Ral-Clan

I suspect that it is an issue of economics: why throw even 48 hours of a SONY programmer's time into adding an uploading feature for "old" NET-MD into SonicStage when all the money is to be made in the current Hi-MD line. It's quite possible, but economically not a prudent move. However, from the standpoint of fostering customer loyalty and good nature, it could be viewed as "profitable". On the other hand, it could actually result in the sale of more Hi-MD machines if Sony makes it necessary to use a Hi-MD deck/walkman to upload the "regular" MD audio. For all of us MD-users out here with important live recordings on 'regular' Minidisc, I hope you are successful in chatting with this fellow. It would mean a lot to us to have this feature.

Practically speaking, this is true. But I don't think technically speaking it is. After all, when you hook a "regular-MD" NetMD machine to a computer, can't Sonic Stage then retreive track info (name, length, etc.) from the Minidisc's TOC? If so, then this would mean there is at least some form of minimal data line sending information "up" to the computer (therefore a two-way street, with most of the lanes being reserved for PC-to-MD downloading, and a small bicycle trail being left for sending info the other way). I realise this is just a "pipe dream", but at least it leaves the door open a crack that some sort of software hack or even an official upgrade from Sony might one day allow digital uploading from regular NetMDs. And of course, there is always the option suggested by another poster on this board: that one day Sony might allow the uploading of music on "regular" MDs by putting them in a Hi-MD walkman hooked to a computer. The above will probably never come to pass, but it points out there is still some possibility. If they add support for uploading old SP Minidiscs (by inserting them in a Hi-MD player) I'm in. I'd buy a Hi-MD walkman or deck that very week. Until then I'll just wait until my old SP walkman gives up the ghost (it's a great machine - the MZ-R700 and since it cost me a lot when I bought it two years ago I'd like to get my full use out of it - also standard SP mode sounds great). I am very excited about the removal of most of the DRM....I'd hope it's not (as another poster stated) "too little, too late".

I think the question should be: is it even possible in the older Net-MD hardware to send digital audio data back to the computer? i.e. even if Sony WANTED to grant Net-MD users uploading ability now, would it be possible in the existing, sold base of hardware? Are there physical/eletrical connections in the machine that would make this a possibility (or is the data flow 'one-way' only)? Oops! I see a lot of other people have already reponded in a like manner!

I guess this is why Minidiscs are so friggin' expensive in Canada. A two-pack of standard 80 minute disc is STILL $9.99 (Sonys) in Canada at most stores.

Sounds like either the worm-screw (the threaded rod that moves the laser back and forth) needs lubrication, or it has some crud on it which blocks that laser from moving back and forth freely. You can open the machine up, or if you don't want to do that just open the door normall and use a Q-tip to push the laser block all the way to the right and then back to the left as far as it will go. Don't press directly on the laser lens. This might clear it. Otherwise you can remove the four screws holding on the door casing life all of that (door casing & circuit board) up and that will allow you to apply some silicon grease to the spindle/worm-screw. If that doesn't help then the motor that drives the worm-screw might be getting tired and worn-out. It is possible to replace this, but you have to find a spare (i.e. from a broken unit) and you need some very delicate soldering skills. It's not a minor job.

Sounds like you need to re-format the damaged disc. I think SonicStage can do that (although I have never used it).

I wish some of these price blowouts would happen in Canada. I've heard of the MZNE410 being cleared out in the States in several stores for under $50. If I ever saw one for that price I would probably get it for everyday listening use, to save wear-and-tear on my recording MD walkman. The cheapest I've EVER seen an MD walkman in Canada was $99, and that was a clearance of a demo model (MZ-510CK or whatever - bought it for my wife). The MZNE410 is currently going for $119 at Canadian Tire and $129 (Psyc model) at Wal-Mart Canada. Should be cheaper (especially if they want to compete with MP3 players). Even though they are still high, prices have come down a lot, because even three years ago the cheapest MD walkman I could find in Canada was the MZ-505 which was around $200-$250 Canadian. No wonder the format was slow to adopt here.

Hi, I would suggest bringing your disc and player into the Sony Store in the Bramalea City Centre and testing your disc on their equipment, and if they have a demo disc, you could test it on your MD-walkman to see just which is buggered.

I'm very sorry to hear of your problem. I know the feeling, as I have performed music live, too. May I suggest that in the future you carry a second backup minidisc player (you can get cheap older ones on Ebay). The $30 or $40 you will spend on a backup player will be much less than the money you could lose from a catastrophic hardware failure such as the one you experienced....and because MD players are so small, it won't add much to the gear you have to lug around.

I tried lubricating the worm screw. It didn't eliminate the noise in the case of my MZ-R700, so it must be the motor bearings or a gear (but the gears look okay).

I just bought a second hand MZ-R700 for spare parts off of Ebay. It actually works but it makes a really loud, high pitched, whirring/spinning noise when first putting the disc in, and when the disc nears its end (I assume it's returning the laser to the "home position"). Also, I noticed there is a short loud motor sound when you go to the last track on a disc, play it, and then hit "back-track" to return to previous tracks. So the machine seems to have problems reversing the laser head. Here are my theories: 1. The rails the laser head rides on need lubrication with grease. 2. One of the motors is failing (but which one? - there appears to be three of them in there - one to spin the disc, one to drive the worm screw / laser, and the other for what I'm not sure). 3. There is a problem with one of the plastic gears inside the machine, which is causing it to slip (you should be able to detect a problem through visual inspection of the gears). I opened the machine up and lubricated the rail that is smooth, (I didn't lubricate the 'worm screw' rail - I will have to try that). The sound still persists. Other than that noise, the machine works fairly well. 1 in 10 times it will give me DISC ERROR when recording (especially when writing near the outside of the disc - end of the disc). It also hung a few times when writing updating the TOC. I assume these disc errors could be the result of the laser meeting resistance due to lack of lubrication. For a $30 unit off Ebay meant for spare parts it is actually performing better than I expected... I just used some spare bearing grease I had left over from my wood lathe downstairs. It's sort of yellowish brown in colour. I also wondered if any of that white computer heat-sink grease I had would have done the trick. I don't know if either of the above are the best to use - ideally you would want whatever that white stuff is that they use in the factory. You don't want to use anything that is too liquid, and could drip onto other components. You can apply a small amount to a Q-tip or the head of a long pin and get it in there to smear on the rail. This can be done without taking the machine apart, just DON'T GET ANY ON THE LASER OR MAGNETIC HEAD.

I Think you misunderstand my initial post. I am not requesting information on how to upload my Minidiscs to computers. I know MDLP recordings are not uploadable from a NETMD walkman digitally. I know about Hi-MD etc. and analog transfers of regular MDs (been doing that for years). What I am discussing here are the technological reasons behind WHY NetMD recordings cannot be uploaded, and whether or not (theoretically) NetMD devices (non Hi-MD) could ever be hacked in hardware or software to make it possible (although I realise it would never be practical to do so). This is just a theoretical discussion as to the barriers / possibilities to "hacking in" an uploading function if one had full access to the Firmware / CPU / motherboard documentation of a regular NetMD walkman.

So does that mean you can use TOTAL RECORDER to capture digitally (real-time) any audio data being played by a via the USB cable by a Hi-MD walkman, even those tracks which are not "uploadable" (non-microphone recordings)? Well, I'm not sure about this, if we're talking (hypothetically) about merely playing the audio on a minidisc walkman, routing it through the USB cable, and actually hearing it through the computer's speakers. I would assume in that case all the decoding would be done in the walkman, and it would merely be channelling a regular uncompressed PCM signal through the USB cable....would be interesting to know if the electronics on the motherboard are even capable of channelling the signal this way (even as a disabled feature). It would be interesting to know what happens internally when one plays the audio from a Hi-MD walkman via one's computer speakers. Is the ATRAC data decompressed at the walkman end or the computer end? Well, the reason I thought that it might be possible to theoretically "HACK" upload capabilies into a NetMD is that, if the computer CAN get trackname and other data from a disk, then clearly there is some data line that is capable of transferring data from MD walkman to computer, and it's not just a one-way street. Perhaps it would be (theoretically) possible to "hijack" this data line and send digital audio data "up" over it.

Hi, *** Please note: This is a theoretical discussion - NOT a request for information on how to upload regular MD audio *** We all know that no standard Minidisc NETMD machines allow uploading via the USB connection. But I was wondering if this disallowance is merely a result of the software/firmware, or if there are no actual physical lines capable of transferring digital audio to the computer via USB in the standard NETMD units - or both. I was just thinking that if it's merely a "crippling" of the uploading feature in the firmware of the MD unit....could uploading ever be hacked into a unit? I realise that it is probably impractical to ever do, but theoretically would it be possible to hack a standard NetMD walkman to allow digital audio to be transferred via the USB cable (even at real-time)? I do not own an NETMD walkman, so I am not sure, but don't some NetMD walkmans allow one to "monitor" the playback of the audio on a MD through one's computer speakers via the USB connection? If so, couldn't one just use a program like "Total Recorder" to then capture the audio as it is playing off of the disc - and in doing so have a de-facto digital, real-time uploading capability? Or is this only possible with Hi-MD machines? (even with Hi-MD walkmans, couldn't this method allow one to capture non-analog-mic-input recordings on the computer)? Brent

Hi, I cracked the LCD on my Sony MZ-R700 and am looking for a dead or broken MZ-R700 or 750 for replacement parts. Please e-mail woodenflutes@yahoo.ca if you have one for sale.