Wow...this was a long time ago. Anyway...the solution was unfortunately...to buy a new DVD player. I had my Sony S7700 in the shop for a couple months, literally everything was replaced on it except the mother board. The laser assembly, the motor, even all the connections on the motherboard were re-soldered to ensure a good connection, etc...etc... In the end, it was determined that it was a motherboard failure and the cost of replacing the motherboard with a new one was going to be prohibitively expensive and more than buying a new top of the line DVD player, since they don't make that motherboard anymore. So I bought a new Sony 999ES DVD/SA-CD player for around $600 + tax. Got it at www.oade.com. (Pronounced "eddie"). http://www.oade.com/Home_theater/sony/sony_es/dvpns999es.html