Is there a 'Chkdsk' for Minidisc?

[stshores24]

(Sorry if this has been addressed before.) I am having a strange problem with one of my Hi-MD discs and wondered if I may have a bad disc or a problem with my recorder (a Sony MZ-NH600D).

First, every now and then the disc comes up as unreadable and my MZ-NH600D asks me if I want to format it. If I pop the disc out, spin it around in its case a little bit with my finger, and put it back in, it seems to work fine for a while.

Next, it's having a strange problem where tracks will go totally silent for a few minutes and the counter does not seem to proceed when I watch it, or proceeds very slowly. It does not make a skipping sound, but it cuts out and the counter seems to stop and start at strange intervals. Sometimes I have to pause it and skip forward until it will go again.

I hypothesized at first that I may have had scratched or defective CDs, but both of the CD sets I had recorded were brand-new.

It doesn't seem to do this on all discs, just this one, but then again, I only have one Hi-MD disc in my collection--the rest are standard 80-minute discs with the Hi-MD format.

My question: Is there any sort of 'chkdsk' utility for Minidiscs, so that I can see if the disc has damaged or unreadable sectors? I assume that the standard Windows chkdsk utility would not work.

Edit: Just for grins, I tried formatting the disc with FAT32 in Windows and running standard chkdsk on it. It didn't find anything, but that's honestly not surprising to me--I don't know how thorough Windows can be on these drives. I'm going to try re-formatting it using SonicStage and seeing if things work better.

Edited September 29, 2006 by stshores24

[MDX-400]

Well it's a $5 disc, personally I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Just buy a new one. If multiple "formats" don't remedy the problem I'd just get a new disc. Actually doesn't Sony warrant these things for life? You could just send it to them and they'll send you a new one.

I mean you could try scanning it with a program but in the end it isn't going to fix the problem it's just going to tell you "hey there's something wrong with this disc" which you pretty much already know.

[stshores24]

Well it's a $5 disc, personally I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Just buy a new one.

Sigh, probably right.

Actually doesn't Sony warrant these things for life? You could just send it to them and they'll send you a new one.

Haven't heard of any sort of warranty on these. Can anyone verify this? I don't know where my documentation for the player is, or if it would be on there.

[jaylen]

The documentation for the lifetime warranty for the Hi-MD 1GB disc is actually on the reverse side of the minidisc's label sheet. I'm bored, so here it is, word for word:

Lifetime Limited Warranty

Sony Electronics Inc or Sony of Canada Ltd ("Sony") warrants this product against defects in material or workmanship for its normal life. If Sony finds the product contains any such defect, Sony will replace the product at no charge or refund the purchase price shown on your receipt. To obtain warranty service in the US and Puerto Rico, call 1-800-942-SONY (7669) or visit www.mediabysony.com. For warranty service in Canada, send the product, postage prepaid, to Sony of Canada Ltd, Recording Media Group, 115 Gordon Baker Road, Toronto, Ontario M2H 3R6 Canada. Please include written description of problem encountered.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[Sparda]

lol, jaylen you realy are bored.

[stshores24]

I'm bored, so here it is, word for word:

Heh. Thanks for being bored. I may try that. Thanks for letting me know.

Hmm, on their site they have the same phone number and this address:

You may send your defective product, postage prepaid, to: Sony Warranty Center 4275 West Main Street Dothan, AL 36305 with a letter that includes your name, address and phone number and the problem you encountered.

I'll probably call the number first, if I DO try to get it replaced. We'll see.

Edited September 30, 2006 by stshores24

[stshores24]

I DID IT!

Or, rather, Sony did. I thought I'd give it a shot, and sent in my malfunctioning disc. Sony did not fail to impress. Within two days, I had a brand new Hi-MD disc, the new transparent blue ones, along with a nice apologize-for-the-difficulty letter. I am impressed. Wow.

[WaywardTraveller]

The documentation for the lifetime warranty for the Hi-MD 1GB disc is actually on the reverse side of the minidisc's label sheet. I'm bored, so here it is, word for word:

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Gordon Baker Rd. is a 5min. walk from where I am in Toronto. Woohoo! Time to replace Hi-MD disc cases with 74min discs and "return" them as "defective"

Eeehh....too bad I'm too lazy to be naughty like this.

peace

WaywardTraveller