Wayne Tiffany wrote:
I agreed to look at this set for a friend and my online search for
similar
symptoms hasn't turned up anything. I haven't opened it yet -
thought I
would see if the solution were widely known.

The problem appears that the set will not respond to the remote
control.
---snip

could be:
1. defective infra red sensor
2. defective or noisy supply to ir sensor
3. 5v transistor in micro circuitry

there is , i seem to recall, a section in the TV faq
(www.repairfaq.org) about checking the ir sensor. they usually have 3
pins, scoping the output one will give you an idea of whether the
pulses are non existent or scrambled

-Ben