I took a hammer and beat it senseless! Still doesnt work.

Yeah, I too had a similar experience at the start, but then again it started giving me the same message. SO i went to the sony service center, and got it repaired for nearly 100 $ he said, he cant gaurantee the permanent elimination of this problem. so i am hanging still for a good solution. :(

bad news: the E:xx designation means it\'s tech time. they should have left you with some sort of warranty because the problem meant a definite physical repair/replacement took place.