CD Player Died :(

unplug it, wait a while (a while is defined as 15 .000900077721 seconds), then plug it back into the wall. Then turn on - this reboot sometimes helps.

Might clean the laser lens, gently with a dry cotton tip.

Be sure the tray is all the way in when the CD loads.

Does the CD spin but fails to read?

Does the laser light (check in darkness) come on but fails to read the CD?

CleanAC

when you load a CD it must spin soon after the tray goes in, then the laser mustlight up as it spins to read it.

Be sure the tray fully seats when it goes into the CDP.

try various things like turn it on with a CD inside it

turn it on with no CD then put a CD in the open tray and push play instead of in

any variation to get it to read and play afull CD without porblems - then the laser may be OK but something else is wrong

remove and put back any plug in sockets from the transport to the mainboard - this will clean corroded connectors

Sounds to me like the laser diode itself is on the way out. But, sometimes the calibration will drift as the diode ages and needs re-adjustment. There is typically a power level potentiometer attached to the back of the laser head assembly or placed directly on the flat ribbon cable. You can try tweaking this pot a fraction of a turn clockwise and see if the CD will spin up and play. Be sure to use a marker to mark the original position if no change occurs. That way you can go back to the default setting.

Another thing to check is the power supply. First, visibly inspect all electrolytic capacitors to see if any of the tops have domed up. They should be perfectly flat across the top. If any have domed up, they are no longer functioning as designed and could cause early brown outs on the DC voltage rails. Flaky PSU could cause all manner of problems. Secondly, which is a little more technical, obtain the service manual for your CDP and find out what all the voltages are supposed to be coming out of the PSU. Even if the caps look good, the PSU could still be at fault.

If everything is still checking out OK, either A) Laser diode gone bye bye. B) One of the servo control circuits has failed and needs adjustment and or repair. Most likely the later, since most modern CDPs automatically calibrate the servo circuits every time a CD is inserted.

In either case, it would probably be most cost effective to just replace the CDP altogether. It may not be worth it to have serviced, then again maybe so. I don't know much about this model. When was it made? What did it cost you?

~Z