Philips DVP642 wont play new DVD's (POTC2 & CARS)

Just bought DVD player.. works with everything I throw at it..DVD, DVDR, VCD, SVCD, AVI, MPEG4, everything.

Yesterday I brought POTC2 and it locked up at the FBI Warning ANTI-Piracy screen. Now I assure you this is a store-bought DVD, brand new, fresh out of the shrink wrap. Locked up the whole player. I had to unplug and re-plug unit to get DVD out. Tried several times with same results. Took DVD and tried two other DVD players (SONY and Magnavox and worked fine in both)

So I figure its a bad DVD player - since I just bought it,I took it back. They replaced it no questions asked. Took it home, hooked it up...same issue.

Now I'm figuring bad DVD...tried CARS which works on the other two DVD players as well (brand new DVD) and this does the same thing, locks on anti-piracy screen.

I cant believe I am the only one who has had this problem.

Any ideas?

Call Phillips tech support, they were useless.

Thanks.

 

c'mon people, I cannot believe NO ONE has seen this issue.

It has to have something to do with the way Disney puts their piracy stuff on their DVD's

Does ANYONE have ANY ideas?

Thanks.


If I get no response within a few weeks, dont worry I wont bump it. I'll just let the thread die a slow death.

 

so you got another bad philips. try another model or brand.

 

I've had my DVP642 for several years and it has never had any issues with playing anything . . However, it is one of the first 642's made and it doesn't recognize any forms of encryption . . . no hacks are needed in my DVD recorders to backup encrypted DVDs . . .

Victor

 

Check the discs for minute cracks or dirt. Even though they're new, the could be dinged or dirty.

If that's not the case, why not return the DVDs as defective merchandise? Or back them up to DL discs? More than likely, they are using some form of copy-protection the 642 doesn't recognize. That's the DVD manufacturer's fault, not yours or Philips. My 642 plays almost everything, and it's got the old firmware no less. It'd probably play an LP if I could cram it in the slot.

FYI, I can play movies loaded with different protections, such as CSS, Arccos, etc. so it's not as if the 642 can't handle copy-protection. It's just that the manufacturers of your discs probably went a little too far and broke compatibility. With one of the most popular DVD players in existence, no less. That's their fault, not anyone else's.

 

I have the exact same problem with my new Philips 642. Freezes in the same place, and I have to unplug it to solve the problem. I tried backing up the original disc to a DVR, but haven't been able to do so successfully on my Mac. If you figure out a solution to the problem, I'd love to know-- the 642 has been terrific so far other than this snag.

 

I have the same problem with Cars and the DVP642. The only way I got it to play was to go to scene selection, select chapter 2 and rewind to around the beginning of the movie and play from there. A pain but at least we can watch it.

 

its gotta be some kind of firmware issue.

 

Same problem here. Brand new DVP642/37, just rec'd 5 days ago for christmas present. Plays some rental dvds just fine, others"freeze" at piracy screen or main menu (as soon as you enter "play movie". When they do freeze, i get the display showing the words "root". Unit becomes unresponsive to remote control commands and must be unplugged and replugged just to get dvd out of unit. Have spent the morning so far roaming web pages trying to find any info on fixing this problem.. so far no luck. I guess i contact my sister who bought me this thing and get the reciept,,I have a feeling its going back to the retailer....merry chrismas huh? lol..

 

yeah, just dont get another one cause it'll do the same thing and Philips support doesnt believe me.

 

I have a friend, that has a new Sony dvd player, that wouldn't play Lady and the Tramp, or Bambi II. I made him copies of his discs, and they play perfectly. So, it is something to do with the copy protection, I think. Because my copies (copy protection removed) played fine......
Good luck!

 

I am having the same problem playing "Cars". I just purchased my unit from Circuit City over the weekend. I chose the Philips dvp642 over a Toshiba that was also on sale for roughly the same price.

I read a couple of reviews that favored the Philips. That was the deciding factor. I made the purchase and took it home. I, first, played a music CD and was impressed with the sound. The very next disc I put in was the Cars dvd.

I had already played Cars on my computer, so I knew the disc was fine. Fortunately, I found your blog. Having this information has been a great help. I called Philips's Tech/Customer Support Hotline (i.e., 1-888-744-5477). I pointed them to this blog. They are now investigating my complaint further and I am waiting to hear back from them.

Having this blog to show their customer service department helped me to demonstrate to them that this was a systemic problem with their product. I don't know if any good will come of this but it was worth a try. I will let you know what happens.

 

thanks for the update Martin!! ill keep my eyes peeled on this web site to see if you and Phillips come to any sort of remedy or such. Keep us posted please!!! In the meantime, until my sister can send me the reciept, im stuck with this thing...web

 

Update from Philips Customer Service

I received a phone message from Philips. They re-iterated that the problem was not on their end. They said that I should try to get a replacement disc from the DVD manufacturer (i.e., Disney). I should point out that they did help me get the disc out of the player. I didn't realize that in order for the Philips dvp642 to reset completely, it must be unplugged for at least 30 seconds.

Anyway, I went to Disney's website and described the problem on their Tech. Support page:

http://studio.go.com/cgi-bin/gmail/generic_mail.cgi?template=video/dvd_report_a_problem/report.tpl

and in the process of filling out the form I pointed them to this blog.

Disney did not offer to replace the disc, but they did offer the following workaround.

Dear Larry,

Thank you for the e-mail regarding your Pirates of the Caribbean DVD (Actually, my problem is with "Cars", but it works the same either case). We are concerned about your inquiry and would like an opportunity to address this issue with greater detail. To correct this issue, please use the following steps:

∑ While the previews are playing, press the Menu Button on your DVD player remote to access the DVD's Main Menu.

∑ Go to Scene Selection and press your Enter or Ok button on your DVD player remote.

∑ Highlight Scene 2 and press the Enter or Ok button. This will start the DVD in Scene 2.

∑ Use your rewind or reverse button on your DVD player remote to rewind back to the beginning of Scene 1.

If you have any other issues or questions feel free to contact us at 1-800-723-4763, Monday's 9:30-7:30 and Tuesday through Friday 9:30-6:30 CST

Thank you,

Walt Disney Home Entertainment Technical Support
06

 

That's just plain rediculous, to go through all that, just to play a dvd!
You should be able to put in the dvd, shut the drawer, and let it play!
Stupid Disney!

 

It appears to me, the more encryption these studios are putting on their dvds, the more problematic they are becoming.

I, for one, am having a terrible time viewing special features on many of the newer, heavily encrypted dvds. Although they will load, it is at a snail's pace. It is becoming so frustrating, I just give up!

IMHO, the manufacturers are putting a nail in their coffin, their paying consumers are going to stop buying. Sad state of affairs when the backup works and the original doesn't?

 

Looks like someone's playin the blame game.

Problem is on Philips end..IMHO.

Problem doesnt occur in any other DVD player.

Maybe Philips will have to look into it further if this thread stays alive for awhile.

Thanks everyone for the updates.

Oh and Disney's workaround is an obvious one and knowing that they have this solution starts to push the blame in their direction.

 

Elimin8r,

Having collected dvds since 2000, the problem is a combination of players AND the dvds.

At least Disney did not accuse you of pirating. I purchased "Alex Haley's Roots 25th Anniversary" at a cost of around $65 CAD from a well known store. It did not work properly in my Toshiba. I phoned Warners for a working replacement, and was accused of having pirated it. It was not! Man, was I ticked! What gets me is after searching the internet, I found this was a common problem with Roots and Toshiba players and Warners was well aware of the problem.

 

If you'll read my post, a few posts up, you'll see it [bold]does[/bold] happen with other dvd players. It's happened with my friend's Sony. It was different movies, but still Disney movies.

 

Dvd Demystified:

http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#1.41