Samsung Blu-ray DVD players have suddenly stopped working
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Entertainment has become one of the biggest tools for keeping sane during these trying times but while many companies are aggressively pushing their streaming services, others still prefer owning the media they buy in physical form. That mostly means DVDs and Blu-ray discs which, of course, require appropriate devices to play them. But what if those devices all suddenly stopped working for no apparent reason? That's the rather eerie and frustrating situation that owners of Samsung Blu-ray players are now experiencing around the world with no answer or solution yet in sight.
There doesn't seem to be any common denominator other than the fact that it's happening across a number of Samsung's WiFi-connected Blu-ray and DVD players. Some have reported it on a BD-J5700 while others experienced it on HJ-4500 entertainment systems. All of them report being able to use the player one day and suddenly blocked form it the next.
The most common behavior reported is that the players reboot themselves after a few seconds, causing an inescapable boot loop. Others have reported hearing noises as if the players were reading empty disc slots. In almost all cases, button presses and remote controls don't do register anything on the players.
Given the mysterious and sudden appearance of the bug, some people have different theories on what caused it. Some blame an overnight firmware update but the range of devices covered is so wide and random to discount that theory. Some blame an expired SSL security certificate in the firmware, which could explain why no amount of resetting the device to factory settings seems to work.
Knowing nothing about the devices or the cause, this sounds a lot like an expired SSL certificate that was shipped in old firmware that nobody bothered to build an update for.https://t.co/FPdemTQHxZ
— Petru Ratiu (@rpetre) June 20, 2020
Unfortunately, Samsung remains unresponsive despite the growing number of complaints, possibly due to how it happened during the weekend. Given global conditions, it's understandable how owners a not so amused, especially if it will require them to turn in the device for manual servicing.