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Sharp MD-MS100 and MS-200 Test Modes

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Sharp MD-MS100 Test Mode

Dirk ([email protected])

Entering Test Mode on your MS100 portable

  • Hold down display+enter/synchro button.
  • Press play/pause.
  • Microcomputer version and EEPROM version are indicated (1 second).
  • Entire LCD panel illuminates (2 seconds).
  • Test Mode is set.

Test Mode States

  1. Auto mode - automatic adjustment is performed
    Enter with play/pause button, change with play/pause button.
  2. Result mode - set value is displayed
    Enter with extra bass/delete button, change with fast forward button, display shows different measured values.
  3. Manual mode - measurements/temperature/cont. playback
    Enter with display button, show temperature by press. displ. button change with fast forward button (Attention focus+tracking adjustments! Press stop to exit)
  4. Inner mode - needs sony tdys-1 high reflection disc
    Enter with volume up button, changes with vol up.
  5. Normal mode - memory capacity etc. are displayed
    Enter with mode/space, change with mode/space.
  6. Error data display mode - error info is displayed
    Enter with volume down button, change to error data 0 by pressing volume down, press fast forward to show error data 2...9 display
  7. Test/play mode - C1/ADIP error rate display/continous playback from a specific address
    Enter with edit/auto mark button, change by pressing play/pause, edit/auto mark, extra bass/delete, ff, f rev. buttons
  8. Test record mode - continous record mode/laser power adjust
    Press rec.,press rec. once again for address setting, set write address with ff + f rev., press play/pause to make a cont rec.
  9. Digital input mode - SCMS information etc.
    Press kana/alphanumeric button, change by pressing kana/alphanumeric button
  10. EEPROM setting mode - digital servo system number displayed/ settings are changed manually
    Change setting after changing the EEPROM by pressing enter in test mode!!!

By pressing different buttons of your unit you can enter the different modes. Exit test mode by pressing stop/power off. Step back from any modes by pressing the stop button! When I say ``change with...'' above, I mean that you can step through the chosen mode.

Attention! Don't press any buttons if you don't know exactly what you are doing. The service manual contains all the details of how to handle the different modes.

Sharp MS-200 Test Mode

Andrew Tonner ([email protected])

Entering Test mode on the MS200

This is the same method used for the MS100.
  • While the unit is powered off, hold down [Enter/Sync] + [Display] and press play [>].
  • LOADING appears for a split-second.
  • A version number appears on the screen, (mine is Y27AfJ).
  • All LCD components light up.
  • TEST appears. (pressing [STOP] at this point turns off the unit.)

  • To select a sub-mode, press [BASS/DEL].
  • AUTO Appears. (pressing [STOP] at this point returns you to the TEST screen.)
  • Use skip back [|<<] and skip forward [>>|] to page through the sub mode choices:
    • AUTO
    • MANUAL
    • RESULT
    • T PLAY
    • T REC
    • INNER
    • NORMAL
    • DinMon
    • E DATA
    • EEPROM
  • Press play [>] at one of these to enter that submode. The submodes seem to be the same as those given for the MS-100, but aren't in the same order, and may use different controls. In most of the submodes, pressing [STOP] returns you to the test sceen.
  • Entering test mode seems to reset the settings saved for A-PLAY, Psave, and BEEP.

Some modes I've tried

  • AUTO - Appears to do an auto-calibration of the unit, displaying some hex numbers, after which it displays ADJ.OK.
  • NORMAL mode - The recorder starts up into functioning mode. The buttons work the same as they would when the unit is in non-test mode, but the lcd display is altered:
    • the dot matrix portion shows a readout such as: "001 1F0176", where 001 is the track number, 1F0 is the unit's status (1F0=reading disk, 3F0=ram is full, 000=not reading, etc.)
    • the level indicator shows the amount of data in anti skip ram.
  • T PLAY mode - Test read mode. Appears to read sectors from the md. Press [Display] to switch between current sector, and what appear to be bit error rate before correction and bit error rate after correction.
Maybe someone with the service manual could fill us in on the functions of the other sub-modes, etc.?

Matt Saunders ([email protected]) adds:

It is rather educational to put the unit into "test mode" (turn the unit off, then hold the enter/sync button and display button and press play) and play back an MD in "Normal" mode (press Bass/Del, then >> until the display says "Normal", then press "play").

When you play an MD in this mode, the level-meter at the top shows how full the unit's anti-shock buffer is. You can stop the MD and toggle P-Save mode by holding "Display" for 2 seconds (MD has to be stopped). When P-Save mode is off the buffer fills up and stays full, when it is on "auto" the buffer fills up, then depletes for a while, then fills up again, and so on. You can watch the indicator bounce around. If you jostle the unit a lot at this time the indicator will go down but I didn't manage to make it skip. Maybe I wasn't violent enough.

Press "stop" to back out of any test modes you don't want to play with anymore and again to turn off test mode.

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