.) can be heard find, but whenever a character speaks they either can't be heard, or can be heard very very faintly indeed. Oddly, this doesn't seem to effect trailers (the trailers that appear before the Watchmen Director's Cut blu can be heard fine, soundtrack, dialogue track and all, for example), or some extra features.

I've read reports on other forums of S350 owners encountering the same issues, and how the 'unknown disc' message (along with the laboured sounds from the machine that accompany it) can be an indication of the drive crapping out.

As for the sound issues - I've been back and forth through the manual, and have no idea what's wrong.

Just wondered if any other forum members have had these issues, and what they to rectify them.

I guess I'm hoping against hope that there's an easy fix out there, and that I won't have to send my machine back to Sony.

Many thanks for any help you can give me guys.

[eiker_ir]

have you updated your firmware? what type of connections are you using?

[bestmanfall]

Yeah, I probably should have mentioned this - the firmware's completely updated (running the recent .20 update), and I'm connected via a gold-plated HDMI cable.

[djc11369]

It sounds like it was related to the firmware if you just started having problems this week and that firmware was released late last week. I know trailers are typically done in a different audio format than the movie. I can't tell you whether it's 2ch PCM or what as I have my receiver set up to particular soundfields depending on the audio it receives and I'm sure it depends on the trailer as well. I would guess that would account for that audio difference.

Are you going through a receiver? Did you reset all your prior player audio settings after the firmware update? I know sometimes people forget that the firmware resets everything to default. As far as unknown disc that could be a drive failing but it sounds too coincidental. It could also be a handshake issue between components.

I'm not sure if you can reflash the same firmware again or not (maybe a bad flash?) or even go back a version. Maybe someone who has been down this road before can chime in or you can call Sony and ask them if it's possible.

[Rob J in WNY]

It never hurts to remove and re-seat the HDMI cable connection, or even try a different HDMI cable. There could be a problem with the HDMI cable plugs, or the HDMI receptacle on the receiver. There are 19 connector pins in a single HDMI connector, and they are tiny.

As for the "unknown disc" error, perhaps you have a little dust accumulation on the player's laser lens.

[robpc77]

After installing the latest update (version 07.4.020), my BDP-S350 will not play certain discs. There isn't any pattern that I can identify - some discs play, while others won't. The error message reads "Cannot operate this disc."

Sony technical support helped me reset the player and that did not correct the problem. They informed me that my player needed to be repaired and they want to charge $112.

I suspect the problem is with the recent firmware update. The player is packed and ready for shipment to the repair center. But I think I'll wait see if there are any other similar complaints.

[djc11369]

Yeah, I suspect that's the case. After reading so many posts on here of people having issues that they didn't have until after updates (more Samsung than Sony) I wait until I run into an issue before I update and not before scouring threads to see if anyone has suffered any consequences.

[hoju3508]

Is there a way to contact Sony? I'll wait to update then.

[GMLSKIS]

I just started experiencing the same problem a week ago and I've had my player about 15 months. It has done it for Star Trek and District Nine and I have the latest firmware. I haven't a clue what's wrong but I take the disc out and put it back in and try again. Sometimes it starts working after the first time I do it and sometimes it takes multiple times but I do eventually get the movie going. A big hassle though.

[groove93]

From personal experience with my S350, when issues arise with my player, these three things are usually the culprits:


If you're playing a content rich movie such as T2, Up, or Wall-E and the disc will not play once it's inserted, and it's connected to your network:



Check to see if your player is connecting to the web, for an update or two might need to be installed.

If this doesn't help---


Disconnect the player from your network and remove your flash drive to see if the disc will play all the way through to the main menu, and attempt to play the movie itself.

If this doesn't help---

Clean out your Flash Drive and allow for the disc to rebuild the data back to the drive.

[HRC]

Sony bluray players are known to malfunction quite often. I played hell with my S300(repaired 4 times) and now my S360 is starting to do the same thing. It won't play discs or it won't play discs that it had previously play. This is a hardware malfunction and will need to be repaired... assuming your firmware is current. It usually will start malfunctioning again later on after you fix it. Sony bluray players suck!!!!! They are good when they work but they don't always work!

[rstem]

Has anybody figured out any problems with this player yet? Mine has done this intermittently from day one, with new and rental Blu-Ray discs. I have upgraded the firmware and it still does it. I watch maybe 2 movies a week on it. I sometimes clean the disc which looks spotless 4-6 times or turn the machine on and off and can get the movie to play. I have to see what the warranty is it's only 6 months old I got it last Christmas.

[bigbasso]

my bdp360 just stopped playing ALL bluerays, I connected it to the internet updated firmware and still doesn't work. Plays regular DVDs no problem, there was no warning signs no "sometimes works sometimes not" Just stopped playing all bds!!!

[plotko41]

my bdp-s350 just "died" today .....no warning signs. No matter what disc I put in Blu-ray or standard I get the message "no disc". Spent an hour on-line with sony...tried resetting to factory settings and a hard power reset to no avail. It was working fine just last week.....Sony said I can send it in and get a replacement for $112 but...I think I should just get a new player..any thoughts I am looking to spend under $250

[roxyv]

So far I have no problems with my 350 and 360 using authentic blu...what i've experienced is I have a DTS-MA Audio encoded music using AVC format on a DVDR, it played and when I updated both with the latest firmware, still played but no audio output. If I change the setting to 'Direct' it converts to lossy DTS...Sony' tight on codes I believe but not to the extent probably on orig discs

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Having the same "unknown disc" error on my s350. Just started happening all of a sudden. Thankfully I can still play blu's (for now) since the error is only for my dvd's but still grinds my gears.

[Dwayne]

I also am having the exact same problem with my Sony BD S350 and mine started before the new 2.0 firmware update. Still doing the same "cannot read disc" on some disc. Even does it on disc that I own and have played many times in it before. New title Repo-Men and Lockup "Cannot read disc". I sent it back to Best By "Extended Warranty" and they sent it off to be repaired and it came back with nothing done to it at all. They said it played fine for them and to make sure my disc are clean. VERY PISSED at this situation because this machine is cleaned, updated and my disc are in superior shape or I will not play them. I have probably run 350 disc thru this machine in a year and a half without a single hiccup and now this. After reading all of these forums I am started to get PISSED. I also have my player connected to a receiver with HDMI cables. THE funny thing is that I also own a Sony BD 360 and a Panasonic DMP 60 and these machines play every single disc that the 350 will not play just fine. MAKES NO SENSE, ANY SUGGESTIONS.

[Dwayne]

I probably should have said that my problem is all Blu disc and not DVD.

[bsc02a]

Just wanted to post that I'm experiencing the same "cannot operate this disc" error when trying to play the new Star Trek Blu Ray on my BDP-BX1 (which is just the BDP-S350 repackaged for Costco). Per someone else's instructions on this thread, I just started opening and closing the tray, and finally got the stupid thing to load correctly.

I've been pretty disappointed with this Sony product. When I call them they act like I'm the only one who's ever reported this problem, however this seems to be a resulting problem. Anyway, if you don't mind the open/close routine, maybe it will work for you too...

[blu-bren]

i've had flickering on and off the picture itself what flicker on and off, i thought it was the software of the player so i updated it but it still does it on some discs, not BDs, it also wont play some of my Battlestar Galactica (season 3, disc 1 or 2) DVDs
my other player wont play them either properly, freezing, pixelation../breakup
but pretty much everything does play fine on my BDP s350