Unrecoverable read/write Error Procedure - What to do with Minidisc blank?

[SammyBean]

I have been using my MZ-NZ700 Minidisc 7-8 months now and have had no problems whatsoever in doing many live music/voice recordings and transferring them to my computer in SS and nurning Audio CD. I am very happy with the performance of this unit, and with Sonic Stage software.

But I recently experienced my first unrecoverable read(access)/write error when transferring a 100min recording to "My Library" in Sonic Stage 3.3 (See the thread "An Internal error has occurred") I managed to recover about 90min of that recording, so the loss was not that big.

I do have a question regarding what I should do with the Minidisc blank on which this error occurred: Should I try to return it to Sony in exchange for another, or will the Hi-MD disc be reliable to continue using, once I transfer all my recordings to "My Library" in SS, and then erase + format the disc. In other words, how do I know if the problem with the unrecoverable error was caused by a glitch during the recording or if the problem is a "bad spot" on the media.

[A440]

Why don't you try an experiment? The time and price of sending something back to Sony probably isn't worth it.

Note the time where the problem was on the first recording.

After you format, plug in your mic and just let it record all the way through the disc with the recorder stationary--maybe just let it roll overnight. Use Auto Track Marking at a sensible increment--10 minutes?--so you can find the spot where the problem was, and see whether it recurs.

Just out of curiosity, was it a black Hi-MD or a blue one?

[SammyBean]

Why don't you try an experiment? The time and price of sending something back to Sony probably isn't worth it.

Note the time where the problem was on the first recording.

After you format, plug in your mic and just let it record all the way through the disc with the recorder stationary--maybe just let it roll overnight. Use Auto Track Marking at a sensible increment--10 minutes?--so you can find the spot where the problem was, and see whether it recurs.

Just out of curiosity, was it a black Hi-MD or a blue one?

Thanks for the suggestion, but I've already erased and formatted the disk so I can't find the exact location again. But I also wonder if your suggestion would work because I'm not sure how a disk gets filled with data - Is it always in the same pattern. This disk was at least half full of data before the problem became evident, and had 7 or 8 previous tacks recorded, each averaging about 100min in duration (some of which had been edited on the minidisc recorder) - so how could I be sure that a error, say at the 10 hour and 33 min point would show up at exactly in the same location once that disk was formatted? Just wondering.

Anyways, the disk was a black Hi-MD (old style)

[tommypeters]

I wouldn't use that disc again for any live recording or similarily important, rip some music from CD and use it as a play-only disc - even though you may never get any problems again the risc is higher.

[A440]

Your problem may have been editing on the disc.

If you have Track 1, Track 2 and Track 3 and decide you don't like Track 2 and erase it, you can trigger a bug. It's even more likely if you then remove the track mark between 1 and 3.

But tommypeters is right: Use the disc for something non-critical. I've had glitches on the black discs that may have been my fault during recording and may have been disc errors. I've had no problems so far with the blue ones. $7 is pretty cheap for peace of mind.

[The Low Volta]

I have just detected my first recording glitch...on a crystal-blue HiMD and the NH900 was completely still while recording (I sat down the whole show)... with playback on NH900 it sounds like a glitch but in SS it won't play beyond the glitch and uploading (for the 10 min with the glitch) is impossible...

It has dented my trust in HiMD-discs a little bit I must say

[greenmachine]

Have you recorded the disc for the first time or did it happen after a few re-use cycles?

Edited December 12, 2005 by greenmachine

[The Low Volta]

I don't really recall 100% greenmachine, but either it was fresh out of the wrapper or it had been recorded on only once... could have been a faulty disc to start with (and the recording lost - well the 3 seconds lost actually - aren't really important either as it was a not so very good standup comedian) I will check it if I have the time

[greenmachine]

I have the habit to re-use only a few tried and proven discs for important recordings. I have a feeling that if they work once, they will always work. I might be wrong though.

[SammyBean]

Thanks for all input - I tried transferring all the tracks that were originally in that disk back on to it from "My Library" in SS (except for that 10min section where the original error was discovered). The entire transfer went fine and this should have over-written the "bad-spot?" if there actually was one on the disk because another recording session of about 90mins had been added after I discovered the erroor - but who knows for sure?

It sure would be nice if there was some kind of utility to check/scan the integrity of a blank disk - something like "CheckDisk" or "ScanDisk" in Windows. Does anyone know if such a utility exists for minidiscs? Also, what does formatting actually do on a minidisc? Shouldn't it produce some kind of error if the disc has a problem spot on it?