For those who are impatient, here's the TL;DW version: https://youtu.be/niHXoZtJ6ZU

You found my repair guide. I had no idea that it still existed. I still have the Sony Minidisc  that is seen in the repair guide. It sure was a long time ago.

Hell ya. Love minidisc. The format never should have died.

Ahh, this reminds me of ripping CD's from my PS2 to a portable MD player over toslink back in the day. Great video!

This is a palliative solution, in fact the problem is the micro switch itself , usually (many years ago, when all parts were still available) we use to replace all micro switches, or in the last years, with no more spare parts we use to unsolder  all micro switches , disassemble them and manually (or using ultrasound ) clean all contacts and other parts and re-grease the contacts, this is the best solution, but is very delicate, you need experience, otherwise is quite sure you will loose some small part, especially the micro spring . Using contact spray without disassembly the micro switch does not solve the problem, sometimes seems that works, but in few weeks/months the symptom occur again. For some models there was even a Service Bulletin that advice the replacement   of all micro switches AND the same time to replace the 4 rubber suspension with improved model, because seems that the rubber contains (or produce ) some corrosive gases which affects all micro contacts , so just replacing micro switches is  not a solution. So, if the solution of this video works, i recommend it, is very simple.

There were many things to love about the minidisc format. It’s size and durability made a portable player far more practical than cd: if it doesn’t fit in your pocket it’s not that portable in my mind. Re-recordable discs were cheap compared to cd and more flexible. Even the portables had editing features. I used to record from the radio 2hr+ continuous mixes and then after, edit all the track points and enter names of tracks etc. It was all so simple.

I had the exact same problem with my JE510 and I was able to fix it thanks to this video!

Had a similiar problem with my JE-320 that had been in storage for over 10 years.  Put the first disc in to test it and the disc would play but would not eject and make a terrible mechanical sound when trying to do so.  Couldn't get the disc out so looked on YouTube and found this video of a similar although not exactly the same problem.  I wanted the disc out so I decided to do this fix while I had the unit apart to see if it would solve the problem.  This video showed me the steps to disassemble the unit to get to the transport.  With a little effort I was finally able to get the disc out.  Don't be aftraid to tackle the disassembly.  It's reasonably straight-forward if you follow the instruction in the video and don't force anything.  Put the two layers of heatshrink on the post, put everything back together and it worked flawlessly.  Thanks for the video!

What I did to my MDS JE510 was to glued a squared piece of hard plastic to the post making sure the micro open and close the circuit with the ohmmeter. I used Crazy Glue for the task and it’s been two years since then and still working well. I also used D5 to clean the inside contacts for good measure!

The eject problem with Sony decks is so bad that I’ve always avoided buying them. I have a few Tascam CD/MD rackmount recorders that I paid a hefty premium for (because you can use PS/2 keyboard). Thank you for uploading a repair guide for Sony decks. Now I can shop around for Sony decks.

I picked up a “junk” minidisc deck just to see if I could bring it back to life. Later stumbling onto your video was a pleasant surprise since i had picked up the same unit. There is at least one more working unit out there in the wild.

Great video! It's a crying shame Sony never produced a Hi-MD Deck.

That off the cuff "bumpin into shit" line had me laughing.

I just watched Techmoan's old video about MiniDiscs before I saw your video. Funny how YouTube's algorithms work.

On that orange ribbon cable is a soldering point to make a short out for esd protection while working on it.

Awww Colin said shit... guess this is why I didnt see an ad ;)

Ey, it's great that you are spreading your content! I'm a fan of Techmoan, LGR, 8-bit Guy, Technology Connections etc. Great to see that you are interested on more vintage tech!

10:53 Those two little solder pads on the ribbon cable are shorting links to protect the laser diode from static. It is advisable to bridge these with a blob of solder before disconnecting the ribbon cable.

And don't forget to remove the solder when re-reconnected! ;D

This helped me out SO much! Thank you. So glad to have it accept discs and not wake up in the night!

Thanks for this tutorial. You saved another machine from e-waste today!