I have the same unit as you, and I have ALWAYS had that problem with mine, sometimes while it was new, more and more times as it got older, and now it won't play cd's at all. One of the other websites said that their unit pooped out just after the warranty expired, and he had to get someone to repair it, but it failed again before long, and he was going to sell his and get something different. If you find anything out about this, I would be glad to hear it. I havechecked on videohelp.com/dvdhacks to see if I could disable the regional restrictions on it, but I haven't found anything in the short look I have had time to take. Maybe you are more knowledgeable about that sort of stuff than I. Herb