April 30, 2007 This will apply to BOTH the MVC-FD87 AND the MVC-FD200 models. to Quick background: Just this evening, I 'inherited' a MVC-FD200 from a camera tech that was moving out of his house to a new one. Short story even shorter, after a few explatives by the tech, he 'tossed' me the FD200 saying "Here, YOU mess with this! As far as I scoped it out, it needs a new floppy assembly, over $200.00 and it's not worth fixing anyway, due to it's age". "EVERY floppy I've put in this has displayed the C:32:01 disk error - even after I tore it apart for the customer and cleaned it." Catching the camera in mid-air, I stuffed it into a box I had and put it aside. Thinking about it later, I've known Sony 3.5 disk drives to be generally relable for computers, as hardware goes. Since I've been building systems for well over 18 years, about the only thing I've ever had to do to a Sony 3.5 floppy is clean the rails the heads ride on. ALL SONY 3.5 DISK DRIVES HAVE A TENDENCY TO GET STUCK AND DON'T MOVE, mainly due to carelessness on the users part, putting in dirty 3.5 disks they leave lying on their computer desktop. Most 3.5 disk drives go through three stages at start up. The first being, sliding the protective metal (or plastic) sleeve that protects the disk back, to expose the disk inside. The next part is the motor will start to spin the disk up to speed. Once the disk is up to speed, the heads will start to travel across the disk to find the indexing track. Once they have located the indexing track 3.5 inch floppy is ready for use, both reading and writing. What typically causes failure is garbage that builds up into small rods inside the three and half-inch disk that the heads travel on. This accumulated garbage generally is picked up from dirty diskettes users insert into the drive without cleaning the outside of the diskette first. There's a fine lubricating oil on these rods that the heads travel on which attracts and holds the fine dirt and dust particles that accumulate overtime and use. This starts to impede the heads traveling smoothly across these rods and across the diskette. Eventually, the gum mixture of oil and dirt buildup and don't allow the heads to travel smoothly or at all. In many cases, this causes the heads to lock in one position. If the heads cannot travel smoothly, they cannot locate the index track on diskette and an error happens and is displayed as an error code. In the case of the Sony FD-87 and FD-200, the diskette mechanism is more sensitive to dirt and head freezing or sticking. This generates the error code C: 32: 01, drive error. Generally, disassembly, cleaning and lubrication of the diskette drive cures this problem. This procedure is not for the faint of heart. This requires knowledge, patients, the right tools and expertise to complete the cleaning properly. Once done, the cameras functionality is usually restored, working quite well, as before. With care, attention to dirt on inserted diskettes, as well as proper storage of the camera itself in a dust proof camera bag, the internal diskette drive will perform for many years to come. One other cause for this error is an electrical board data loss in the connection between the disk drive and the camera. It is the case, the camera will need factory service or service by qualified facility or technician. As stated earlier, taking apart the camera to access the floppy drive is not an easy task for the novice user. It can be done with satisfactory results. Proper cleaning and lubricating of the disk drive is the only way to ensure reliable, infield operation. Lacking the necessary information to take the camera apart to gain access to the disk drive, I will confirm that the slap method did work to restore this drive operation. I used this method only as a last resort and very carefully, after determining by listening and observation that the heads were not moving inside the disk drive. NOTE: This is not a permanent solution or repair! Knowing what to listen for is important. In this case I was able to listen to the disk drive with my ear on the back of the camera by the display, and determine that the heads were not moving across the diskette as they should. If you use this method, after inserting the diskette into the drive you'll hear the motor start to spin followed by a second sound usually loud enough to be heard through the back of the camera. The second sound, may sound like a series of clicks or a long traveling sound. This sound is the heads traveling on the guide bars in the drive across the diskette. If you do not here the first sound of the motor spinning up the diskette, chances are the drive will need more service. If you do here the motor start spinning the diskette but not the second sound, the heads are probably jammed or frozen. Looking down through the diskette drive opening door, with a very bright flashlight, I discovered a lot of accumulated dirt inside the drive. WORD OF CAUTION -- DO NOT USE A CAN OF COMPRESSED AIR TO BLOW THE DIRT YOU MAY FIND IN THE DRIVE! This is about the same as sand blasting the very delicate read and write heads inside the diskette drive. This can also cause diskette head alignment problems, rendering the drive useless in needing replacement. Another word of caution is not to slap the camera too hard. This can cause other damage or the heads to out of alignment, making the drive useless. The gentler the slap, the better. It is better to tap the right side of the camera, display facing you, multiple times, until the heads start to move again then hit the camera on the right side hard which can cause other damage. Once the heads are free and moving it is a good idea to insert a fresh, non-formatted diskette and exercise the heads, using the format function of the camera. This will keep the heads moving back and forth across the diskette while it formats it, it will also help clean the rails the heads travel on of dust and dirt. Once formatted, test the camera and the disk drive by taking a series of pictures and storing them on the disk, 20 should be plenty. Then immediately test the read function of the diskette drive by displaying the pictures you just took. While you are displaying the pictures you just took, check the write function of the diskette drive again by deleting several pictures when your display them. If the camera records the pictures to the diskette properly, then reads them during display properly and eraces the pictures you select during playback, chances are the camera will perform adequately for a little while. As soon as possible, the camera should be taken to a qualified service facility or technician, for a thorough cleaning of the diskette drive. This is usually inexpensive. If you're going to store the camera for any length of time, remove the battery, store the camera in an airtight zip lock bag to avoid further dust and dirt contamination. Summary, after finally restoring diskette drive operation and taking around 25 or so pictures with the FT 200, I was impressed with the quality of the pictures. While this camera is old and 2.0 megapixels is low by todays standards, the color, saturation, autofocus, and exposure balance was three good. Certainly this camera has plenty of life left in it and will make a good backup camera or primary camera where high-resolution is not a requirement. For a camera of its age, it has many advanced features the more expensive cameras had the time. It will be fun getting acquainted with it. I hope this helps users a little bit. Please excuse any slight grammar errors, as I've been lazy in writing this, using the dictation program rather than typing. I guess nothing is ever 100 percent -- right? If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at the email address provided.

How do I go about "Clearing" the memory, I tried changing the main battery. I am only getting the error code when I use the floppy adapter. I changed the batteries in the floppy adapter and checked it for cleanliness and I still get the error. When I use a regular floppy disk, no problem. Can you help me out?