Burnt & Bought Movies Skipping/Freezing At End of Movie - Did a Search - HELP!

[PJStyles]

For over 2 years now I've been burning movies onto dvd using Nero. I never use DVDShrink as I'm able to get the movies already in .BIN or .ISO format and just burn directly to dvd.

Recently, I've noticed that not only are some of my burned movies having an issue towards the end of the movie with freezing/skipping, but I had the same issue with a purchased movie as well. I tried them on my computer's dvd burner and they work fine.

In addition, I bought a new dvd player thinking that my 20 month old Sony dvd player was going to the crapper and low and behold, same pixelation and freezing occured on both dvd's at the exact same point in the movies. I originally thought bad media but when you start to have the same problem with purchased dvd's, you can hardly blame the media.

What other troubleshooting techniques can I use? Not sure where to go from here? I ruled out it being a cable/wiring issue because pixelation and freezing would occur at random points in the movie but I"m noticing that when this does occur, it's always towards the end of the movie.

Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

P.S - I did recently open up my dvd player and cleaned the lens.... still no improvement. I also notice that when the freezing/pixelation occurs, the progressive scan light goes off during those moments... not sure if that helps in troubleshooting at all.

Thanks in advance....

PJStyles

[NightTran]

burn too close to the edge, you can change the target in shirnk to 4200 or 4300 and then burn again only good media like YUden can go close to the edge

[Chewy]

Uf your store bought originals are having problems it is probably aggrevated by
your playing setup, a bad rf modulator plays heck with everything.

[RFBurns]

Hi!

Another Sony giving someone headaches.....not surprising.

Well I can walk you through a little unknown procedure to reset the optic blocks focus and tracking settings. They drift after awhile and will cause unstable reading of even stamped discs. You will need your DVD player's remote control to do the procedure...You will also need the following discs to perform the adjustment....a single layer stamped DVD, a standard audio CD, and a dual layer stamped DVD.

1. Remove any disc/s from the player and shut it off.

2. On the remote control, hit the following keys in order as shown, and within a 5 second period.....TITLE/CLEAR/POWER...on some remotes it might not have TITLE, so use the key SUBTITLE instead.

3. A blue menu screen appears. Select "Auto Drive Adjustment".

4. Next, select "ALL"

5. The player will begin by requesting a certian disc...it may be the single layer DVD, or dual layer DVD, or the audio CD. Insert the type of disc it requests. Keep in mind, that all functions are done by the remote control. The on screen instructions will tell you what key to press.

6. As it goes through its alignment, it might ask if you want to continue with the focus adjustment during its alignment phase....hit "enter" on the remote to confirm to continue with the focus adjustment, it might ask this for all 3 types of discs inserted. Just let the unit proceed with the self adjustments.

NOTE: If the unit detects any problem, the adjustment procedure will stop and ask you to remove the disc. Make sure the discs you use for this little adjustment procedure are clean, no scratches of any kind or dirt, and they MUST be stamped/store bought discs. If you use burned discs, that will totally throw the alighnment out of spec and it may never recover!!!

Once the prodedure completes for each disc, power down the unit, then turn on again and try your discs. The prodecure will readjust the focus amplifiers, the tracking amplifiers and optical emitter and pickup settings to compensate for component aging. 9 times out of 10 this procedure will fix most problems with the Sony DVD player goofing up on discs. This procedure is recommended if your player is over a year old. If you follow this procedure once a year or twice a year depending on how often the DVD player is used, you can prolong the life of the player 10 fold.

Hope this helps!

[copyless]

RFBurns, Thanks I love info like this. Now a question, will this procedure also work on my Sony DVP-C600D? Or is it a diferent procedure on mine. I am not actually having problems, but since you recommended it on players over a year old, I thought I might give it a go, since I am pretty sure mine is at least a year old, give or take several. Thanks again.

[RFBurns]

RFBurns, Thanks I love info like this. Now a question, will this procedure also work on my Sony DVP-C600D? Or is it a diferent procedure on mine. I am not actually having problems, but since you recommended it on players over a year old, I thought I might give it a go, since I am pretty sure mine is at least a year old, give or take several. Thanks again.

Hi!

Yes, the Sony DVD players, including some of the recorders and combo VHS/DVD units use the same firmware that has the system diagnostic/service function. There are slight differences in menu choices, but the procedure is the same.

[copyless]

Great answer, since I also have a RDR-VX515 DL recorder. Thanks for your help. I printed the page for safe keeping.

[benbryant]

Much and much mahalo RFBurns. Your advice will help and benefit our forum members a lot with Sony DVD players

Regards

[RFBurns]

No problem! Im happy to help out. I feel like its my duty to inform folks about things that should be put into owners manuals. Alot of problems can be solved if the information is available.

Hitachi believes in that concept, they provide free of charge via their website, service manuals, tech tips, updates, parts lists and ordering forms and one doesnt need to be authorized servicer or service center to get those parts either! Anyone can go to their website and get everything needed to fix up their units. Sony on the other hand...is not so willing to do that. Therefore, as a Sony engineer who partakes in the development and design of their products, I feel that at least I can provide assistance with those products that not only will save the consumer alot of time and money, but even save Sony alot of unecessary paperwork, delays, unsatisfied customer complaints, etc. Its a win-win scenario.

[tomjohnson23]

Mr. RFBurns,
Thank you so much for this explanation. I have a question...I tried what you said to do with my new Sony SLV-D370P combo DVD/VCR but I could not get the auto drive adjustment menu to come up. I just kept on getting "Insert Disc" on my screen. Is there another remote control key sequence I should try?

[RFBurns]

Mr. RFBurns,
Thank you so much for this explanation. I have a question...I tried what you said to do with my new Sony SLV-D370P combo DVD/VCR but I could not get the auto drive adjustment menu to come up. I just kept on getting "Insert Disc" on my screen. Is there another remote control key sequence I should try?

Hi!

Your unit, the SLV-D370P is one of the recent models of combo DVD/VCR units. Sony decided on that model and a couple of others to do away with the auto-adjustment mode in the firmware, mostly because of the VCR part.

Im sorry if this caused confusion, I should have been more specific on which models has the firmware service mode and which ones dont, I think I only said "some of the DVD/VCR combo units".
My bad.


Sony did a little trick on those and created a "service disc", which has a special command IFO and BUP files on a service DVD which makes the unit go into a diagnostic mode. The service disc has files on it, much like loading a data disc that some program might require to run. Each unit has its own special service disc to place the units into diagnostic mode, otherwise the unit just operates normaly. You could call it a "boot disc" of sorts.

That "boot disc" is only available to authorized Sony service centers. If your having troubles with the unit, you can locate the nearest service center to you by visiting http://esupport.sony.com click on "repair/service" in the upper right corner menu, then enter your model number in the fields provided and it can find a service center near you.

Sorry for any confusion I might have caused on this. I have not seen any of these units come in for service....at least not yet anyway. But keep in mind that even DVD/VCR combo units are fairly cheap, so if your unit went out of warranty and it is now having problems, it might be better to simply replace it with a new unit. Or if your unit is still in warranty, Sony will honor that and repair or exchange it at no cost.

Hope this helps!

[tomjohnson23]

Thank you!

Thank you very much again, Mr. Burns! This is all very helpful.

[davidkang27]

Freezing/Skipping Problem Panasonic DVD XP30

Hi!

Another Sony giving someone headaches.....not surprising.

Well I can walk you through a little unknown procedure to reset the optic blocks focus and tracking settings. They drift after awhile and will cause unstable reading of even stamped discs. You will need your DVD player's remote control to do the procedure...You will also need the following discs to perform the adjustment....a single layer stamped DVD, a standard audio CD, and a dual layer stamped DVD.

1. Remove any disc/s from the player and shut it off.

2. On the remote control, hit the following keys in order as shown, and within a 5 second period.....TITLE/CLEAR/POWER...on some remotes it might not have TITLE, so use the key SUBTITLE instead.

3. A blue menu screen appears. Select "Auto Drive Adjustment".

4. Next, select "ALL"

5. The player will begin by requesting a certian disc...it may be the single layer DVD, or dual layer DVD, or the audio CD. Insert the type of disc it requests. Keep in mind, that all functions are done by the remote control. The on screen instructions will tell you what key to press.

6. As it goes through its alignment, it might ask if you want to continue with the focus adjustment during its alignment phase....hit "enter" on the remote to confirm to continue with the focus adjustment, it might ask this for all 3 types of discs inserted. Just let the unit proceed with the self adjustments.

NOTE: If the unit detects any problem, the adjustment procedure will stop and ask you to remove the disc. Make sure the discs you use for this little adjustment procedure are clean, no scratches of any kind or dirt, and they MUST be stamped/store bought discs. If you use burned discs, that will totally throw the alighnment out of spec and it may never recover!!!

Once the prodedure completes for each disc, power down the unit, then turn on again and try your discs. The prodecure will readjust the focus amplifiers, the tracking amplifiers and optical emitter and pickup settings to compensate for component aging. 9 times out of 10 this procedure will fix most problems with the Sony DVD player goofing up on discs. This procedure is recommended if your player is over a year old. If you follow this procedure once a year or twice a year depending on how often the DVD player is used, you can prolong the life of the player 10 fold.

Hope this helps!

*************
Hello,

I have the same freezing/tracking problem on my Panasonic DVD XP30 player. It only happens towards the last few minutes of a movie. Does anyone have the code or buttons to press to do the procedure (reset the optic blocks focus and tracking settings) that RFBurns suggested for Sony players?

[RFBurns]

Hello!

Im sorry I dont have the Panasonic diagnostic mode functions, there may be some website or forum out on the net that might have them.

Tip: Sometimes a DVD or CD player/recorder optical block slider assembly can become stiff, usually caused by dust particles building up on the optic block's sled bars, making the optical block move sporatically instead of smoothly. This forces the tracking motor to "spike" so that it can move the optic block past the buildup or blockage, like forcing a stuck nut on a rusted bolt.

The remidy to this is to use a Q-tip and some non-amonia content glass cleaner. Lightly apply some cleaner to the Q-tip and wipe along the slide bars lengths to remove any dust particles. Then with another Q-tip, apply either vaseline or some other light lubricant and apply to the slide bars. Do not however apply a huge amount, as this could case the excess to drop down onto the mpeg decoder board right below the optic block assembly and ruin it. DO NOT USE A LIQUID OIL!!!!!

Allow the unit to run a full length disc so the optical block can swipe the lubricant across the length of the slider bars.

Another possible cause to skipping is the optic block's drive belt or gear assembly. If it uses a belt to move the optical block, the belt could be slipping or may have a worn spot (streched belt). In such a case, replacing the belt solves the problem.

If the optic block uses a gear arrangement, check the gears very carefully to see if any of them have chipped or missing gear teeth. Broken gear teeth or even worn gear teeth will cause the optic block to move in spurts, or suddenly as it moves across the worn section of the gear. The solution to this is to replace the affected gears.
...end of Tip.

Often the suggestions above are the cause of skipping players, but not always. The newer units when compared to the older players, have self adjusting electronics that compensate for aging. When one of these goes byond its adjustment range, the unit will consistantly have the problem, and often it wont matter what position of the disc it is reading, be it at the front or back end. At that point, its time to seek service for the unit, or if it is more economical, replace the unit with a new one.

Hope these tips help!!

[inddoc]

Sony player help

My Sony Dream System DAVC700's tray assembly gets stuck, very frequently recently. Can't play DVDs or get them out. Have to open the player and turn / rotate the belts a few times before the assembly "clicks" and starts working again. I think the belts have got worn (3 yr old system). Where do I get new belts? Called Sony, they cannot help. Any other way to "strenghten" the belts again? Any help will be appreciated!