Playback issues with Samsung BD-J5100 - need advice (1 Viewer)

[The Drifter]

Hey everyone. I need some advice regarding my Samsung Player BD-J5100, and figured this would be the best place to come:

I got this Blu player new around November 2017 and it has played DVD's & Blu's perfectly - until now. Recently, it didn't play two Blu's at all: The River's Edge (1986) and Dumb & Dumber (2004); I kept getting an error message when it tried to load both of them. I turned the machine off and on; unplugged this multiple times; etc. - and it still didn't work re: these two movies.

Note that it plays most other Blu's, and it also plays all regular DVD's perfectly.

At this point, my concern is that it will continue to not play Blu's - in addition to the two it's already not playing. My first thought was that I needed a firmware update, but the problem is that the player is not Wireless (it's Wired) & it's not connected to the Internet at all. So, if a firmware update is needed, what would be the best way to go about doing this? Should I buy a USB device, load the firmware onto the USB device (from the Internet), and then load it on the player? If so, is there a specific place online to go where I can get these firmware updates? And, if I do this, should that solve the problem?

I also thought there may be an issue with the laser reading the Blu's (that was in issue with an older Blu player I had, which I had to get rid of), but the fact that it's playing most Blu's without a problem makes me think it's more of a software issue, than a hardware issue with the player.

Any advice that would help with this issue would be greatly appreciated - Thanks!

 

[JQuintana]

Why not just plug the player into your router via ethernet and download the update???

 

[Malcolm R]

If so, is there a specific place online to go where I can get these firmware updates?

The support/downloads page at the player manufacturer's website. These appear to be the firmware upgrades for your model:

It does appear this model has a LAN connector on the back. Can you extend your network cable to the player to run an update? Otherwise you would probably need to use a USB flash drive.

 

[The Drifter]

Good advice - Thanks to you both. I'm not sure how this would work, but I can look into this.

 

[Malcolm R]

Good advice - Thanks to you both. I'm not sure how this would work, but I can look into this.

If you're able to connect the cable directly, just go into your player's menu and look for something related to software updates. That should step you though it.

The third item listed in the above snip from the Samsung support site is an "Upgrade Guide" so you can probably download/view that and it would step you though the process using either option.

 

[The Drifter]

If you're able to connect the cable directly, just go into your player's menu and look for something related to software updates. That should step you though it.

Thanks for the suggestion.

The TV/Blu player is in a different room than the computer/Internet/Wireless device. I don't like the idea of moving the TV (it's a huge HD flatscreen, like many people have) due to the potential for damage here. That being said, I could try to temporarily move the Wireless Router into the room with the TV/player & hook up the cable that way - I may try this later.

It's worth noting that even if I do get a firmware update to work re: this player, there is no guarantee that this will solve my problem re: these Blu's not playing. I.e, they may still not work.

 

[Malcolm R]

It's worth noting that even if I do get a firmware update to work re: this player, there is no guarantee that this will solve my problem re: these Blu's not playing. I.e, they may still not work.

Yes, that's always a risk. But updated firmware is usually always the first place a support tech would ask you to start (much like computer IT people always want to know if you've rebooted the system).

 

[CraigF]

You know, a 50' (or 75') ethernet cable is a pretty handy thing to have, and cheap too. I like to do FW updates with a wired connection. So I just run the long cable from the device to be updated to a router. Even though these devices would normally use wifi for their less-critical activities.

 

[The Drifter]

The support/downloads page at the player manufacturer's website. These appear to be the firmware upgrades for your model:

View attachment 56811
It does appear this model has a LAN connector on the back. Can you extend your network cable to the player to run an update? Otherwise you would probably need to use a USB flash drive.

This is helpful. However, in looking at this more closely I don't think these Firmware updates will be beneficial - because they're several years old. I got the BD player new in November 2017, and the latest update is December 2017. So, even if I updated these - I'm not convinced they will help me play the Blu's I'm currently having issues with.

You know, a 50' (or 75') ethernet cable is a pretty handy thing to have, and cheap too. I like to do FW updates with a wired connection. So I just run the long cable from the device to be updated to a router. Even though these devices would normally use wifi for their less-critical activities.

Good point. Ethernet cables are not that much, so even if this doesn't work I'm not out that much $. We'll see.

I still may elect to get a new player, given that I don't know for sure whether any of these potential fixes may work.

 

[The Drifter]

Thanks again to everyone that posted here & in the "Cheap Blu ray player" thread where I also posted re: issues with my Samsung Blu player. Just a brief update re: my last posts: I still haven't completely figured out what's wrong with my player, but I strongly suspect it's the Blu laser that's causing the problem. It still plays some Blu's but it seems to "struggle" more with them than in the past.

So, I doubt a firmware update (which I still haven't gotten around to doing yet due to the reasons I already mentioned) would necessarily help. I.e., if it's a hardware problem & not a software problem, updates won't help one iota.

So, I may just get another Blu player & keep my fingers crossed that it will last for a reasonable amount of time (ha ha) - and, I'll probably keep my old Samsung around as a back-up - since it still plays regular DVD's without a hitch.

It's times like this that I wish I weren't such a huge HD/Blu fan. However, I love the Blu format & it's my #1 preferred way to watch films/TV shows - if they're available that way & if I can get ahold of them. So, I will continue to buy Blu players - as long as they continue making them - LOL.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I would still highly recommend the firmware update. Regardless of whether the website says its been updated lately or not, regardless of whether or not the discs used to play but now don't, Blu-ray operating system software tends to be buggy as hell and not particularly user friendly, and can pick up glitches or corruptions along the way. It's entirely possible that what you're describing is the failure of a laser, but it's just as possible that there's some silly Javascript thing going on in some of the Blu-ray discs that is freaking your player out.

 

[The Drifter]

I would still highly recommend the firmware update. Regardless of whether the website says its been updated lately or not, regardless of whether or not the discs used to play but now don't, Blu-ray operating system software tends to be buggy as hell and not particularly user friendly, and can pick up glitches or corruptions along the way. It's entirely possible that what you're describing is the failure of a laser, but it's just as possible that there's some silly Javascript thing going on in some of the Blu-ray discs that is freaking your player out.

Thanks - I will try to do this, hopefully within the next week. I agree this should be a last-ditch effort before I buy a new player, but have been avoiding doing this due to the difficult logistics involved.

EDIT: Just tried to update the firmware, and no go. So, I'm going to just keep this as a back-up DVD player & get a new Blu player within the next week.

Thanks again to everyone for all the advice/feedback.

 

[CraigF]

Not of any help per se, but you could see if the BDs that always play are single-layer (BD-25), and the ones that are iffy or don't play at all are BD-50s. This would at best merely cement in your mind that the Blu laser is dying (getting too weak for cleanly hitting that second layer). If it was my player, I'd at least try a small/careful cleaning of the optical assembly first too.

I have found very few critical FW updates for playing BDs in the last few years. Speaking generally. It's not like it's e.g. 2008.

 

[The Drifter]

Not of any help per se, but you could see if the BDs that always play are single-layer (BD-25), and the ones that are iffy or don't play at all are BD-50s. This would at best merely cement in your mind that the Blu laser is dying (getting too weak for cleanly hitting that second layer). If it was my player, I'd at least try a small/careful cleaning of the optical assembly first too.

Good to know. Specifically, the BD's that wouldn't play at all (so far) are: The Long Good Friday; Dumb and Dumber; and The River's Edge. So, yes - my gut feeling is that the Blu laser is dying - based on the way this player is acting & past experience with other BD players over the years.

I used to have a CD cleaner - this CD had small "brushes" on one side, and you put this into the CD player & it apparently "cleaned" the player to some extent. However, when I did this I never noticed a difference with the player re: before I used this & afterwards. So, I'm not sure that would be beneficial to use on the Blu player.

I'm also hesitant re: messing around too much with the player, since I don't want to unintentionally make the issue worse. I.e., at this point at least it still plays some Blu's & all DVD's. It may get to the point where it doesn't play any Blu's, which is what I can see happening in the near future - maybe.

 

[CraigF]

^ Sometimes all it takes is a delicate wipe of the lens. I like to do it directly, rather than with special cleaning devices, to make sure I'm getting at the exact part. A little 99% isopropyl on a microfiber cloth...won't hurt anything. But yeah, chances are the blue laser's dying. Typically you'd notice some issues with DVDs too if it was a really dirty lens, unless of course the red laser has its own lens (sometimes the lasers share a lens, sometimes they're separate).

 

[The Drifter]

Again, thanks for the info. However, my understanding is that in order to clean the lens - you would have to partially take the Blu player apart. And, my concern is that if I do so, I may unintentionally damage the player - especially since I don't know what I'm doing.

Going along with this, another more important concern is that one of the tutorials I saw online mentioned that if you take the Blu player apart to clean the lens, you have to be extremely careful not to look at the laser - because this could cause permanent eye damage. Not sure how true this is, but I don't want to take any chances.