Davew

They keep boosting me up to 50 when I send some invitations, so I'm avaliable for invitations too.

hey batfastard, how long did it take them to reply? I asked sony UK a question the other week and they havn't got back to me yet, I spose it really was too much to expect of Sony to provide native MP3 support then

native english, survivable german very basic italian would like to be able to speak french, welsh would be cool too!

aoix that sounds bad but this might just work: you have written down all of your values from MANUAL and NV in your text file. Go through the MANUAL and NV menus and replace the values with your old ones if they are different, in case the memory has been wiped or something. Dave

I am going to post my text file to the forums, aoix can you change your link in your text file to the new one in my signature please? sorry! euro_mznhf800.txt

aoix in the service mode: MD1 = old MD HiMD1 = old MD reformatted HiMD3 = new 1Gb MD (I am almost certain that this is true becuase the new menus I posted yesterday can only be acessed with a 1Gb disc and not a reformatted old MD) So, I took a MD1 disc and used sticky tape to make it look like a HiMD3 disc. I then put it in my unit and it acts like a MD1, so then I reformat it to a HiMD1 disc and here is the interesting thing: my unit knows it its a standard disc (not 1Gb) becuase it shows 269.3 Mb free disc space. BUT, it doesn't know how many minutes recording time is avaliable on the disc!! It just shows '---:--' in the display for RecRemain. But when i remove the sticky tape again, it can tell me how many hours of recording on the disc.

I have updated my '800 file with new info from HIMD3: 920: Srv On (and onwards, which you couldn't get, aoix) 310: Srv On (and onwards) You can only get into these menus when you have a 1GB disc inserted. Dave

yeah I think we should forget about the audio menu being much use. can you remember at all what volume setting you had the record volume (manual) set to when you got your service mode values?

I have updated my file with the AUDIO info, and some new info on one of the small menus at the top. dex, unfortunately there is nothing in the AUDIO section that can set Manual as the defualt recording volume, since it is for real-time diagnosis only. However, it is still possible that we will discover how to change it somewhere else aoix, the manual recording volume can be set at a specific number, and although the unit defaults back to AGC, it does remember the manual volume level. I wonder if we could set it at a certain level, 29 for instance, then look for '1D' in service mode (or whatever number the volume is) ?? Dave

Thanks aoix I will add that information to my file now. minidisc.org have service manual pdfs, and I will have a look at them to see what else I can find out. I suspect that a Digital / Optical input would be 'Di' or 'Oi' because Line is 'Li' and Microphone is 'Mi'

I aggree with you aoix, I think that MD, HiMD1, HiMD3 are concernced with the mechanical/physical properties of the unit and of each type of disc. Also I think we can rule out AUDIO as hack-standard, but we shouldn't completely forget about it. (I will add my discoveries to my text file later) I would like to add maybe the Program play mode to my 800 if that can be done through service mode. Also, yes, I think we should focus on the MANUAL Yes this is where we should focus NV: Non-Volatile memory? NORADJ: NOR-Adjust? (don't know about the 'NOR' any suggestions? The user settings like Beep on/off and Display Contrast etc are presumably stored in the NV memory? Should we start by looking for these? I wonder if Sony have hidden the firmware away in special NV memory that can't be accessed so that people like us *can't* go changing the software values and upgrade our units without paying? (It would be the sort of thing they would do ) But anyway, lets get hacking!! Dave

Hey, I am making progress with the AUDIO section, unfortunately I think it is unlikely to produce and hacks but is interesting anyway. (I will add all this to my file when I've confirmed it all and got feedback) OK, I have come to the conclusion that the AUDIO section is for diagnosis only and no changes can be made to the operation of the unit. Warning: if you are going to do this then have your head/earphones within hearing range and NOT IN YOUR EARS to start with. [111: LR1kHz 1C] plays a 1kHz tone on both channels, you can change the volume in real time by making the '1C' bigger or smaller, to a maximum of '1E' in my euro model. [112: L 1kHz 1C] & [113: R 1kHz 1C] same as above but the tone is mainly on the L or R channel as appropriate. [115: VolMax 1E] plays a tone at maximum volume (this is why I say not in your ears) you can change the '1E' but it makes no difference to the volume. [116: AvlsOn 0E] same as above but plays the tone at the AVLS cut-off volume. [117: Beep CC] plays the BEEP tone continuously. [121: Lo iMa 15] & [122: Ho iMa 1C] & [123: Lo iAt CC] when you plug a microphone in, the 'i' changes to 'Mi' when you plug a line in, the 'i' changes to 'Li' I don't know about digital input. Can someone try this?? I seem only to be able to hear the microphone/line input on #122 and #124 (SensLo) and on #122 you can change the '1C' to adjust the volume level. [131: WrtAGC 00] you can switch between '00' and '01' and then press PAUSE and the disc icon flashes to show it did something. I think that it sets Auto Gain Control ON (01) or OFF (00) for the purposes of the diagnosis session. cheers, Dave

nice one aoix! still no idea how to change some of the values? There seem to be several names/values that are duplicated over and over again in MD, HiMD1 and HiMD3. But some things have obvious function like moving the lens up and down and moving the laser left and right.

Hi guys, I've added the whole of MD1 to my file (which is now about twice as long as it was yesterday ) It's here Dave Edit: IT'S ALL DONE NOW!!

OK guys thats me done for tonight. I have done all of the DESIGN values aoix, and tomorrow I will start on the MD1, HiMD1, HiMD3 and NORADJ ones. The latest version can be found, as always, here Dave

aoix: yes I will post my other values, I didnt get the all before becuase I only took the ones I thought would be most important at the time. I have no idea how to save the hacked value? Also, I have found several new screens (including the one that you have found, and I know how to get there) which I will post later when I have updated my text file. Will let you know when this is done, Dave Edit: Ok I now have the new screens and the POWER menu up here more will come later...

On my '800 remote (RM-MC39LT) I have the extra buttons: Group +/- Display Play Mode Sound I have tried the remote in service mode and it does work. But I don't think any of the extra keys help in saving the value. Maybe Sony have limited changes to presets in these new units? I hope not! Also, aoix, do you need any more info from me for your compare text file? Dave

aoix I have found exaclty the same thing when browsing the service area, If I change the "000000" from T MARK it seems not to remember it. I still have no idea how to store the change volume value. For your table, I got my values: With no battery and with the power supply. volume: unsure. sound: normal. rec mode: PCM. sync: off group rec: off. menu mode: advanced. AVLS: off. beep: off. disc mem: ?? quick mode: off (I think) discmode: Hi-MD contrast: center. and jogdial: default

Yeah Embio I spose it would at some point, but I wonder how far It could go and still sound decent? Might be able to pump more out of the euro units.

Yes! come on! we're gettin' places! I'm taking AUDIO #115 (VolMax) as an example here (since it seems a fairly safe test value to ..ehem.. meddle with!) The 2-digit Hex value can be changed using the wheel for the first digit and the 5 way stick (up/down) to change the whole number up or down by 1. However I can find no way of saving that value to the memory? The T MARK button moves you to some other editing thing that I don't understand and no other buttons seem to save the new hex value???? But, as you say xispe, we will do it! Yeah! Dave Edit: I have made some minor changes to my listing some function descriptions in the AUDIO section that will be of use for your table, aoix.

Ok my final info is now up again here Actually i've not added much in the end, only my AdjUID really

Thanks Shermy, at the moment I am working to expand my info, with more categories and information about what you can edit. I am 99% sure i had beep set to off when I compiled my list and it seems that most of the audio stuff cannot be changed, but there might be hope yet. As I said, I am working on improving my info, will have that ready as soon as possible, but I have to be careful, what with working in service mode! Dave

cheers xispe. I will add more info from other categories if it is needed. aoix: My AdjUID values are correct, I have double-checked them in service mode and they are definately: 221: YrMnDy CC 222: Serl H CC 223: Serl L CC edit: Hang on, I know what you mean. The display shows CC but using the format in your table aoix, I have: 221: 040405 222: 000000 223: 011778 Dave

Hi people. Here is the first version of the service mode names and values from my MZ-NHF800 (European Model). There are some intersting things, though one that stands out to me is: AUDIO #115 which is called 'VolMax' and has the value 1E, which in decimal is 30 and surprise surprise, is the maximum volume level for the unit! I anticipate a hack.....

Cheers dex So, does the NHF800 until limit the frequency range that the remote is allowed to access and the remote is the same the world over? What I mean is, is it theoretically possible for my remote to operate at the TV/Weather frequencies, but my euro unit stops it accessing them? Dave