Tech-Evangelist

Technical Articles, Musings and Opinions from Tech-Evangelist


Incompatible Disc Error with Sharp BD-HP20U Blu-ray Player

By - Copyright - All Rights Reserved

Blu-ray technology clearly won the battle for high definition DVD movie dominance. But Blu-ray technology continues to evolve, and as it does, new issues pop up. Once recent problem is the “incompatible disc” error that is becoming more common with the Sharp’s very popular BD-HP20U Blu-ray player.

When I purchased the Sharp BD-HP20U player in February of 2008, it was getting rave reviews as one of the best Blu-ray players under $500. Indeed, it has performed flawlessly, until just recently.

Unlike older DVD technology that remained relatively static throughout its popular life, both Blu-ray video and sound technology continues to evolve. That is the main reason that Blu-ray players include a feature that allows users to easily update the firmware so that the player can keep up with the technology advances. Depending upon the features built into a Blu-ray player, the firmware can be updated via an Ethernet connection on a home network, using Wi-Fi, or by downloading the update onto a USB drive. The Sharp BD-HP20U uses the latter method.

The first firmware update that was required to keep up with new advances was an update to fix problems with the movie Jumper. Without the update, as soon as the movie started to play, the screen would fragment and freeze up. Loading the update resolved the issue, but may have created other problems.

I recently purchased the newest Rambo movie on Blu-ray. When I tried to play it the player looked like it was going through the normal boot and loading process, but would then display the “incompatible disc” error message and reject the disk. I tried to load the disk over and over and always got the same result. My first thought was that I bought a defective disc. The disc was pristine with no visible scratches or defects. I searched the web for issues related to bad Rambo Blu-ray discs and found literally hundreds of product reviews and forum postings, all of which were reporting the same error, but the errors were related to a wide range of Blu-ray disks that would not play on the Sharp BD-HP20U player.

Most of the problems appear to have started after users did the Jumper firmware update. The problem is that once the update has been run, there isn’t any way to load the old firmware version.

The next step was the check the Sharp web site for another update, but the last firmware update was for the Jumper problem. I took the Rambo disk to my local Best Buy and tested it in several players, including their BD-HP20U demo box. Rambo played fine in all the players, so that isolated the problems to my BD-HP20U.

I then contacted Sharp’s Customer Support department via a form on their web site and gave them all the nitty gritty details. It took a week for them to respond and all I received was a BS message letting me know that Blu-ray technology was evolving and futher recommended that I call their Customer Support to report the disc problem. Huh? Didn’t I just conatact Customer Support to report the problem with Rambo? The message was from a Customer Support rep advising me to call Customer Support, but the message did not include a telephone number. Doh!

I temporarily put Rambo aside and assumed the problem would eventually be fixed with the next firmware update. Other Blu-ray discs played perfectly. Then I received Iron Man and when I tried to play it, the “incompatible disc” error greeted me once again. With my frustration level at a new high, I found a number for Sharp’s Customer Support department and called them.

The Solution that Worked for My Player

I laid out the entire scenario for the Sharp rep on the phone and expressed my frustration with the nice piece of crapola. He asked several questions and we tried to load both the Rambo and Iron Man discs again with no luck. Then he explained the process for resetting the BD-HP20U back to the factory default settings.

To reset the factory defaults, turn the player on and wait for it to boot. The rep instructed me to hold the power button down for 5 seconds until a Reset message appears on the screen. I never saw a Reset message and it took about 15 seconds, but the player rebooted. After that, both Rambo and Iron Man played perfectly! Woo-hoo!

Because I had never changed any of the configurations on the player, I have to assume that the Jumper firmware update changed the settings. The Sharp rep said that the Reset procedure does not roll the firmware update back; it merely changes the configuration settings to the factory defaults. Nonetheless, it resolved the problems.

For those who need to do firmware updates, you can find the updates on the Sharp BD-HP20U firmware update page. Make sure that you download the proper file for your player and follow the instructions in the manual.

I thought I would pass this on to others because I have not seen this solution mentioned anywhere on the web and the Reset procedure is not in the Sharp BD-HP20U user’s manual.

Comments

  1. I’ve come across the same “incompatible disc” error with the BD-HP20U with the fallowing disks

    Sweeney Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

    and

    The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion,The Witch and The Wardrobe (2-disc)

    I’ve tried the system reset option and it still rejects my disks
    I’ve taken my discs back to Best-Buy and tried them out there and they all seem to work fine. even on the floor unit of the BD-HP20U.

    Tech Support is no help what so over. Ever time I email them they give me what looks to be a carbon response of “Please visit the website to get the latest updates for firmware”. I picked this player because it was by far the best that was on the market at the time and would integrate well into my HDTV ( Sharp LC-62C42U/LC42D62U 1080p LCD 42” )

  2. Hi Daniel

    There are lots of compatibility issues with Blu-ray disks and players because the technology is still evolving. Newer disks add features that are not compatible with older firmware. That is why Blu-ray players have firmware that is updateable. At a minimum, keep up with the latest firmware updates. This Sharp model appears to have many more compatibility problems than the average Blu-ray player. When I bought mine, it was one of the best on the market for under $500.

    My experience with e-mailing Sharp’s tech support is pretty much the same as yours. The e-mail responses are worthless. You have to call them to report your problem. Some people get a useful response, while others get more nonsense.

    I suspect that there is a head alignment problem with some of the Sharp BD-HP20U units. Everyone seems to have problems with different disc’s and sometimes discs that have played fine in the past no longer work.

  3. Hi Doogie

    I know what you mean. I called once more to tech support and still have not gotten any help, I got this unit at a best buy as an open box item. for like $349 it was returned because the person wanted the free blu-ray disk offer so I got ripped off there and now it’s acting up with reading the disks, DVD playback is great and dose wonders for my dvd collection and I have a nice start of a blu-ray collection of about 20 and I really don’t want to have to go and buy an different unit just to enjoy one of the few past times me and my wife get to enjoy together.

    I’m sure you know where I’m coming from in some way. my home entertainment system which the BD-HP20U is part of sits no more then six feet from my computer so updating the firmware is never a problem, For a No-Thrills system it’s great but I’m starting to feel as if Sharp has pawned off on us a up-scaling DVD player that just happens to play BR-D’s as a kind of night job.

    what are you views on the lack of a network connection? with the increase of BD-Live options coming out. I’m thinking they could come up with a usb network dangle would be a simple fix.

  4. Hi Daniel

    You will find a wider range of features on the next generation of players, and of course also on the higher end units. One of my friends plays all of his Blu-ray movies through a PlayStation 3. He says it is cheaper and does its updates using Wi-Fi, which beats the network wiring.

    Sharp isn’t updating its firmware regularly, so the USB port update works fine for me. My BD-HP20U has worked great since doing the reset. As long as it works, I’m a happy camper.

    I will be at the Consumer Electronics Show in January and plan to give a full report of new Blu-ray player features when I get back.

  5. Hi Doogie

    Yep, I do look forward to the next generation of players, and have been looking at the higher end units, The PlayStation 3 is not high on our lists of things to get as besides the blu-ray playing end of it my wife and I don’t have the time to play games often.

    The USB port for updating works fine for me as well, and I agree with you As long as My BD-HP20U works I’m a happy camper too.

    I look forward to reading your reports from CES.

    Thank you for the help you’ve been able to supply

  6. Hi alli purchased a sharp BD- HP21H for xmas my family have bought me 30 blu ray dvds Iron Man, mummy, spiderman3,just to name a few and all of them give incompatibledisc error I went to sharp web site and saw a software up date whichI followed to the leeter using my usb and doing a system reset as in structed still left me with the same problem ahhhhh dont know what to do next will takingit back to the shop help the uni playes ordinary DVDS not a problem all the wifes love stories I would apreciate any help from anyone

  7. Hi Gerry

    I just gave up with my Sharp BD-HP20U. After doing the current firmware update, we got the incompatible disc error for Street Kings, Cars and several other Blu-Ray disks that previously worked fine. The reset procedure didn’t fix the problem.

    If you just got a new Sharp player and ran into this problem, I would return it in a heartbeat.

    We bought the Sony BDP-BX1 from Sam’s Club for $228. That is the same as the Sony BDP-S350 sold by Best Buy and most other retailers. It does an excellent job with upscaling standard DVDs. Plus, it has built-in decoders for Dolby TruHD, Dolby Digital and DTS. it also has 24p True Cinema and BD-Live. Best of all, we played a range of Blu-ray videos over the holiday weekend and did not experience any problems at all.

  8. Sharp customer service acknowledges several new releases are incompatible with the current HP20U OS, but that the new firmware will not be released for another month (late January). This is unacceptable. Why do manufacturers have to wait until a disc is released to upgrade? Why can’t they work with the studios to have the firmware upgrade posted to their website as soon as the discs are released?

  9. I agree.

    Sharp is taking a big step backwards when the current firmware release disables Blu-ray discs that previously worked.

    I will never buy another Sharp player due to the lack of proper support.

  10. My BD-HP20U, updated with the latest Sharp firmware, still won’t play 28 Weeks Later, Traitor, Death Race, and Sex and the City….all in unscratched pristine condition. All I get is an “imcompaticle disk” error.

  11. Hey,
    Same problem here until I reset everything back to original set-up. Once I did that, not a problem with any of my BD’s.

    Today I’ll update my firmware and hopefully it won’t cause a problem.

  12. The reset DID NOT work for us, either. We installed the firmware update on our BD-HP20U last night and now NOTHING we could previously watch will work. We get the doomed “incompatible disk error” as well.

  13. Hi Brutus

    The firmware update will help with some BDs, but the current version appears to be causing problems with others.

    Keep in mind that the reset just changes the configuration settings to the factory defaults. It doesn’t affect the firmware version.

    Michele, I am really surprised that Sharp is screwing up as badly as they are with the updates. It appears that everyone else who is selling Blu-ray players is keeping up with the updates. Bad dog, Sharp! Bad dog!

  14. I too have a problem with my Sharp BD-HP20U player, Sharp gave me a list of movies that won’t work on it. I think all owners of this player should continue to call Sharp and complain. We paid good money for these players and we should get a refund or a player that works

  15. Here’s what the latest update for the 20U did for me. I own 14 Blu-ray movies, all of which used to play in my player. After the latest update I can only play the movies that use the old 25GB(single layer) BD disk. All the other movies use the 50GB(double layer) disk and they all report Incompatible disk. Anybody else having this issue? I’m going to call support on Monday as my player must have gotten screwed up during the last update.

  16. Hi Tony

    Be sure to let us know if there is a resolution. We never did see the January update that Sharp told some people was coming.

  17. hi there Doogie

    back again.

    anyways, I’m here to report that the Collector’s Edition
    Bram Stoker’s Dracula is getting the “Incompatible Disk” Error under the latest BD-HP20U Firmware Version HU8100900 from oct 08. this is really a pain in my side. I’ve tried the reset trick and nothing, I’ve tried rapid firing the play button which has shown some luck in the past for other titles and still nothing.

    it seems more and more that I have to fight with my 20U to watch a film nowadays, sharp support is beyond helpless to me and that’s because I’m part of they’re “Sharp AQUOS Advantage” program thanks to my owning of a 42” and now a 52” AQUOS LCD HDTV.

  18. I’m beginning to think that there is a Sharp hardware issue that prevents the firmware from being updated properly. The latest update disabled dozens of Blu-ray disks that previously worked fine.

    I will never buy another Sharp Blu-ray player. I have not experienced a single problem with the Sony I bought as a replacement. It runs rings around the Sharp.

  19. Hi Everyone,

    I am having the “incompatible disc” error with my BD-HP20U also. It is doing this for BD’s that played fine previously. I followed Sharp’s instructions for installing the firmware update and could never get the player to recognize the file on my USB flash drive (i formatted it FAT and the only file on the thing is the firmware file – unzipped as instructed). I’m at a loss… I’ve had this player just under a year and paid $300 for the thing! I wanted the Sony, but Best Buy didn’t have any at the time, so they gave me $100 off on the Sharp. Now I’m wishing I would have waited. I’m going to try the reset tonight when I get home – we’ll see if that helps.

    Good forum – thank you!

  20. This player sucks. I have reset the unit and continue to get “incompatible disc” error… even when attempting to play standard DVD’s.

    I will NEVER buy Sharp again. I am thinking about just buying a standard DVD player… tired of dealing with this new technology that obviously has some major kinks to work out.

  21. Hi Matthew

    It is not the technology. The problem is with Sharp and their inability to correct the problem though firmware updates. Most other Blu-ray players are not experiencing problems.

    We have not seen any problems with the Sony Blu-ray player we bought at half the price we paid for the Sharp BD-HP20U. We generally watch one or two Blu-ray movies per week.

  22. I bought the HP20u a little over a year ago. I have yet to update the firmware on it, and its still running HU7103100. I have downloaded the newest firmware (as of october), unzipped it to a working thumb drive.. and when I put it in to update, the bd gives me a message that no file can be found on the memory stick. I have tried 3 different thumb drives and I can’t get it to read.

    After reading this forum, I’m about to give up and get a new one, since updating it will only cause more problems…

    Any suggestions?

  23. Hi Matt

    If you are not experiencing problems, it would not be a good idea to do the update. However, some newer Blu-ray disks may not play. That is why most people were forced into doing the update around June of 2008. I tried playing Jumper and the player never booted the disk. The update fixed that, but caused a new range of problems.

    The unzipped update file must be in the root directory on your USB drive. Once you do the update, you can can expect to find that several Blu-ray disks that previously worked will no longer work. For me, the update introduced the “incompatible disk” message.

    My Sharp player is just sitting here collecting dust. It is still good for upscaling standard DVDs, but that is not why I bought it.

  24. Hi Matt,

    My Sharp player, when watching Role Models would freeze every 3 minutes or so. Is this due to not updating my player. After reading it sounds like a bad idea to put the new update on. My question is will they be coming out with a proper update to fix these problems?

  25. Hi Josh86

    You can try the update, which may fix the problem with the Role Models Blu-ray disc, but you may find that many other discs will no longer work.

    Only Sharp knows if they will ever fix the problem with another firmware update. I suspect that they ran into a hardware problem that cannot be overcome by a firmware update.

  26. Just went out and bought the new Bond, Quantum of Solace blu-ray and finally hit the “your blu-ray player needs an upgrade” message on the screen. Hadn’t had an issue until now. I own a BD-HP20 I purchased around late January of 2008. I tried doing the whole USB thing and I’m running into the same errors everyone else seems to get about it not finding the file on the USB drive. I love working 12 hour days only to come home and fiddle with this thing now for 3 hours just to try and play a movie.

  27. I purchased the DB-HP2OU when it was first released. I have been extremely happy with the player until now. I have always been diligent at keeping the firmware up-to-date and had few issues until now.

    I installed the latest update only to have all my discs indicate a compatibility issue. Spoke with tech support, little help, re-setting did nothing. There is no way to roll back an update or re-install it. The response was to send it to an authorized repair provider. We’ll see what happens next.

    Not impressed.

  28. Had same problem with my new Bond Quantum Movie. Downloaded update to USB, but didn’t work. Saved it as a RVP file the second time; player seems to have found the file this time and is updating.

  29. Sharp is setting themselves up for a class action suit with this player. It is unbelievable that each update makes the problem worse.

  30. Same problem with Bond Quantum move. Download did not work. Tried and tried. I’m a technician, been doing tech support for years and years. This situation is horrible; Sharp really needs to figure out a better way to handle it.
    Does anyone have the phone number for their support?

    many thanks

  31. Sharp’s Tech Support number in the USA is 1 800 237-4277.

    Be sure to let us know if you get an intelligible response. 🙂

  32. I still feel the BEST blu-ray player on the market right now is the Sony PS3. I bought the sharp BD20U player way back and I can tell you that not only is it one of the worst supported players — it is a slow beast. The ps3 is lightning fast and I have yet to find a movie that won’t play on it. Plus you get a machine that plays games and you can install linux on it as well, etc.

  33. I had kept my firmware up to date on my BDHP20U never had any problems with an incompatible disc error, well I ran across my first problem about a month and a half ago. I got Horton Hears a Who through Blockbuster, and brought it home, tried to play it, error message, I checked to see if there was a new firmware update, only the one from October which I already had. Tried the reset thingy, nothing, still error message, so I emailed support got the same load of crap everyone else got about having to call in. If the email support only recommends you call, then why have email support? I called, and came to the conclusion that I needed a firmware update which was not available yet. They said they thought it would be sometime in March, It is April, no update, So I wrote them an email again and here was their response:

    “Unfortunately we are no longer creating new software for this model. The latest firmware should play all movies. If you are having problems playing a movie you will need to send the unit in for repair. Please contact us at 1-800-BE-SHARP (1-800-237-4277). We are available Mon-Fri 7-7 PM, Sat & Sun 9-7 PM CST.

    I would like to know what you thought about your satisfaction with your email experience. Please click the survey link to complete our online customer satisfaction survey.

    Erika Bobo

    Customer Assistance Center”

    So apparently they have given up on supporting this player…I have not called them yet, but I am furious…..

  34. Hi there

    We had a similar problem with Quantum of Solace so we downloaded the firmware from the link on the Sharp Australia website. Thankfully it worked but no idea what will happen when we try to play one of the older disks. This all seems far too complicated for a nice relaxing movie night at home with a bowl of popcorn!

  35. Don’t know if this will work for everyone but i’ve found that if you put a normal dvd in the player, eject it, and then put a bluray in that was previously incompatible, it will miraculously work. Hope someone can use this to gain more insight to the problem. Hope sharp doesn’t make another mistake like this.

  36. I tried to play Pride and Glory and got the same incompatible disc message. I tried to play Austrailia and it would go through all of the coming attractions and finally get me to the start menu, but when I press play movie, nothing happens. I’m about ready to weld a chain to my BUHD20 and use it as a boat anchor.

  37. I bought our BDHP20U just over a year ago. NEVER had a problem playing a movie. New releases and older ones. I’ve always kept the firmware up to date. I recently bought a Onkyo 507 receiver. On the BD is says it can play DD True Audio. However the receiver can’t read that from the BD player. Cust support was little help. I bought the receiver to get the new codecs. The BD does’nt play any of the new codecs.

  38. My household is the unhappy owner of a Sharp BD-HP20U Blueray non-player. No “High School Musical III” or “Slumdog Millionaire” playback. “August Rush” freezes. Any Disney product is balky.

  39. Hot Fuzz gives “Incompatible Disc”.
    This player is terrible. Worse, its faults prevent me from selling it used!!!!!!!!

  40. Poindexter, I can’t believe it but putting in a regular dvd, and then ejecting and putting in a BRDVD worked!?! And for Wolverine which came out today! I hate this player, but if you are stuck with one, as I am, try this trick out. Your family will be oohed and ahhed by the recent technology Sharp has brought to the table. Please do not purchase this player if you are looking, instead go to the store and pee on all the boxes so everyone knows what a sham it is.

  41. If you can still find this one on the shelf, it will be very old inventory. This was a profile 1.0 player that was designed BEFORE the initial standards were released. From what I have gathered from research, it cannot be updated to play many of the current Blu-ray discs.

    Some of the current Profile 2 players also have problems. Read our article regarding the problems with Crank 2. At least the fix for that one is pretty simple.

  42. recently purchased a pristeen,not used very often, BD-HP20U from a professor at a local university here. I see why the “rarely used” condition of this player. the prof said he had installed the latest software. plays dvd’s fine but shows the infimus “INCOMPATABLE DISC” screen for any BLU-RAY disc inserted in it. tried the reset procedure to no avail. i will now try the dvd eject bluray switch trick . good thing i didn’t pay much for this POC . hope this works. next time i will do my home work more throughly. i basically relied on some very positive initial evaluations of the machines performence. big mistake…

  43. The Sharp BD-HP20U got rave reviews when it was first introduced and worked very reliably for me until the Blu-ray disc format started to change in June of 2008. For a while, the updates worked, and the reset worked one time, but eventually could not keep up with the changes.

    It still makes a good upscaling DVD player, but so does just about any Blu-ray player.

    What pisses me off is the way that Sharp abandoned all of their customers. I will never, ever buy another Sharp product for the rest of my days.

  44. im from England, got a bd-hp20, im still within the years guarantee. ive done the newest update which is v1.18 and still having incompatible disk issues with blu-ray movies ‘Sky High’ and also ‘Storm Warning’ also a number of dvds including the mask. does anyones know what i can do, or where we stand with the player not doing its job. ive just emailed sharp, waiting on a reply.

  45. Hi Rich

    You probably will not get an acceptable answer from Sharp. The best thing that you can probably do is to document which movies will not play and send the unit back to Sharp for repair. If that does not fix the problem, try to get your money back.

    I am surprised that you are still within the warranty period. As it turns out, this unit is a Profile 1 player that was released in November of 2007 before the full Blu-ray standards were set. It is very likely that the firmware would need to be updated in order to solve the problems with this player and it does not look like Sharp has done this for any of the faulty BD-HP20Us.

    If you purchased this unit during 2009, you bought an obsolete Blu-ray player.

    Please let us know what happens with Sharp.

  46. Does the latest firmware update of 10/26/09 help? I gave up about a year ago and now see their is a newer update.

    The firmware # is hu9071500

  47. Hi Ron

    I think most people gave up on this player. I just downloaded the firmware update and will give it a test with some of the movies that did not work previously, as well as a few new Blu-ray movies.

    The Sharp site has changed. You can search for the BD-HP20U firmware update or use the updated link near the end of the article at the top of this page.

    Note to anyone who tests the firmware update: Please let us know if it works for you.

    If this update does not work, I have plans for a new boat anchor.

  48. Okay, here are the results from my test.

    I downloaded the update, loaded it in the root directory of a USB drive and tried to do the update. Got the error, “SOFTWARE UPDATE FILE IS NOT DETECTED IN THE USB MEMORY DEVICE.”

    I downloaded the file again and loaded in on a different USB drive and received the same error message.

    The reset procedure described in the article above was performed. After that, the player recognized the firmware update file and ran the update. Way to go, Sharp.

    Four Blu-ray discs were tested.

    Rambo – Received the Incompatible Disc error on boot. Tried multiple times without success. The reset was performed once again. Rambo still would not load. This is strange because Rambo did work before the update.

    Quantum of Solace – No problems. Booted and played perfectly.

    Transporter 3 – No problems.

    Terminator Salvation – No problems.

    The bottom line is that the update appears to fix the Incompatible Disc problem for some Blu-ray movies, but not all. If you have not yet trashed your Sharp BD-HP20U in a rage, it is worthwhile to try the update and connect the player to a spare HDTV in a bedroom.

  50. German Sharp helpdesk tells me:

    Yes, there is no free service for you anymore.

    The newest software update – http://www.sharp.de

    Additional Information for you; the blu-ray Disc “Wolverine” is a:
    Disc Capacity: BD-50 GB, the new format: double layer blu-ray disc.

    This kind of blu-ray is not supported by the version 20 (BD-HP20).

  51. Just loaded latest update……….again-
    Bankok Dangerous will not play, says incompatible region. Basically 10-15% of discs do not play on this peice of #*^!**!.
    Have worked on issue for 2 days, BD-HP20U is headed for the trash and Sharp will never see another dime from me. Horrible experience, horrible product, should have stuck with Sony as a reliable brand of product.

  52. I think the best bet is a sony play station 3, its a game console and blu-ray player that updates automatically. Have never heard anyone complain about it. Around $300.00.

  53. To all concerned. I just purchased a Sharp blu ray model BD-HP17U. Have updated it already and returned it three times in case it was faulty. Even took it back to store for their update. still will not play my Inglorius Bastards. In the store and daughters Sony Player it works. Other movies play for now as far as I know. Seems to be a pattern if you look at the companies that make the dvd— Universal,Lionsgate, 20th Century Fox. Seem to have no problem with Miramax,Paramount and Disney Pixar. Does anyone know if Sony owns Universal etc.? Would appreciate any help before we buy something else.

  54. I bought the H20 in January 2008 and have had absolutely no problems with it until just recently. Since this thread seems to also be a good place to let others know which BDs won’t work, I thought I might add to the list. My husband bought Boondock Saints a couple months ago, and it doesn’t work. We tried the software update but had the same problems as everyone else who tried to use a flash drive. The strangest trouble we’ve had came from Mad Men season two. The first disk won’t work but the other two will. We were able to start disk one once and get to the menu, but when we pressed play the show began to play without sound. We ejected the disk and put it back in only to receive that horrible “incompatible disk” message. The factory reset didn’t fix it. We’re going to try the regular DVD trick next. I must say, as relieved as I was to find all this advice, it’s extremely disheartening to know this is probably just the start of my troubles. Thanks for all the support (since Sharp isn’t giving us any 😀 )

  55. I have a 20U which I bought with a Sharp Aquos Big Screen TV (nice TV no trouble) about a year ago. Have not had too much trouble with the 20U until recently. I rented 24 Season 7 which comes in Blu Ray. When I loaded the disc the unit advised it was reading and then advised reading complete. At this point everything just stopped and turn to a black screen no error messages. After a period of the time the unit tried to reload and the reload icon just kept spinning. I loaded up the only firmware I could find HU9071500 and still same results. All season 7 discs did this. I am going to try other Blu Ray discs and see what happens. This is very disheartening and I should have done my homework before buying.

  56. We updated the firmware about 6 months ago. The thing worked until today, the @#$% thing started to give us trouble with a new release – “Young Victoria”. Now regular dvds won’t work either. POS will be sent back to Sharp with a message…keep this crap. I will NEVER buy another SHARP product again. I can’t believe this thing only lasted 1.5 years!

  57. Just got off the phone with Sharp aquos support. The guy told me that in 2 weeks they will be issuing another firmware upgrade. I’ll be waiting…

  58. I recently bought the the Sharp Aquos BD-HP20 player (I know it is now an old player but got a floor model for $37) and the first disk I bought was Distinct 9… as soon as I put it in I received the “Incompatible Disc” message.

    Updated the firmware from the Australian Sharp website and it still didnt work… then tried the RESET solution as above and still didnt work… BUT…

    I then uploaded the US firmware but that just made everything spanish….

    Then I tried the UK and the same happened (Incompatible Disc)… But then I tried the RESET and BAM! It picked it up…

    Worked for me so it might for others with the same problem… Good Luck!

    Something to try I guess…

  59. As of July 2010 – Sharp Canada is still useless in helping customers who got stuck with their Blu-ray DVD Player. A year ago, a Sharp rep had me upgrade software to PN9022700: Didn’t help. Yesterday, I upgraded to PN9200400 the newest upgrade: Didn’t help. Tried resetting to factory standards as per this e-thread. Nothing. If you haven’t already done so – do NOT buy a Sharp DVD player, regardless of price – even free is too much! I did hear back promptly from the email Service Reps – Here is their (useless, but polite) reply: “Thank you for contacting Sharp Electronics of Canada Ltd. Please accept our apologies for the difficulties you have had with the product. Our units must pass extensive testing and meet factory specifications before they are released and it is always regrettable when a product fails so soon in its life.

    Included with all of our Blu-Ray players is a limited manufacturer’s warranty that is valid for one (1) year from the original date of purchase. This period is an industry standard for virtually all Blu-Ray players. Once this period has ended, the end user is responsible for the costs of any service needed. By using the product, the end user agrees to the terms of the warranty. Unfortunately, as you are outside the manufacturer’s warranty, we would be unable to provide assistance with the costs of this repair. I apologize for the inconvenience. We appreciate the opportunity to provide you with this information. If you need additional information please include all information from prior e-mail messages and replies.”

    I’m debating taking this machine in to a local Sharp representative – but am debating the wisdom of throwing away the $40-to-enter-the-shop fee 🙂 Have any readers had success with having a paid technician deal with this ‘incompatible disk’ error problem? Thanks.

  60. Have had minor issues the last 2+ years but have always managed to watch what I wanted as long as I had the latest firmware update for my BD-HP20. Unfortunately, that no longer holds true.

    I’ve attempted to watch two different (and pristine) Netflix-supplied blu-ray discs of the new movie Kick-Ass. Neither would play, even after trying the various tips and tricks described above.

    I’m not sure who to blame at this point, Sharp or Netflix.

  61. Hi Jeff

    The problem clearly lies with Sharp. This has been an ongoing problem with this piece of garbage since about June of 2008. I’m surprised that you got this far without any major issues.

    My unit has been useless for Blu-ray for over a year. I’m thinking about selling it on eBay as a cheap boat anchor.

    It still works as an upscaling player for standard DVDs if you want to hook it up to a spare HDTV.

  62. My experience with a Sharp BD-HP20U, purchased from Sears, Hanover MA, on 2-19-2008, is similar to many reported in this thread. I have done four firmware updates previously, first on 2-21-2008, and the last, HU9071500, on 10/28/2009. I had no playability problems subsequently until approx. 9-1-2010, when the player simply froze, requiring powering down by pulling the plug, while playing Battlestar Galactica – The Plan, which it had successfully played twice previously. Later play attempts for many DVD discs either gave the “Incompatible disc” error message or simply opened the disc tray for other food, for all disc formats. No std. or HD DVD, or music CD, disc will play now. Several e-mails to Sharp Customer Support yielded instructions to do the “Reset” fix, described elsewhere here, which did not resolve the problem.
    I am a 64-year-old, highly knowledgeable MS Windows support professional, a Microsoft MVP for Win 9X / XP for six years, and hold a Ph.D. from MIT. I disassembled the player to extract the Blu-ray DVD drive and disassembled the drive so as to see the optical assembly in operation when powering up. Powering the player with a SD-DVD disc in the drive reveals the optical assembly moving to the TOC region near the center of the disc and the red laser flashing on-off intermittently. After approx. ten attempts to read the TOC, it times out and stops. I didn’t notice the blue-violet Blu-ray laser, but I wasn’t too eager to observe it for safety reasons. This cursory observation suggested the normal TOC reading was occurring. Unfortunately, no disc is detected nor playing beginning. The lenses were cleaned with compressed air and appeared to be fine. Without a service manual, I don’t know if this behavior means the optical assembly or some other board component is failing. It seems the head maybe misaligned in some manner. Or some other IC chip is not processing the laser signal properly. MY request for a replacement BD drive led to a list of four alleged Sharp parts suppliers across the US. Telcoms to them revealed no drive is available now. In fact, almost no HP20U parts are available! The best parts vendor rep I spoke to was Leo Madrano, Encompass Parts, Miami FL, 800-365-8030 ext. 1425.
    I am not a happy camper about owning a $360 device which has died after approx. 30 months of moderate use, and which can be purchased today at many retailers for ca. $70, but which is quite obsolete also. Few rational users would spend even $70 for it when much better options exist.
    Nor am I happy that it was designed to be unable to be upgraded from Profile One. A rational design would have allowed Customer Support/Repair to replace some firmware chip with a newer model supporting later Profiles upon returning the player with a small fee.
    Personally, I hope for a successful class-action suit, resulting in an award of $150 to me and others to compensate us for purchasing a newer, operable BD player.

  63. Hi Jack

    I don’t believe that this issue has anything to to with the drive or the optical assembly. The BD-HP20U is a Profile 1 Blu-ray player that appears to have been rushed to the market before the final standards were set. There is nothing that you or I can do to fix this. It looks like Sharp would have to replace the ROM or possibly the main board in order to upgrade the player to one that can be updated to accept new Blu-ray features.

    Current players have additional memory that can be used to add upgraded features. As a movie that contains new Blu-ray features boots, the player accesses a web site that downloads the updates necessary for the player to operate properly with the new features. The Sharp BD-HP20U player lacks this ability. It is also apparent that their periodic firmware updates cannot accommodate the new features.

    There are probably thousands of unhappy customers who bought this player. If anyone hears of a class action suit for the BD-HP20U player, please post the information here. I am sure that lots of people would like to jump on board.

  64. Hi All –

    Well, it’s my turn…I have the BD-HP24, and I have an incompatible disc error. But my problem is a bit weird: I bought the Twilight Zone Blu Ray discs in a 5-set. Only disc 4 gives me the message. All others play fine. I did the reset shuffle 3 times, with no success. Oh, where to go, what to do??

  69. I was one of the ones that had this since around beginning of Feb. 2008…no problems at first played all Blu-ray discs, DVD discs fine…first problem was probably Forgetting Sarah Marshall….then probably half of blu-rays would work after that around 5-6 months after having player.
    Have never upgraded firmware/software to player…seemed confusing to me at first, was just happy it played a few blu’s and all DVDs at that point.
    Mid 2010, had to reset by holding down POWER button…seemed to work o.k…..soon after NO BLU’s would ever work, just DVDs….
    Frustrated with player…now spitting out even DVDs *with* INCOMPATIBLE DISC message….
    what to do, what to do?
    Have tried the whole RESET thing 10 times….any other suggestions? What firmware/software upgrade should I try? Most links are dead or broken.
    Any help would be great…THANKS!

  70. Great advice! The RESET advice resolved my issue with Non-Compatible Disc error. *Please note: The “RESET” message will appear in the display on the Unit itself, NOT on your TV Screen.

    After that, it worked fine.

    Sharp was ZERO help and I WILL NOT be buying their Television as I’d once planned!!!

  71. I bought this device (BD-HP20S version) in mid 2008. It cost more than a PS3 which my wife did not want. Now I am reading here that this extremely expensive device, with highly advanced features cannot be repaired. Worse than that, the problem is so bad that Sharp have given up themselves, and are telling people they will not support it.

    Sharp, if you read this, please understand if I NEVER buy another of your products again. If you make advanced feature products you are EXPECTED to support them properly. The whole point of this tech was toallow the system to evolve through SW updates. If you are giving up on SW updates after three years (or less as it seems), then what’s the point in this technology? It seems we all have to buy new kit anyway.

    Sharp, I am unbelievably disappointed in your approach. I shall make no exception to advise every one I know to avoid your products and I shall make sure I make this point loudly around any “Sharp” displays.

    Now take that form me as a promise. Realize that I have posted it on the Internet, and look at how long this thread has been running. Next time you are in a store, and hear someone (employee or customer) grumbling about Sharp products and firmware, remember this story.

    I hope someone at Sharp has the honour to fall on their sword. This is a disgraceful thing to have done, and you should be making loud public apologies. Your inability to do so means you do not actually care about the consumers.

    All I can say in conclusion is this: Enjoy the next recession, losers!

  72. Thanks for this, my frustration had reached “Buy a different, newer, better brand” level.

  73. It’s christmas eve and I put in the new planet of the apes movie. I then crawled into my nice warm bed with my boyfriend hoping to watch this movie and of course the blue ray player tells me to update it. Wtf? I’m pissed. It’s not the first time. Come on its Christmas eve and my $400 player doesn’t work. Seriously I’m pissed.

  74. I just got a BD-HP20S from my father-in-law with the old software version and it won’t update via USB (no file found) or CD (incompatible disc). It froze completely with the new Tintin but at least X-Men First Class put up a message saying the unit needed updating. All my Blu-Rays are pretty new (I got a Panasonic player for the main TV, the Sharp was going to be for a second set in another room. The Panasonic works beautifully and starts up instantly but I only bought it at the end of 2011 so it’s much newer), so I doubt any of them will play given what I’ve read here. I don’t think my father-in-law actually ever bought any Blu-Rays (no, I don’t know why he thought he needed a Blu-Ray player either, but it was probably a bargain) but it does seem OK with DVDs.

    Just glad I didn’t pay anything for it.

    FWIW the first LCD TV I bought in 2006 was a Sharp Aquos which I got online on the strength of internet reviews. The terrestrial DVB picture quality was so poor I sent it straight back and bought a Panasonic instead from a shop where I could look at it first. It’s still doing a good job, though not as nice as the Panasonic plasma I got last autumn.

  75. Hi !

    Just wanted to confirm that the “DVD first, eject, then insert Blu-ray disc” trick worked fine for me here with the Sweeney Todd blu-ray disc, to my great surprise. My FW version is HU9071500 (European version).