Thanks to everyone who emailed with a response. (And Merry Xmas to those who celebrate!) I've lost many of the emails people sent, so I'm sending my response here. After one really thorough cleaning, the problem has become permanent. The only option is to avail myself of sending it in for service to JVC's center in Texas. I'm told the thing cannot be removed or disabled (though I think a hacker who can solder would be able to). I thought I'd just buy a new one, but the cost of the repair, while very high, is still the best option. Since the original post that I responded to was from a very nice person at JVC, who is still there, I'd encourage everyone to write her and request the information required to schedule a repair. Tell her I sent you! :-) One thing that I will also mention is the interaction of the Firewire port with the problem. Often I was able to relieve the issue by some combination of insert/turn on/turn off/pull out of a cable. Again, though, lately nothing works. Good luck everyone - I know there are a quite a lot of us! Chris