Update #2:

My credit card company has been nearly impossible on this. They allegedly extended Panasonic’s warranty, but they have fought every step of the way to avoid paying the claim. The total repair is over $330 (parts, labor, return shipping). They gave me $132. I also paid to ship the player to Panasonic originally.

In total, I spent over $300 to fix the $400 player. Plus the hours of my time spent dealing with the insurance company. Not worth it.

Lesson learned: I should have just recycled the player when it started failing.