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OK, I trust you know what you are doing, and hopefully you are also aware of what those IOP settings in service mode are meaning/impacting. If you keep the IOP closely around the value on the OP sticker, you certainly cannot go too wrong - your laser might still not be in the needed range (where it is properly operating), but at least excess IOP will not kill it (= will not speed up its ageing).

If you replace the OP-s, it is highly recommended to have an LPM as well as a test jig for IOP. What you see inside service mode is not an actual measurement of the laser power. It is rather a "fine pitch scale", along which you can fine tune the laser emission (by about 0,045 mW per step or so on the Sony, not sure about the Tascam), but those are relative steps. You need to adjust your OP to an absolute laser power value, then check IOP against the acceptable range, both as specified in the SM.

I don't currently have access to an MD-350, therefore cannot try it: would the STOP+PLAY+READY combination (buttons being kept pressed simultaneously while powering up the machine) work on this model?

I don't know, never been arrested. But joking aside, I got you. True it is easy to mess up an MDM-3. What exactly went wrong on his 510 - I really cannot tell without seeing the machine - too many things to watch out for when disassembling/assembling such a drive.

Regarding the OWH: Jonathan had posted some good photos and explanation on this here. Nothing to add, really. After re-reading Jonathan's post, a quick note: I see he had also mentioned the same "trick" of fooling the deck to do a load sequence without a disc, to view/access some parts at the area normally covered by the disc. This is exactly the same that I described in the deleted post above, and that @kgallen raised as an issue. Regarding the original problem ("unusual eject"): I don't feel I have all necessary bits and pieces of information to tell a more or less solid diagnosis. As the OP himself seems getting to where he finally gives it up, I don't see any reason for new questions and checks to get any further. My experience is that nearly all MDM-3 machines are repairable, regardless these type show the broadest variety of possible troubles (maybe just a volume thing). Whether or not it is worth the effort, depends always on the owner.

This is actually a very good one. Hardly 1% deviation - there is still a lot of juice in that laser.

Sounds like the MCU is still not happy with something. It can still be laser related (i.e., IOP way out of range, or the lens position feedback circuit sending weird signals, etc.), but it can be else too. I don't know, how deep your are skilled electro-mechanically (and how comfortable you are with stripping the drive further down), but if I were in your shoes I would definitely give a chance to cleaning and lubricating all those sensor switches. This is where you need to dig down to - on this board there are six (6) switches, that (mainly, but not exclusively the two in the middle) may need thorough cleaning, removing dust and/or oxides from the sliding contacts, then apply some good lubrication (look for Kontakt 60 and 61 for example). To the point @M1JWR raised: yes, it would make sense to quickly check all power rails, against the values specified in the SM. WARNING: ELECTRIC SHOCK HAZARD! You must know what you are doing before opening the lid and doing measurements in a live equipment.

This is actually a good sign - in terms it is giving us a direction to follow. It shows, with the increased setting the laser managed to read the Lead-In area, then past the Lead-in it progressed over to reading the TOC area. There it could not then read the TOC properly, thus still could not yet recognize the disc. (The "DISC ERROR" message on the 500/510 machines is equivalent to the "TOC ERROR" message seen on later models.) In my eyes, this is a bit of progress, although there still might be other issues. Can you compare then the actual movements of the sled (I mean, after loading a disc), to the previous state (on your video above)? I would expect now some wider seeking from the parking position, than before, as well as a few attempts from the drive to read the disc (spindle spinning up a few times, and laser giving an audible "click-click' noise, before spitting the disc out). Now, if this machine was in front of me, and I did not have an LPM (I actually do, therefore I can obviously easily measure a laser properly, but let's just say "if", so you can give it a try if you wish), I would probably try going incrementally up above $15, maybe a few more ticks max. Reasoning: a) if the assumption above stands, then your laser is already going end of life soon. In that case, you can't really do anything wrong by stressing it a bit more, as it will give up soon to the ghost anyhow; or b) if it is not fully the case - i.e., still there is some mechanical or sensor issue behind -, then increasing the READ power only (and only that much I indicated, that is about 0,3...0,4 mW max.) cannot really burn out the laser diode. (Again, don't touch the WRITE settings!) If no result, again, write back the original $10 value. And let's then play the game this way: DISCLAIMER: you try all this at your own risk - I must not be held responsible for any damage that might occur to your deck. I definitely have no intention to screw anybody's machine, and I would never suggest anything I am not 100% confident in that being safe and appropriate, and that I would not do on my own equipment in case.

OK, a few comments: - Laser Power: "LD 0 9mW $10, LD 7 0mW $90" seem to be factory settings. Good news, unless someone tinkered the trim pot on the OP - would be worth to measure it with a multimeter (although "LD 6 2mW $80, WPmr $80", i.e., those two figures matching each other is a good feedback - but I cannot detail it here). - CPLAY Mode error rates: these high numbers in the multiple thousands region (especially this "7350") are worrying, they show that your laser is set off big time (or even "dying" as Stephen said) What makes things complicated is that yes, it can be a fading laser diode, but it can just as well be a mechanically damaged OP (see some photos here), or a totally misaligned (out of focus, out of track, wrong gains, etc.) laser. Either way, it can be a cause for the deck not able to read the LEAD IN area - but it can be something else too, i.e. one or more of the sensor, as already mentioned. Anyhow, you can try your laser whether it is still capable for some "normal" operation. If the visual inspection (MACHINE AC CORD PULLED OFF!) shows the OP is not mechanically damaged (see linked photos above), then you can try the trial and error part on the laser READ settings (i.e., the one for 0.9 mW) - and forget the WRITE settings, as it does not impact your original issue at all. You can try going up from the $10 to $14...15 without damaging you laser, but do it only incrementally - once you see a result (i.e., deck begins to read the disc), no need to stretch the laser any further. If no result, at even $15, then reset the value to the initial $10. The SM has a good chapter on how to properly set the laser, but the trick is you either have to have Sony's test discs, or another, known good machine to make discs you can use for these settings (preferably not a portable, as Stephen pointed out in the other topic linked above). And, this is a painfully tiresome process, may take an hour or even way more, or no success at all, if your laser is too "stubborn".

Thanks for the pdf John, appreciated. According to the SM, yes it is the KMK-260AAA type mechanism - your photos will tell us then the exact version. If I am not mistaken, the newer KMK-260AAB transport has the newer KMS-260E laser, otherwise is mostly the same as the AAA. I never had the opportunity to disassemble and examine such a drive, but I would expect a dedicated pcb that holds some of the sensor switches, like the one in the MDM-3 type drives, or a similar one in the MDM-5 flavours (the latter already equipped with much better quality thus longer lasting switches).

The E11 is sadly not that well documented as the majority of Sony MD decks. (If you have the SM in electronic format and willing to share it, I'd love to get a copy.) The mechanism is a Sony drive in a "pro" disguise - at least the BD board and the OP are Sony (I cannot speak for the rest). A few good photos of the actual drive of your deck would help to see which version it is - I'd guess it is possibly the same as in the E58 (i.e., the KMK-260AAA, or maybe a KMK-260AAB). The load-unload problem is very similar to the JE5xx commercial line decks' well known issue. It is normally caused by the ageing, oxidized sensor switches in the mechanism. Some good quality contact cleaning and lubricating sprays can help. It would require though a full strip down of the transport, and that is a very delicate work, needs a lot of attention and care. The "heatshrink tube fix" seen on many internet pages is not really a recommended solution, I think we already discussed it here on the forums.

Don't spin too much on this "heating the drive with hair dryer". I see your point, but, as already mentioned before by others, this is totally uncontrolled and can impact many things besides the ones you mentioned, thus can make the situation worse, rather than better. Take the OP for example: say 10...20 °C increase in its temperature over ambient can result in higher laser output - and if it was the case, I could imagine if it helped. However, as the laser diode gets hotter, its current increases, that heats the laser even more and so forth, then at a certain level the laser diode just simply burns out. How far this process gets is totally out of your hands. Here is my rank of possible causes (based on the information I read here, and I might as well be wrong too): - one of the sensors - i.e., either the switch that senses the loaded disc, or the one for the sled parking position (or both, or even more). - weak or out-of-focus laser - spindle motor - anything else From this you can conclude I give a low probability of it being a lubricant problem. Normally, I would follow this order when trying to confirm/exclude causes. Nevertheless, you can check your laser power, if you have the proper gear for it - an LPM and an MDM3 test jig with a DMM hooked on, as a bare minimum. Without these pieces of equipment all you can do is to proceed (very carefully) like described here or here, for example. And stepping back to the TOC reading process above for a moment: I can do a short video of one of my MDM-3 decks, what happens when a disc is loaded. You can then compare it to your machine, looking for any differences. I just need some quiet time to do it - will get back to this thread soon.

It might very well be that the laser is weakening. What makes a little difference to me is how the TOC reading sequence happens on his machine. Based on his video above, my observation is that the deck probably does not even get to the point where the laser attempts to read the Lead-in area. That is, to happen before it gets to reading the TOC. These two readings are done on two different reflectivity layers, that the laser also has to accomodate to. Whether or not it is a laser issue or a mechanical problem is what we need to find out. This was what I tried to get hold of in my deleted post above. Not sure how to step forward from here. I mean, I do know what I would do if the machine was in front of me. What I don't know is how to post that sequence here without being charged responsible for any possible damage or personal injury. I never ever meant here to hurt anybody or ruin their machines.

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OK, if this was the first one, then the post is deleted. You may want to delete your quote too. I won't hold ANY responsibility. Thank you. Side note: tons of posts exist on this forum where service mode operations described. Laser radiation is possible in service mode, even if one does not intentionally "defeats laser interlocks".

No, you are fully right - thanks for the addition. I was going to write a similar disclaimer myself, but I was busy trying to describe the check process itself as percisely as I can. Then as I have been working on multiple tasks the same time (as usual) with this one being only one of them, I simply forgot about it when I returned to my disrupted previous task. Nevertheless, I honestly do hope that anybody who dares to open a minidisc (CD, DVD, etc., laser beam emitting) device for repair is fully aware of the risks of the laser radiation (not to mention those warning stickers inside these machines). And not only the laser but the live AC power contacts as well, and so on. I cannot be held responsible for any accidents if others completely ignore (or simply "dummy" enough not knowing about) such trivial precautions. And honestly, if I had to begin all my technical posts with such a warning, it would take more time just to write all that stuff down again and again than I would/could normally spend on dealing with the problems themselves. I hope nobody considers this "ignorance", but here it is then, for now an ever: NODOBODY OPEN an MD device if you are NOT FAMILAR with all these risks and NOT EDUCATED to do such a repair! Maybe we should create a sticky on this, and from then and on we can focus on the real stuff. - o - EDIT: for the sticky and/or for those who want to have more information on laser safety. (Also here, even if "less official".) A few quotes on Class 1 lasers (like the ones in MD gear): FDA Class IEC Laser Product Hazard Product Examples I 1, 1M Considered non-hazardous. Hazard increases if viewed with optical aids, including magnifiers, binoculars, or telescopes. laser printers CD players DVD players "Class 1 CLASS 1 LASER PRODUCT A Class 1 laser is safe under all conditions of normal use. This means the maximum permissible exposure (MPE) cannot be exceeded when viewing a laser with the naked eye or with the aid of typical magnifying optics (e.g. telescope or microscope). To verify compliance, the standard specifies the aperture and distance corresponding to the naked eye, a typical telescope viewing a collimated beam, and a typical microscope viewing a divergent beam. It is important to realize that certain lasers classified as Class 1 may still pose a hazard when viewed with a telescope or microscope of sufficiently large aperture. For example, a high-power laser with a very large collimated beam or very highly divergent beam may be classified as Class 1 if the power that passes through the apertures defined in the standard is less than the AEL for Class 1; however, an unsafe power level may be collected by a magnifying optic with larger aperture. - Class 1 laser diodes are often used in optical disc drives" "There is also the optics of the laser assembly to consider as they are collimated to focus at a very close distance (the distance to the surface of the CD). Anything more than an inch or so away from that and the beam is so diffuse it couldn't hurt you (as the beam spreads out, the wattage is the same, but its dramatically spread out of a much larger area, so the intensity is much lower). But, if you don’t know the optical setup then its better to just play it safe" Conclusion: see the very last sentence above, in italics.

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Gentlemen, do we have some "hidden" history of this thread you are referring to? I can't see anything before the OP's post from yesterday. Or, are you referring to another thread? How can we then link this thread to that one or to its "missing history" (if existed)? Would be great to keep all related information together, not only for present troubleshooting session, but for future readers too. The 510 is still a very popular machine for some reason, regardless of its multiple issues that were mostly eliminated from later models (beginning with the 520).

OK, that clarifies. Please tell me then, when you moved the sled back and forth in SM, was it only possible after "heating" the drive, or you were able to do it just at plain room temperature? If the latter, then I am leaning towards it is a sensor issue.

Welcome to the forums. @kgallen already gave you some good directions, and I don't want to hijack the topic, but your question above was a bit ambiguous for me. When you mention "files", do you literally mean files (like on your computer), our you mean "tracks" (like on your CD-s)? Both are valid questions, however, these terms can refer to different, disctint kinds of minidisc formats (i.e..: legacy, netMD, HiMD, data) used, and thus the unerase procedure is also different (if not impossible, in some of those cases).

Before we take any further steps here, please do consider this advise from @kgallen: Even if this is that infamous "all metal" mechanism, it has some delicate plastic parts - the loading gears and the OWH to mention at first place. Now, back to the issue: Generally this is the symptom when the drive cannot read the disc's TOC, for a reason - that can be a single one of many possible, or multifold if you are unlucky. Do you get the "DISC ERROR" message, before it ejects the disc? (If you do, see some hints here, for what to check first). If you don't and the deck just spits the disc without reading it then we probably face a another issue. To step further ... ... it would help us a lot if we could see the load/read/eject sequence in full length. Nevertheless, I see on the second video, that in SM you can FF and FW the sled without any problem. This is good news, and shows that at least your sled mechanism is OK. The problem probably lies with the loading mechanism, whether or not the drive properly senses the loaded disc. But no guessing - let's see some more information first.

I believe the official Sony power supplies are very well built items. The transformer inside is more robust than in many other, similarly rated adaptors. The thing is that a power supply must be able to provide not only the nominal voltage, but the same time the necessary current (Amps) too, without dropping the voltage below a certain treshold. I have an approx. 1 cubic inch size "CH" wall adaptor (with a transformer inside, not a switching PSU), that is rated 9V and 1 Amp output. The Sony power supply of the PC3 is about twelve (!) times bigger in size, and rated 9V / 600 mA. Go figure.

The 510 belongs to the MDM-3 family (the "all metal" drive) - nevertheless, it is true, that it does not have a belt.

I can confirm the PC3 does need a 9V DC power supply (both my units are the same), according to the back plates and their original Sony wall adaptors (and the user manual of course). If it runs on a 6V adapter (I never tried that), it might be due to the possibly oversized overhead for the internal DC rail regulators. Also, I checked the factory docs of the NH1, and 6V DC input power is stated everywhere. Regarding the battery: I also recommend a clean and new rebuild of the battery pack as described by Jimma. Nevertheless, I have been able to re-vitalize several old-ish battery packs in the past (see more here, and also further down in that thread), and I still use some of them without any issues. Naturally, if you feel uncomfortable doing such a "hack", just disregard my notes.

Ingenious call, Kevin! Now this is creative thinking! With your permission, the idea is stolen!