Hi Jay,
You might try this... I had a similar problem with the transport keys on a Toshiba DVD remote. Luckily, my TV came with a learning remote (not as good as the SL9000) and it WAS able to learn the keys that the SL9000 couldn't. Even more strange the SL9000 could learn from it no problem. So if you have another learning remote, or you can borrow one from a friend, then you might give this a try.