I did try the 35 second fix, but holding the button down just cause it to turn orange as I held it down and flush water. I tried cleaning the top (wasn't dirty as the machine is only weeks old) and around the holder for the laser light. I couldn't see the emitter (someone mentioned it was on the left). Nothing worked.
I know there was a water flow issue as I ran the cleaning cycle 5 times and only ended up with less than 2 cups of water. My wife did the setup cleaning cycle and she said it went through the whole tank of water. Finally in frustration, I wiped everything off again and thought maybe the water nipple that goes into the pod was clogged. This was an issue with other types of brewers.
I poked a toothpick down in the hole, and tried running an empty pod. Worked fine. Since I wasn't methodical testing only one thing at a time, I can't say what worked. Maybe just flipping it upside down to see the top did the trick. Who knows.
It still has 2 day left for return on the big A site, so I might return it. We got the Next for the carafe size but since I don't like the 2 varieties nespresso offers I might return it and just get the plus - I like the powered lid but then again that's just something else to break.