YouTube MiniDisc Repair - Sony MZ-RH1 Finally Replacement OLEDs for Dead OEM Ones

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The Sony MZ-RH1 (2006) is one of the most coveted Sony portables out there and was their last portable recorder. It had it all: NetMD, Hi-MD support, a built-in mini-USB port, and amazing dual OLED displays.



It still looks great, but it can be hard to use with dead displays on the body. Well, this amazing MD community never ceases to amaze me. First it was Web MiniDisc Pro, and now Sir68k on the MiniDisc Wiki Discord has researched and made replacement OLEDs for the Sony MZ-RH1.

I was lucky enough (thanks MDcon.live!) to get my hands on two sets of them to test the process and replace the dead OLEDs in my MZ-RH1 and in another community member's MZ-RH1.

I won't give you a full play-by-play here since there is the video to watch and the steps/procedure could change a bit depending on how future revisions go.

I want to say this first: I know it's exciting news, but Sir68k (like many of us!) have a day job and this hobby is something that gets worked on during spare time. Please wait for more updates - they will be coming soon!



OK so back to the installation process. Taking apart the front panel isn't too bad, but since there are some components on the new displays that have some extra depth, some cutting is required. Again, this may not be required for future revisions, so I haven't shown all of that in my video.


Please see the video for details - it's long, so use the chapter markers!



For reference pictures, please see below (all pictures courtesy of Hexapunk on the MD Discord!):


This chrome plate is what you'll see first after removing the main display panel - we'll remove these 3 screws. That right side screw holds a metal plate that keeps the chrome trim in place.


Here you can see where the clip overlaps the chrome trim.

Here, the chrome trim was removed


After removing one screw, we can flip the display board down and unclip the original OLEDs

We'll remove these two central screws - Note the position of the spring mechanism for the jog lever


This diagram from Sir68k shows the openings that had to be cut out of the original plastic plate holding the OLEDs. My shapes varied a bit from this and future revisions may require less (or no?) cutting