"Cannot Record"

[Soundbox]

Whilst trying to record via optical to my MZ-RH710 (SP mode) the unit starts recording for a second or so and then stops with 'cannot record' on the display. The unit was purchaced used and this is the first time I have tried to make a recording with it. Original recording is not copyrighted. The 1-2 second 'recording' is not on the MD when I try to play it back.

I don't have the manual, but looking through the MZ-RH700 manual it does not elaborate above formatting a Hi-MD disk.

Thank you for any input, Ian

[sfbp]

What type of disk are you trying to use? You won't be able to record SP on a 1G disk, you know.

Maybe try some bog-standard HiSP first? On both types (80m and 1GB).

Cheers

Stephen

[Soundbox]

Cheers Stephen - I was using SP mode on a 74 Minute Sony disk. I will try Hi-MD tonight.

[sfbp]

Hmmm, there's a clue. The RH910/RH10 (same inside, just the display different) don't support SP out of the box. And I just read that the 710 is considered "2nd generation", which makes it of the same vintage. Confirmed on the minidisc.org equipment browser.

I actually saw one for a ridiculous amount of money at SonyStyle here, in 2008 (on second thoughts maybe it was a DH710). It's one of only 2 units I have ever actually seen in a store (the other was an N910 at London Drugs). But Avrin did some NVRAM hacking and worked out (I think) that the SP record feature was lost to make way for MP3 downloads, in the RH10. The RH1 is (I think) the only model to have both facilities, as it has more memory.

So it's about 50-50 in my mind whether the RH710 will record SP at all. There's no manual that I can find online.