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sfbp

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Everything posted by sfbp

  1. sfbp

    Three wise men !!

    Jim's erstwhile competition! Thanks.
  2. sfbp

    Three wise men !!

    Mine says Gundelsheim on the packet but the guy seems to have run out, if you google him (omit "MD" from your search) and you will find him on at least 3 European Ebays. Your Gersbach listing DOES show option on 17mm ?diameter belt. Maybe this listing is helpful (I don't know about the MDM-X4 but it looks right) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/233834674447 The part number (Sony) is 4-967-656-01 but I have no clue if that matches (they frequently have multiple numbers for the same item). If you have one of the captioned models you can check since this belt appears to be widely available.
  3. It's like most shared open-source projects, you have to go off to github (if not there, somewhere else, you will find it real quick) and scratch your head over that. IIRC dates were not used, period.
  4. sfbp

    Three wise men !!

    So happens I was talking to brother-in-law who is interested in getting rid of a couple of MD units, specifically a CMT-PX3 (aka HCD-MD595) which I got for my Pa a few years back. And I fired up my own only to discover that the belt had gone slack (no eject). Luckily I had one stashed from the legendary Jim some 6 or 7 years ago, and it took me all of an hour to have the thing apart and fixed. Nearly had a fit when it came up with C13 but seems likely this mostly a matter of sled position. Now working perfickly. Kevin were your belts ordered from Gundelsheim? So if you or anyone else would give him something for them there is (AFAIK): 1 CMT-PX3 (with the precious MDM-7A), 1 MZ-NH700. Possibly another portable of sorts, I don't remember. Possibly an MDS-S38. Dad can't work them any more, too small and fiddly. He's hanging on to his Quad and turntable though. Private message please.
  5. Nope, only if you are using HiMD and using it for file storage. The file system of legacy MD isn't ever visible to you. Not certain if there is even date information stored. You might poke around in the source of #linux-minidisc......
  6. Generally speaking there is no knowledge here about VAIO, despite the existence of this section. We do not speak for Sony. There are folks here who know a bit about PCs. My advice is to back everything up and try it. Windows 10 certainly uses UEFI but there is no requirement to do so. You can buy adapters that plug into USB that you could attach your HD to, whilst putting in a new one. You sound as if you would be competent at that. Another approach is to look for ways to get Windows 7 updates. Another is to try and find earlier versions of W10, if the current ones don't work. I would be inclined to look for a copy of 1903 right now; it is pretty stable. Microsoft must have addressed the problem of machines that didn't work with some of their upgrades; for a long time some machines couldn't get past 1803, especially VMs, although it's not 100% clear how much of this was built in obsolescence.
  7. Finally got my NH1 out. Sorry, I've been busy. Seems, in the words of Pooh, "Crustimony Proseedcake" (customary procedure). You only get actual editing when you use the remote. The on-unit (Edit) menu only has Format.
  8. If that disc was NOT created by you but by someone who transferred stuff from PC --> MD then it will all be locked. If you recorded it yourself from analog or digital input (mind you there's an issue of SCMS I suppose) then I am mystified. Wait a sec - this thing is smart. You cannot expect to see an edit if the disk is write protected. That's why I asked about the WP switch.
  9. I think the problem is this: there is something called "disc mode" which determines: a. what format you will be offered when you try to initialize the disk (Hi-MD or NetMD/MD) b. what a blank disk comes up as The reason for all this is that all Hi-MD units have to present themselves differently on the USB bus because NetMD uses a different, older, proprietary protocol from HiMD. The latter, whether 1GB disk or "legacy" disk reformatted to Hi-MD, is your basic SCSI device protocol. Being Sony, they absolutely had to tweak it so that the format is secure (fear of computers and all things related?), and to get stuff off a disk which is corrupted by a single bit error requires low-level access they never gave out to mere mortals. Disc mode can only be set by pushing buttons on the drive itself. Oh, by the way, the device presents a different USB device identifier to the bus in the two modes, so it really is like having two different machines which never quite meet. For playback, though, the switch is automatic: insert a disk and it will "switch machines". This may possibly be affecting your operations. Sadly all sorts of weird things happen when you write protect a Hi-MD disk. Bad design!
  10. Sorry, no. Once there is a single error on a disk it is generally corrupted. I would investigate the GPL software being developed at #linux-minidisc and also the WebMiniDisc project. On HiMD they are basically just files. So you would be well advised to use one of these or SonicStage for backup in future. Maybe if you had a friend with a PC. I have relatives with an iMac which ran Windows (parallels) that seemed to run SS quite fine.
  11. A resounding NO to your last suggestion. I'm wondering if the write protect switch is stuck? What happens if you actually DO format one of your disks (assuming you can afford to do that)?
  12. Once again, here is the link to Charlie's classified ad, you can contact him via pm.
  13. sfbp

    Test Jigs

    The correct response (by me) to that is a question: "Is the Pope (a) Catholic?" Of course, and I'll happily pay for postage to these distant shores from Pest Thanks!!! Stephen
  14. sfbp

    MDLP Deck

    The 640 is probably my most loved and most reliable deck. Add that the fact your Euro-version comes with Coax on the second digital input, I think compared to the other one, it's probably an ok purchase. I had to change the belt, I think. All deck prices seem to have gone up in lockdown this year, everyone opening up their store cupboard and using MD again. If you need the convenience of the computer control, then you want a 770 (it's the only one available in non-domestic - "domestic" = Japanese for this purpose - model //except for the PC3// which has the PC-link interface). You'll still need a PCLK-MN10 or 20 but these don't cost that much to get from Japan as they are not heavy. Even then you have problems because I'm still too lazy (or incompetent) to figure out how to force the 32-bit PCLKUSB.sys driver to work on Windows 64. I'm sure it can be done, but I keep hoping someone else will do it. The PC3 is really nifty, can act as DAC and ADC, and is tiny. If you want to do really nasty tricks to get audio in and out you may need something that defeats SCMS, like the Behringer 2496 Ultramatch Pro - but I'm sure that can wait until you've "got the bug". Did you check the historical selling prices? You can easily see which decks didn't sell, too (eg for silly prices like 999.99 for a JB980).
  15. sfbp

    MDLP Deck

    Agreed, this 480 looks good. You can even add optical output after the fact. Somewhere on this board are the details. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-MDS-JE480-Mini-Disc-Player-Recorder-Deck-Stereo-ATRAC-MD-LP-MD-Remote-GWC/154150070016
  16. sfbp

    MDLP Deck

    Start by looking for a JE640. If you can't then a JE770 is good and additionally supports PC-Link interface (but not keyboard). The only type-S deck worth having is JB980 (the 780 is a bit flimsy by all accounts, as is the 770). https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-SONY-MDS-JE640-MD-minidisc-Deck-recorder-MDLP-compatible-very-rare/203088014924 Only problem is he wants way too much for postage. I'm sure you'll find something. Interesting trick: go through ebay and look at the concluded sales and see how much previous items went for
  17. There's always been a problem with deleting identically named (including unnamed) tracks. Not sure if this is your problem but worth checking into. I'm sure you're aware that the "transfer to PC" function on NetMD only "recovers" the rights, and doesn't move any music from the device back to the computer. Strange things may happen if the music is gone from the PC in the meantime. HIstorically, the only way to recover "wrecked" NetMD disks is using a deck that predates NetMD, since the track protect flag is not recognised. That, or a portable with a busted (or missing) overwrite head. If I didn't suspect you may actually have a hardware problem, perhaps it might be worth looking at WebMiniDisc since it doesn't seem to care about TrProtect (in fact it doesn't set the flag when copying tracks to the device). Maybe it can format the disk, I didn't check. When you say "till recently", what changed? A new version of Windows perhaps? It's likely that a feature update to the next edition of Windows 10 would zap the unsigned driver, and you may have to go through the rigmarole of installing it again (if you did it before, you can do it once more).
  18. Assuming Windows 64 (with 32 bits you have very little problem as the original driver works and is signed by Sony) NETMD760 See the top download in our downloads section You will need to disable driver signing enforcement (assuming Windows 10) for one boot cycle, long enough to install the driver. There's tons of posts on this site which I will not repeat now unless you get really stuck. Good luck!
  19. I reread the thread Charlie. Thanks for all that. Just to point out that you are perilously close to breaking a policy which we very painfully established (mainly because a certain individual spent his entire life attempting to trespass on our good natures), namely that self-posted eBay ads are not acceptable. I think this is fine, as it stops just short of actually posting a link. But I wanted to post this publicly so that those lurking can understand that we take a dim view of those who seek to promote their business via the forum. I absolutely don't count you in that number - and that the end of the thread where it is all described is totally appropriate to mention it. 'nuff said Kind regards Stephen
  20. You're very welcome and doubtless if you hang around we shall be calling on your expertise in due course. As to *small*, you ain't seen nuffin' in that generation. The HiMD and all-flash devices are way worse than the good ol' N707. Well done and welcome to the board!
  21. OK if we've eliminated all of those, I'd now be inclined to check the microswitches. There's one that turns off the power when the device is opened. Section 1, page 4 of the service manual.
  22. Exactly. It's almost the only one that does, IIRC. So, the question is, does your problem somehow arise from something connected to the NiCd technology? You won't get any power from USB, that is in the definition of NetMD (and USB 1.1). Are you sure your charger is working? Have you measured battery output voltage both unconnected and under (presumably) load in the device? Seems to me this smells of power failure. Even if it doesn't work with Duracells, the chances are something in the power circuitry is messed up. I wonder whether you have any battery decomposition perhaps? Kind regards
  23. I noticed you mentioned NiCd - haven't seen those in a while. Was this one of the units that did NiCD as an alternative to NiMH?
  24. I cheated. I pulled the jack half way out. Works perfick, to quote Pop Larkin. Nite all
  25. spdif would be another way to get sound in, 'tis all
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