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Then that "someone" most have been really perverted :-). Such an enormous task for zero benefit...

Just to make sure the "trivial" stuff is ticked off first (and I see Kevin already touched this): - all your cabling is OK - input selector is in right mode - if you switch the display to level meter, you "see" the incoming audio signal (bars moving accordingly) If all OK, can you then try this check: take one of these discs recorded on the 470 (and been recorded virtually all OK), also take one good disc that plays on another MDLP device and has an MDLP content. Then TOC clone the good disc's TOC to the "bad" disc, on another, known good deck. Try playing the "bad" disc now with the good TOC. It does not matter for the test that track marks (titles, etc.) will not match, we just want to see whether or not the recorded LP material is indeed on the disc.

I like your approach of trying to fix things that already been tossed away by others, if still can have useable lives after being repaired. I have a similar mindset since I was a kid. My first touring bicycle was pulled from a junk yard behind a Parisien bicycle sports club. It took me a year to gather the missing or broken parts, repair, repaint and re-assemble. I was then the "cool boy" in the school with that sports cycle (it had a Peugeot frame and alu rims I remember), to what not even the famous Czech Favorite came close that time. When grown up I gave it to a relative as a gift who rode it as well for many years. I wish I still had it today, it would be worth a "pretty penny" I guess :-) .

First number is the nominal IOP value (as on the sticker), second number is the IOP value measured at the time of installation of the new OP (with or without a handwritten note on the OP/drive). The difference shows whether or not the laser diode works in the required range. Again, please note, these IOP "settings" in the service menu are not "Settings", these are simply notes in digital form, for human information only. In other words: as the IOP value on the sticker obviously "does not do anything" to the OP/drive electronically, nor do these values in the service menu either. Ultimately, you can write ANY numbers there, it will NOT impact the behaviour of the laser AT ALL. I know it may sound weird, but this is the case. What is important, that the IOP must be measured, in order to get the information on the laser diode status (="health"). The reason I keep repeating this as a broken record is that by simply (="blindly") swapping an OP and copy the IOP values from the service menu of one drive to the other is not going to "repair" anything. Yes, if by chance (=status of the lasers unknown) you replace a "dead" OP with a still working one, your drive might come alive ("might", for the numerous other checks [see more on that here] required for setting up a laser in an - other - drive). Better do this "consciously", with the necessary information in hand. Otherwise then, if the swapped laser was "good", it can just quickly die (and take other parts with itself too), also, an already "bad" laser can just kill other stuff in that drive too, or at least render (leave) the deck faulty, and the (new) reason would not be known. When I have to work on a deck for any kind of repair, the first thing (well, amongst a few "trivial" stuff obviously) I do is I pop in the LPM, connect the test jig, and measure the laser power and the respective IOP values. This will show if the OP is worth to deal with or not, also, if the OP can be a culprit of an error or not (necessarily). All I am trying to say here is stated in the service manuals way more precisely than I can ever phrase. Deep stuff I admit, that's why I thought some "plain" explanation might be some help for those for whom an SM seems "written in Chinese". But I keep my mouth shut up then :-) .

Here is the thing: (I am sure you will get to the "aha"! :-) ) - the IOP value printed in the OP sticker is the nominal IOP value of that OP, defined during the production of the OP, for the nominal laser light emission power (for recording mode), giving a note to assemblers, how to set that very OP later in a deck/drive. - the IOP value hand written on the OP or on the drive frame (i.e., like on the MDM-3 drives), is the IOP value the factory measured when that OP went into a drive during production of the deck (should that be Sony, Sharp, Onkyo, JVC, etc., that share the same type of OP). This second one can be slightly different from the first one, either because of some other settings for that model/make, or simply because the factory measured slightly different laser emission during building the drive/deck. - the IOP values digitally recorded inside the Service Menu is (should be, normally) the exact copy of the former two, for given purposes (mainly for service personnel, when a future repair is necessary, so they would not have to open and disassemble the machine to get this information. After an OP replacement, the measured IOP of the new OP should again be written back to the NV memory, for the same purpose.) Later models (MDM-7 flavours) have an additional feature, namely those drives can compare the IOP value input by a "human" with the value they measure themselves, and report back to the "human" whether the laser is "OK" or "NG" (good/not good). But all three should tell you the same: if the OP emits its laser light with the required intensity (=laser power) at this electrical IOP value (=in a +/- tolerance range around it), then the laser diode is working properly. This piece of information is invaluable when hunting for C13 or similar errors. For example: if the measured IOP value is way off of this range, you will immediately know, that the laser diode is already gone (and saves your time swapping - potentially bad - OP-s in the hope that will help getting out of a C13 or stuck in standby). I see your point on which kind of repairs you tend to deal with, it is just a potential addition to that cool feelings when something comes to live and begins working again :-) .

You're welcome. I think it's time to lend you my first homebrew LPM (I must find it first I admit, moved home twice since then), then you could do some more sophisticated tasks with OP swapping, and enjoy more successes too. If I can suggest one thing: not really a cost and I am sure your soldering skills are more than enough to make those two test jigs (for MDM-5 and MDM-7 type of decks that I see you mostly work with). Then you can measure IOP too as a bare minimum, and even having the laser power set "empirically" (=trial and error until it "goes"), you can get a solid feedback on whether or not the OP is still in its useable window. That can open a wholly different world for you in repairing these decks. MDM-5: MDM-7:

520 drive in a 930 is a definite no-go (see above). If you want to save those valuable parts, you don't do it.

Now that's interesting. MDM-7 drives normally came with the "E" version. Perhaps this one was an early unit, still assembled with the "B". My observation is that the "B"-s are a bit more durable compared to the "E"-s. But my statistical base is "not necessarily representative" :-) .

630 has the same drive too, as well as the 730. Both are fairly rare though. For the C13, you may want to read my silly check list here. Lots of things you can check on your own without any special gear, before you actually get to replacing/adjusting the OP (which I suspect being the cause, unless the odometers show very low usage). Keep us posted on your progress, so we can follow, and may give you some ideas on the go.

Tesa cloth tape (fabric tape), Tesa 51026 for example. Or any similar, from other brands.

The 930 BD is not interchangeable with the 520 BD (and not even with the 920). I tried that, and all I got was a horrible noise from the drive (like if it was seeking very rapidly within a very narrow area) so I shut it off immediately. Same happened with a 520 BD board in a 530. I cannot tell for sure if this exchange caused it, but after one of these "tests" I found the 930 BD fully dead ... Therefore, I would not recommend swapping the BD boards between different families that have different DSP chips. Apart from that, you can interchange any other parts of the MDM-5 drives back and forth. i.e., OP, OWH, switch board, motors, sled mechanism, etc.

Ah, sorry... I thought you meant the "SONY MD-LPM1", but now I see you were talking about the Sanwa LP1. Time for better glasses for me, I am afraid :-) . The Sanwa is definitely a good piece of kit. I still would like to see that Sony MD sensor disc in real life.

Not a mistake in fact. LPM recommended by Sony in SM-s initially (i.e., the LPM-8001) had the exact same sensor. Kind of obscure to use I admit. Wow... where could you find one? I have been searching ebay for years, without success. Now you keep the "phylosophers' stone"!

Kevin summarized very nicely what and where to look for and check (see also Stephen's post a bit above, for other angles) The only thing I can add: This reminds me a few cases (I saw on JE5xx decks), where the input selector switch was oxidized and sent a false (instable) signal to the MCU, of which input was to be used. Since it is a resistor-ladder between the switch and the MCU, it might happen, that even if it set to Analogue in, it turns back to Digital, caused by the faulty contacts. Then the MCU is looking for a digital signal that is obviously not there, as you were recording via the RCA, so the decks says this Din Unlock error. Having said that, it is very unprobable, that two decks show the same error, although the probability is not zero. A cracked optical cable (or a blocked Toslink output on the CD deck) would be the first bet. I am curious what you will find, please keep us updated.

For sale is a CAV-MN10 PC-LINK interface. Latest M-Crew software is available in the Downloads section (this sw and the device make the PCLK-MN20 PC-LINK kit).

You probably need to enable it first in the BIOS. More information here: ""Wireless connection option does not show in VAIO Smart Network or in Windows networking".

While re-reading some of the posts here, this popped into my head (might be a useful piece of information for later readers): this symptom we see here with the 510 is most probably related to the ageing laser diode, as we concluded. However, I met a few cases in the past where the laser emission as well as IOP were spot on, still the OP was producing "READ ERROR". The problem was related to the thin springs that hold the lens against the magnetic focusing coil. Some springs were visibly damaged, others were keeping the lens just too low. So here is an advise for those who decide to clean their OP lenses with a Q-tip (and not using a factory cleaning disc/solution): you must have a steady hand, and must take utmost care, to avoid damaging an otherwise good OP. A damaged OP: And how it should look like (apologies for the blurred photo, I will try to find another one):

Nah, nothing wrong with that. It does not contain "SELF-POSTED eBay listings". But yeah, posted in the wrong section though ;-) .

They are very similar. Mechnically they are identical, so are the OP and the OWH. BD boards are not the same, for the different DSP chips (the 520 is ATRAC 4.5). The 630 is an even better choice - rare bird though, I don't know, why, because the MDLP capable 640 is quite frequent.

:-) That's a brand new machine then. I remember when I bought my badly wanted JA20ES and checked its odometers when arrived (something like p=180h and r=35h) I was soooo happy!

The cost of a replacement OP is less of a concern - you can get one for around $20 or so on axxxxpress for example (see also my comments on this here). What counts more is a properly done, full adjustment procedure for the new laser. Should be done by someone who has the knowledge, tools and experience - that might cost way more, on top of the price of the part. If you consider buying another deck instead, and plan to stay in the same range (5xx series) I suggest to go for a 530. You will have tangible benefits over the 501/500/510/520 predecessors. To name a few: ATRAC Type-R as the major reason, also, the MDM-5 drive mechanism is way better than the MDM-3 from maintenance point of view as well as its reliability (even with my earlier comment on the MDM-3), last but not least, before buying you can check the usage (total play/record hours) of the deck in SM, that can give an idea whether or not to go for it. Anything above ~2000 playback hours is a warning, and/or total recording hours over ~500 - these lasers are slowly approaching their end.

Thanks Stephen, that makes sense. I just wanted to exclude both the 501 and the 510 as having already issues. So another, known good deck is the recommendation for creating a "test disc". Thanks for the detailed data. This exactly supports your findings and the conclusion above (this 510 has trouble reading back its own recorded discs, ..., and the 510 itself plays back discs recorded on other machines). Also visible, that the 510 makes more errors towards the outer edge of the disc, though it is still in the acceptable range (and can come from disc hitting too). Your laser power settings are factory defaults, that is a good base for further steps Now the situation is getting worse, and it is a sign of an ageing laser (cleaning the head has been already sorted out). The OWH itself is a very simple device, few turns of thin copper wire around a tiny, "M" shaped ferrite core. Nothing really to fail there, and if it does fail (see further down), it does it right away, not like a "fading" thing, as opposed to the laser for example. So what might happen to an OWH is that something breaks the continuity from the magnetic head to the BD board circuitry. It can be: the BD board pcb connector's contacts are dirty or oxidized, the yellow flat "cable" might be cracked somewhere, the solder joints on the head (that connects the flat wire to the springs and the ones that connect the head coil), the two tiny bits of flat metal that hold the head in place might be cracked, and finally, the copper wire in the head is burnt. This last one is highly unprobable, at least I have never seen such. Long story short: gently pull the OWH flat cable off the pcb connector, then measure the continuity of the head by a DMM, at the gold contacts of its flat cable. Getting back to the OP: I am afraid you cannot avoid having actually measure your laser, to get a clear picture. But again, as a quick and dirty check, you can do the 1..3 digit variation upwards for the 7.0 mW value this time (without touching the other one), and do the test with recording in the 510. If it makes the situation any better, your laser is probably still useable for a while, otherwise it is to be replaced.

As for fine setting the laser: before anything, I must ephasize two things. First: changing any settings in SM without the necessary test gear (and background knowledge) is risky. I can give you some "educated guesses", but a proper work is to be done with the appropriate tools (LPM, DMM, test jigs, oscilloscope, test discs). Second: calibrating the laser is a complex procedure, sometimes requires multiple takes on adjustments that also depend on or influence each other. A simplified overview of the laser settings: - power = laser emissions, for reading and recording. - traverse = how the sled is moved - focus = how the laser "keeps" in the track and reads the sectors - gain control = output levels for re-writeable/pre-recorded discs Normally, we begin with measuring the laser power (=light emission from the laser diode) and the IOP (=electrical current through the laser diode at certain light emission points, as an important indicator of the laser's "health"). It's a quick check to see if the laser diode is OK. But since you probably don't have the mentioned tools, we do some error checks instead. Please follow the Service Manual of the 510, section 5-1. - and jot down those "C1" and "AD" figures, on the major areas of a disc (at the innermost area, somewhere in the middle, and close to the outer edge). These numbers may fluctuate, then go for the rough from-to range you can observe. (Hints: 1./ perform these checks with a disc recorded in your portable, not in the 510 or the 501, and 2./ make sure you choose a disc that runs visually true, because a disc that hits even the lowest amount gives hard time in the setting process later). Repeat the check with a pre-recorded disc too, if you have one. Let us know the results, so we can see where the laser is making the most reading errors. Next step: Service Manual section 6-2. - in Service Mode select "“LDPWR CHECK”, and without touching anything else, please take notes of those "$XX" hexadecimal values, both for 0.9 mW and 7.0 mW . Then here is the "educated guess" part: in SM select “LDPWR ADJ”, and change the "$XX" value for 0.9 mW one digit less (don't change the other value for 7.0 mW). Try playing back one of the discs you recorded in the 510 previously. If the disc still skips, decrease again the value by one digit only. Playback. If no success, you can go the opposite direction: first write back the original value you took a note of, and change that "$XX" value for 0.9 mW one digit higher. Playback, and repeat it with one or two more digits increase if needed. If still no good, just write back the original value again and we stop there. This is all what we can do if we are "flying blind". (Well, you can also try adjusting the focus bias - section 12. -, but that is really a tough one... )

I agree this all metal mechanism is a "beast" that hard to work and easy to mess up with. My experience though is that the MDM-3 drives have less kinds of failures and these failures are "easier" to identify, compared to later drive flavours. Plus the the electronics on both the BD and main boards are more robust - I met more "dead" decks from the 520/530 and the 440/480 familes, than from the 320/500/510/S38/S39 bunch. So you are saying this 510 has trouble reading back its own recorded discs, while those same discs are playable on other players without problems, and the 510 itself plays back discs recorded on other machines. We discussed a somewhat similar case here. You may want to try the "trick" and format (= All Erase) discs on another machine first, than attempt recording/playback on the 510. If it does not help, a fine calibration of the laser power would certainly make sense. Also, as Stephen already mentioned, you may want to check the sled mechanism, for hardened grease on the worm drive, or other, foreign particles stuck on it. As for the OWH: you can check visually, if the OWH lays fully flat on the disc surface when in recording mode. Also, even the OWH heads can get dirty over time, that can cause some air gap between the magnetic coil and the disc surface. Cleaning the OWH requires absolute care and caution, because it is very easy to bend/break those little flat metal parts that hold the head on the arm. But as the discs recorded in the 510 play back trouble free in other machines, I would say the OWH of the 510 should be OK.

BTW " 470" - have you seen this one? We, here on this forum do something totally wrong. NO, just kidding :-) !