# Samsung BD-F5900 plays BD-R but not BD discs



## the2130 (Dec 18, 2014)

Has anyone else seen this issue? I've had this BD-F5900 for a little over a year, but I noticed the other day that it will no longer play store-bought Blu-rays. BD-Rs I've recorded myself play fine. When I play a BD, the time counter on the machine advances as if it's playing, but I get no signal on the TV. I went into the Smart Hub screen and selected the Blu-ray player, but got the message "Cannot play the disc. The disc does not meet the specifications." Tried a hard reset but no change. The software version is the latest. All Samsung support could suggest was that I have the machine serviced, which would likely cost more than a new player. If the hardware is bad, it seems strange that BD-R discs will play without issue.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Dumb question... but are you positive you are playing Blu-ray discs from the same region that the player is configured to play?

Otherwise, I agree... if anything it is usually the other way around... BD-R will stop playing before pressed Blu-rays when there is an impending failure with the drive.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

I did a quick online search, seems you're not the only one with this issue. Seems some suggest changing the bd-live setting, turning it off. That of course is one difference from BD-R. Others say they cleaned the lens. They are both bluray, but the data is still stored differently.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

the2130 said:


> Has anyone else seen this issue? I've had this BD-F5900 for a little over a year, but I noticed the other day that it will no longer play store-bought Blu-rays. BD-Rs I've recorded myself play fine. When I play a BD, the time counter on the machine advances as if it's playing, but I get no signal on the TV. I went into the Smart Hub screen and selected the Blu-ray player, but got the message "Cannot play the disc. The disc does not meet the specifications." Tried a hard reset but no change. The software version is the latest. All Samsung support could suggest was that I have the machine serviced, which would likely cost more than a new player. If the hardware is bad, it seems strange that BD-R discs will play without issue.


Calling Samsung is usually futile. They do know what the reset procedures are for most of the BD players, tho. Did you ask the tech support people at Sammy's Place if they knew that procedure. I know it's something different than just unplugging the player.

I do have an F7500 and another Fsomething or other and have not had any problems such as yours. Both F players still work well.

Mmm. Just looked on Amazon and that's one of the cheapest Samsung BD players they sell. With Samsung BD players you're actually better off paying a higher price on one than getting the bargain priced sets. I still have two E6550s (I think that's what the model # is) and they still play well. Thing is, like the F7500, the price never really dropped that much from the time they were introduced to the time they stopped selling them (both models were a bit more than $200 when first released). The F7500 still sells for almost $200 on Amazon. It hasn't dropped much since that model was introduced.

I think with Samsung, the more you pay the better the item is. Meanwhile, Sony has comparable BD players that work as well as Sammys do at a lot less money. But they come with a horrible remote control.

Rich


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## the2130 (Dec 18, 2014)

Stewart Vernon said:


> Dumb question... but are you positive you are playing Blu-ray discs from the same region that the player is configured to play?
> 
> Otherwise, I agree... if anything it is usually the other way around... BD-R will stop playing before pressed Blu-rays when there is an impending failure with the drive.


I don't see anything on the discs that indicates the region, but one of them is a movie I've watched before. Another indicates it was made in the USA, so I'm pretty sure it's the right region. I watch mostly BD-Rs and DVDs but occasionally I watch a BD, so the issue may have existed for a while. In the future I think I'll test one of my discs after a software update.


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## the2130 (Dec 18, 2014)

Rich said:


> Calling Samsung is usually futile. They do know what the reset procedures are for most of the BD players, tho. Did you ask the tech support people at Sammy's Place if they knew that procedure. I know it's something different than just unplugging the player.
> 
> I do have an F7500 and another Fsomething or other and have not had any problems such as yours. Both F players still work well.
> 
> ...


I paid $117 for in last year, so it's not one of the more expensive models, but it's still disappointing to have it fail after a little over a year. You're right about Samsung support - all they could recommend was what I had already tried, a hard reset and checking the firmware. I'll probably buy a new one this week, but I think I'll try a different brand.


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## the2130 (Dec 18, 2014)

dpeters11 said:


> I did a quick online search, seems you're not the only one with this issue. Seems some suggest changing the bd-live setting, turning it off. That of course is one difference from BD-R. Others say they cleaned the lens. They are both bluray, but the data is still stored differently.


Thanks, I'll check to see if there's a way to turn off BD-Live before I replace the machine.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Samsung is kind of spotty with their support. I still think it's weird for a BD-R to play but not a pressed BD... usually people have problems with BD-R in these cases... but depending on the movie, it could be a firmware issue. Samsung has in fact broken some movie playback with some updates designed to fix other movie playback... or at least they did for a while with my Samsung Blu-ray player from several years back... which led me to get a Sony Blu-ray player... then Samsung eventually fixed things, I think.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

the2130 said:


> I paid $117 for in last year, so it's not one of the more expensive models, but it's still disappointing to have it fail after a little over a year. You're right about Samsung support - all they could recommend was what I had already tried, a hard reset and checking the firmware. I'll probably buy a new one this week, but I think I'll try a different brand.


I agree, it is a shame to have it fail after only a year. Now you've learned the same lesson I did. The cheaper models of Samsung BD players (and probably everything else they sell) are just that...cheap. But the only other BD players in the price range I'm willing to pay for a BD player that are comparable to the Samsungs are the Sonys. And that remote that comes with the Sony is dreadful.

I can wholeheartedly recommend the Samsung F7500. I'm pretty sure you'll find that you have no problems with that. It has a better processor and is a 4K upscaler. I know you don't really want to try another Samsung player, but I've tried lots of BD players and the Samsung F7500 is the best BD player I could find in the price range I was trying to stay in. The way things are going, with the 4K uncertainty, I simply wouldn't spend a whole lot of money on something like an Oppo. I think for ~ $200 the F7500 is the best BD player you're gonna find. Just my opinion based on my experiences with many BD players.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Stewart Vernon said:


> _*Samsung is kind of spotty with their support.*_ I still think it's weird for a BD-R to play but not a pressed BD... usually people have problems with BD-R in these cases... but depending on the movie, it could be a firmware issue. Samsung has in fact broken some movie playback with some updates designed to fix other movie playback... or at least they did for a while with my Samsung Blu-ray player from several years back... which led me to get a Sony Blu-ray player... then Samsung eventually fixed things, I think.


There's an understatement! But, I've found that calling most of the larger makers of electronics is usually futile. Toshiba's tech support is laughable. Sony's is too. Add Panasonic to the list. I've given up on calling all of them. If I didn't have the Sammys, I'd surely have a Sony BD player even if I had to deal with that horrible little remote control.

Rich


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Rich said:


> There's an understatement! But, I've found that calling most of the larger makers of electronics is usually futile. Toshiba's tech support is laughable. Sony's is too. Add Panasonic to the list. I've given up on calling all of them. If I didn't have the Sammys, I'd surely have a Sony BD player even if I had to deal with that horrible little remote control.
> 
> Rich


Yeah, when it comes to calling companies... they are all on fairly equally bad footing. Some companies, though, seem to try to be a little more proactive at least and head off most problems. Blu-ray introduced a particularly nasty bit of a mess with allowing in the spec for encryption keys and such to be changed... which sounded like a good idea from a protection standpoint BUT it forced a scenario where players would require semi-regular updates to keep up with key changes IF studios chose to implement them.

That setup a scenario that I don't think companies anticipated where they would have to support older Blu-ray players a lot longer than they wanted, through firmware updates... otherwise you get a scenario where every 2-3 years customers have to buy new players just to play movies.


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

While I agree with Rich on Sony's remote design my BDP-S1700ES and BDP-S780 have been issue free since I purchased them.


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## the2130 (Dec 18, 2014)

I think Rich is probably right that the more expensive models are likely to last longer. On the other hand, I tend to feel a lot worse about it when they fail. :grin:


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

the2130 said:


> I think Rich is probably right that the more expensive models are likely to last longer. On the other hand, I tend to feel a lot worse about it when they fail. :grin:


While nothing is foolproof high end models tend to have better quality than cheap models.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Stewart Vernon said:


> Yeah, when it comes to calling companies... they are all on fairly equally bad footing. Some companies, though, seem to try to be a little more proactive at least and head off most problems. Blu-ray introduced a particularly nasty bit of a mess with allowing in the spec for encryption keys and such to be changed... which sounded like a good idea from a protection standpoint BUT it forced a scenario where players would require semi-regular updates to keep up with key changes IF studios chose to implement them.
> 
> That setup a scenario that I don't think companies anticipated where they would have to support older Blu-ray players a lot longer than they wanted, through firmware updates... _*otherwise you get a scenario where every 2-3 years customers have to buy new players just to play movies.*_


That's exactly what I ran into with my Samsung BD players that would not, could not stream NF HD. 3 years old and obsolete. Their processors simply could not properly stream NF HD. I called Samsung and asked them if they would be updated and was told their processors wouldn't work with NF HD. I have one of those Sammy BD players embedded in a sound system. Every once in a while, I try to update it, but I always get the same answer: No updates available. Now I have a Sammy BD player sitting on top of the sound system/BD player that will properly stream NF HD, and 4 other BD players that do NF HD very well, but they'll undoubtedly not be able to do 4K when that content becomes available.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

MysteryMan said:


> While I agree with Rich on Sony's remote design my BDP-S1700ES and BDP-S780 have been issue free since I purchased them.


That remote is enough to keep me from buying a Sony. Aside from the remote, I see no difference in PQ between them and my Samsungs. I do have one Sony BD player. Doesn't get used very much, seems the wife doesn't like the remote either. Really makes me wonder how a remote that's so anti-ergonomic got made in the first place. And by Sony, of all manufacturers.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

the2130 said:


> I think Rich is probably right that the more expensive models are likely to last longer. On the other hand, I tend to feel a lot worse about it when they fail. :grin:


It's not really that much of a jump from $117 to $200. For $200 you get a really good Samsung BD player. For the cheaper price, you get...a cheaper BD player. On the other hand, the Sony BD player I bought is still running well, when it's used, and that only cost me a bit over $100. Don't really remember how much it cost exactly. And I'm not sure that every maker of BD players uses the Samsung pricing model. But I'm pretty positive about how Samsung does it. I know Sony does the same thing with their TVs. The more you pay, the more you get.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

MysteryMan said:


> While nothing is foolproof high end models tend to have better quality than cheap models.


I agree. Sometimes trying to save a few bucks is just not worth it.

Rich


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## ground_pounder (Aug 15, 2014)

avoid LG there horrible. and the customer support cant understand English worth a crap!!


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

ground_pounder said:


> avoid LG there horrible. and the customer support cant understand English worth a crap!!


Could you expand upon your reasons for trashing LG? No arguments here, I've never had one, but my son is thinking of getting an LG TV and I'd like to hear a bit more about them and their problems.

Rich


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## ground_pounder (Aug 15, 2014)

Rich said:


> Could you expand upon your reasons for trashing LG? No arguments here, I've never had one, but my son is thinking of getting an LG TV and I'd like to hear a bit more about them and their problems.
> 
> Rich


after having a plasma t.v. for 2 years turning it on one day and it made a popping sound and I got the black screen of death. it was dead I couldn't get it to turn on at all. I called tech support and there in a third world country and I had to ask the same question like 7 times before he understood me or he started on another topic all together. LG = life's garbage. you should do a search of how hard it is to get service for em and or let alone parts. I remember people buying there appliances and they would fall apart and the customer service reps to schedule a service call sometimes they didn't have an authorized service tech in the area. right now I also have an LG fridge also it freezes everthing in the reefer part and not the freezer I try to turn it to a warmer setting and it resets itself to where it was nothing but rubbish!!


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

ground_pounder said:


> after having a plasma t.v. for 2 years turning it on one day and it made a popping sound and I got the black screen of death. it was dead I couldn't get it to turn on at all. I called tech support and there in a third world country and I had to ask the same question like 7 times before he understood me or he started on another topic all together. LG = life's garbage. you should do a search of how hard it is to get service for em and or let alone parts. I remember people buying there appliances and they would fall apart and the customer service reps to schedule a service call sometimes they didn't have an authorized service tech in the area. right now I also have an LG fridge also it freezes everthing in the reefer part and not the freezer I try to turn it to a warmer setting and it resets itself to where it was nothing but rubbish!!


Huh. Well, he's got the LG TV. And 90 days to return it if something happens. All the TV makers seem to have terrible tech support. Samsung certainly does, as do Panasonic and Sony. I've always been kinda leery about buying appliances from companies like LG or Samsung. But, thanx for the explanation. For the price he paid for the TV if he has problems we'll consider it a learning experience.

Rich


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