yeah, i have searched quite a bit, concerning my initial issue i have found next to nothing as to why there are minor skips/gaps in playback. as for the NEW BLACK DISK on all disks including ones i have NOT edited or T marked since their last use (certainly NOT blank) i have found a few fixes and what not, most of which say to do only as a last resort/ some even a shot in the dark/ no returning from. if needed i am prepared to take the risk, i am quite handy with electronics as well as a soldering iron so im not intimidated by bridging the ribons connections with wire but i wanted to bounce some ideas off of some actual people that may have experience either with this or a similar model and possibly get a more current bit of input on the matter, in case a last ditch effort is not needed/ if a simpler fix could reslove one or both problems. i cleaned the laser as best as one can but to no avail. whats bugged me about the latest (blank disk/potential dmged ribbon) is the fact that literally minutes prior the player worked just fine (aside from the few playback skips that were mapped to specific time spots - the first OP issue) so unless the movement ove the head is enough in itself to tear/pull the connections loose i can't think what might have caused it. i didn't drop or move the unit at all off a table during the small window of time from fine to fu****
but i guess ill open em up and check out the ribbon since things are moving slowly