Ragodin

Lubricated the switches. Result still the disc does not rotate. Also must have caught a finger on the upper head as that catches on the frame now, which it didn't before. Really feel that this is the end - as they say I have given it my best shot.

Thanks to everyone I've got nothing to lose so will give this a try later today or tomorrow

Hi M1JWR Thanks once again, but I don't think this is problem. The battery he talks about does lose the voltage very quickly but this would have been there since the beginning so is unlikely to be the cause of the disc not spinning. At he start of this process the disc spun and the head didn't move; now the head moves but the disc will not spin. I have taken it to bits and cleaned all the flat cable connections twice Don't know what else I can do.

Hi M1JWR Do you have a link to this video, please

All cables cleaned but still no rotation of disc, though the head moves!

Latest saga Yes I increased the power and the head moved - which is good. Unfortunately when I took it to pieces to take the photo I must have disturbed a connection as the disc no longer turns. To verify this I used SM CPLAY and it does not get to the point of showing the errors. I tried it on IN, MID and OUT. The head moved a little each time but the disc stayed still! Looks as if we are close to the end of the road. BTW I contacted Sony and they said that as it was bought in 1997 they no longer maintain this model.

I tried to do what you suggested with regard to write settings Only difference is that I now sometimes get 'disc error' but not always Also included a photo of the laser

OK Got some numbers Laser check LD 0 9mW $10, LD 7 0mW $90, LD 0 7mW $00 or $0D, LD 6 2mW $80, WPmr $80 not sure of the alpha characters FBIAS Check 7071/00 C=02 CPLAY MODE MID C1=6970AD=00 to 7350AD=75 ; IN C1=6192AD=00; MID C15114AD=00; OUT C1=4592AD=00 For another Sony mini-disk IN 2650AD=00 to 2822 & 2650AD=02 to 2751, &2616AD=01 to 2785, MID 2770AD=00 to 3074 OUT 2841AD=00 to 3010 EEP 51 14 If there are any other readings let me know and I will try again. I only have this device so it wasn't possible to use another source for the disks

Thanks again NGY Unfortunately I don't have the test gear, the other problem is that I don't know anyone round here who has. So I guess I will have to keep trying to find someone locally who can help. I could put the numbers from various tests in SM if useful

Thanks NGY I am not sure how to go further. It just seems odd to me that if I gently heat it with a hairdryer I can get the machine to work. This seems to me that it isn't a laser problem but something mechanical. Either a part which is expanded by the heat or a lubricant which is melted. If it was a laser problem then I could increase the laser power, but don't want to do this as it could cause other problems Any suggestions gratefully accepted

Some further information Tried all the stuff recommended by John-John. Including cleaning the laser putting a heat shrink tube round the slider switch Oiling the wheel supports cleaning the contacts on the strip connectors Sent him a mail off his site but so far received no reply After all this same problem, though again after heating the unit to shrink the tubes it worked. On setup Cplay mode still a very high level of errors. It does however move between the three settings

I have tried about 20 different disks of three brands including Sony and Hi Space, others are no name Tried putting a little pressure but no impact. Only pressed on pieces easily reached, including the sled. The disk looks as if it is seated properly and in setup mode I can move the head across the whole platter. There is an occasional noise but not frequent and a little like it can't move. I have also cleaned the rail that the little round pin on the head slides along. So far no progress Any other ideas I am happy to try

Hi Thanks for the advice, which I will put into practice later and let you know the results

You guys were so helpful at the start which I really appreciated. However the thread seems to have gone off at a tangent. I tried cleaning the ribbon cables as suggested with no difference in the result. I guess that I should write off my old mini-disc machine as there is no one round here who does repairs

NGY The ability to move the sled in SM did not require heat. The videos attached hopefully will help Also the sled didn't move this time at room temperature. SM info. FBIAS head moves across the disk CPLAY MODE head moves to centre CREC MODE head moves to centre DTRAK CHECK head in the centre Scurva CHECK Focus On Manual Command ON OF OF Don't know if this helpful - but always hope Minidisc display-s.mp4 minidisc insert eject-s.mp4