Woodgnome

As for HOW the 1G got corrupted - please read the thread with case number 140981444 in the title. Faulty players - not discs - confirmed with three 1st gen Sony models NH900 & 2 off 700s Paranoid Sony will not let you recover omg files. Sorry. However for next time.. 1)Use Sonic Stage 2.1 to back up your library (this can take 20G + !!!!!!!!) 2)After corruption - restore your library. Sonic Stage retrieves the "KEY" from the Sony website during this process - allowing your omg files to work once more. In my opinion it's paranoid, unacceptable and rubbish. In 15 years time - when Sony are owned by Nissan - and you've just got a box of old backup DVDs out of the loft - guess what - the omg files are locked forever!!! (Well that's why you use Norton Ghost to backup your system - but that's only of use if you can restore it to near identical hardware) My opinion - use an uncopyrighted "ripping" strategy for all music i.e. mp3. Then - use Sonic Stage to convert to omg (leaving the mp3 originals in tact). View the omg files just as an intermediate format for making Sony "Copy Protected / Ultra Paranoid Discs" ;-) P.S. I like Sony really - but they've gone a bit far with ATRAC3 Woodgnome

Thank you very much Dinko - I really appreciate your and everyone elses help. There are now three of us that have repeated this fault - I am fairly satisfied it is a bug - rendering editing unusuable and unreliable on Hi-MD LP. The only work around appears to do recordings in the normal MD-LP2. Although why have we all spent loads of money on players with new features that don't work????? Still no response from Sony - but I will post it here - however long it takes!! I am reverting to my MZ-750G for recording - and will only use my NH900B for listening to my sonic stage discs. Coicidentally - the older player (with BASS boost and not the V-Acoustic Engine) actually does sound better than the new one. I really wish I hadn't wasted my money on the new format until all these bugs have been ironed out. You never get any compensation for all the time, effort and heartache (with lost recordings)... P.S. For Dinko - If you edit your now partly scrambled disc - the player will eventually report "unabale to play and record on disc" before blanking the entire disc (which is why I suggested using a blank!) COME ON SONY - IT REALLY IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Although 1st generation i-pod's sealed in recarcheable batteries went dud after 12 months and 3 days The user then had to pay £70 to change it It's all a conspiricy!!!! Why does the consumer have to suffer for products that are not properly tested??? Woodgnome

Thankyou so much for confirming my results (albiet on a different model numbered unit) Xpsie Confirming:- WE SUSPECT THAT ALL HI-MD (1st Generation units) i.e. 600, 800, 900, 1 etc HAVE A PRETTY SERIOUS BUG. USERS MAY BE SUSPECTING FAUTLY BLANK DISCS AS THE PROBLEM - BUT BE CAREFUL - THERE ARE PLENTY OF FAULTY DISCS OUT THERE AS WELL - and in fact the fault might be endemic to the players themselves! Quite simply - a standard feature of minidisc is T-Mark (or track marking). It is often used, for example, to remove a DJ's voice from a radio recording to leave just the music. With various Hi-MD players (in Hi-LP mode) - after a track is marked and erased - 1) the track mark moved (BUG) 2) the erased section becomes unerased (BUG) 3) and after a few retries the entire disk is normally blanked (BUG) You can see earlier threads to test your unit - and please post your results. TEST RECAP Record 2 minutes of analogue/digital recording on a Hi-MD in HI-LP. Mark a 20sec track in the middle section (track 2) - erase this track and remove the Track Mark (T-Mark) to join tracks 1 and 3 together. BANG!!! Please be aware that this causes no damage to your player or disk - but it does indicate that ALL players are in fact FAULTY???? Watch this space - maybe they will all be recalled... Personally - I can't use mine without this feature. Woodgnome

Tony, please don't become utra paranoid (like Sony) My little "test" to shoe a "bug" doesn't ruin anything... well except the 2 minutes you will have recorded for the test.

Digital or analogue recording. Transferring from the PC does not allow you to add track marks afterwards (because of the Sony ultra-paranoid copying system) Please try it - record 2 minutes - cut out a 15 second track in the middle and join tracks 1 and 3 together. If it doesn't work - it sure creates some interesting results! I need confirmation from others. Oh - it must be Hi-Md at Hi-LP (not MD-LP) Ta

I would appreciate it! It takes so long to track down these faults. I'll be using my M-750G again at this rate!

I got my NH-900B unit for Xmas - so did the usual download of all my CDs (via Sonic Stage 2.1) in Hi-MD format to 1G & normal minidiscs - no problems. I also did lots of track editing and typing in names on MD-LP2 (the normal mode and the normal 80minute MD blanks) with no problems. I also recorded my voice and music in Hi-MD (on 1G and 80m MD) - no problems. However when track editing (on 1G & 80m MDs) in HI-MD LP mode - the track marks move around by 15 seconds once placed. Erased tracks magically re-appear. Bits of erased tracks appear at the end of other tracks, then sporadically the whole disk disappears (Cannot Read or Record). Also, when my own Hi-MD LP recordings (voice) run into these problems - Sonic Stage will not upload the tracks (not even for the one upload allowed). This really smacks of a design fault - if anyone else can do my original test - record 2 minutes of music - remove 20 seconds in the middle by creating track marks - erase the middle track and join the two tracks together (by now removing the T-Mark) and see what happens. Just to be repeatable - use Hi-MD LP mode on a blank 80 minute MD. I REALLY WOULD APPECIATE YOU MD EXPERTS TO CONFIRM THIS esp with NH900B model. Reading other peoples posts - they all think the disks are faulty - quite a lot are - but I think there may be bigger problems afoot... who knows - maybe it's just a batch of players bought from amazon in December 2004..... I have reported the fault to Sony. Watch this space and please respond. Woodgnome

NH900 Owner - the Euro-cripple removal hack DOES work. The volume keeps going up over 25. Now - if anyone can tell me how to add precise track marks without the unit refusing to save the changes without corrupting the discs - I'd be happy to know!

When the Hi-MD format actually works correctly (without the teething troubles it is currently having) I would be pleased to discuss the fine points of which product have which features.

I have noticed many people are having problems with the new Hi-MD players - be it data or music issues. I have specifically noticed certain problems which are totally repeatable on my NH-900B. After recording say a 2 minute track, and dividing it acurately into 3 tracks (the middle one being about 20 seconds). Erasing the middle track (2) and removing T-Mark between track 1 and 3 should result in a shorter track with the middle portion cut out. Been doing this kind of editing for years with normal MD. Do it with Hi-LP - first thing is the resulting edits move - they are not in the place you put them. They can be up to 15 seconds away! So you edit it again to cut out the bit in the middle. Then the second timethe player will normally display "cannot play or record tracks" before blanking the disk. THE END (of your valuable recording) Disappointing if you've just recorded 10 hours of something important! Repeated this now many times and lost too many valuable recordings I did over the Christmas period. We need Sony to recall these faulty players - if that is qhat it is. I believe that they are in fact a fault of using Hi-SP or Hi-LP MODES with 1Gb or normal (80minute) MDs.

This is a suspected fault with all HiMd Players. Call Sony UK on 08705 111999 Case Number 140981444.

The errors you quote are not unique to your player or 1Gb blanks. They are in fact a fault of using Hi-SP or Hi-LP with 1Gb or normal (80minute) MDs. After recording say a 15 minute track, and dividing it acurately into 3 tracks. Erasing track two and removing T-Mark between track 1 and 3 should result in a shorter track with the middle portion cut out. Been doing this kind of editing for years with normal MD. Do it with Hi-LP - first thing is the resulting edits move - and then the disk will normally display "cannot play or record tracks" before blanking disks. Repaeated this now many times and lost too many valuable recordings I did over the Christmas period. We need Sony to recall these faulty players IT IS NOT THE MEDIA - although I have noticed an increasing amount of babdly manufactured discs (holes in the silvered media) but that's a different discussion and not causing the problems here.