Yamaha MD8 - Repair

Error 01

So you enter a Minidisk in the MD8, close the lid and after a little while, you see ERR 01.
This means the drive can not transport the read/wite head to the TOC sector.

Maybe the lubricants are getting hard, maybe there is a hair stuck in the transport cog.

Collect some cleaning things, like 96% alcohol and cotton sticks, a needle and tweezers.

Unplug the MD8 from the power. Remove the MD compartment cover.
Turn the MD8 upside down. Were going to clean the cogs.
Please put the machine on a very flat and soft undergroud, to not damage the knobs.
Unscrew the 16 screws from the bottom, as shown in the service manual.

Remove the bottom. We need to go to the MD Drive.

Remove the transparent plastic cover.

The plastic clamp is not a screw.
You can lift it up and out of the chassis.
Refitting it back later is a different story though.

Now that the transparent plastic cover is out of the way, remove the 5 screws of the Power Supply Unit (PSU).

Lift the box carefully and put it down, without releasing the cables.

Releaase the 3 Zero Inserting Force (ZIF) connectors, by pulling the black holder away from the white holder with both of your fingernails.

pull out the flat cable
without force

pull out the red/white wire
with both fingernails

the ground cable is attached
to one of the 4 corner screws

Also remove the orange flat cable from the read head sled. You need to work underneath it.

Remove the 4 corner screws of the MD unit.

You are going to very carefully clean both sleds of the head transport assemby. Look for hairs or other dust.

Try to remove anyting that looks like dust or hairs from both guides.
To uncover the parts you can not see, gently slide the assembly back or forth. It just clicks over the cogs.

Use the cotton stick, soaked in alcohol and a needle to clean the guidance siders.

Let it shine!

When you're done, slide the assembly to the push switch, until it can go no further.
This will set the head to the landing zone, and tell the MD8 the head is in its starting position.
If you fail to do this, the unit will not spin up the MD motors after switching on the unit.

After sliding, it should look like this. Switch is pressed by the assembly.

Also check for dirt in the MD holder.

Reassembly is done in the reverse order.

My ERR 01 was gone after this.