[Neuromancer]

When you press Eject, do you hear any motor noise? If no, then either the entire mechanism is bad, or the rubber band which spins the cogs, which ejects the tray, has broke.


If you hear mechanical noises, then the tray may just be stuck. Try the following:


1. Disconnect the DVD player’s power cord from the power source for no less than 15 minutes.

2. Ensure that the tray is not sticking to the front of the tray opening by running a small flat object along the entire edge of the tray.

3. Gently shake your DVD unit.

4. Reconnect the power cord.

5. Press Eject. If the tray does not Eject, make any note of any mechanical noises.

6. Press Eject and press in the tray.

7. Press Eject again.

 

[BeauCharles]

Hello all. I finally retired my old Trinitron for a 40" LCD (run of the mill Vizio, but it was cheap!). I kicked around the idea of a Blu-Ray, but I have so many DVDs and continue to buy them in the future so I bought an Oppo DV-981HD. I did a lot of research and it seems like a good deal for what I plan to use it for. I want to set it region-free for all the imported DVDs I have. I think with my smaller HDTV screen it should look pretty good. I know Blu-Ray would be better of course, but I don't think I'll sacrifice too much (I have to sit about 8 feet away given the layout of my living room).


Oh, and I got it for $125 on eBay. Its brand new in a sealed box - still has the Oppo Fed-Ex label intact over the box opening. I'll post back later once I have it. I know this is a really old thread and there must not be any interest in the player, but I'm excited none the less!

 

[blacklion]

Just to share in your excitement - I got a very gently used 981 for $115 on amazon marketplace late last year. Snapped it up within minutes of the seller posting it. I'm using it as a region free player with a 32" LCD in a bedroom and its been a great bargain I think

 

[pwdennis]

I've had a Oppo 981HD for four years. It has been a great DVD player. Last night when I switched on our entertainment system to watch cable the Oppo powered on , started making a chunk-chunk sound, all of the panel lights came on. I went to check it out and power it down... would not power down. Disconnected the cables and pulled it from the shelf... It was hot as heck on the left by the dvd drawer -- not good. I tilted the unit left and right and can hear what sounds like a ball bearing rolling around in the bottom... must be what caused the over heating...



Farewell my fine friend!



Now a question... any Oppo fans here have a recommendation on a replacement BD player? Moderate price, network etc. that can be made all region? Thx

 

[moxie1617]



Quote:
Originally Posted by pwdennis /forum/post/0


I've had a Oppo 981HD for four years. It has been a great DVD player. Last night when I switched on our entertainment system to watch cable the Oppo powered on , started making a chunk-chunk sound, all of the panel lights came on. I went to check it out and power it down... would not power down. Disconnected the cables and pulled it from the shelf... It was hot as heck on the left by the dvd drawer -- not good. I tilted the unit left and right and can hear what sounds like a ball bearing rolling around in the bottom... must be what caused the over heating...


Farewell my fine friend!


Now a question... any Oppo fans here have a recommendation on a replacement BD player? Moderate price, network etc. that can be made all region? Thx

The problem with BD is the lack of region free at a moderate price. I'd call Oppo and see what they charge for repair of your 981. They have flat rate pricing for repairs. Keep it for region free DVD 's and anime and buy an inexpensive Blu-ray player if your interested in that format.

 

[pwdennis]

Thx Moxie. I'll check it out!

I popped the top to check out the interior. The problem is a blown cap. The thing rolling around was the metal cylinder blown off the base. I also still have a DVD stuck in the tray and no way to apply power... don't want to pry it out.


Hopefully a local repair shop can replace the cap and all will be well... Here's to hoping!

 

[moxie1617]



Quote:
Originally Posted by pwdennis /forum/post/0


Thx Moxie. I'll check it out!

I popped the top to check out the interior. The problem is a blown cap. The thing rolling around was the metal cylinder blown off the base. I also still have a DVD stuck in the tray and no way to apply power... don't want to pry it out.


Hopefully a local repair shop can replace the cap and all will be well... Here's to hoping!

Do call Oppo, it should be around $50 plus one way shipping no matter what the problem.

 

[Rondog32837]

I recently resurrected my Oppo DV-981HD from the basement. I hooked it up thru HDMI to my new amp and could not get any sound or video. I could also not get into the setup menu. I can't remember how I had it hooked up to the previous amp -maybe not HDMI. How can I reset the Oppo to get access thru HDMI?



Dumb me - I had the input on the wrong HDMI. Nevermind.

 

[deepblue]

My SDI modded 971 just died.

I bought a used 981 to replace it.


I have installed the PMS BT656 SDI Kit with the data lines tied to the same pins on the Mediatek MT1389 as had worked on the 971.


I have clock and an SDI stream, but no picture.

I applied the HDCP hack in case the picture was being blanked ... Still no picture.


Does anybody know if the 981 still produces a BT656 stream to the Genesis FLI2310 chip?

I can see that Oppo is sending the data from the MT1389 to a different port on the FLI2310 from what they used in the 971. Unfortunately I can't find documentation on the FL2310 IC to figure out what that data stream might be.


Any ideas about what's different in the 981 that might change the SDI mod?


Thanks,

Eric

 

[Jeffredo]

Still using my DV-981HD regularly! Starting to wonder if I'm ever going to retire it. On a 37" TV it still performs great.

 

[Anthony1uk]

Can someone possibly help.

I have the Oppo 981HD. It has developed an issue where the DVD drive door wont open. But it is saying it is open on the display.

I was wanting to take the lid off to look at it. But for the life of me I cannot take the lid off.

I have took out all the screws. But it seems stuck at the front part where the display is. I am not sure what to do to get the lid off and am worried about using any type of force incase I snap something.

Is there any guides or instructions on how to do it?

 

[wmcclain]

Can someone possibly help.

I have the Oppo 981HD. It has developed an issue where the DVD drive door wont open. But it is saying it is open on the display.

I was wanting to take the lid off to look at it. But for the life of me I cannot take the lid off.

I have took out all the screws. But it seems stuck at the front part where the display is. I am not sure what to do to get the lid off and am worried about using any type of force incase I snap something.

Is there any guides or instructions on how to do it?

Welcome to AVSForum.

You remove the scews in the rear, then lift the rear of the top cover up slightly and pull backwards. It should slide off.

Contact OPPO if you need help. They'll have instructions.

-Bill

 

[JimWinVA]

Just got a 981 to replace my dying Denon 2930- very impressed w/ the picture so far, no problems noticed on my LED DLP (Sammie HL67A750) going thru my AVR. But I got this player for sacd/dvd-a capabilities; so great to finally get sacd over hdmi and be able to utilize Audyssey. Sounds superb!

A couple questions:

1- My f/w is not up to date: batch 08-0910A. I see on Oppo's support page what the final update corrected, but would like to be able to access a list of the updates and what revisions they made, as I'd just as soon not update f/w if I don't have to (it's worked fine w/ every sacd I've played so far). Is such a list available and if so, where? I've been reading this thread and am up to p.58, where the colorspace beta f/w revision was just introduced.

2- There are some items added to the general setup page that aren't in the manual:

*ALT RC CODE: I assume this is an alternate code for the remote? I have this off, which I assume is the correct position unless there is a need for a different code (like running another Oppo)?

*OSD MODE: Stumped on what this does- what is the difference between normal and silent? I'm currently running normal.

Very happy to be an Oppo owner- wish I'd have done better homework back in '09; I'd have bought this model back then.

 

[jc46]

dissapointed

Do not get this version. Get the DV-980 older version. There is one feature that I value more than a fancy video processor or multi-channel analog outs and is the Memory and Automatic Resume feature. I never sit through 2 hours watching a movie, and sometimes I swap out the disk. With the new version, you have to eject the disk! And it won't remember after a power off. The stop button is useless, it behaves just like Pause.
It does not save position and remember it after power off like it should.

 

[dregan23]

I was on the fence about having my DV980 repaired--not sure that I wanted to spend $40 to fix something seven years old that was selling for $40 on ebay.

The loader stopped working, and the front panel lights had given up a few years ago.

I bit the bullet, sent it in to Oppo, and they replaced the power board, loader, and front panel. Plus the new firmware. No charge to me beyond shipping it up to them.

Great customer service, made me appreciate Oppo more than ever.

 

[NCCaniac]

I have a DV-981-HD that stopped working about 6 months ago (power button led is purple all the time, rather than red when off and blue when on) and will not power on. I had delayed looking into getting it repaired, but just sent an inquiry to Oppo tech support and this was the response.

"Unfortunately if the player is showing a purple power led, then it will not be something that we can repair. So in your case you will want to look into having the player properly recycled and then look into purchasing any alternative physical disc player."

I thought I remember reading somewhere (here?) that others had had this issue repaired. Any ideas or is that sign of a fried circuit board?

UPDATE:
Found the answer here. The issue is a bad power board but Oppo stopped fixing that for this model sometime in the last year (likely due to lack of replacement parts).

 

[NCCaniac]

I have a DV-981-HD that stopped working about 6 months ago (power button led is purple all the time, rather than red when off and blue when on) and will not power on. I had delayed looking into getting it repaired, but just sent an inquiry to Oppo tech support and this was the response.

"Unfortunately if the player is showing a purple power led, then it will not be something that we can repair. So in your case you will want to look into having the player properly recycled and then look into purchasing any alternative physical disc player."

I thought I remember reading somewhere (here?) that others had had this issue repaired. Any ideas or is that sign of a fried circuit board?

UPDATE:
Found the answer here. The issue is a bad power board but Oppo stopped fixing that for this model sometime in the last year (likely due to lack of replacement parts).

Does the DV-981-HD have the same power board as any other Oppo models? It looks like several prior models are available used from various places at reasonable prices and might be a good source to swap out the power board with mine if they are the same.