Greetings,

Picked up "Children of Men" this afternoon -- stunning visual and audio (the use of surrounds on the film is excellent) quality -- however, at the 1:17-1:18 mark the picture freezes and I receive the "Cannot Place Disc (random letters/numbers) error Code". Tried rebooting, cleaning the disc, fast-forwarding through the problem to no avail. I can chapter skip past it and the disc plays fine...just sucks to miss a five minute chunk of the film. I put in the reverse (SD-DVD) side and this area plays fine. I'm running the A-2 with newest firmware (1.3) and have played around ten hd-dvd's so far with no problems...so I'm curious, is anyone else having this issue around the 1:18 mark?? Just curious if it is my player or a known defect with the disc...if it is the latter hopefully CC will exchange my copy for another one. Thanks for reading, any input is appreciated!

Best,

Joe J.

A2 with 1.3 and no issues for me.

No issues on either my A2 or XA2.

Ok thanks...guess I'll run by Circuit tomorrow to see if they can exchange it and try another one. If it's a defect with the disc I'm not too worried, just hoping that there's nothing wrong with the A2 as it's not even two months old yet.

Sorry to hear about that jjubinvi. Sounds like stuff I've been going through lately. I haven't tried my copy of CoM on my A2 yet, but will do so shortly. My A2 is only a few months old as well, and although I have an extended warranty, I'd just as much rather the unit work properly.

I'll post what happens with my copy of the film.

I have a problem with the A1. Beggining in Chap 3 I get complete stuttering of the A/V. Almost slow-motion. Haven't played with it too much, but haven't seen this with any of my other (30-40) HD-DVDs.

The movie will not play on my XA2. Cannot Read Disc error. The first time it gave me "Not a DVD disc" error. Pulled the plug for 15 minutes, then booted up and reinitialized player. After boot up it recogonized it as a HD DVD but loading time was long then got the "Cannot Read Disc" error. Cleaned disc, unplugged unit for 30 minutes still no go, in fact my player locked up with the disc in it and I couldn't eject. Unplugged unit again, booted up and was able to eject disc. Very frustrating. I had this problem with Hollywoodland and never got that one to work. Luckily that was a rental. I bought CoM from Amazon and plan to send it back for replacement and give it another shot.

The player is updated to 1.3 firmware. I don't seem to have trouble with non-combos, and even some of my other older combos work fine (Brokeback Mountain comes to mind.) It seems my player doesn't like the new combos that are being released.

Watched it last night. No problems with XA2.

I'm having problems playing it on my A2 and XA2. This disc will play but at some point it just stops and I get the "cannot play this disc error". It's usually towards the end of the movie.Shame because it's a beautiful movie. I'm going to send it back to Amazon for another copy.

Watched it last night. No problems with XA2.
me too. that sux it was a great movie. hopefully it's just the disk. I had no problems with Hollywoodland on either the A2 or XA2.

Guess I'm not the only one then...it's only a 3 minute chunk (1:18-1:21) that freezes, so if I chapter skip past it everything works fine. A minor inconvenience, but the film is excellent on all counts so its worth it! I may try to exchange it @ Circuit, not sure if they allow exchange on opened hd-dvd's though...

I called Toshiba's customer support to let them know about the issue..they said I was the first to report it, so I'd encourage others to give them a call so that maybe they can identify/remedy the problem in a future firmware update (although its probably doubtful). The guy I talked to seemed to think that it was a compatability problem that lie with the disc itself, and not the player...I've never had any freezes before (Hollywood land combo played fine) so hopefully that is the case.

If those who are exchanging for new discs could post their results that would be great, I'll do the same (if CC allows me to get a new one...).

-- Joe

Watched this last night on the A2. It froze at the 56:00 mark, although the timer kept going on the front display. Luckily I was able to skip a bit ahead and the rest of the movie played just fine.

After the film ended I went back to the freezing spot and it played through fine this time.....very irritating indeed. It does seem as though the combos can be a pain in the butt. And that's unfortunate to have to tolerate.

the only problem I have is I wasted my evening watching it.

I have a similar problem with my A1, but it's a bit more sporadic. It first paused/skipped a bit towards the beginning when Clive is in the car with Michael and a bus drives by. That's where it starts. About 20 minutes in, I had counted 5 times that the movie has skipped around. I'm fed up. I'm really interested in the movie now, but can't watch it due to the skipping.

I guess I'll try a hard reset. I hope that fixes it. Otherwise, I have a pretty useless combo disc until I get a new player (thank God for extended warranties).

-Brad

A1 FW 2.0

My copy totally freezes in chapter 15 & 16. I finally had to reboot the player and play the SD side.

I also tried clearing out the cache (?) files in the setup menu, that did not help.

Calling Toshiba today. Not happy.

Guess I'm not the only one then...it's only a 3 minute chunk (1:18-1:21) that freezes, so if I chapter skip past it everything works fine. A minor inconvenience, but the film is excellent on all counts so its worth it! I may try to exchange it @ Circuit, not sure if they allow exchange on opened hd-dvd's though...

I called Toshiba's customer support to let them know about the issue..they said I was the first to report it, so I'd encourage others to give them a call so that maybe they can identify/remedy the problem in a future firmware update (although its probably doubtful). The guy I talked to seemed to think that it was a compatability problem that lie with the disc itself, and not the player...I've never had any freezes before (Hollywood land combo played fine) so hopefully that is the case.

If those who are exchanging for new discs could post their results that would be great, I'll do the same (if CC allows me to get a new one...).

-- Joe

Received my replacement disc from Amazon today. Played from beginning to end without a single problem. It seems that in my case, it was a defective disc.

My A2 won't play anything from the disc, just errors. 1.3 firmware. Considering how many users with different hardware have had problems, seems a safe bet that a defective batch of discs got out. I already processed an Amazon return, though I was looking forward to watching it this weekend.

I tried two different copies on my A1. One wouldn't play at all, the other played the title screen with the Universal logo and then it abruptly stopped and an error message popped up. It could be a disc / manufacturing problem since it seems to be happening frequenly on many different players.

I got my replacement last night at Best Buy and it played fine through the whole movie. Seems a batch of bad pressings is what's causing this.

-Brad

XA2 v 1.3.

CoM was actually the first HD-DVD I"ve watched on my XA2. Unfortunately, I had playback problems around the 1:19 mark. The audio dropped out (cut in and out, and sounded like it was 2X speed). Tried scanning back, which fixed the problem for a second, then it started again. Then I jumped forward to the next chapter, and it played okay for about a 1-2 minutes, then started again with the audio problem. Then it completely froze.

Powered off the player. Powered back on. Started playback from the beginning of the Chapter before the 1:19 mark and played through the rest of the movie with no problem. I may try playing through this part of the disc again tonight. Any problems and I will return it to Amazon.

Pretty disappointing 1st experience with the XA2 though...

Pausing, skipping, freezing on chapter 16 into 17 for me on my HD-A2. Sending it back to Amazon for a replacement.

I seriously doubt that this is a problem with our machines, but more likely a defective disc issue. I have experienced this a couple of times on SD-DVD TV box sets (numerous episodes on double-sided flipper discs).

I know I have posted the numerous issues I have had with "Children of Men" on HD DVD, didn't try the SD DVD side, as I paid for HD DVD and want to watch HD DVD smoothly with access to ALL features.

Cannot read disc, disc not DVD format, 8-digit numeric error codes, finally got to watch most of it last night, but had the freeze image/ time clock still ticking issue in the chapter with the tanks blasting the building. I think my cursing was much worse than the "R" rating this movie holds in front of my nearly 3 year old daughter. Even she wanted to see if they got the baby to safety...Who freaking knows??!! It has frozen...what a PITA!!!

But yes, it may just be this disc, everything else I have ever thrown at the HD-A2 has played flawlessly. (SD DVD, MP3 CD-R's, music CD's, tons of kid movies, and all of my other HD DVD's)

Who is to say that if I exchange it at BB, bought on 3-27, that the next disc won't give me the same fit??? :mad:

I got the same error message on my XA2. I am using the 1.3 Firmware. Must be a bad batch of disc. Amazon is sending me a replacement. Cross my fingers and hopefully the next disc works!!!

Watched this last night on the A2. It froze at the 56:00 mark, although the timer kept going on the front display. Luckily I was able to skip a bit ahead and the rest of the movie played just fine.

After the film ended I went back to the freezing spot and it played through fine this time.....very irritating indeed. It does seem as though the combos can be a pain in the butt. And that's unfortunate to have to tolerate.
Exact same thing happened on my copy (playing on an E1).

I didn't have the same issues as you poor guys with G2 (let alone X-Box owners), but I had 3 or 4 synch issues, slight barf that has the audio proceeding ahead of the image... a quick pause/restart and things are back to normal, but, still...

This is -not- as awful as the full barf/skip ahead seen on such discs as Happy Feet, where the audio literally skips out for a second, but it's still annoying, to be sure.

Same set of problems on my XA2 (latest firmware). HD DVD side unwatchable. DVD side is fine.

Well for Children of Men, my XA2 is unable to play Chapter 12. It would cause an error saying:

Cannot play the disc.
Error code: 408bc504

Anyone got this message?

Yea that's the error code I get at the 1:18 mark (not sure if this is Chapter 12 or not?). The video freezes, counter continues to run, and after about 45 seconds that error code pops up and I have to stop/restart the movie.

Yeah that's the infamous error code alright. Having to see that on the display panel makes me want to toss my Toshiba right out the window.

Yea that's the error code I get at the 1:18 mark (not sure if this is Chapter 12 or not?). The video freezes, counter continues to run, and after about 45 seconds that error code pops up and I have to stop/restart the movie.
i had a problem about 1:18 in on my xbox addon. i was just skipping through the chapters to see if it would play after happy feet wouldn't, and it stopped on whatever chapter is around 1:18 (the picture is looking through an archway). i ejected the disk and from then on i couldn't get it to read at all.

if it's a firmware problem, why would it sometimes work? i'm wondering if it's a mechanical issue. my HF disk felt bad (like the two sides of the combo weren't attached exactly straight and you could pull them apart). this one seemed ok. but with it working on a given configuration some time (i.e. xa2 with newest firmware, or the addon), does it seem more likely that slightly lax tolerances in the manufacturing of players and disks will sometimes combine to make them (a given disk and player) uplayable together? That would fit in with people getting it to work sometimes by ejecting or rebooting (the player "grabs" the disk a little more perfectly or something). and once it plays well, it typically plays fine after that, like maybe some residue or rough edge got worn down?

so am i crazy with this last bit of speculation?

Same set of problems on my XA2 (latest firmware). HD DVD side unwatchable. DVD side is fine.
That's why you have combo discs - says the studio - we can't bank on Toshiba QC.

Seriously it makes you wonder why all the problems with discs and players (BOTH FORMATS) at this stage of the game.

For Children of Men, Amazon is now showing 4-6 weeks for shipping. If one adds this title to cart the estimated ship date is May 30. This would seem to indicate that there is going to be some fix.

I get the same exact error code as indicated in this thread on my XA2.

Well, after the hassle of downloading the v1.3 update this morning. "Children of Men" will not play AT ALL on the HD DVD side. It just says...This disc is not DVD format can not play." While the SD DVD side works just fine, but who wants to watch that?

I guess I'll save my time and gas and not run to BB for an exchange, as it seems all Universal "Children of Men" combo discs are defective. That bites!!!

I hope Universal will replace every crappy defective copy with one that works!!! May 30th is the ETA on Amazon??? That seems odd and far away...has Universal fessed up to screwing up this HD DVD yet???

Well, after the hassle of downloading the v1.3 update this morning. "Children of Men" will not play AT ALL on the HD DVD side. It just says...This disc is not DVD format can not play." While the SD DVD side works just fine, but who wants to watch that?

I guess I'll save my time and gas and not run to BB for an exchange, as it seems all Universal "Children of Men" combo discs are defective. That bites!!!

I hope Universal will replace every crappy defective copy with one that works!!! May 30th is the ETA on Amazon??? That seems odd and far away...has Universal fessed up to screwing up this HD DVD yet???

They're not all defective. My first copy wouldn't play all the way through so I returned it to Amazon for replacement. Had no problems at all with the replacement.

Greetings,

Picked up "Children of Men" this afternoon -- stunning visual and audio (the use of surrounds on the film is excellent) quality -- however, at the 1:17-1:18 mark the picture freezes and I receive the "Cannot Place Disc (random letters/numbers) error Code". Tried rebooting, cleaning the disc, fast-forwarding through the problem to no avail. I can chapter skip past it and the disc plays fine...just sucks to miss a five minute chunk of the film. I put in the reverse (SD-DVD) side and this area plays fine. I'm running the A-2 with newest firmware (1.3) and have played around ten hd-dvd's so far with no problems...so I'm curious, is anyone else having this issue around the 1:18 mark?? Just curious if it is my player or a known defect with the disc...if it is the latter hopefully CC will exchange my copy for another one. Thanks for reading, any input is appreciated!

Best,

Joe J.

Hey there same exact spot on my XA1, until that point in the disc I hadn't had a slip up on an HD DVD for about 6 months! It actually startled me!! I am on firmware 2.0 by the way.

XA2 v 1.3.

CoM was actually the first HD-DVD I"ve watched on my XA2. Unfortunately, I had playback problems around the 1:19 mark. The audio dropped out (cut in and out, and sounded like it was 2X speed). Tried scanning back, which fixed the problem for a second, then it started again. Then I jumped forward to the next chapter, and it played okay for about a 1-2 minutes, then started again with the audio problem. Then it completely froze.

Powered off the player. Powered back on. Started playback from the beginning of the Chapter before the 1:19 mark and played through the rest of the movie with no problem. I may try playing through this part of the disc again tonight. Any problems and I will return it to Amazon.

Pretty disappointing 1st experience with the XA2 though...

Well, I watched it again last night and it played completely through with no problems. So who knows. Bad disc? Player glitch?

The movie will not play on my XA2. Cannot Read Disc error. The first time it gave me "Not a DVD disc" error. Pulled the plug for 15 minutes, then booted up and reinitialized player. After boot up it recogonized it as a HD DVD but loading time was long then got the "Cannot Read Disc" error. Cleaned disc, unplugged unit for 30 minutes still no go, in fact my player locked up with the disc in it and I couldn't eject. Unplugged unit again, booted up and was able to eject disc. Very frustrating. I had this problem with Hollywoodland and never got that one to work. Luckily that was a rental. I bought CoM from Amazon and plan to send it back for replacement and give it another shot.

The player is updated to 1.3 firmware. I don't seem to have trouble with non-combos, and even some of my other older combos work fine (Brokeback Mountain comes to mind.) It seems my player doesn't like the new combos that are being released.


Try changing the Twin Format Disc option and see if that helps. It worked for me on Happy Feet.

Well, after the hassle of downloading the v1.3 update this morning. "Children of Men" will not play AT ALL on the HD DVD side. It just says...This disc is not DVD format can not play." While the SD DVD side works just fine, but who wants to watch that?

I guess I'll save my time and gas and not run to BB for an exchange, as it seems all Universal "Children of Men" combo discs are defective. That bites!!!

I hope Universal will replace every crappy defective copy with one that works!!! May 30th is the ETA on Amazon??? That seems odd and far away...has Universal fessed up to screwing up this HD DVD yet???


See my post above and report back.

I can get the hd-dvd side to load about one time in 20. Then it tends to run up to around the explosion in the first scene, and it shuts off the entire unit. If i do the "twin format" thing set to hd-dvd, it just gives me "cannot play the disc."

I just got my xa2 installed yesterday, and children of men was the first disc i tried - needless to say, that was unpleasant. 7 other discs play fine, though (at least for a few minutes each - haven't watched anything all the way through).

I can get the hd-dvd side to load about one time in 20. Then it tends to run up to around the explosion in the first scene, and it shuts off the entire unit. If i do the "twin format" thing set to hd-dvd, it just gives me "cannot play the disc."

I just got my xa2 installed yesterday, and children of men was the first disc i tried - needless to say, that was unpleasant. 7 other discs play fine, though (at least for a few minutes each - haven't watched anything all the way through).


Did you set the Twin Format Disc to DVD, not HD DVD? It seems to be most reliable with it set to DVD.

XA2 version 1.3 "disc is not dvd format" I get a chance to watch a movie about once every three weeks because of a one and a half year old. Tonight was it . I'm very dissapointed.

XA2 version 1.3 "disc is not dvd format" I get a chance to watch a movie about once every three weeks because of a one and a half year old. Tonight was it . I'm very dissapointed.


Did you try changing the Twin Disc Format to DVD instead of HD DVD?

Audio synch problems and skipping on my A1.

Seems like there were a number of bad discs that were made, I returned mine to walmart in exchange and it played throught just fine the second time around. Good luck guys and stay with it, hopefully its not your players going out.

Doesn't play on my A2 (fw 1.3), but does play fine on my 360 add on.

And once again, did you people having problems try to change the Twin Disc Format option to DVD instead of HD DVD? This seems to cure some problems people are having with combo discs. I just discovered this earlier today. It makes no sense why it would work, it just seems to.

Add me to the list of folks with problems with this disc and the A2 with firmware 1.3. I got to the 1:20 mark at which I froze and then got the can not play disc message. This is the first disc I've had a problem with. I'll try the twin disc thing and then I'll try it on my A1 with 2.0 and see what happens.

Error code after pause, sound problems on XA1.

For Children of Men, Amazon is now showing 4-6 weeks for shipping. If one adds this title to cart the estimated ship date is May 30. This would seem to indicate that there is going to be some fix.

I get the same exact error code as indicated in this thread on my XA2.

Same here. Just got this from Amazon and tried to watch last night on a brand new XA2 with 1.3. I tried re-loading the disc about a dozen times, but it would not play with the same error message reported here.

It's going back to Amazon and I'm out to BB today to find a good copy.

This makes 6 bad Universal discs I've had to return out of 21 I own. By comparison, I have 28 WB titles and zero problems with any of them even on 1st gen player with older FW. Clearly, Universal is not mastering or having them pressed with the same care to QC.

ss9001

When I leave the movie paused on my A2 for about 3 minutes, the screen goes blank and I can't resume it, so I have to turn the A2 off and restart it. I was also having some skipping problems from chapter 17 till close to the end, it was annoying.

And once again, did you people having problems try to change the Twin Disc Format option to DVD instead of HD DVD? This seems to cure some problems people are having with combo discs. I just discovered this earlier today. It makes no sense why it would work, it just seems to.
I'll try it later when I turn on my projector again. thanks for the advice.

Purchased second disc from local Best Buy.......same problem again in Chapter 16 & 17. Using XA2 with 1.3 firmware. Great movie........I turned the disc over and started with Chapter 16 after on the SD side. The Toshiba does excellent up convert and on this particular movie the HD advantage is certainly visible but not as big of improvement compared to most HD titles. In this case the combi was useful. It would seem that Universal would check some production samples before shipping thousands.

And once again, did you people having problems try to change the Twin Disc Format option to DVD instead of HD DVD? This seems to cure some problems people are having with combo discs. I just discovered this earlier today. It makes no sense why it would work, it just seems to.

Just tried this and it didn't work for me either. When I changed Twin Format from HD-DVD to DVD, the message was the same as before: "Disc is not DVD format. Cannot play the disc." When I changed it back to HD-DVD, this time the disc did get recognized as a HD-DVD but still would not play, with the error message: "Cannot play the disc."

AST, you may have just gotten lucky or maybe your disc was just marginally good enough that it eventually loaded with this setup flipping. Mine clearly is not. It's missing "something", code or some initialization routine that tells the player the disc format. Oh well, it was worth a shot and & thanks for the tip to try. :)

Once again, a bad production run seems to be the logical explanation for spurious results.

ss9001

And once again, did you people having problems try to change the Twin Disc Format option to DVD instead of HD DVD? This seems to cure some problems people are having with combo discs. I just discovered this earlier today. It makes no sense why it would work, it just seems to.

AST,

I did as you suggested and the disc which was not even recoginzed as "DVD Format" now plays without a hitch! Thanks!

Copy from local BB didn't work either, even with AST's trick. Going to try exchanging later today and try again.

ss9001

Got this from Netflix 2 days after it came out. It was my worst ever HD-DVD experience. It would freeze and skip.The audio was out of sync. It all began in the second half of the movie. Thank God it was only a rental. I bought "Happy Feet". That's another story !

I think they may have pulled them from the stores;

I went by BB on my way home Friday and saw a lot of copies there, I went back today with the intention of getting it and they were all gone. I also went by Circuit city as well and nothing.

If they're being pulled, it's a wise move.

Other than Matador, this is the worst disc experience I've had.

The 3rd copy did load & play, but had hard lock-ups at about 1:21 and 1:33, requiring power off - reboots. I did discover the only redeeming characteristic of combo discs: we could finish watching the f***ing movie! :mad:

I took my 2nd disc back to BB and asked if they would play it on their demo player, which was a A2 with only 1.0 FW installed and it loaded just fine when it wouldn't do squat on my XA2 with 1.3. Go figure....

I'm reporting what I observed to Robert and Value Electronics, the dealer where I got the XA2, so he can report to Toshiba.

ss9001

According to Robert, Toshiba is aware of the erratic problems with this disc and is planning to address them with FW1.5.

I'm not sure I completely understood his explanation of the problem, so will not add any FUD. But he did confirm that there is a fix for the 2nd gen players in the works so that this title may run smoothly.

Maybe if Robert reads this thread, he can provide the details.

Personally, the fact that 2 out of 3 discs didn't play at all also indicates something's amiss with some of the disc pressings.

Frankly, I wish Universal would just drop the whole U-Control thing and keep it simple. Seems more trouble than it's worth right now. Maybe when everyone gets their act together, it'll be a nice-to-have-feature. But for now, I just want to watch the dam movie!

ss9001

COM gives 408bc504 error message on XA2 with 1.3 f/w at around 1:06:00 mark.

According to Robert, Toshiba is aware of the erratic problems with this disc and is planning to address them with FW1.5.

I'm not sure I completely understood his explanation of the problem, so will not add any FUD. But he did confirm that there is a fix for the 2nd gen players in the works so that this title may run smoothly.

Maybe if Robert reads this thread, he can provide the details.

Personally, the fact that 2 out of 3 discs didn't play at all also indicates something's amiss with some of the disc pressings.

Frankly, I wish Universal would just drop the whole U-Control thing and keep it simple. Seems more trouble than it's worth right now. Maybe when everyone gets their act together, it'll be a nice-to-have-feature. But for now, I just want to watch the dam movie!

ss9001

Robert, is it the U-Control functionality at the root of this problem?

Perhaps Toshiba should alow users to switch on - off some features if they don't want them, just a thought.

Yea that's the error code I get at the 1:18 mark (not sure if this is Chapter 12 or not?). The video freezes, counter continues to run, and after about 45 seconds that error code pops up and I have to stop/restart the movie.

I'm getting the same freeze-up problem at about 3/4 of the way through the HD side (may even be at 1:18). Timer keeps going and I get the same error code. I'm going to try taking the disc back to BB tomorrow.

COM gives 408bc504 error message on XA2 with 1.3 f/w at around 1:06:00 mark.

That's the same message I got in both hard lockups. Tray wouldn't open, player wouldn't turn off, required me to turn off power. Again mine occurred as "same" spots as others, about 1:20-1:21 and again at about 1:33.

ss9001

I had one freezeup about two thirds of the way through, which was resolved by fast forwarding then reversing back. I don't usually have many quirks with my A1.

Someone posted that revision 2.1 primarily addresses that type of issue.

A2 v1.2/1.3

Got a copy from Netflix on release date, watched it about 2/3 of the way through and it froze. After that, the player wouldn't even recognize the disc, usually spitting up the "Not a DVD format" message. I upgraded the firmware to 1.3 and still had the same problem. A new disc from Netflix gives me the same problem. I was at least able to finish watching it on the other side. :(

Man, I'm afraid to open Happy Feet now. Has anyone who has got the dreaded error message been able to finish the movie on the HD side. I foresake chapters 13-16 and went to 17, it played for about 2 minutes, then froze.

Tried playing on A1, but the resolution is poor. There are jaggies on edges (even in the menus) and moire effect throughout the entire image. Anyone else experience this problem? BTW....I tried it on another A1 on a different TV and it had exactly the same effect.

I just tried to watch CoM on an A2 and after chapter 12 it goes to **** and doesn't recover. I actually had to power the player down twice to get the disc out and had to watch the rest on the DVD side. I guess I'm a fan of combos now. :mad:

A1 FW 1.3: Won't play at all.

Pip

I had to stop twice and flipped the disc to finish.

No problems at all during loading/playback on my A2/1.2, but pausing long enough for the screensaver to come up locks all buttons except "stop" and goes to a black screen. I didn't need to power down. Got mine from Amazon a few days ago.

I actually had to power the player down twice to get the disc out and had to watch the rest on the DVD side. I guess I'm a fan of combos now. :mad:


Same here on my A1 which is running firmware 2.0, 2 lock-ups than a flip to the other side.

I watched this one over the weekend on my HD-A1 with 2.0 firmware. Froze up about 3 times for a few seconds each, cleared on its own before having to hit the pause button. The disc was brand new without any scratches and was cleaned with plexus spray before being used.

I watched this one over the weekend on my HD-A1 with 2.0 firmware. Froze up about 3 times for a few seconds each, cleared on its own before having to hit the pause button. The disc was brand new without any scratches and was cleaned with plexus spray before being used.

The first and second time I watched COM it played flawlessly both times. Then I watched it with my GF 3rd time with issues, I cleaned, it rebooted, same issues. I then cleaned both sides of the disc dvd and hd side and it played well again dont know if everyone has tried this but sure is worth a shot.

A1 firmware v2.0. How did you get 3.0? anyway, i had several places with freezes and stutters like its in slow motion. Fast forward past each time. After the third lockup i bookmarked the location, powered down, restarted, went to the bookmark and the rest of the movie was fine. I watched 2 scratched up sddvd netflix later last weekend and had no problem with them at all.

Wow. This many problems reported by just AVS'rs, which probably make up a small percentage of people who bought/rented this movie on HD.....I wonder just how wide spread this disc (or player) problem is. Of course, I know how you only hear about the bad and not the good, so maybe the ratio of bad to good isn't as bad as it seems. Right now, though, I'm a little worried about getting it.

Morning all,

How about instead of the trouble of exchanging numerous copies, powering off-on, cleaning lenses and discs, doing the hokie pokey and turning yourself around to play "Children of Men" on the HD DVD side, Universal fesses up that they screwed up something on this HD DVD, and offer up an extended return/ exchange program for this horribly flawed transfer of a movie?

Again, no other disc, in any format, has caused so many such grief. Ahhh...boycott Universal or petition...Hmmm? There is strength in numbers! (Then again more studios back BD, so Universal may not give a !@#$ about the HD DVD crowd.) They could always ditch it and go BD too, then the demise of HD DVD would be inevitable.

I imagine by the time they fess up and fix it, my receipt from BB and their return policy time will have expired. I hate to waste $! :mad:

sb1,

I would tell you to save your $ and spare yourself the headache and hassle of "Children of Men". It is widespread indeed.

Oh yeah, sorry to read about the "Happy Feet" troubles, that one played fine for me and my family. Strange!

Tried playing on A1, but the resolution is poor. There are jaggies on edges (even in the menus) and moire effect throughout the entire image. Anyone else experience this problem? BTW....I tried it on another A1 on a different TV and it had exactly the same effect.

Are you set for 720p output? I caught a thread last week that mentioned problems with 720p on this disk and sure enough they're there. Flipped the HDA1 to 1080i and that cleared things up.

I had a couple of instances of the stuttering/slow-mo fast fwd as well. The worst was chap. 6, in the car. At that point I took the disk out and thoroughly cleaned it with water and a soft cloth. There did appear to some sort of coating that came off. Once I did this, the disk played to the end without further problems. I rechecked the problem areas and they played fine as well. HDA1 with 2.0 installed.

Wow. This many problems reported by just AVS'rs, which probably make up a small percentage of people who bought/rented this movie on HD.....I wonder just how wide spread this disc (or player) problem is. Of course, I know how you only hear about the bad and not the good, so maybe the ratio of bad to good isn't as bad as it seems. Right now, though, I'm a little worried about getting it.

That's why I just created a poll to see how widespread the problems are:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=828337

(BTW I was going to order it but now I'll wait because I live in Europe and returns are a hassle.)

Are you set for 720p output? I caught a thread last week that mentioned problems with 720p on this disk and sure enough they're there. Flipped the HDA1 to 1080i and that cleared things up.

I did try changing resolutions and it made absolutely no difference. I tried other titles to make sure it wasn't a problem with my player, and they had no issues. I've never seen anything like this.

sb1,

I would tell you to save your $ and spare yourself the headache and hassle of "Children of Men". It is widespread indeed.
Thanks for the advice, but I'll probably take my chances. I've been salivating for new HD-DVD's to come out, and this one has been so well reviewed (content-wise), that I'm sure I'll pick it up. I've been fairly lucky (knock, knock) with my "never upated" A2 as far a playback problems go. Hopefully I won't be posting about a problem here. :p

Did you try changing the Twin Disc Format to DVD instead of HD DVD?
Where is this option. I think they might have gotten rid of it with the new firmware, I can't find it. I received my replacement disc from Amazon and am still getting the same "Not DVD format" error.

Where is this option. I think they might have gotten rid of it with the new firmware, I can't find it. I received my replacement disc from Amazon and am still getting the same "Not DVD format" error.
Read the manual stupid! Somebody had to say it. The option is not there when a disc is loaded. I changed it to DVD and the Disc plays now. DOn't know if there are other problems, but that one is soleved. THanks!