Sony DAV-S550 Not Reading Discs

[kofi2003uk]

hi all
i hope someone can help me here. i have had the Sony DAV-S550 for about 9 years now with no issues. however for about 3 months now, it has stopped reading discs. you put a disc in , and its keeps saying reading discs......

i thought the head was dirty so i opened it up and cleaned the head ie the bit that i think reads the disc( hopefully am not wrong)

can someone please help me here with some ideas as the head clean did not solve the problem. it still keeps saying reading dics but doesnt play. it will sometimes play but most of the time wont play any discs.

thank you

 

[Lucid]

TBH, if you have cleaned the head then the only other thing left to try is the head alignment. There's an engineering menu available to make this adjustment:

First eject any discs from the player.

On the player itself (not the remote), press and hold the "Display" and "Stop" buttons, then turn the volume knob to the right. It should then flicker a bit and put you into an engineers menu.

You need 2 discs - 1 single layer, the other double.

Follow the onscreen menu (I think its menu option 1) and choose DVD SL then DVD DL (single layer then dual layer)

Remember to do the single layer adjustment first.

Once done then exit the menu.


All of this only works though if the laser is emitting enough voltage. Lasers do wear out. As they age then the emissions drop to a point where it no-longer generates enough intensity to read the disc. Replacing a laser is a major expense. If your player is a high end CD player worth £500 even secondhand then the cost could be justified. But not on a 9 year old player where they change hands on Ebay and Gumtree for £30-£40 all-in.


The Sony's weren't cheap in their day. I bet you've been happy with the sound. You wouldn't need to replace the whole thing if the player was separate from the amp. Howerver, it isn't. That's the rub with all-in-one kits. One bit dies and the rest becomes redundant; taken down by the weakest link.

You could replace like-for-like, but you'll face the same problem in future. The smarter solution is an AV receiver with speaker package and then a separate Blu-ray/DVD player. Blu-ray players will play your DVDs as a well as Blu-rays. These AV receiver packages weren't available at such accessible prices 9 years ago. Much has changed. It's hard now to justify spending £200 on an all-in-one when for £250 you could have something substantially better in all respects including sound quality, flexibility, future-proofing, features. The Yamaha YHT199 combined with any budget Blu-ray player (the Sony is alright for £50) will whup the Sony's butt and give you smart features too.

 

[kofi2003uk]

many thanks Lucid. quite detailed information .Ii have many discs but not sure which is single and double layered. apologies for my ignorance on this.

is there any way to check?

thank you

 

[Lucid]

Flippers (film on both sides of the disc) are single layer - DVD-5 titles. If you can't find a list of Region 2 DVD-% titles and none of your own films are flippers then you might have to make a disc. DVD-RW and DVD+RW single layer disc formats.

If you find any of the info useful in these or other posts then please use the thanks button on the relevant post(s). It costs you nothing and helps show your appreciation for the assistance received.

 

[kofi2003uk]

thanks Mate. i will give it a try tomorrow. appreciate your help.

 

[Sam Gangee]

appreciate your help.

Apparently you don't.

If you find any of the info useful in these or other posts then please use the thanks button on the relevant post(s). It costs you nothing and helps show your appreciation for the assistance received.

^^^^^

 

[kofi2003uk]

Ha .. i said thank you a few times already in the post, so not sure where that came from.
i guess that's not the proper channel for me to say thank you and Lucid wants to be noticed as providing useful information by others, and rightly so.

TBH, i didnt even know there was a thank you tab on the posts themselves, and that explains why i kept saying thank you within my replies.

anyway done it now so hopefully am not ****ing Lucid off any longer....

 

[Sam Gangee]

You are getting closer but it's better to click the button on the most appropriate post. Usually the one that gives most information. Or all useful posts.

(I'm glad I never chose to be a teacher!)

 

[kofi2003uk]

ha ha. we got there in there end. and thank you too for making it clear to me now. i wont forget in the future, will i?

 

[Jenevers]

TBH, if you have cleaned the head then the only other thing left to try is the head alignment. There's an engineering menu available to make this adjustment:

First eject any discs from the player.

On the player itself (not the remote), press and hold the "Display" and "Stop" buttons, then turn the volume knob to the right. It should then flicker a bit and put you into an engineers menu.

You need 2 discs - 1 single layer, the other double.

Follow the onscreen menu (I think its menu option 1) and choose DVD SL then DVD DL (single layer then dual layer)

Remember to do the single layer adjustment first.

Once done then exit the menu.


All of this only works though if the laser is emitting enough voltage. Lasers do wear out. As they age then the emissions drop to a point where it no-longer generates enough intensity to read the disc. Replacing a laser is a major expense. If your player is a high end CD player worth £500 even secondhand then the cost could be justified. But not on a 9 year old player where they change hands on Ebay and Gumtree for £30-£40 all-in.


The Sony's weren't cheap in their day. I bet you've been happy with the sound. You wouldn't need to replace the whole thing if the player was separate from the amp. Howerver, it isn't. That's the rub with all-in-one kits. One bit dies and the rest becomes redundant; taken down by the weakest link.

You could replace like-for-like, but you'll face the same problem in future. The smarter solution is an AV receiver with speaker package and then a separate Blu-ray/DVD player. Blu-ray players will play your DVDs as a well as Blu-rays. These AV receiver packages weren't available at such accessible prices 9 years ago. Much has changed. It's hard now to justify spending £200 on an all-in-one when for £250 you could have something substantially better in all respects including sound quality, flexibility, future-proofing, features. The Yamaha YHT199 combined with any budget Blu-ray player (the Sony is alright for £50) will whup the Sony's butt and give you smart features too.

 

[Jenevers]

Hi I'm having the same problem with my Sony dav s550.
I pressed the display and stop buttons , turned the volume knob and got "SERVICE IN" on the display. I couldn't get any further. Any suggestions ?

 

[spinck]

Hi,
Here is a link to DAV-S550 Service Manual.
Enjoy your fixes.