NGY

I have not yet seen a service manual or a parts catalogue for this machine (but I guess even if we knew the exact spare part No. it would be near to impossible to get the fan as a Sony replacement part). To move ahead yuo need to pull the fan off the machine first. Then you can measure the main dimensions - from that period it must be a generic, "standard" size fan, like 40x40x8 (mm) or similar. Then there should be a label or sticker on it showing what voltage it runs on (either 5V or 12V, most probably), also maybe the logo of the OEM too (that could speed up the search process in case). With that information you can begin your search for a matching piece.

I trust you meant a PATA SSD drive. A standard 2,5" PATA SSD is normally pin- and form factor compatible with a standard 2,5" IDE HDD. Few questions may be rised here: where can you buy such an SSD these days, will the 128GB size be supported by the VAIO's BIOS, what filesystem are you going to use (legacy FAT32 needs a trick to partiton/format beyond 32GB), what OS are you going to use (anything older than W7 does not have TRIM, and TRIM does not work in IDE mode, though some may say it is not a big deal), and finally, what is your planned usage (frequent and excess read-write cycles can quickly wear out your SSD)? You might be better off with a regular 120GB PATA (IDE) HDD, unless speed is you main concern.

Apologies for chipping in without being asked. I have a couple of thougths here, that might be useful for others who may read this topic later. I have done this long time ago, therefore I might remember incorrectly: when I compared the EEPROM contents of the drives from a 440 and a 640 (not the 940 though), they looked identical. My conclusion was that the EEPROM content is probably related to the actual drive version, i.e., MDM-7A, etc., not the deck model. But this was just my calculation. The EEPROM is not user writeable - except for the intialization process, where the content is taken from "somewhere" inside, maybe from another ROM chip or from the MCU ROM area, thus it must always be the same. Laser parameters are stored in the NV-RAM, this is what we can access via Service Mode. Here I would be cautious when swapping OP-s between drives. Sure if you enter the IOP value handwritten on the OP and/or the one printed on the OP's sticker (those two are not necessarily the same!), you cannot go wrong and damage the laser diode (immediately). However, two important things to mention here: - writing back this IOP value will not guarantee by itself, that the given OP will properly work in another drive. Laser power and IOP must always be measured together, and then values be recorded in Service Mode accordingly; - besides these two parameters, there are several others that influence the laser's behavior. After an OP swap all of them must be appropriately measured and set. Having said that, my experience is that these OP-s are fairly "robust", and will just begin working with "wild" or raw settings. But the laser's lifetime can be badly shortened, not mentioning the excess load and wear on the mechanical parts too.

Yes, I see that. The SE9 seems using a different driver ("PclkComm", though it might just as be another name for the same stuff), but if that one does not install on an x64 system either (as I suspected above), then this is a dead end for now. We can approach the problem from another angle, and set the target slightly differently. Let's say the goal is to have his SE9 working with M-Crew, without an actual XP machine or virtual PC. He can turn his PC into a dual boot system (first freeing up a couple of 10 GB hard disk space), where the second boot would then be the 32 bit version of his current OS. (The only unknown is how far the generic 32 bit device drivers get with the given hardware, if there are no 32 bit drivers existing for this and that hw component.) From there, installing the USB driver in legacy mode and installing/running M-Crew in XP SP3 compatibility mode should make it. From this second boot he can then still access his media files already on the computer. Does it sound like scratching your left ear with your right hand :-) ?

Interesting. Do you mean M-Crew will not see any devices on W 64 bits? Because M-Crew itself as an application just installs and runs fine on W7 x64 for example.

I still feel this is because ms wants an .inf with w7 (or, vista and up) explicitly stated the driver was written for. What we have here is an old XP driver, that might or might not work with a newer OS. You can try adding legacy hardware, to see if that helps windows installing this driver. (In w7: click "Action" in Device Manager, select "Add Legacy Hardware”, "Show all", "Have disk", browse the extracted files' folder, then you should see "PclkComm" listed, select, "OK"). There is a catch though: if it is a 32bit-only driver (it well might be), it probably won't install on an x64 system. It should though install on a 32bit W7 for example. To see if this given driver does work with your SE9 or not it has to be installed on an XP machine at first. I do have an XP machine (32bit XP Pro SP3) for these old stuff, however, I obviously could not try it myself, without the actual device connected to the PC. Even if I am convinced (by myself :-) ) that this very driver "must" work, I am not able to test and troubleshoot it :-( . Edit - If you run into the 32bit driver issue: Stephen's new driver packs are now posted - if you have an x64 system, you may want to take that pack and do the install in legacy mode.

This reminds me to the infamous "stuck in STANDBY" symptom of some of the decks, like discussed here . (Long read I admit, but might be wort to look at it, to get an idea. A couple of other hints may be here - on a different error though, that sometimes related to similar causes). Mostly the MCU is not "happy" with one or more of the main components (or their settings), and shuts down/disables the device. In such a case it is fairly hard to get hold of the real cause, only a systematic approach can lead to a result, going step by step and excluding possible culprits. Sometimes it requires a complete reset of the device in Service mode, followed by a full setup/setting/fine tuning procedure, according to the Service Manual. I know a portable device is a totally different kind of animal, thus it can be just anything else, that is not relevant in a component deck. If you have a capable ESR meter, you may want to measure those filter caps, as a sanity check on the electronics.

Stephen, when you compile a new driver set, can you please check the .inf file I posted. I think I forgot to remove two semicolons - from where it does matter ... Thank you. Edit: I fixed the .inf file and replaced the .zip above

I pulled the driver from a Japanese M-Crew install package and modified the .inf file removing all unnecessary stuff to reflect the SE9 only. Without the actual device connected to the PC the setup program will not install the driver. The only way to get hold of it is to "dig deep" into the installer files and find the driver based on the VID/PID information. Sort of "needle in a haystack" thing, but doable :-) . (Unfortunately, I don't have the SE9 installer kit, it would have been much easier then, just simply copying the drivers folder.) The only thing I am not sure about is whether or not W7 and up would accept this driver directly. MS had changed the device driver structure with Vista, and while all drivers since then should work with w7/10 too, normally there is no backward compatibility just as no "upward" compatibility of the xp drivers either. The .inf file actually defines which OS was the given driver meant for, and windows is "picky" on that information.

Yes, it is. When windows detects an USB device, it reads this VID/PID string above from its USB IF chip, to indentifiy the given device. In your case: "VID 054c" means it is a Sony device and "PID 0119" means it is the SD9. Then, windows wants to install the matching device driver. How does it know which one is matching? From the .inf file of the driver. If the .inf file does not contain the exact same string, windows will just ignore that driver. Now: attached is the USB driver for the SE9, unzip it to a folder on your PC. Then open device manager, right click on the unknown device, and click "update driver". When windows asks for the driver location, navigate to the folder you copied the files to. It should then install the driver properly. However ... as Stephen pointed out: This driver is for XP, and from Sony there is not one for and above Vista. You may want to set up and run a virtual xp machine on your PC. xp.zip

I might be wrong, but for me music discs and audio discs are the same thing - that is, the AUDIO CD format (CD-DA). On the other hand, discs that contain MP3 files are plain data discs, with DATA CD format (CD-ROM). As Stephen said, whether or not a CD player can play an mp3 disc depends on the specs. First, the OP must be able to handle the different reflectivity of the writeable CD-ROM media (CD-R, CD-RW). Then the drive's firmware must understand the CD-ROM format. Lastly, the player's software must be able to decode the mp3 files. Any of these missing, such an mp3 disc won't play in that player.

This is a small portable unit, therefore my (dirty makeshift) solution might not apply: I have fixed a couple of decks having similar problems with the OWH ribbon cable. What I did I salvaged a ribbon cable from an old inkjet printer. The thickness of this cable and the width of the copper wires inside were close to that of the OWH. Then I cut out a two wires wide piece (actually, four, but I used two pairs in parallel). From the original cable I removed the cracked piece, keeping about 5 mm-s next to the flat piece that went into the connector on the PCB, as well as another ~5 mm on the head itself. Then I soldered the replacement piece to these truncated ends, with a few mm overlap on both. Finally, applied some superglue between the plastic foils, to support the soldered joints, and wound a piece of capton tape around the "operation areas". Not that elegant, but worked.

Most probably. It is worth to clean the lens at least, to see if it improves.

Great story, yet another rubber band that can save our MD decks. I like when someone has such creative thinking! Not the pulley itself. But it can wear faster the bushes of the pulley's and the motor's shafts. No big deal though - your motor would "tell you", if the rubber band was way too tight, because then the motor's torque would not be enough to properly operate the load/eject mechanism (as the shafts were tensioned way too much against the bushes). If the load/eject works at the usual speed, without any weird noise (squeaking, or sort of), then it will do fine. This motor spins for a few seconds only on a disc load/eject, compared to the spindle motor, that works during the entire play (record) time. First I would check the OP lens and clean if necessary, as well as the sled mechanism, and lubricate if needed.

Glad to see your success, and posting your solution that finally worked is appreciated. Some people really just don't bother coming back and saying they ever succeeded, and if they did, how. (For future reference: "S.M.A.R.T". - is an embedded diagnostics, part of the HDD firmware. Dozens of variables are constantly monitored and stored, to give information on the drive's health, and to "predict" if a hardware failure occuring is probable. Below are a few sample screenshots of HDS, a very useful tool of several others. Even the free version gives tons of information on this low level. See how a ~20 years old XP machine still works perfectly, after that many run hours :-) .)

OK, it seems my assumption was not correct. It is more complicated than that. There existed a US model of the 430 with a switched AC output: So it's rather the other way around: the 430 did have the AC outlet(s) and the 435 did not - similarly for the AEP, G-AEP and US versions. (Or, simply the 435 was the JP version?)

Not really, unless you have all the other components from the same family and you want to take advantage of other features - i.e., autosensing the active device, synchro recording from CD, system standby/power down, etc. You can connect any devices via the RCA jacks that have matching input/output impedance and signal levels (sensitivity). And, as usual (except for the Phono jacks), you can even mix these inputs. Say you wanted to connect 3 MD decks to this amp, you could equally use the Tuner, Tape, CD or Video audio inputs - all you need to do is to remember which button on the front panel switches to which device of the three.

Yes, there were several similar models with different labels. They are pretty much the same inside (not sure about the Hitachi though, never seen one). I had my hands on the Orion MD-201 and the Universum MD-190. To me, the look and feel and the overall build quality was kinda "cheap". I bougth the Orion off ebay for €52 incl. shipping, 15 sealed Sony and 40 used Sony/TDK MD discs. Needless to say I bought the pack for the discs, and then donated the device itself to a friend.

Thanks for the photos. The back panel is the same as in the SM, except for the switched AC outlets on the 430. The 435 does not have the switched AC outlets, so propably this one was the US model, and the 430 is the AEP, G-AEP model. If this naming stands, then the schematics in the SM should cover your model too, with the AEP,G-AEP/US differentiation, where noted/applicable. From here I think it is very straightforward, how to make the connections with your other devices. Great to see these vintage stuff in nice condtion and still kicking.

Now you made me curious, what hook ups you are looking for. This is just a PA from '85, so nothing fancy there: CD, Tuner, Tape, Phono, Speakers A/B, and so on. Yes, there are RCA jacks. Would you mind posting some good photos here of the 435, i.e., front and back panels? Then we can help you with the hook ups. (BTW: if you looked at the SM I posted above, this is definitely not that poorly copied version, but actually a very good one. Page 3 and 4 should give you quite enough information.)

Sony_TA-AX_430_SM.pdf Here is the SM of the TA-AX 430. These models are very similar, the front panel is nearly identical on the two. Features and actual schematics may differ somewhat, but at least the description of the front/back controls/connections as well as some of the specifications of the 430 may give an idea on the 435 too. Rest is lost in the past of the internet (if ever existed, given the young age of the internet vs. the age of these "ancient" HiFi equipment).

Can you read out the USB VID/PID values of this unit in the Device Manager? There are lots of different drivers here, we can then check, which one may support this USB IF chip.

Stephen, this is a great summary, thank you on behalf of everybody who are looking for this information. We can add the MDS-JE470 to this section, a well as the MDS-S50 (I have/had both, working with PCLK is confirmed). One remark here: the MDS-JE530 does not have the PS2 port (although it does have Control A1 II).

The 940 is a different story. The x40 family (440/640/940), as well as the S50, the PC3 (and potentially other models too, with the same MDM-7 flavour and having the same EEPROM code) have a "glitch" in their firmware, that causes these counters seem never moving away from 1 hour. We have touched this once before (here).

You can easily do it as well, should you want to. It is in the same submenu (aka ERROR DP MODE) in Service mode, just a few ticks away with the AMS button. And it is described in the Service Manual too (page 3).