Won't read any disks or update

I can't tell if this is an actual problem with the motherboard or a software glitch either way it won't let me update the software or play any disc and I was wondering if anyone had ever tried replacing the memory or had a way to remove the os chip and force a firmware update or knew about a problem with the motherboard that would cause this any help or hints would be appreciated based on the Sony forms this is a common problem but mostly people just toss them out I would hate to do that so I'm holding on to it in case anyone ever finds a solution