sfbp

You did? How did you manage that? I cannot accept 35MB of email.

If you have, for example, a dropbox link to the file, I will process it and make it a bit smaller. Should be well less than 10M, maybe less than 5. Please don't try to use email (or upload to the site) for this. Thanks Stephen

What a nice unit! And for those of you that are considering features, it has MDLP, which I would consider very important before splurging on such a purchase. The only thing missing (surprising, as nearly every Sony unit still has one) is the lack of a digital (optical or coax) input. But those with a real deck somewhere won't care about that.

Actually the following statement is untrue. The CMT-M333NT (or 373) and CMT-C5/7MD all use a special USB version of M-Crew. I have it for the M333NT. So the only connection is a standard USB cable into the unit, the functionality of the keyboard port is encapsulated into the Minidisc (bookshelf) unit. There is also a DVD bookshelf unit the CMT-M700DVD which has MD. A neat unit but I feel sure Sony locked down the DVD fairly tight so it will not be very useful outside its original area (region) of deployment. Some or all of the same units will ALSO (alternatively) do NetMD. The function button switches roles from PC (netMD) to PCLK (M-Crew). So you do NOT need a PCLK-MN10.

Sure. It could easily be that something is loose. It could also be that a cable is cracked. Your latest description does sound like an intermittent connection (electrical).

Not "one chance only to copy" rather "one generation only". That's the nature of SCMS, too. What the limit means is that you can make a copy (as many times as you like), but you cannot make a copy of a copy. There used to be control over the number of copies in your database that you could check OUT to a device. But you're worrying about the opposite, copying things FROM a device (the RH1) to a computer. In point of fact the limit on the number of copies is completely gone. Sony abandoned monitoring this when they closed the CONNECT store, which relied on this mechanism for distribution of copyrighted material (like iTunes or Amazon). However there are still some vestigial bits of the (software) mechanism floating around - eg if you look up the properties of a track it will state the "Transfer count". The point is, it no longer matters.

More likely a lube job. Stressing it gets the gears etc going for a bit. Disassembling and reassembling very carefully may help. Most likely there's congealed grease making the mechanism stick.

That is, as we say, a blinkin' lot of money.

There is no such word as "just". Hopeless word, it merely hides the actual technical difficulties. WHAT YOU WANT CAN NOT BE DONE. End of. Sorry.

One comment: any time a MD recorder makes noise, the battery playing time will be significantly reduced. On the super light weight models (eg my E909 and on the E10 I imagine) this can prevent playback completely especially in MDLP modes. There is no service procedure specifically - just engineering common sense as to how you reassemble it, which take patience and practice to get right. Kind regards

Probably the most *modern* unit to use AA is the MZ-RH710. However I don't see one for sale anywhere so far. Here's one that sold recently: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-Walkman-MZ-RH710-Personal-MiniDisc-Player-/302339788134 The only thing is, compared to the RH910 or M10 (same thing), it does NOT have a microphone input, only line/optical and NetMD download. I concur with the recommendation for NH700. Don't expect too much of the in-the-remote radio of NHF800, otherwise same as NH700. Stephen

You did miss the point. There is NO way to get the encoded data (for original SP format of minidisc) off an MD, unless you write the software yourself and replace the chips in the device ***. The hardware in the MD will produce the CD-format data which it then sends out the optical channel or coax cable. For what it's worth, there is NO SUCH THING as a perfect copy of an audio CD, either (ignore all the so-called experts who bleat on about "exact copy"). It's always a matter of how good is the reader, how many passes are made over the data, and exactly how the dithering is applied. CDs are actually about 20 bits in resolution, but we only see 16 bits when we play them (or copy them digitally). This may account for the fact that a "good" copy to MD often sounds better than the original CD, depending of course on exactly how the original is reproduced. So an MD copy is as good as it gets, and in my experience you'd have to copy 3 or 4 times (may be more) before you lost any of the clarity. Having said that, there are formats which are reproduced bit-for-bit (and can be saved as files) when you lift them off the MD. MDLP formats (LP2,132k and LP4,66k) are of this kind. So are all the Hi-MD formats (eg Hi-SP, 256k). But there is no accepted equivalent to MD-SP format on hard disk because there is no hardware commonly available that will actually read it except for MD units made by Sony and others. It's probably possible to tweak NetMD units into transmitting that form to a computer but you will still have a mammoth problem, at least in part (we think) because of copyright agreements between Sony and Dolby which will never be violated. There IS a way to get an exact digital copy of an MD, It's called the MDS-W1 dual MD deck. But you only get another MD *** Actually there are indications it may be possible on some units to get the raw data through an undocumented feature

Particularly i like the control of playback and editing with mouse and keyboard. Windows 7 is fine PROVIDED you use Win7/32-bits. But most people (quite sensibly) get Windows 64. There's even a 32-bit version of Windows 10 - I use it every day.

There is no driver for PCLK in 64 bits. Does that help? Only to say that you must use the connected USB from the Virtual XP box on Windows 64. This has a very significant disadvantage though - Sony's CD drivers will not access the CD drives on the real (native) PC machine. They're fine with the CD's in the MXD-D5C and -D40 though.

I think you might have to force (or possibly DISable!) NGen for the relevant DLLs that are used by Sony. There is self-modifying code in the dispatcher which handles (amongst other things) encryption. So it may be as simple as clearing out the assembly cache. Don't do this unless you really know what you are doing. If you do, most likely the result will be loss of your keyed recordings. If you don't have any (ie all converted) that is ok. But beware if you have not yet run the File Conversion Tool. The "spare" keys are at: c:\users\<your user name>\AppData\Roaming\Sony Corporation\SonicStage\Sync. IIRC the critical detail is the NAME of the folder with the most recent date on it. However I am unsure where it gets used. Maybe in the sonicstage program folder. Look for anything which has a recent date. Try running the stopmusicserver.exe program in c:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Sony Shared\StopMusicServer (I have no idea what it does!) The stuff that is critical for encryption i think is at c:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Sony Shared\OpenMG, look at the date of the ".dat" files, these are related (via the leaf on the PKI tree for all Sony devices) to the keys embodied by the folder names above. Sorry I cannot be more help. I am really mostly in the dark, knowing what to do to get out of various nasty situations. My solution: turn off (make manual) Windows Update, then reinstall. Stephen

Other way round isn't it? Grounding it puts it into hold mode (grounding the hold pin).

aha! "Off" = on, "On" = off. If you look at the circuit diagram, the OPEN position means that HOLD is OFF. So short-circuiting it is used to stop the controls from working. What is the voltage at TP810?

What do you mean "changed"? You replaced the switch,..... or you moved it? With the lid off there should be a very clear marker showing which position of the slider is open (hold) or closed (normal operation) (Quite possible I got them backwards, check the circuit).

Frequently the Japan version is different (usually superior).. especially with respect to the PCLK feature. This is the case for 640, 940, D5C as well. The exceptions (which have PCLK support in all editions) are PC3, 770 and possibly some others. Note that any unit with USB/NetMD (eg 980) can not do PCLK - it is one or the other.

Look at p.7 diagram 3-1. entitled "Bottom Panel Assembly". You will see there are 4 sliders labelled "knobs". Each one of these connects to a little stick inside the unit (part of the main board) labelled "switches" which is the actual switch. Usually what happens is someone doesn't manage to put the slider and the stick in the same position when closing the unit up for re-assembly. If you miss the key-ing of the slider to the actual switch the slider will be rendered inoperative.

Most likely someone has reassembled the unit so that the switch is not contacting the internal switch. They need to be in same position (Hold ON or Hold OFF) as each other when the case is screwed on to the machine inside.

Usually the cable to the OW head is cracked. You will find resistance varies as you wiggle and of course when the head moves.......

Check the overwrite head resistance, should be close to 0. It sounds to me like the cable is dying (very common fault). You're extremely lucky it hasn't so far died trying to write the TOC - end of story, blank disk forever. It's possible it could be mechanical, head not getting close enough to spinning disk, but one way or another that unit is lethal to MD's. Once the OW head goes, any time you put a perfectly formed MD with music on it, and press the Track Mark button - presto blank disk, Some of us keep a dead unit for precisely that purpose It beats all the pfaffing around with protected tracks and the like. Time to hit the 'bay for fresh meat... unless you want to become our next MD repairman. There's a chap in Hungary who has been very successful with this sort of thing lately, NGY. Before that we had Jim Hoggarth, our very own MD repair guru who seems to have faded out. I did this job exactly once and it just about killed me even with the help of a very skilled friend - just to prove it could be done. But honestly a unit this old is probably not worth saving. PS please don't cross post. Everyone here reads everything, and I deleted your second copy of this thread.

What you're describing sounds more electronic in nature, sadly. Mechanical faults are usually a lot more consistent, Do you see a lot of head "shimmering" (wobble from side to side) as a disk plays? That's a bad (but not fatal) sign that alignment is off meaning a recalibration. But you would need some advanced tools for that, I think. It could also be you have some disks which are borderline. It's very hard to sort out which is which, unless you go back to first principles. And almost nobody has the gear, knowledge and repair ability. Start by checking power supply voltages.

Presumably it depends on what damage was done. If the charging circuits (only) are messed up, then Philippe is right, and certainly worth a shot. I would tend to think that application of 6V might have had other effects. In this case nothing short of major disassembly and analysis is going to work. It does seem likely, on reflection, that even 6V probably did not blow up anything more than the very first stages of the power supply. Bravo Philippe for thinking outside the box!