Pioneer BDP-320 Problems

mufsoman

I'm suddenly experiencing some frustrating issues with my BDP-320. Its not reading blurays. I get an error code of either "can't read disc" or "unknown disc". I've used a laser cleaning disc and keyboard cleaning pressurized air in the open slot to remove any potential dirt blocking the laser, but with no success. Occasionally I can get it to read a bluray, but rarely.

Has anyone had similar problems? Any suggestion? Is it possible that the laser for reading blurays is dying a slow death while the DVD laser is still good (are there two lasers?)?

Time for a new BDP?

mufsoman

BTW - the first thing I checked when this problem started was that the firmware is up to date, and yes it is....

tonyb

I have the same machine and never a problem so far. Who knows,you may have gotten a returned/refurb product. In anycase,call them up or take it back where you bought it.

digitalvideo

Is your player updated with the 3.71 firmware update? On the other website forums (blu-ray.com and avsforum.com) some members are having some problems with their 320 and 23FD Pioneer machines playing some movies while others have the same machines and never had a problem at all.

Make sure you contact Pioneer's tech support and tell them... the more people who report these problems the more aggressive Pioneer is in releasing firmware updates...

For General Service & Support
call 1-800-421-1404

http://parts.pioneerelectronics.com/BDfirmware/

rebuy

I would like to know how a laser disc cleaner cleans a laser.
I really do not know.

Whenever I have had a problem with a laser reader,
I remove the cover, get Q-tips and alcohol and clean the
lasers manually, just cleaning the lens. This has always worked
for me.

I guess I do not trust some claims from companies that claim
to clean a laser without touching it.

mufsoman

Rebuy - the laser cleaning disc I have actually has tiny brushes on the disc surface so as it spins and the laser moves across the disc, the brushes wipe the laser lens. Not sure how effective this is, but at this point I'm desperate since my Pioneer still isn't reading BD's. It reads DVD's, but not blurays.

I did take the cover off the cabinet with the intentions to manually clean the laser, but but the disc unit is in its own sealed metal box within the BDP cabinet. I didn't see any easy way to open that box. Do you have a method?

jon s

The pickup head for bluray uses a blue laser and for DVDs a red laser. It could be that the drive pickup has failed. I noticed that on AVS Forums that the Pioneer drives appear to have a higher failure rate than others...

digitalvideo

The firmware update (3.72) is up on the Pioneer Europe website for the LX52, which is the same as the 320 and 23FD. I'm personally going to wait for it to be on Pioneer's U.S. website and request the free firmware update disc in the mail. Here is the website...

http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/support/software/BDP-LX52/index.html

digitalvideo

The 3.72 firmware update is now available on Pioneer's U.S. website to be downloaded from internet or order the free firmware update disc in the mail.

http://parts.pioneerelectronics.com/BDfirmware/

Pioneer problem

To the originator of this thread, I have the exact same problem! My Pioneer BDP-320 has just stopped playing ALL Blu-ray Discs! I updated firmware to latest about 3 months ago and own about 150+ Blu-ray Discs and the player has just stopped playing ALL of them! Disc spins for a bit, then I get error message back 'cannot play disc', though all DVDs work fine! Maddening for a player only 18 months old, did you ever find a solution?

jon s

This is not uncommon for Pioneer Blu-Ray players... The previous models (BDP09FD, BDP05FD and BDP51FD) all are suffering from drive failures now. The big hangup is that the ONLY way to get them fixed is to send them back to Pioneer. I found out that the Pioneer players firmware have to be flashed for each individual player.

If you were to swap a drive out the new drive will not work unless the player has been flashed with the appropriate information. This is a bummer for me because I have a couple of backup BDP51FDs I got for real cheap ($50) and the drives cannot be used to replace the drive in the BDP09FD which is a $2000 player that uses the same drive unless I ship them all back to Pioneer for flashing.

I also understand that the original drives are also quite hard to find and Pioneer is often out of stock. I am not sure if the newer models use the same drive...

leroyjr1

Sounds like it might be time for a new blu ray player. With all the great players out there with tons of features I wouldn't touch a Pioneer anymore. Just my opinion.

mufsoman

My solution was to buy a new bdp-320 for real cheap on Ebay and kept the old one for parts if needed in the future. Still like the PQ & AQ of the 320. However, the next blueray player will be new model, Oppo(?)....

Irrenhaus

I have the new Oppo 103 and really love it.
Check out the reviews.

Cheers

mantis

I'm very sorry to report that the Pioneer Players are not free of defects. Years ago they where next to Sony the most rock solid players on the market money could buy. I think they sub out to Sharp and they now build their players. I'm not currently sure if thats exactly accurate but from what I have heard it is.

Since this move or so called move , I have noticed a huge difference in their players. I had the Elite BDP53fd for about a weekend before it failed. I kept my Cambridge. It's sad to say as I'm a huge Pioneer Elite fan. They have new models out and I'm not excited to even give one a test drive.

tonyb

Have the 320 also, happy with pic and sound, but seems to be getting slower as it ages loading. Mind you it was never a rocket loading BR discs, or maybe it's just wearing on me as I age.

Was looking at the oppo 105. With all it can do, you wouldn't even need a receiver if you had seperate amps, now thats a bargain.

Msabot1

Stick with Sony! They originated this format,been using em for years without any probs!

mufsoman

tonyb - my 320 load time is also very slow. Slow as molasses on a cold morning. New BR is not a high priority at the moment though, and still enjoying the 320 PQ & AQ.

jon s

Msabot1 wrote: »

Stick with Sony! They originated this format,been using em for years without any probs!

Unfortunately, the Sony Blu-Ray players have been slowly going downhill in quality. They are cheap, quick, adequate in features but their optical drives have been known to fail as well. I won't say they are as bad as the Pioneers, but they are not what they used to be. The players are light and if you open them up, there is hardly anything in there. I have a Sony BDP-S570 and a BDP-S580 (as well as a couple of Pioneer BDP05FDs). The S570 was not too bad, but the S580 has a smaller wi-fi antenna which shortened the range of the player from my router. Most of the internet features are useless as they do not provide much control of the internet program.

To me, you probably cannot tell the difference between any Blu-Ray player for picture quality (unless you get pretty anal about specs). What you can tell is the load time, DVD upscaling capability, audio quality (the Pioneers I have excel in audio quality) and whether they support features like SACD (which the Pioneers don't, bummer) or MP3 playback. Besides once the movie starts playing and the action starts, you probably are not going to be nitpicking about any of that anyway.

mantis

jon s wrote: »

Unfortunately, the Sony Blu-Ray players have been slowly going downhill in quality. They are cheap, quick, adequate in features but their optical drives have been known to fail as well. I won't say they are as bad as the Pioneers, but they are not what they used to be. The players are light and if you open them up, there is hardly anything in there. I have a Sony BDP-S570 and a BDP-S580 (as well as a couple of Pioneer BDP05FDs). The S570 was not too bad, but the S580 has a smaller wi-fi antenna which shortened the range of the player from my router. Most of the internet features are useless as they do not provide much control of the internet program.

To me, you probably cannot tell the difference between any Blu-Ray player for picture quality (unless you get pretty anal about specs). What you can tell is the load time, DVD upscaling capability, audio quality (the Pioneers I have excel in audio quality) and whether they support features like SACD (which the Pioneers don't, bummer) or MP3 playback. Besides once the movie starts playing and the action starts, you probably are not going to be nitpicking about any of that anyway.

You know why? I figured it out , it's because most people want everything for nothing. Not many people are willing to pay for quality. It's a shame for the one who are.

tonyb

mufsoman wrote: »

tonyb - my 320 load time is also very slow. Slow as molasses on a cold morning. New BR is not a high priority at the moment though, and still enjoying the 320 PQ & AQ.

I hear ya man. Pic and sound are outstanding. The load times can wear on your nerves at times....agreed. Price though for what you get on whats most important, pretty good imho.

jon s

mantis wrote: »

You know why? I figured it out , it's because most people want everything for nothing. Not many people are willing to pay for quality. It's a shame for the one who are.

That is so true... That is why the Pioneer Kuro Plasma sets went along with the dodo... No one wanted to pay $5000 for a 50" plasma when you could get a Sony, Sam Sung, Panasonic or Vizio for $1500 or less. They did not care for the state of art contrast ratio or accurate colors.

You can now buy a good Blu-Ray player for $100 or less, yet they expect it to last forever. Did you know that Vizio displays have a one year warranty and that they generally do not repair them out of warranty? If it breaks, too bad, buy a new one for $1000.

saravanan7even

My pioneer BDP-320 BLURAY player show unknownd disk

So how can use usb storage ?
Please any one answer help to me!!!!plz

teamjhertz

Try playing a regular DVD. If that works it means the Bluray optical reader is bad. There is one for DVD and another for Bluray