IZ8DWF wrote:

Just found the problem, three bad transistors (2 x BC338, 1 x BC328)
on the display/keyboard PCB. They probably
overheated and burned when the caddy movement belt broke.
Now the player loads and unloads fine and of course still plays
everything. Too bad the LED display is a custom one so
I have to live with broken segments.

I've seen (surfing the net) this display problem on most Philips CD players
using that LED display. If I understand correctly, the display is just a
shift register plus LED drivers, in one custom (and small) IC.
The LEDs are surface mount. I didn't want to remove the LED cover and test
the LEDs, I'm quite sure that the drivers died, not the LEDs.
Did anyone ever try to remove the cover and check that?
Building a replacement with discrete transistor drivers would be too big
to fit the space. The only real option is using a small microcontroller
and a modern LCD display... Not sure I'll ever find time for that :-)

Best regards

Frank IZ8DWF