Another dvd player issue - error 70017

I accidentally posted this in the pre-2009 forum - so I am posting here to correct -sorry for the duplicate post.

Mac Mini early 2009 - 2.0ghz, 3gb ram, 10.6.2.

I am having a regular problem with the dvd player; I usually get the message "There was an initialization error. A valid video device could not be found for playback. Error 70017" when I start the program.

The DVD drive works wonderfully for reading, burning, etc. If I restart the computer the dvd player usually works for watching movies...if I use Toast, disk utility, or any other dvd related program, the player will now work again. I have tried the pacifist method to reinstall and have deleted every dvd player file I can find.... The same happens when I reset pram. Repairing the drive/repairing permissions is not effective either - sometimes it works for a little while, but the issue always returns.

Any advice? Doesn't seem to be hardware because it works for other programs, but I'd be glad to test that as well.

What's going on here? This is frustrating...I can use any number of other programs to watch movies, but it sure is nice to be able to use dvd player to see which title is playing, etc...plus I just want it to work - after all, isn't that the hook?

Thanks for any advice!