Reverse Exorcism

One of the last things we've done is setting up the surround sound system. The receiver not only broadcasts on 5.1 speakers but also is able to play CDs and DVDs. Well, it used to play discs. Something happened while we were still back in the States and the receiver stopped working.

I finally had half an hour to open up the receiver and see if there was some way to repair the damage. Imagine my surprise when I looked and found this inside:

Can you find the foreign component?

Under the five disc tray was St. Benedict! We had lost this disc a while back. I assumed the kids took the DVD out of the case and left it somewhere in the house. The disc never turned up and I forgot about it. Until this day. After pulling the DVD out, it definitely looks unplayable:

I found the other pieces, too, but couldn't put Humpty back together again.

Some trial and error tests showed that the disc tray was misaligned. A little bit of tape put things right and the player is now working again. I may not be putting in any rental or borrowed discs just in case the receiver wants to take another bite out of some other poor disc. I don't want to go through unplugging all the speaker wires. And the cables to the TV. And the DVD player. And the Wii. And the Xbox. That's way too many cables!