HI ALL!
I have seen this a few times on different makes of DVD player. The latest one I have just cured is an LG DVX492H which I got yesterday along with a pile of DVD's from our local tip. The fault was the spindle motor not getting up to speed and then the laser getting totally confused. I lubed the motor....same result! Then I had a bonkers idea!
I decided to free the motor by hitting it with a slightly higher voltage and letting it run. So I removed the drive from the machine and by using a REGULATED multi-voltage (1.5 to 12v) DC PSU I ran the motor at 3V then at 4.5V for a minute or two. The crazy thing about this is... it worked! The drive starts better than it did before. The disc now spins the moment the drawer closes. Why this worked I don't know, maybe the motor shaft was clogged with dirt on the inside of the motor itself.
Either way...it's fixed! Now to multi-region it!
Just wanted to share this with you.