Chris,
I would suggest you have a fault here. While SS has a bad rap, 3.4 is
not generally as error prone as you experience. There are some things
that should not be the case, which may point to the problems -
My
> imagination has lead me to try and identify "success factors" with
SS
> downloads:
>
> 1. A fully recharged MD battery seems to work better
This is bad from the start. I have just taken the battery _out_ of my
MZ-NH700 and transferred a track. The MD should be powered (not
necessarily recharged, but powered) from the USB, as this test shows.
If you are using a laptop note that laptop USB power is sometimes
flakey and not capable of the 500mA ISTR USB spec. I had a Dell
laptop that wouldn't keep a Logitech Quickcam Pro powered - it would
fail after a couple of minutes. You can get round this by using a
separate powered USB hub. Also try a different USB cable in case the
power pins on yours are frayed or otherwise faulty. It goes without
saying don't move the MD or its USB cable, though I've just given
mine a good rattle during the batteryless transfer and SS didn't mind.
>
> 2. Before going out to record I frequently re-format the minidiscs,
> firstly from the MD player itself, but since I got the error mesage
you
> described I have also done it from SS itself (the button bottom
right
> gives that option).
There is anecdotal opinion on MDCF that this is a bad idea - instead
erase all the previous tracks on the deck - and carry on.
Reformatting isn't a good idea according to them. Also avoid editing
in-place on the MD. Record, and just transfer the tracks you want. I
did edit on the HiMD on the only track I lost completely, a one-off
concert recording. Fortunately I had my old MD recording in parallel
as backup :)
> 4. Simply repeating the transfer process over and over again is my
> final recourse (watching TV whilst you do this helps a lot !!)
Agreed - it is always worth another go. The MD is slow to spin down
after one read - if you are palying tracks skipping between them on
SS and try to transfer immediately you have located a track you want
you can sometimes get the error you indicate, which clears on the
second go if you let the deck settle so the display isn't flashing.
> 5. I use my external hard drive as my data storage device, I will
NOT
> store on minidiscs as I have no confidemce I will ever transfer the
> data.
I have never had trouble with the few times I've used that to
transfer the odd text file from work. Hwever, it is hopelessly slow
and not practically useful anyway.
> So that's my pain.
>
> BTW to the others: I live in Switzerland and mostly record in the
Jura
> mountains between here and France - feel somewhat isolated, so want
to
Interesting - I may be on vacation in Switzerland in September - any
location tips?
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