DVD stuck on Panasonic DMR ES10 in eternal cycle of "self check"/"please wait"

My DMR ES10 was eternally in a "self check"/"please wait" cycle. Couldn't even turn it off normally. By pressing the "Power off" for 10 seconds it will turn off forcefully. Now, after it says "BYE" press the "CH UP" (on the recorder, NOT on the remote))+"STOP" (with the recorder turned off) for another 10 seconds. This will force the opening and we now can take the DVD off. Turn the DVD recorder ON and, if the problem is on the laser, because of dirt, etc it will work and we can now run a DVD cleaner. In this case, the machine was stuck just because the first thing it does is check the DVD inside, and because it can't and just keep trying, it will never do anything else, until we take the DVD off with it turned off.