sfbp

Your MXD-D40 will not transfer to the PC, except at playback speed and using a special modification to give an optical out jack which I worked out (pretty simple actually). Try here if you want a PCLK: https://buyee.jp/item/search/query/pclk-MN20?translationType=1

Absolutely correct. The 520 is of different design/construction, that they used from then onwards.

Depends if you did it by conversion of a higher bit rate. But for recording directly through optical, it works pretty good.

Of all the units NOT to repair, the JE510 (and 310) are at the top of my shopping list. Cannibalise it for parts, yes. Fix it, no way.

74 minutes, not 74 years old!!! They hadn't invented tape in 1943, I think. These are the classic symptoms of a busted overwrite head circuit. Any disk you try to record on ends up blank. Do NOT put anything you treasure into this machine until it's fixed.

LP2 and LP 4 work brilliantly, here. They are actually better CODECs than the SP. Experiments have a tendency to backfire. The whole reason that MP3 won the day in 199x, when it should have been ATRAC. If you don't do it right, yes, LP4 can sound awful. But I have a couple of thousand hours of classical music of all shapes and sizes that sounds great.

There are lots of decks with optical out, just make sure you get one with MDLP. anything starting with 4 or 7, some with 6 or 9. Check back with us, or at http://minidisc.org/equipment_browser.html Alternatively you can buy, rent or borrow an MZ-RH1. If there's only a few MDs, some kind soul might even offer to transcribe (upload) them for you. You cannot improve on that, as LP is uploaded bit-for-bit to a computer.

Yeah that's a dirty trick they pulled. This looks better: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Slim-External-USB-2-0-DVD-RW-CD-Writer-Drive-Burner-Reader-Player-For-Laptop-New/323367858969

not AFAIK

I suppose you're running as administrator? Assuming so, I'd be inclined to get rid of all the NetMD drivers (assuming you have 64-bit Windoze). Then install the one and only one that you need, NETMD760. You will have to go through and get rid of all the C:\windows\inf\oem*.inf files manually (\inf is a hidden directory, as I'm sure you know). Might be an idea to hook a real MD up so you know you've got the driver installed. And make sure you have uninstalled all the "ghost" NetMD drivers (which necessitates turning on viewing of hidden drivers via the system environment variables - all documented on here many times). Also in Windows 10 there are some options about data execution prevention. I recall there are some portions of the software in self-modifying code. So at the very least set the execution to XP-compatible.

I don't know if it will let you install over USB. I don't think so unless you have a USB-CD. The ISO will do you no good at all unless the ROM BIOS can read that HDD. Most unlikely for that generation of machine. What you might do is to take the disk out of the Sony, and create a boot partition on it with the ISO. Then install the OS to a fresh partition after forcing the ROM BIOS to boot the partition you just made. You can always delete and/or merge the extra partition after the fact. The key step is to connect that hard disk to some other PC. Or you can spend $15 on a 1GB memory stick. Whether XP SP3 will boot from a USB stick is rather dubious. I'm sorry we're not really here as a PC support forum. Our Sony knowledge has more to do with Sony specialities like Audio/Walkmen/minidisc. Hmmm USB CD's are rather cheap now: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Slim-External-USB-3-0-DVD-RW-CD-Writer-Drive-Burner-Reader-Player-For-Laptop-PC/183357085315

Sony has a "pro duo" memory stick which they "pro"moted as competition for SD (can't be right, it isn't proprietary and WE didn't invent it). There was a micro version even, and they ended up making sockets for that which were two-way: put in a microsd card one way, and micro pro duo the other way up. I still don't grasp what disk you are talking about. Was this a machine whose only accessible peripheral was an SD card? What about USB? I guess even XP doesn't fit onto a 64MB memory stick, you need a CD.....

OK please post the model number and/or a link to the manual. I don't get any hits when I try to find the model number given in your post. I don't really understand what you're saying about the items pictured. Are you saying this was Sony's precursor to SD? I think they called it something different as one or two devices I own take both kinds of stick.

Interesting... are you saying this machine is a laptop with a minidisc installed? I suppose it's just about possible, if it dates from 2002. There are folks here, myself included who would be very interested in hearing how you got this to work. As minidisc afficionados, a PC with minidisc built in is still quite thought-provoking. Or are we talking a cut-size CD, which can go in the vast majority of cd/dvd drives? The minidisc (well, its case) is not quite square.

This is NOT repeat NOT the way to reinstall XP. If you have the COA with a product key on it, you are good to go. Download or purchase a copy of XP from somewhere. Install it, enter product key. Problem solved. If you don't, go to eBay and buy one. By all means copy your files back from the external hard drive after you are done. But don't mess with Windows in the way you are trying to.

SImple answer: No.

I have paired things to a Sony bluetooth (headunit) device before. Start by resetting everything and using only ONE phone. Sounds like maybe your battery isn't up to the task of keeping the radio on standby and remembering things ;)? One solution may be to have a solar panel on your windscreen. Sorry I have no idea what a Ford Kuga is. The only time I saw this behaviour with an unrelated device (a Sony walkman with a Mitsu-supplied factory radio) I had made an error with walkman, because I have two WM that are very similar and both had been linked to the car. I kept trying to listen to the one that was still inside the house, instead of the one I actually had in the car.

Fair enough.... but why does it seem to be a completely separate organization? (or perhaps it is not)

Hmmm he didn't seem to have much luck selling before. And does one have to join up? What is "kleinanzeigen"? (as opposed to real ebay)

Please tell us more about these executables. I think it's highly unlikely any of them is other than a wrapper around AVLib or FFMpeg (which is what VLC is). Cosmo, surely in this day and age you know better than to put links to random executables that might destroy people's computers. TILT!

Oh dear, SS V.2 I bet you have no chance. Should have exported them to WAV if they were original recordings (I know that's no comfort) whilst you still could. My comments (and knowledge) apply only to later versions of SS, specifically V 4. C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Sony Shared\OpenMG\OMGRIGHT and C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Sony Shared\OpenMG\procfile The OMG/SS database stuff is at C:\ProgramData\Sony Corporation\SonicStage However the only time anyone ever reported doing something with these was copying the backup versions to the current ones. Those are kept somewhere else. If you are really going to solve this, you will need to know all about EKBs. There's a paper somewhere. Each device type is a leaf on the Sony Btree, if I recall. But first you would have to figure out the conversion, and you likely cannot do that until after you decrypted something. Catch-22! You'll need access to the source to ffmpeg (AVLib) and QHiMDTransfer. If they are really valuable, try writing to Sony. If you have the original discs, then is a lot better. Perhaps the best chance is to rebuild a copy of XP around the contents of your hard disk.

They should play just fine in VLC. I didn't know that files ending in ".omg" were ever made by recent versions of Sonic Stage (what version did you use?). Perhaps it is as simple as renaming them to ".oma"? There are some files which are stored on the same hard disk you extracted the music files from. These files are the keys for the rights system as it pertains to the Windows install that died. I'm not sure they are any use to you, but you might want to hang on to that disk for a while yet. You should, with some study, be able to batch-convert the music files using ffmpeg.

Your question is way too general. We need details. PS. there's a program omg2oma.exe which comes with a new SonicStage install.

Service mode, not test mode. I don't remember, but there may be a difference. Test mode is (for decks, anyway, I don't recall portables) read only. If you are mechanically minded you might want to open it up and check there isn't something (congealed grease for example) on the lead screw. That might be the stop that you are seeing.

You need to do an alignment. Self-alignment, in fact. All you need (for the MZ-N1 and other legacy i.e. non-Hi-MD units) is a virgin blank disk that doesn't mind being written to. It's called overall adjustment mode. Granted there may be mechanical error (friction, warp) but just as likely is everything simply aged. A word of warning: do NOT try and adjust the USB (VBUS) parameters. Generally they are hard to do and require tons of gear that you don't have specifically TWO regulated powersupplies, not just one.