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**Official Toshiba HD-A35 (ONLY) Thread** - Page 156

post #4651 of 4859
10/9/10 at 11:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by spoonmandts View Post

Not hard to believe when you can get the hd dvd version of a favorite movie for 2.00 compared to a used 10-15.00 blu ray version. I just picked up a MINT A35 with 65 movies for a tad less than 200.00. Was previously using the 360 hd drive to view the 100+ movies I've collected in the past 4 years and the picture difference is definitely noticeable(considering I paid 20.00 for the 360 drive, can't complain). Closing in on 200 discs that I will never get rid of and at the same time adding to my Blu-ray collection as well(movies that aren't available on hd dvd obviously).

*This player has 4.0 on it and so far no quirky issues. After reading hundreds of posts about issues people have, I was concerned. I haven't let it play an entire movie thru but after putting in 40 or so discs and letting them play 10-15 minutes, not a single hiccup. I'm praying I got a player that doesn't lock up an hour into certain movies, but at the price I paid it was worth it just for the movies because they were all titles I wanted.

My A35 has been rock solid. The few titles that have had a problem have turned out to be either dirty (cleaning them resolved the issue) or defective (replacing them resolved the issue). I have a very large collection of HD-DVDs and have played many titles all the way through without problems. The A35 with firmware 4.0 has been excellent for me and I really like the lossless audio codecs streamed to my Yamaha RX-V3900.
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post #4652 of 4859
10/10/10 at 9:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich86 View Post

My A35 has been rock solid. The few titles that have had a problem have turned out to be either dirty (cleaning them resolved the issue) or defective (replacing them resolved the issue). I have a very large collection of HD-DVDs and have played many titles all the way through without problems. The A35 with firmware 4.0 has been excellent for me and I really like the lossless audio codecs streamed to my Yamaha RX-V3900.

Looks like we have good players! Beowulf was a tad smudgy and thought I'd try it anyways to test it. I forgot all about that issue until I removed the disc because it never hiccup'd I've sat and watched 4 movies all the way thru, and let 3 others play thru while I was working around the house. Some I chose because their names came up a few times and seemed to cause problems and this thing has played flawlessly. Id have the sound cranked and I heard no skips while I was in other areas of the house for the 3 movies I didn't sit thru. The 4 I sat and watched were Transformers, Bourne Ultimatum, King King and 300. The 3 I cranked and let play thru were Big Lebowski, Beowulf, and 40 year old virgin.

I ran the DVE HD basics and also watched some Planet Earth, can't believe the low price I paid for this player, I am thrilled! Kinda funny when ya realize it's a dead format but not for me, the movies are so cheap it's a no brainer. It kills me to buy a blu ray movie, i need to take a loan out

I wish I would have gotten 1 of these players years ago and yes the audio is awesome!
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post #4653 of 4859
10/13/10 at 10:09pm
I have an HD-A35 that freezes at about the 1 hour mark, interestingly the audio contines to play...

If I shut down the machine and start it up again at the beginning of the chapter where the video froze it plays right through.

Any suggestions?

It is at v4.0 F/W
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post #4654 of 4859
10/14/10 at 6:44am
If this occurs on every disc, there is an issue. If only a certain disc it is likely a disc issue. What FW are you running?
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post #4655 of 4859
10/14/10 at 9:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Splicer010 View Post

If this occurs on every disc, there is an issue. If only a certain disc it is likely a disc issue. What FW are you running?

As mentioned above... v4.0 Could it be a bad F/W load?
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post #4656 of 4859
10/14/10 at 10:47am
Sorry. Didn't see that at the end ther. Is it every disc (HD DVD) or just 1 or 2? I presume SDVD is fine? I doubt very much you have a bad FW or it wouldn't have taken it.
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post #4657 of 4859
10/14/10 at 11:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Splicer010 View Post

Sorry. Didn't see that at the end ther. Is it every disc (HD DVD) or just 1 or 2? I presume SDVD is fine? I doubt very much you have a bad FW or it wouldn't have taken it.

No worries, thanks for replying,

I had thought it did it on every disc I tried... IIRC Children of Men and Good Sheppard froze up

I will try and put a different HD-DVD disc in this afternoon as I work on the kitchen reno, see what happens, also try a SD (I haven't tried that yet)

I was thinking of downgrading to v1.3 with the 'hex adjusted - version' F/W to see if that helped, can always go forward in versions after...

Checked and the case fan is running too.
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post #4658 of 4859
10/14/10 at 11:17am
Yes. My fan runs about all the time when powered on also. That is from the FW. I can say this, I played with reversing the FW on my A35 and it didn't help anything on the couple discs that I had an issue with. FWIW I know Good Shepard froze on my wife a couple of years ago when I bought it from Hollywood Video b4 they went out of business. Children of men IIRC never had an issue for me.

Chances are I have every disc you do (I have well over 300+) so if you need me to check, I can try to accomodate you.
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post #4659 of 4859
10/14/10 at 1:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Splicer010 View Post

Yes. My fan runs about all the time when powered on also. That is from the FW. I can say this, I played with reversing the FW on my A35 and it didn't help anything on the couple discs that I had an issue with. FWIW I know Good Shepard froze on my wife a couple of years ago when I bought it from Hollywood Video b4 they went out of business. Children of men IIRC never had an issue for me.

Chances are I have every disc you do (I have well over 300+) so if you need me to check, I can try to accomodate you.

Thanks Splicer, wow that is a lot of HD-DVD's!

I just threw on Dream Girls... we'll see.
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post #4660 of 4859
10/14/10 at 2:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Sherwood View Post

Thanks Splicer, wow that is a lot of HD-DVD's!

I just threw on Dream Girls... we'll see.

What's the betting that is the only one he doesn't have!

Kind Regards,

Keith
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post #4661 of 4859
10/14/10 at 3:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kbarnes701 View Post

What's the betting that is the only one he doesn't have!

Kind Regards,

Keith

Hey Keith, how goes it?

How about you, Dream Girls?

I just played it, froze up at 1:47:xx, stopped the player, started at the beginning of that chapter and it played right through!

Next up: BABEL HD-DVD
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post #4662 of 4859
10/14/10 at 3:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kbarnes701 View Post

What's the betting that is the only one he doesn't have!

Kind Regards,

Keith

Hahahahha! Actually I DO have Dreamgirls. Really an excellant flick I think. I will put it in here shortly, though the 2x I watched it, it never froze that I can recall. Has been over a year now so it is about time to rewatch. Fantastic picture and audio. Will report back.

Actually, I wonder if the player isn't heating up? Is it in a well ventilated place?
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post #4663 of 4859
10/14/10 at 4:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Splicer010 View Post

Hahahahha! Actually I DO have Dreamgirls. Really an excellant flick I think. I will put it in here shortly, though the 2x I watched it, it never froze that I can recall. Has been over a year now so it is about time to rewatch. Fantastic picture and audio. Will report back.

Actually, I wonder if the player isn't heating up? Is it in a well ventilated place?

Yes, great movie, Jamie Foxx turns in a great performance, really plays a jerk in the movie!

I moved the player upstairs, it is on top of a cabinet, no other heat sources any where near, especially below...

Babel is at 1:08 now and counting... Froze at 1:59, replay from chapter beginning and it went right past until the end of the movie..

Wild Wild West (SD-DVD), now playing...hmmm maybe picked too short a movie, only 109 minutes... played right through
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post #4664 of 4859
10/14/10 at 10:38pm
Sorry such a late reply. Finally was able to pop in 'Dreamgirls' and as I recalled, mine played right thru to the end instance free. Again, I don't recall 'Babel' ever freezing either but will try to get to it tomorrow sometime.

The only other thing I can remember is that some people did have issues with Babel b4 though. IIRC the general concensus was a run of bad discs. Don't be mistaken, I do have a couple discs that like to freeze and it pisses me off to no end. The only 2 I can think of is 'Shaun of the Dead' & 'The Frighteners' as both freeze getting towards the end of the movie(s). I have just chalked it up to bad discs even though they look like they are both in as pristine condition as can humanly be possible. But who knows what happened during the pressing...
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post #4665 of 4859
10/15/10 at 7:55am
I can try another HDDVD, see if it freezes, not sure what that would mean anyway, not like I can do much to fix it, other then swap out the actual drive or change the F/W...

Live with it? I guess the good part is a stop then restart allows it to play again...
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post #4666 of 4859
10/15/10 at 10:26am
my $.02:
I find HD-DVDs to be far more sensitive to dust, smudges, dirt, scratches, etc. than DVDs or Blu-rays.
Overheating? - Make sure the player has plenty of air circulation. Mine is in a home theater cabinet in a stack of optical media players - but I always keep the front door wide open when using any of the players - and I do not keep significant heat producing equipment in that cabinet or in that equipment stack at all (ie. the high powered receiver throws heat and is outside of everything as a result).
Cleaning? - when a disc hiccups on me, I usually clean it (I use one of those old Discwasher disc cleaning units). You might try making sure there isn't some dust floating around inside the player also. Just eject the disc drawer and use a can of compressed air to try to blow out any dust. I've been known to open up a player and use denatured alcohol on a q-tip to clean the laser assembly area also to solve playback problems - but I would not recommend that except as a last resort.

I also doubt this has anything to do with your firmware 4.0 installation. It is most likely related to your HD-DVDs themselves.
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post #4667 of 4859
10/15/10 at 11:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich86 View Post

my $.02:
I find HD-DVDs to be far more sensitive to dust, smudges, dirt, scratches, etc. than DVDs or Blu-rays.
Overheating? - Make sure the player has plenty of air circulation. Mine is in a home theater cabinet in a stack of optical media players - but I always keep the front door wide open when using any of the players - and I do not keep significant heat producing equipment in that cabinet or in that equipment stack at all (ie. the high powered receiver throws heat and is outside of everything as a result).
Cleaning? - when a disc hiccups on me, I usually clean it (I use one of those old Discwasher disc cleaning units). You might try making sure there isn't some dust floating around inside the player also. Just eject the disc drawer and use a can of compressed air to try to blow out any dust. I've been known to open up a player and use denatured alcohol on a q-tip to clean the laser assembly area also to solve playback problems - but I would not recommend that except as a last resort.

I also doubt this has anything to do with your firmware 4.0 installation. It is most likely related to your HD-DVDs themselves.

Interesting ideas, I can't be 100% positive about the next statement because I have played every HD-DVD out there, but why does it seem to do it every time? I guess to confirm this I could put the disc into a different player and play it there, but in a sense I have already done this as my HD-A20 has yet to freeze like the A35.

Cooling is not the issue, the player is on top of a cabinet with no restriction to air flow and no other heat sources nearby.

I still wonder about downgrading to v1.35 to test the F/W theory...
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post #4668 of 4859
10/15/10 at 11:36am
Well here is another idea, depending how brave you are. I did this to my player 2 years ago. At first it didn't help but now it seems it has as time has gone on.

I opened the player up, removed the disc drive and lubricated the optic slide that moves to read the disc. Just another thought.
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post #4669 of 4859
10/15/10 at 12:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Splicer010 View Post

Well here is another idea, depending how brave you are. I did this to my player 2 years ago. At first it didn't help but now it seems it has as time has gone on.

I opened the player up, removed the disc drive and lubricated the optic slide that moves to read the disc. Just another thought.

You must have read my mind, I was wondering if the freeze had to do with a momentary sticking of the slide...

BTW, look up brave with Google and you'll find me sitting in the middle of a pile of parts thinking " This seemed like a good idea at the time!? "
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post #4670 of 4859
10/15/10 at 6:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Sherwood View Post

You must have read my mind, I was wondering if the freeze had to do with a momentary sticking of the slide...

BTW, look up brave with Google and you'll find me sitting in the middle of a pile of parts thinking " This seemed like a good idea at the time!? "

Mine usually goes like " this thing is all back together now . . but . . what the hell is this little plastic part????
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post #4671 of 4859
10/15/10 at 9:14pm
Didn't get a chance to play 'Babel' tonight. Busy evening. I will try some time this weekend.
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post #4672 of 4859
10/21/10 at 1:10pm
Well my HD A-35 died today 3 yrs old and it fires up Ok but when you put disc in it just doesn't have a picture. You can see that the disc is reading it because the timer window is showing the time but no picture on screen. I checked cables etc and then put a Blu ray player with same HDMI cable to make sure it was working and it was.

Is Tosh still repairing these units or should I just take it out and bury it.
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post #4673 of 4859
10/21/10 at 3:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wvasko View Post

Well my HD A-35 died today 3 yrs old and it fires up Ok but when you put disc in it just doesn't have a picture. You can see that the disc is reading it because the timer window is showing the time but no picture on screen. I checked cables etc and then put a Blu ray player with same HDMI cable to make sure it was working and it was.

Is Tosh still repairing these units or should I just take it out and bury it.

some things to try:
1. when you first power it on, do you get the opening Toshiba/HD-DVD logo, etc. on the screen before a disc even tries to start playing?
2. try using a different type video connection. If you are using hdmi, try component or composite. any difference?
3. does it matter what type of disc you put in? does it not work with HD-DVD . . how about a regular dvd?
4. reset the player (unplug it completely so the front pilot light is out - wait - plug it back in. It should go into the opening menu (to set the time). Does this show up?

Just trying to narrow down the problem area a little.
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post #4674 of 4859
10/21/10 at 4:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich86 View Post

some things to try:
1. when you first power it on, do you get the opening Toshiba/HD-DVD logo, etc. on the screen before a disc even tries to start playing?
2. try using a different type video connection. If you are using hdmi, try component or composite. any difference?
3. does it matter what type of disc you put in? does it not work with HD-DVD . . how about a regular dvd?
4. reset the player (unplug it completely so the front pilot light is out - wait - plug it back in. It should go into the opening menu (to set the time). Does this show up?

Just trying to narrow down the problem area a little.

1st Thank You for reply.

Ok, I do get the Logo and then the no disc message and then I put 1st disc in, it was a DVD-r with a copied movie. I got nothing so I then ejected and tried a regular HD movie disc and got nothing. I did the unplug so I could get a reboot etc and it did go to the setup screen. I did not go through setup etc just hit Ok to get out of it and popped HD disc back in and got nothing again. Then I did get a Panasonic BD60 Blu ray and just plugged it in and used the same HDMI cable and it fired up.

That's where I'm at now.
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post #4675 of 4859
10/21/10 at 5:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wvasko View Post

1st Thank You for reply.

Ok, I do get the Logo and then the no disc message and then I put 1st disc in, it was a DVD-r with a copied movie. I got nothing so I then ejected and tried a regular HD movie disc and got nothing. I did the unplug so I could get a reboot etc and it did go to the setup screen. I did not go through setup etc just hit Ok to get out of it and popped HD disc back in and got nothing again. Then I did get a Panasonic BD60 Blu ray and just plugged it in and used the same HDMI cable and it fired up.

That's where I'm at now.

Obviously the video electronics in your player are OK. No need to test hdmi cables or connections - if that was the problem, you would not get the opening logo, etc. either.
My guess is (and only a guess at this point) maybe the drive in the player has died. That does happen. I'm assuming it is not reading any discs you put in there so far - no video, no audio. Try a CD - see if it will read that and give you audio?
Is this player on firmware 4.0?
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post #4676 of 4859
10/21/10 at 6:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wvasko View Post

Well my HD A-35 died today 3 yrs old and it fires up Ok but when you put disc in it just doesn't have a picture. You can see that the disc is reading it because the timer window is showing the time but no picture on screen. I checked cables etc and then put a Blu ray player with same HDMI cable to make sure it was working and it was.

Is Tosh still repairing these units or should I just take it out and bury it.

Don't bury it!

If you give up on it, I may be interested in it for parts...
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post #4677 of 4859
10/21/10 at 7:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Sherwood View Post

Don't bury it!

If you give up on it, I may be interested in it for parts...

Don't give up on it. No need to give it away for parts just yet.
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post #4678 of 4859
10/21/10 at 8:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich86 View Post

Don't give up on it. No need to give it away for parts just yet.

Don't worry Rick, I am not trying to dissuade wvasko from continuing to try to fix his A35, I just don't want him to deep six it!

I am still trying to figure out what is wrong with mine...
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post #4679 of 4859
10/21/10 at 9:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Sherwood View Post

Don't worry Rick, I am not trying to dissuade wvasko from continuing to try to fix his A35, I just don't want him to deep six it!

I am still trying to figure out what is wrong with mine...

Yeah - maybe a drive issue also? Do you have another 3rd gen HD-DVD player (A3, D3, A30 or A35) that you could swap drives with to test out the theory?
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post #4680 of 4859
10/22/10 at 2:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Sherwood View Post

Don't worry Rick, I am not trying to dissuade wvasko from continuing to try to fix his A35, I just don't want him to deep six it!

I am still trying to figure out what is wrong with mine...

I bricked my A35 with a FW update (no idea why - all procedures properly followed etc) but I found a replacement on eBay, and then I bought an A30 as well that came bundled with a decent selection of discs. So I now have two backups for my 200 or so HD DVDs. My point is there still seems to be some around on eBay, at least here in the UK, and they are selling for fairly low prices, so all is not lost. I wouldn't feel comfortable without having a backup player though, just in case.

Kind Regards,

Keith
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