Sony BDP-S500 is freezing...what to do? - Blu-ray Forum

CtotheP · 03-03-2008, 09:44 PM

So I got my S500 for Christmas and it was working fine up until this weekend. I watched the Wicker Man, and about 1 hour into it, it froze. I was able to hit the fast-forward button until it got going again......rest of the movie was fine.

Last night, watched the Guardian, and it froze at about 1:10, couldn't do anything, had to force shut-down and re-start. After re-start, went to chapter right after the 1:10 mark, it played for 8-10 minutes and then froze again.

I checked both discs and they're clean w/ no scratches or abrasions. Does anyone have any thoughts? I might check my firmware, but am I looking at needing a replacement?

Thanks in advance

CtotheP · 03-04-2008, 03:50 PM

FYI - I'll be updating the Firmware tonight, found out 3.5 is the latest and my player had 3.0......we'll see what happens

BigRick · 03-04-2008, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CtotheP

FYI - I'll be updating the Firmware tonight, found out 3.5 is the latest and my player had 3.0......we'll see what happens

Hope that fixes your problem.

jling71 · 03-04-2008, 04:46 PM

Had the same problem with 300 model. Was to by sony that it needed to be serviced. Only had it a few weeks was able to took it back to the store for another one and did the same thing. Now have a pansonic and no longer have any issues.

Aries64 · 03-07-2008, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CtotheP

FYI - I'll be updating the Firmware tonight, found out 3.5 is the latest and my player had 3.0......we'll see what happens

Did you update the firmware? Did the FW update fix our problem? I just noticed that FW Revision 3.60 is available http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...d=3415&os_id=7. I downloaded and updated my S500 a few minutes ago.

Keith

RDL · 03-09-2008, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jling71

Had the same problem with 300 model. Was to by sony that it needed to be serviced. Only had it a few weeks was able to took it back to the store for another one and did the same thing. Now have a pansonic and no longer have any issues.

I had the same problem with my 300. Twice. Sony was no help. I am going to give it one more try. If it freezes again, I am going with something else.
Anybody have any suggestions on a good player?

CtotheP · 03-09-2008, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aries64

Did you update the firmware? Did the FW update fix our problem? I just noticed that FW Revision 3.60 is available http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...d=3415&os_id=7. I downloaded and updated my S500 a few minutes ago.

Keith

i just updated my firmware a few minutes ago.....plan on watching War tonight. I'll see what happens.

Have you seen anymore issues?

Kirsty_Mc · 03-09-2008, 10:05 PM

Update your firmware. Also check the disc for any dust. Now I check my disc for dust before playing it has not happened to me since.

I think it is the old technological curse striking. The player is excellent giving what I consider to be the best PQ available... the downside as with anything optimized for performance is that it can be a bit fussy.

The same goes for supercars like Ferrari's (or so I am told

)

jaykog · 03-10-2008, 08:16 PM

I've had the same problem with a couple of different movies and at different viewing times (I have a BDP-S500 - V3.60). I had to power off and ‘reboot’ the unit in order to eject the disc. After inspecting the disc, I noticed that it was dirty (finger prints); hazards of renting vs. owning. I cleaned the disc using a cleaning cloth that is used on glasses and I was able to watch both movies trouble-free. Since then, I am in the habit of cleaning the disc prior to watching and I haven’t had the freezing problem. Not sure if this is the same problem that everyone else is having but it’s a quick enough test / fix.

CtotheP · 03-10-2008, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaykog

I've had the same problem with a couple of different movies and at different viewing times (I have a BDP-S500 - V3.60). I had to power off and ‘reboot’ the unit in order to eject the disc. After inspecting the disc, I noticed that it was dirty (finger prints); hazards of renting vs. owning. I cleaned the disc using a cleaning cloth that is used on glasses and I was able to watch both movies trouble-free. Since then, I am in the habit of cleaning the disc prior to watching and I haven’t had the freezing problem. Not sure if this is the same problem that everyone else is having but it’s a quick enough test / fix.

That's a great suggestion. Need to keep a microfiber cloth next to the Blu-ray

CtotheP · 03-24-2008, 03:40 PM

OK....so after a 2 week vacation in Palm Springs

I finally got around to testing out the new v3.60 firmware last night.

I watched the movie 'War' and it froze during the previews. I rebooted the machine and it froze at about 12 minutes into the movie. I rebooted one last time and it played through the whole movie.

Should I try to make an exchange at Best Buy? It's been about 3 months since purchase, or should I start w/ Sony?

CtotheP · 03-25-2008, 06:02 PM

So went to Best Buy where the player was purchased in December and they said I had to go through Sony repair to get it fixed. Kind of a bummer, but I'll keep you guys posted.

Does anyone have any experience having stuff replaced/serviced through Sony? How long does it take, etc..?

CtotheP · 04-09-2008, 12:59 PM

FYI - I used a soft cloth to wipe down "No Country for Old Men" last night and the movie played flawlessly. Maybe you just have to make sure they're super-clean before putting them in?!?!?!

Audiophile1178 · 04-11-2008, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jling71

Had the same problem with 300 model. Was to by sony that it needed to be serviced. Only had it a few weeks was able to took it back to the store for another one and did the same thing. Now have a pansonic and no longer have any issues.

I too had the 300 model. Two different ones from two different stores did the same thing. Luckily, before my 90 return policy with sams club was up I bought the panny 30 model and returned the 300. I never have any problems with it at all. The sony 300 would freeze on blu-rays that were brand new! Before this I never owned any panasonic products and used to be a die hard sony fan but not anymore. They went down the tubes with their quality years ago. I think the 500 model is pretty much the same specs as the 300 model but with more codecs. If you can dump that first gen player and buy either the panny 30 or 50 model and be happy.

CtotheP · 04-13-2008, 01:06 PM

LOL - Watched "There Will Be Blood" last night (SD) and it froze about an hour in...guess it's time to bite the bullet and send it in.

Zaphod · 04-13-2008, 01:10 PM

Time to buy a PS3.

CtotheP · 05-11-2008, 09:16 PM

Quick Update.....I finally received my BDP-S500 back from Sony warranty repair yesterday. I was surprised that it only took about 9 days from the day I shipped it to the day I received it back.

The packing slip said they replaced the drive on the inside. That's is. I re-hooked everything up today and it has FW v 3.6 loaded on it. I'm tempted to download v3.7 since I just saw it posted in the last day or two.

We'll be watching a movie tonight, so here's to keeping our fingers crossed that this thing won't skip any more....

rubberghost · 05-21-2008, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CtotheP

Quick Update.....I finally received my BDP-S500 back from Sony warranty repair yesterday. I was surprised that it only took about 9 days from the day I shipped it to the day I received it back.

The packing slip said they replaced the drive on the inside. That's is. I re-hooked everything up today and it has FW v 3.6 loaded on it. I'm tempted to download v3.7 since I just saw it posted in the last day or two.

We'll be watching a movie tonight, so here's to keeping our fingers crossed that this thing won't skip any more....

so what happened? does it play well?

CtotheP · 05-22-2008, 08:28 PM

Yep, got National Treasure 2 from Netflix and it played fine. Now it looked like a Brand New disc, but I did check it for scratches, dust, etc.... and it seemed pretty clean. Haven't upgraded to v3.7 yet, but I'm going to leave it as is until I experience more problems.

nycomet · 05-22-2008, 09:28 PM

You're gonna think I'm nuts, but the same thing happened with my S300. It would freeze up on some BDs and some DVDs as well. Sony wanted the serial number. I had to pull the machine out from the media center and turn it upside down to find the number. I gave the info to the Sony rep on the phone and made arrangements to ship it to Sony for repair.

I couldn't just leave the S300 like that, dangling out from the media center. I gently put it back into position and decided to watch a couple of BD before packing it up and shipping back to Sony.

Low and behold, the machine never froze again. I've had it now for 5 months. It only froze up once in a while during the first month.

After the inverting of the machine, it has worked perfectly ever since. I'm guessing there was a piece of dust, solder, or other machine filament/shaving in the area on or near the laser lens. It must have been knocked off when the S300 was inverted.

I realize that this is a bizarre story, but it is 100 percent true.

03-03-2008, 09:44 PM	#1
CtotheP Member Member since:Feb 2008	Sony BDP-S500 is freezing...what to do? So I got my S500 for Christmas and it was working fine up until this weekend. I watched the Wicker Man, and about 1 hour into it, it froze. I was able to hit the fast-forward button until it got going again......rest of the movie was fine. Last night, watched the Guardian, and it froze at about 1:10, couldn't do anything, had to force shut-down and re-start. After re-start, went to chapter right after the 1:10 mark, it played for 8-10 minutes and then froze again. I checked both discs and they're clean w/ no scratches or abrasions. Does anyone have any thoughts? I might check my firmware, but am I looking at needing a replacement? Thanks in advance

03-04-2008, 04:46 PM	#4
jling71 Member Member since:Oct 2007	had same problem with 300 model Had the same problem with 300 model. Was to by sony that it needed to be serviced. Only had it a few weeks was able to took it back to the store for another one and did the same thing. Now have a pansonic and no longer have any issues.

03-25-2008, 06:02 PM	#12
CtotheP Member Member since:Feb 2008	So went to Best Buy where the player was purchased in December and they said I had to go through Sony repair to get it fixed. Kind of a bummer, but I'll keep you guys posted. Does anyone have any experience having stuff replaced/serviced through Sony? How long does it take, etc..? Last edited by CtotheP; 03-25-2008 at 06:07 PM.

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03-04-2008, 03:50 PM	#2
CtotheP Member Member since:Feb 2008	FYI - I'll be updating the Firmware tonight, found out 3.5 is the latest and my player had 3.0......we'll see what happens

03-09-2008, 10:05 PM	#8
Kirsty_Mc Power Member Top contributor Member since:Oct 2007 Location:UK Blu-ray collection:536 Blu-ray reviews: 21	Update your firmware. Also check the disc for any dust. Now I check my disc for dust before playing it has not happened to me since. I think it is the old technological curse striking. The player is excellent giving what I consider to be the best PQ available... the downside as with anything optimized for performance is that it can be a bit fussy. The same goes for supercars like Ferrari's (or so I am told )

03-10-2008, 08:16 PM	#9
jaykog New Member Member since:Jan 2008	I've had the same problem with a couple of different movies and at different viewing times (I have a BDP-S500 - V3.60). I had to power off and ‘reboot’ the unit in order to eject the disc. After inspecting the disc, I noticed that it was dirty (finger prints); hazards of renting vs. owning. I cleaned the disc using a cleaning cloth that is used on glasses and I was able to watch both movies trouble-free. Since then, I am in the habit of cleaning the disc prior to watching and I haven’t had the freezing problem. Not sure if this is the same problem that everyone else is having but it’s a quick enough test / fix.

03-24-2008, 03:40 PM	#11
CtotheP Member Member since:Feb 2008	OK....so after a 2 week vacation in Palm Springs I finally got around to testing out the new v3.60 firmware last night. I watched the movie 'War' and it froze during the previews. I rebooted the machine and it froze at about 12 minutes into the movie. I rebooted one last time and it played through the whole movie. Should I try to make an exchange at Best Buy? It's been about 3 months since purchase, or should I start w/ Sony?

04-09-2008, 12:59 PM	#13
CtotheP Member Member since:Feb 2008	FYI - I used a soft cloth to wipe down "No Country for Old Men" last night and the movie played flawlessly. Maybe you just have to make sure they're super-clean before putting them in?!?!?!

04-13-2008, 01:06 PM	#15
CtotheP Member Member since:Feb 2008	LOL - Watched "There Will Be Blood" last night (SD) and it froze about an hour in...guess it's time to bite the bullet and send it in.

04-13-2008, 01:10 PM	#16
Zaphod Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Apr 2007 Location:A small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. Blu-ray collection:350 Trading Score:4	Time to buy a PS3.

05-11-2008, 09:16 PM	#17
CtotheP Member Member since:Feb 2008	Quick Update.....I finally received my BDP-S500 back from Sony warranty repair yesterday. I was surprised that it only took about 9 days from the day I shipped it to the day I received it back. The packing slip said they replaced the drive on the inside. That's is. I re-hooked everything up today and it has FW v 3.6 loaded on it. I'm tempted to download v3.7 since I just saw it posted in the last day or two. We'll be watching a movie tonight, so here's to keeping our fingers crossed that this thing won't skip any more....

05-22-2008, 08:28 PM	#19
CtotheP Member Member since:Feb 2008	Yep, got National Treasure 2 from Netflix and it played fine. Now it looked like a Brand New disc, but I did check it for scratches, dust, etc.... and it seemed pretty clean. Haven't upgraded to v3.7 yet, but I'm going to leave it as is until I experience more problems.

05-22-2008, 09:28 PM	#20
nycomet Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Dec 2007 Location:Long Island, NY, USA ; I enjoy watching 3D blu-rays; 41 Blufans steels so far Home Theater Gallery:11 Blu-ray collection:1344 DVD collection:55 Digital collection:246 Blu-ray reviews:40 Trading Score:343	You're gonna think I'm nuts, but the same thing happened with my S300. It would freeze up on some BDs and some DVDs as well. Sony wanted the serial number. I had to pull the machine out from the media center and turn it upside down to find the number. I gave the info to the Sony rep on the phone and made arrangements to ship it to Sony for repair. I couldn't just leave the S300 like that, dangling out from the media center. I gently put it back into position and decided to watch a couple of BD before packing it up and shipping back to Sony. Low and behold, the machine never froze again. I've had it now for 5 months. It only froze up once in a while during the first month. After the inverting of the machine, it has worked perfectly ever since. I'm guessing there was a piece of dust, solder, or other machine filament/shaving in the area on or near the laser lens. It must have been knocked off when the S300 was inverted. I realize that this is a bizarre story, but it is 100 percent true.

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