20 Most Recent Marantz PMD660 Digital Voice Recorder Questions & Answers

In your PC, right click

I have a PMD660 as well and from time to time a memory card will become "corrupted". During a recording last evening the battery ran out "prematurely" and when replaced, the 660 had the unformat error. Fortunately the card was readable in my Hummingbird card reader.

Normally when I have had UNFORMAT problems in the past I would just FORMAT the card with the computer and the 660 would then be happy with it. Not this time! The 660 still stubbornly displayed UNFORMAT! This time I ended up having to use Partition Commander to wipe out the partition on the card and then DISK MANAGEMENT in the XP's Computer Management program to re-create the partition and format FAT32. Normally when you FORMAT all data is lost so this would end all hope of recovering data from the card.

In the case of hoping to recover lost recordings I would have tried QUICK FORMAT and then tried to "recover" the data with a program like Partition Magic or Partition Commander or some other program that could re-link the blocks and create directory entries.

This implies that there is not enough current going to the device when running on battery (only back-light but no data) whereas running fine on AC means that the device board is most likely in a good operational condition. I think maybe once a leaked worn battery which left forgotten inside battery compartment damaged the battery terminals or at least the wires connecting these terminals to the main board, i would recommend you to open and check on that.

I would suspect the battery tray connections are defective most likely due to a broken wire.

I need to know what model mac you have. This would help. Also what operating system you are using. Older macs may not be compatible unless you update the system. The latest macs with the intel chip work fine with this. Once quick solution is to update your software to the latest versions by going to your apple with your mouse in the upper left corner of your screen and then clicking it. Scroll down to the title software update. click that and then click update now. Check the boxes of all you want to update and then hit enter. *Note: you must be connected to the internet in order to make these updates. I would suggest being connected something faster than dial up.
After you have done your updates, try to reconnect the Marantz. Remeber to connect it first then turn it on.
Another solution is to format the card on your mac first by using a card reader and the program Disk Utilities located in your utilities folder. It is important to choose the Fat 32 format (You will see this in your pull down menu). Note: This will erase everything on your card.
If you have a card reader, you can always take the card out of the recorder and try to read it that way as there may be a communication issue with the mac and the recorder, but if it can be read on the PC and not the mac, I doubt that is the issue.

Did you ever find a solution to this problem? I have tried new AC adapter cord and it still has background noise. The only time it doesn't is with the batteries.

Just solved this very problem with the same machine.
1. Carefully remove the flash card and take a look to see if any of the connecting holes look visibly damaged.
2. If so with a birght light look inside the card port and see if any of the contact pins are bent.
3. With a thin scew driver carefully try to bring the pin back up straight and carefully ( not forcing ) replace the flash card.
Power up and see what happens. It worked for me.
I think our problem was caused by the purchaser either inserting the card the wrong way round or forcing it into te card port.
Once in, leave it there and just record and erase as required.

Good luck.

You may download a copy of the manual here.

Since you have reached the 999 track limit, it is possible your CF card may have been corrupted.
On page 28 of your manual you should find the instructions for formatting your CF card.
"How to Format a CF Card."
This may get you going again.

Hope this helps.

Check in this link the users/download.asp?DownloadID=293

Hope this helps (remember to rate and comment this answer).