MiniDisc TOC Cloning Procedure Using Sharp MD-MS701 and Adhesive Tape

Helge Böhme (h.boehme@tu-bs.de)

Remove disc, unplug power cord, remove battery
Place a piece of adhesive tape on the disc RECOGNITION switch inside the unit (open the slot-in shutter, the RECOGNITION switch is just to the right of the piece of metal on the left side of the slot -- the PROTECTION switch is to the far left of the slot, the RECOGNITION switch [the one you want to cover] is about a quarter way across the slot (starting at the left side) towards the right). Note the tape covering the switch in this photo:
Put a disc in -- this must be an *unprotected* disc.
Put the battery in.
From now on the 701 will not be able to recognize any disc change, so the disc you put in in the sequence above is, from the unit's perspective, never removed.
If you put another disc in (to play, to record or just to read the TOC) you have to force TOC reading by turning the unit off (double-stop) and on.
You can change the disc and write the TOC of the first disc to a second one, just go to EDIT (disc name, track name) and leave with ENTER -- the disc is locked -- turn the unit off to write the TOC of the first disc...
Be Careful!: the protection switch of MiniDiscs is now ignored (unit only looks at the switch when it notices a disc change) so you can TOC-edit or record on protected discs. Also, NAME-STAMP does not work with the tape in place, it requires that a disc change occur.