47LUC5 Posted March 16, 2020 Report Share Posted March 16, 2020 First time posting ... It's 20 years since I last used MiniDisc and am irrationally excited to have purchased a NetMD MZ-N710. It did not come with a USB cable, so I'm trying to find one that will fit but no luck so far. The instruction manual refers to "dedicated USB cable" which makes me wonder if it's some weird proprietary thing. Does anyone know? The female port on the unit looks like a standard USB-B socket (not micro-USB, but the fatter version). I've drawn a blank in finding a cable that will fit it. Is this standard or weird? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearBoy Posted March 16, 2020 Report Share Posted March 16, 2020 It's just a standard mini USB connection afaik. Physically, at least. I've never actually tried connecting mine to a PC. I suspect Sony were just advising people to use the supplied cable as they knew it was fully wired. There's an FAQ covering it here: https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/portable-music-players-minidisc-portable/mz-n710/articles/00203564 I mam sure someone here will have connected theirs to a PC though and will be able to confirm. Why is it important to use the correct (supplied) USB-cable with my product? Most Sony products that are supplied with a USB cable are catered to function with your specific product. Using a different cable might be the reason why your product isn’t functioning optimally. For example, your audio system or smartphone might freeze, charge less efficiently, or have issues when transferring data. Data versus charging In general, a fully equipped USB cable consists of 4 copper wires: Two wires are used for charging purposes Two wires are used for data transferring. Although all USB cables have the same external appearance, some cables are “charge-only”, and the two data transfer copper wires (named D+ and D- data lines) will not be included in the cable or will be disconnected. We recommend using USB-cables that have all four wires connected, as the absence of these data transfer wires can potentially cause errors. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted March 16, 2020 Report Share Posted March 16, 2020 The male socket that goes into the MD unit is known as Mini B, in USB-speak. Micro-B is something else, namely what a lot of phones use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
47LUC5 Posted March 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2020 Thanks for confirming that the male socket is Mini-USB. I've ordered a suitable cable online. I'll report back to confirm that it works (or otherwise). I'll need to contain my enthusiasm until it's delivered! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
47LUC5 Posted March 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2020 Just closing off this thread. The port on the MD unit is indeed a Mini USB B. Mine had a misaligned central post which was causing problems when trying to attach the male Mini USB B cable. I used a set of iFixit tweezers to realign the post and now the cable fits perfectly. My PC can finally see the NetMD unit! Thanks to everyone who replied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearBoy Posted March 20, 2020 Report Share Posted March 20, 2020 Great news. Glad to hear you've got it sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted March 20, 2020 Report Share Posted March 20, 2020 2 hours ago, 47LUC5 said: Just closing off this thread. The port on the MD unit is indeed a Mini USB B. Mine had a misaligned central post which was causing problems when trying to attach the male Mini USB B cable. I used a set of iFixit tweezers to realign the post and now the cable fits perfectly. My PC can finally see the NetMD unit! Thanks to everyone who replied. You did well - the last time that happened to me the post broke off (it was my laptop, not a minidisc recorder). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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