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Author Topic: Help!: Can someone recover MiniDiscs with corrupt TOCs?  (Read 8978 times)

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Offline mysterymadman

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Help!: Can someone recover MiniDiscs with corrupt TOCs?
« on: November 28, 2006, 05:34:33 AM »
Hi all,

I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really (can I stress that enough?!?), hope that someone can help me out with this one:

For those of you who do not have the time to read long items: the actual question (posed in more detail towards the end of this post) is if someone has a way a reading out Minidiscs with a probably corrupted TOC.

Then, to give the full picture (which may help explaining the issue), I have written down what happened in more detail down below:

The situation: for the better part of this year I've been testing my taping rig (a Sony MZ-R50 Minidisc with the ECM-717 mic), all in preparation for the big one: yesterday's Iron Maiden concert.

Smuggling the recorder, discs, battery pack and mic in, was a dooze. No sweat there. Also, I had properly set it up in the restrooms, I found an excellent sweet spot (centre view of the stage, some 20 metres out or so), and I had previously familiarised myself enough with all controls in order to make the recording process go as smoothly as possible.

But then, of course, the one thing I couldn't prepare for happened: mayhem broke loose in the recorder: All year long the recorder has had no issues, but exactly at the moment when it matters most, it messed up. I'm not certain what exactly happened, but as far as I could tell, the recorder taped Lauren Harris (the first opening act) just fine, after which I stopped the recorder and waited for Trivium (the second opening act). However, when trying to tape it, it gave me a 'Disc err' message, and I could not get that reset no matter what I did, so I fear that disc is broken and didn't record properly (or perhaps more likely: the TOC may be corrupt). Unfortunately I had made one mistake myself, which immediately backfired: I had accidentally left the emergency spare disc in the car stereo, instead of in the recorder. Hence, with no discs to spare, I could not fall back to another disc for the opening acts, and totally missed out on recording Trivium.
One disc down, two to go.... >:(

Then, on to the headliners: Iron Maiden.
The first IM disc recorded grand. No issues, and the disc swapping moment worked out just fine too, and I had it running again at the beginning of the next song, after around 70% of the show. It proceeded to record everything just fine (yes, I double checked that about 5 times or so), and when turning it off, the 'data save' pass went fine too, but the recorder somehow got stuck on the 'Writing TOC' part.  :-X >:( :-X >:(
It just wouldn't respond to anything anymore, and I had to remove the battery in order to alleviate the issue. :(
I'm not certain what happened, as I haven't seen this happen before...

Now.... I write protected all discs anyway, and I tried them in the car stereo. Both discs that gave issues were spat out by the stereo. Upon coming home, I put them in the recorder to see what would happen, and the Lauren Harris one still says 'Disc err' (and doesn't want to play anything any way), and the other one just says 'Blank disc'. :(((
Not good.

However...
I am hoping that perhaps the data of the Lauren Harris show (and the second part of IM) is still present on the disc in raw format. It seems that the recorder properly performed the 'data save' pass, and perhaps only the TOC is corrupt...
I'm not certain how bad that is, but it would seem to me that it is very well possible that the raw data is still there, and that perhaps it can be extracted with a proper Minidisc deck or so...  ???

I *REALLY* hope someone can help me out with this...
If so, apart from my eternal gratitude, in return I can get you about any Iron Maiden show that has ever been taped...

Help!!! Please.....

Tnx heaps in advance for any suggestion or help, and cheers,
MM
« Last Edit: November 28, 2006, 05:44:53 AM by mysterymadman »

Offline OOK

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Re: Help!: Can someone recover MiniDiscs with corrupt TOCs?
« Reply #1 on: November 28, 2006, 08:04:25 AM »
I may or may not be able to help.  I started out using Sony MZR's when I first started recording shows and I too had the ocassional error.  That was until I purchased a Tascam mk2 301 studio minidisc, now called the 350.  This thing is a tank and will read anything that is recorded on the minidisc and read it clean.  If I had a disc error on my sony this deck "the tascam" would read it with out an issue.  I remember being one of only 3 tapers at a Bruce Hornsby show and I had a primo spot , like 5 rows in front of the stacks.  When I listened in the car on the way home the sony was all F'd up, thought I lost the show, but alas the tascam read it like a charm and without errors.  The tascam has sat around now for a couple of years collecting dust, because I can't get enough money to sell it after I switched to dat and now I use CF.  If you can't find anyone with a tascam 301 or 350 where you live mail me the disc and I will give it a shot.  If there is a recording on the disc the tascam will read it.


"shameless plug" Oh and if it reads it and you want to by the unit we can work it out.  Its a shame the thing is just collecting dust. its in like new condition.....
« Last Edit: November 28, 2006, 08:07:14 AM by OtheroneK »
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Offline timewasajoke

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Re: Help!: Can someone recover MiniDiscs with corrupt TOCs?
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2006, 03:06:12 PM »
Back in my md days the same thing happened to me on occasion.
You basically have to clone the TOC off of one disc and use it for the corrupted disc. it works like a charm!

here is the link to what you need to do. 

http://www.minidisc.org/cloning_procedure.html

dave


Offline mysterymadman

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Re: Help!: Can someone recover MiniDiscs with corrupt TOCs?
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2006, 05:39:00 AM »
Hi,

An update...

Yesterday I went to a local store that sells and rents pro studio equipment (shameless plug: The Sample Temple, http://www.sampletemple.com/). I had previously called them and asked if they had some Minidisc decks. They told me they had a consumer version, being the Sony MDS-JE520, and that I was free to use it for a while over there.

What luck: the very type that is used in the TOC cloning tutorial. :)

I performed the procedure (with the only difference that I had to dirty the TOC on the machine itself, as they didn't have the control (handy) anymore). The procedure seems to have worked fine on both discs, but the deck kept giving errors on both discs afterwards (C13 and C14, and more severe ones, with one of the discs). The owner told me this happened more often, and using Google I found out that this deck at times becomes flaky and then starts giving these errors time and time again, until it's fixed, or temporarily relieved with a 'test MD'.
We did the latter several times, but still both discs were not read correctly. However... When putting the most important of the two in my MZ-R50 at home, it read it just grand! :)
Needlessly to say (but I'll do it anyway), I directly sampled that disc into the computer (using two different volume settings), and hurrah: the most important disc has been recovered!!!   ::)
My eternal gratitude befalls to you guys over here and at htttp://www.minidisc.org (particularly of course to those who invented and published the TOC cloning procedure). So: THANKS GUYS!!!   8)

Then, I fear the other disc may be a (near?) total loss, as it still gives the dreaded 'Disc err' message when putting it into the MZ-R50 recorder....:(

This Monday I'll have access to a Sony MXD-D1 deck, so perhaps that one does read it. If not, I'll try sending it to someone who has a Tascam deck...

Meanwhile: if someone has experience with recovering such erroneous discs and/or with the Sony MXD-D1 deck, I hope they can contact me...

To be continued...

Cheers!
MM

 

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