sfbp

Have you tried any other makes?

That simply will never happen. It's equivalent to asking the P*pe to worship J**** in a m*sque. He won't want to do it, and the authorities of the m*sque won't allow it either. I have no idea why originally-mp3 podcasts "Improve" by converting to MD. I have plenty of great sounding MP3's (actually they're OMA files converted on-the-fly by my DLNA server but no matter) playing on Android, though it is essential to have some good headphones. I'm wondering if you ran into the same problem that I initially did with the setup I described. It might seem reasonably to convert MP3 and OMA (ATRAC) by using approximately the same data rate on both sides of the conversion. WRONG! If you figure that all converted files need to be "upsampled", ie never convert with an output of less than 256kbps especially TO mp3, you'll do much better.

To start with, use a more recent version of Sonic Stage, indeed the one we have here version 4.3. Don't try getting it from anywhere else. Here in fact: The second problem is: what about the recordings you have already? They are in danger of being lost, if not already. You'll have to explain to us what you did when you "upgraded?" to Windows 7, as very few people actually managed to do that with an existing machine, most preferring to buy a new one and transfer the data they cared about. How do you get (new) recordings onto your computer? Do you need to listen to them from some portable device, and if so which one, what model number? etc etc. This means transferring them from PC to portable device...... but maybe you don't have that particular problem.

Skip this thread for 64-bit Windows entirely. You need the driver posted here:

What does the table have to do with the problem?

You have mail; check your pm box

Your son must be an adult with access to the service manual and more (the manual itself does NOT have the codes to enter service mode) in the scenario we have been imagining here. It is almost impossible that this happened by accident. The only other scenario is that someone innocently dropped it on the floor from a great height; or committed some other indignity such as filling it with food (ice cream?) and then washed it out - causing the death of some of the equipment inside the case. Nothing we can tell you is likely to help and the unit is likely dead forever in this case. It would be best if whoever did this were to communicate with us directly themselves. If not possible (eg a 3-year old), please do try removing the battery. After that, your best bet is to communicate with Sony since they appear to offer a "flat-rate" service for most repairs to this unit (still). Only a week ago someone in the UK reported that they had sent off an MZ-RH1 on this basis (payment only if successful). My deduction from this is that Sony has a stock of refurbished RH1's - they are way too expensive to repair otherwise. This is one of the oddest reports I have ever read. But I lead a sheltered life.....

You're right, there it is on p.20. It wasn't in the list of diagnostic error codes and I didn't see it in the text. As I surmised it's merely telling you you're stuck in service mode. As long as he didn't actually change any settings it's probably safe to hope for the best and clear this error. However if it comes back after having no battery, you may well be stuck with a full alignment (this error code would be normal after a "911" reset). This is not so easy. Just doing a "resume clear" won't cut it..... probably there is work to be done filling in all the (non-defaulted) NVRAM values which the alignment ("Overall Servo Adjustment") generates.

I would guess that somehow he got into Service mode. Amazing, since I have only ever once succeeded myself with this particular model! IF SO, then you are probably seeing "BE" not "EE". If so, removing the battery, and waiting 1 minute before re-insertion should get you out of service mode (make sure you are not connected to the USB/PC connector as well).

Yes

On my keyboard (at least) B is next to N.

I don't think we disagree.

I think perhaps what you neglect is that if the read power is TOO HIGH (sorry for shouting, please don't be offended!) the read will fail just as badly as when the read power is too low. This can easily happen when the overall power to laser is too high (such as when a new OP that is not needing so much power to drive it, is installed). Writes almost never fail.

Oh well, we have different views of the same thing. But I do have a laser power meter, and I have played extensively with both read and write power on some units. I agree that changing the write power may affect the life of the laser (one clue is: does the disk get too hot when recording?), but in the SHORT term, the read adjustment is much more critical. Without accurate adjustment of the read power, you will never be able to complete a recording, because the writing of the TOC will fail. Why? Because in order to WRITE the TOC, the device needs to READ it, allowing the new entries in the TOC to be added to what is already there. When it fails to read the old TOC, the unit invariably gives an error message, even if the existing TOC was completely blank!

Wow, Invision might be quite annoyed at MSFT over this, they have a zillion bbs's out there. What "new feature" in IE11 is involved I wonder? Or what are "newer" websites relying on that older browsers (probably) don't have? Firefox continues to work perfectly. I still think (to answer my own question posed above) that the likely change is in javascript security settings since that is what IPS is entirely built with. JS is a security nightmare because you can do literally anything with it; and presumably the latest generation of browsers are HTML5 and no longer critically dependent on it. I'm certainly interested to know what's going on, as it's almost impossible to write a website without some JavaScript. Failing to support it may be a "security upgrade" but I would be chagrined to find we have a re-opening of the "browser wars" where IE was different from the rest of the world and some feature where the latest IE is required to obtain "secure browsing" on certain websites.

That explains why the earlier decks do not have the "write IOP" procedure. Makes perfect sense, I was always confused by this - but I do know from bitter experience that the IOP value is critical in being able to set the read power without help of laser power meter (since most people don't have one). Writing doesn't matter much, as it uses 10x the amount of current/intensity, but small variations in the read power will cause C13. As you say, this only becomes important when you change the OP itself. This often presents as a "write failure" but in reality I assume there is some problem reading immediately after a write where the servo fails to focus or whatever other fault triggers the C13 or C14.

You've got it. The one that is important is the IOP value. See page 8 of the JA20ES service manual.

Moved to loft. Not really classified, and not what is intended by corporate.

Works here. But I don't use Exploder. I'm thinking your Javascript settings might be the problem.

None whatsoever. The only thing you need is to allow installation of the 64-bit (or 32-bit) NetMD driver by turning off driver signing. Generally this has to be done at boot, and may be done temporarily (for long enough to install your device). If you have lots of different NetMD devices this can be a pain, since each one has to get installed. I think I will merge this with the thread on W8 if I can find it.

Which CD players use a gumstick? I thought they were all AAs........

I've now tried out my R909. You are perfectly right (again). So it needs a deck to ignore TrProtect! Edit: curiouser and curiouser - I made a disk using NetMD (on an RH10 actually but I won't digress about that). You cannot erase using portable or on the MDS-PC3 MXD-D40 or CMT-PX3 (bookshelf) via M-Crew. However this appears to be enforced by M-Crew since all operations (including erase) are successful from the front panel. The MDS-J640 is able to do whatever you want without restriction to protected tracks. Very interesting though - M-Crew will allow you to combine tracks that are protected even though erasure is not possible. The Onkyo HiMD deck enforces TrProtect, however and will not let you erase or combine any protected tracks at all.

All good information, thanks for that contribution. Very interesting, some of it. Back to Timbo's problem I have a feeling that he's almost there, C13 just means the data isn't being read yet. Probably laser power adjustment - that's exactly what one of my decks did with a new drive in it. BTW: what can/would/should one do with optical out from an MD changer? Is there actually a car-based unit with optical or S/PDIF input?

Close... but not quite on the money. I have several units that are MDLP but pre-NetMD, eg MDS-JE640, MDS-PC3. MXD-D40 all of which are fine with erasing completely anything and everything. I suspect the pre-NetMD portables will be the same, such as R900/909. I just haven't checked. It's PARTICULARLY annoying with disks reformatted to HiMD, hehe. Two tracks that fill the entire disk (of course).

I'm not sure that you can so easily expect MDLP BD boards to read much of anything in a unit designed for SP, I may be entirely wrong though. I have a feeling there's extra (control) circuitry for things like telling the MD what kind of disk - though of course on playback this may well not matter. Did you check the pinouts of the connecting cables against each other? Jim's the only one who really knows things about the details like specific ICs and their function.