[carroll99]

I have two Sony dvp-cx995v multi-disc dvd players and both
Give the error message "cannot read disk". One has been working
For about a year and the other for 3 months. Now they both just give
This error message for all DVD's

Has anyone had this experience?
Thanks

[Perito]

I suspect it's coincidence -- unless Sony decided that on such-and-such a date, all Sony DVD players would quit working.

There are many possibilities. You may have had a power surge or spike that took out the electronics of both DVD players, or burned out the Laser diodes.

[ech325]

Would you believe this happened to my changer as well... essentially the same time!

Will load the disc... chug along for about 30 seconds stating "reading", then spits it out and states "Cannot read disc" and moves on to the next. Over and over.

I am pretty sure it was a power surge during a thunderstorm. Lost the electronic control panel on my dishwasher too... that is the only clue it might be an electrical surge.

Taking it in for service tomorrow.

[KenKSony]

Couple of years ago I bought one. Last year it got the "cannot read" error. I tried pursuing 3rdparty warranty but they were great at not providing a solution.
So I bought a new one on eBay.
Monday the newer one got the same problem.
So I have to buy a new one every year? Or 3 months as stated above? YUCK!
Both of mine were on APC uninteruptable power supply (UPS), no chance of power problem.
Does anyone have a fix? Comparable product that doesn't die of the same symptom (design flaw)?

[schampio]

I'm yet another owner of this player which has been working fine for 3 or so years with only minor HDMI dropout crankyness on and off and dropping all the titles about 4 months ago. I powered it on and it was running fine around 8:30 and put me in a DVD's menu. I hit the folder button and chose another disc and it started spitting out "Cannot Read Disc" for all discs in the carrousel. I went into setup and tried to verify it hadn't dropped region codes or some such without success and finally power plug pulled it for an hour hoping a full power reset would reset whatever hosed it but its still dead. I'm off to Sony Customer service tomorrow to complain and hopefully get a hard reset key sequence. I doubt this is a laser read failure. I'm at least 2 years out of warranty and was planning on buying the blue ray enabled model when it releases later this year or next. If anyone gets a useful answer on this please post as will I.
Thanks

[KenKSony]

schampio,
1) Others have indicated the problem is that the motor that spins the disk is at fault. I haven't opened either of mine to see, too aggravated. We lived on that thing, even TiVo was passé.
2) Have you heard any specifics of a BluRay model or just speculating? I'm surprised no other mfg has a large capacity DVD player, and that BluRay has been ignored. I figure they'd at least sell one now for double what it should cost. All they have to do is swap in a new reader, the robotics are there.

Please do let us know what Sony Support says, and maybe let them know it's a common problem.

[schampio]

The BD 400 megadisc changer was due out spring 2009 and you can see an article here containing some links to some pics of it from the trade show last fall. Still trying to find someone knowledgeable back at Sony Tech support.

[schampio]

After an hour on hold with a 2nd level Sony tech support CSR they said it'd have to go in for the $130 flat rate repair. I popped the lid and verified that the disc loads just fine but the drive servo never spins it up. Found a URL for the service manual and walked through test mode diags (Top Menu, then Clear, then Power on the remote). Manually started the drive servo and it still wouldn't spin. Considering Sony only sells the laser assembly for $130 (no subcomponents) and someone on the avsforums already tried doing a replacement without any improvement I guess I'll send it in. The repair is only warranted for 90 days. The CSR didn't have any info on the release date for the BD mega changer replacement. Bet they drop the new one the day after it ships back.

[Dan999]

After an hour on hold with a 2nd level Sony tech support CSR they said it'd have to go in for the $130 flat rate repair. I popped the lid and verified that the disc loads just fine but the drive servo never spins it up. Found a URL for the service manual and walked through test mode diags (Top Menu, then Clear, then Power on the remote). Manually started the drive servo and it still wouldn't spin. Considering Sony only sells the laser assembly for $130 (no subcomponents) and someone on the avsforums already tried doing a replacement without any improvement I guess I'll send it in. The repair is only warranted for 90 days. The CSR didn't have any info on the release date for the BD mega changer replacement. Bet they drop the new one the day after it ships back.

I have the same problem (for DVDs - see below), so I called Sony. The CSR gave me two options:

1. $129 repair (labor only - parts cost extra)
2. $273 exchange for a refurbished unit

Were you (schampio) told that the flat rate repair included parts? If the repair charge covers only labor, and major parts might cost more than $100, then the cheapest and fastest thing to do might be to just buy a new unit online.

My player behaves differently for each disk type:

• DVDs - "Cannot Read Disc" and the player then attempts to read the next disk
• CDs (audio) - seems to work fine
• SACD - plays these as CDs (SACD info is ignored)

It's unclear whether others are experiencing the "Cannot Read Disc" for all disc types, or just for DVDs. Maybe I'm the only one that uses my cx995v for both DVDs and CDs?

[schampio]

I have the same problem (for DVDs - see below), so I called Sony. The CSR gave me two options:

1. $129 repair (labor only - parts cost extra)
2. $273 exchange for a refurbished unit

Were you (schampio) told that the flat rate repair included parts? If the repair charge covers only labor, and major parts might cost more than $100, then the cheapest and fastest thing to do might be to just buy a new unit online.

My player behaves differently for each disk type:

• DVDs - "Cannot Read Disc" and the player then attempts to read the next disk
• CDs (audio) - seems to work fine
• SACD - plays these as CDs (SACD info is ignored)

It's unclear whether others are experiencing the "Cannot Read Disc" for all disc types, or just for DVDs. Maybe I'm the only one that uses my cx995v for both DVDs and CDs?

Your CSR is ill informed. My $129 repair came back and worked as well as it had for DVD's. Hadn't tried it with DC's or SACD's as I have ANOTHER 300 disc CD only megachanger for them. The repair DID include a full replacement of the laser pickup unity (EBU I think they call it) as well as several other cables and minor assemblies which were listed with prices but credited on the invoice. I guess I should state that my box was a little under 3 years old. Your charges may vary. Have you tried to d/l the service manual and put it into test mode yet? You can crack the cover to get a better look at what's going on without much trouble if you're careful.
Haven't seen the new BD version released yet but I haven't been looking very hard. If you're gungho on buying a new one you might want to wait for it though It will probably be at least 600 (more likely $700).
Call in again and get a new case number with a new CSR or escalate to a level 2 tech who knows what's going on with repair costs. This is a design flaw/manufacturing defect. You SHOULD get parts covered unless you've overheated it or externally visibly damaged it.
Good luck.

[schampio]

Forgot to mention that they DID load in the newest firmware during the repair. Unfortunately it still has frequent HDMI dropouts varying from every other movie to every other minute. I was hopeful that the fw upgrade would clean up their HDMI handling but apparently not.
Also should mention that the new fw did NOT clean up the horrible disc title recognition rate (less than 10% and only if their from Sony). Reconcile yourself to getting a wireless keyboard hooked and hammer in your 400 titles by hand. Much faster than Ouija remoting them in. Now lets hope they fixed the random title dropout bug.

[Dan999]

Your CSR is ill informed. My $129 repair came back and worked as well as it had for DVD's. Hadn't tried it with DC's or SACD's as I have ANOTHER 300 disc CD only megachanger for them. The repair DID include a full replacement of the laser pickup unity (EBU I think they call it) as well as several other cables and minor assemblies which were listed with prices but credited on the invoice. I guess I should state that my box was a little under 3 years old. Your charges may vary. Have you tried to d/l the service manual and put it into test mode yet? You can crack the cover to get a better look at what's going on without much trouble if you're careful.
Haven't seen the new BD version released yet but I haven't been looking very hard. If you're gungho on buying a new one you might want to wait for it though It will probably be at least 600 (more likely $700).
Call in again and get a new case number with a new CSR or escalate to a level 2 tech who knows what's going on with repair costs. This is a design flaw/manufacturing defect. You SHOULD get parts covered unless you've overheated it or externally visibly damaged it.
Good luck.

[May 18, 2010]
Just to follow-up. I did send end up sending my unit to Sony for repair in July 2009. After a $129 charge, the unit came back and worked fine for 8 months. However, it now has the same problems: a) cannot play DVDs at all, and b) plays Hybrid SACDs simply as CDs (no HD info). I called Sony support. Since the repair warranty was only for 90 days, they offered to exchange it for $261 for a refurbished unit. I also spoke to one of their customer relations reps who couldn't provide any other options.

In my case, I'll keep the CX995V and use it to play only CDs, and buy a new single-disc Blu-ray player to play DVDs. The downside is that since players that handle both Blu-ray and SACD are a bit expensive, I'll be unable to enjoy the handful of SACDs that I own.

[someotherplace]

A few months ago my CX995V started doing the same thing - "cannot read disc" for all discs in the player. I was ready to send it in for the flat rate repair, but put it off due to an impending out-of-state move. Now that I'm settled I was preparing to send it in, but had forgotten the specific error message. Plugged it in, threw a disc in as a test, and it began playing it.

So for the flat-rate fee of $100, I'll gladly take everyone's failing CX995V, throw it loosely padded into a moving box, then drop-kick it into the back of a moving truck for a 1,000 mile journey across the country. No guarantees whether it will work afterwards, or for how long, but so far mine is behaving. Fingers crossed.

[earlman]

DVP-CX995V had error message: "cannot read". 5-minute fix!

Make sure disc is loaded the correct way! If that's not it, UNPLUG UNIT. Remove metal cabinet. Remove large odd-shaped platic cover from rear (on the right) to expose the lazer/player/motor area. Check to see if disc motor spins freely. Take Q-tip dipped in alcohol and very gently clean laser lens. Play with the wires at all connection points within view. All the connections are usually very poor, ESPECIALLY to the laser and motor. Gently wiggle the wires. Restart unit. Ta-dum. Got my unit working in 20 seconds. Re-assemble. Done.
Cost- $0
Total time- 5 minutes.

[neilsak]

Looks like it is a known fact that the laser / motor assembly on these changers are piss poor. Had the same issue, opened it up, played with the wires, spun the disc and motor manually, the usual stuff. Finally got it working, was thrilled, lasted 1 day, and back to square one. Was hoping I could purchase the laser / motor assembly on eBay, and replace the defective part myself, but the part does not seem to be available online. Sucks. I really don't feel like buying a new one when only 1 part if failing, although without that part working the unit is useless. Guess I will open it up again and play with the motor again. Sucks!! Hope the folks dumps $600-$1200 on the BD changers won't have the same issue.

[KenKSony]

After a couple of units failed on me I got a 3rd but never trusted it, never reloaded all of my DVD's. It has been a pain, but my operation is now based on a WD-TV which streams video over LAN from a RAIDed PC.
Www.makemkv.com has a great program for copying DVD to MKV file or files depending on whether you want 1 MKV per episode or 1 per DVD. Fast because it does not transcode the video, just copy to MKV container format.

Hmm, since I have 2 failed units stored away I should try earlman's fix. If that doesn't work then they are most of the way to the garbage can anyway!

Does anyone have that service manual mentioned in a previous post? The link is broken.

[KenKSony]

I found another copy of the service manual:
http://www.givemefile.net/smanuals/d...file/1240.html

[pomonabill221]

I bought one from a thrift store for $40. Got it home and got the cannot play disk error.
I have the service manual so started poking around and found that (when in service mode) there was no "power detect" signal from the pickup.
Looked closer and found that the ribbon cable between the pickup (that moves) and the "translation board" (that doe not move) had a few broken ribbon in it, and one was the power detect.
When this signal is low (or zero in my case) the driver that powers the laser for the mode you are in (dvd or cd... there are two different lasers), tries to apply more power to the diode.
The diode was being over driven (more than 80 milliamp) and cooked the diode.
Bought a new laser assembly and a couple of flex cables (from Mouser) and BINGO!! I have another (yes two now) changers!

[martin ranger]

Have you tried turning the disc around. I just got mine and I did the same thing.
I just noticed the date one your question and am assuming you have gotten an answer.
Martin

[pomonabill221]

Yes I fix it. As I stated in my original message, the ribbon had broken and made the laser driver overdrive the diode and cooked it.
Had to replace the pickup as well.
No... the disk was in correctly.