Sony DAV-S500 DVD system region error?

[dr.ido]

This system was dumped and as it was complete with remote and speakers I thought it was worth a look. The original fault was hum bars in the video and it woudn't recognise any discs. After replacing some bad caps the hum bars are gone and it attempts to play, but every DVD gives a "Playback prohibited by area limitations" error.

The error is the same with pressed region 4 discs, pressed region-free discs and copied region free discs. I don't think this is a disc reading error as a badly scratched disc gives me a "C00 disc is dirty" error. CD's and VCDs play fine.

Going into the service menu (hold stop and display on front panel, turn volume knob clockwise) shows the player is set to region 4. Past errors are viewable in the service menu as blocks of hex numbers, but I don't have the manual to decipher them. The drive tests in the service menu pass.

Any ideas?

[harry88]

If your interested I have a original service manual and brand new laser for one of these babies. both yours $50 posted.

[dr.ido]

Thanks for the offer, but at this point in time I doubt any DVD player is worth $50 anymore. For now it can sit in the pile with all the other crap gear I accumulate until I either find a similar unit or get sick of the sight of it and scrap it.