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SonicStage Error code 00004e2e

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jaywars

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hi everyone~

sorry for creating this topic since there is someone posted it, but i had read the comments/replies

and my problem is still not yet fixed.

My sonic stage 4.3 used to work very well on last few months....but now i cannot run this program.

This is exactly my situation.

I double-click the SonicStage shortcut, I get the following message:

The selected music file cannot be played back because the system information has changed. Click OK to automatically close SonicStage and open the SonicStage System Information Restore Tool. (Error code 00004e2e)

So, I click OK. Then I get small window telling me 'Step 1. Database authentication. SonicStage will authenticate your database on the internet'. Quite what constitutes 'authentic' I have no idea. After all, SonicStage is freely available; it's not something you would steal or 'crack'. It's just something you get supplied on a CD with your player, and can update to the latest version on the net (which is what I did).

Anyway, fine, so I click the 'Next' tab as instructed.

Then for less than one second, the word 'Authenticating...' is displayed, until suddenly another even smaller window opens, with the words 'SonicStage System Restore Tool' along the top bar, no writing in it, just a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark in it, and an OK tab.

So I click OK, and nothing happens. I'm just left with the original little 'Database authentication' window and the Next tab.

And so it goes on. I can't open it, I can't authenticate it. Reinstalling hasn't helped.

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First comment: this sequence of events only happened because you apparently have music that has DRM in it (encrypted by keys that are special to your install of Windows). Sony thinks you are trying to transfer something you don't have rights to. Hence the keyword "Authentication". There's an authentication server somewhere out there on the internet. I have no idea if it is still running, or (if not) whether it will come back tomorrow or the next day.

(no matter that you probably did nothing wrong: we are just trying to get to the bottom of it).

First question: can you survive if you put all the MP3's somewhere that Sonic Stage will not touch, completely delete SS, reinstall it (make sure you reboot before that), and reimport the files to SS?

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First, are these files really MP3s? I have noticed lately that people call them that regardless of the real file contents, just as in the UK a vacuum cleaner is referred to as a "Hoover". So if these files can not be played with a true MP3 player (not sonicstage), STOP RIGHT HERE.

Thanks

Stephen

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yes,mostly is MP3 and some wma,ape,m4a...

so, what should i do now is move all the songs to somewhere else that sonic stage will not touch?

OK.

Sure, copy them to that D: drive, and make sure you can play every single one when it gets there. As long as there's no ATRAC you're in good shape.

Next, you need to delete all traces of Sonic Stage from your computer. This is probably harder than it sounds. One of our members, "hungerdunger" went through exactly this problem recently. He probably remembers what it was that triggered all this, but I am thinking he was running W64 (whereas you are using W32, correct?).

Some questions:

1. do you have a firewall (the favourite seems to be Zone Alarm) installed? This may have prevented the database authentication because it wouldn't allow you to connect to the net.

2. Are you running as administrator? Or did you just start running from a non-admin account?

I just looked through my notes from hungerdunger and it seems possible something happened to your Windows install, according to him, the following helped so that when he reinstalled Sonic Stage it was ok.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

However I would remove Sonic Stage FIRST. Make sure that the "OpenMG Secure Module" is gone from your list of programs (after SS removal), if not remove it by hand (ie click the remove button in control panel).

After you complete the repair of Windows, suggest you install the "Ultimate Version" of Sonic Stage (in our downloads section) rather than anything directly from Sony. Avrin, our ex-technician supergenius, did a few tweaks to make our lives easier when he created this version, and it should install pretty much anywhere. But perhaps you did that already....

Hope this helps.

Stephen

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stephen,

uhmm....my firewall is all off....and i'm using kaspersky antivirus...

YES, i'm running as administrator, i'm the only one who using this desktop.

i moved all the songs to the other drive...uninstalled SS (and "OpenMG Secure Module")..... then reinstalled the "Ultimate Version" of Sonic Stage.....but it's still the same...nothing different sad.gifsad.gifsad.gif

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My advice is to turn off Automatic updates in W7. Sounds like something pushed out from MSFT is causing things to get trashed. But this is probably not a good long term strategy.

Glad you got it working - but I have no idea why formatting a non-system drive should make a difference. Hmmm.. I know that when I had a (beta) W7 install the system did something special to the partition so you couldn't go back and access that partition from XP. So perhaps after you have been using W7 for a certain amount of time Microsoft sneakily reformats it in such a way that Sony's software gets confused. This would explain Dick(Hungerdunger)'s experience and yours too.

Par-a-noi-a........

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  • 1 month later...

Hi,

I ran in the same problems. Installation ok at first and the error 00004e2e after removing the shortcut for sonic stage...

I tried to erradicate the programs and even the removing all the registery for sony and sonic... reloaded the programs under various modes... still not working and getting the same error.

After reading the hint "reformating a disc", I removed the programs with the normal windows procedure.

AND I reloded the program on an other drive (i.e. drive F:) and now everithing is working again..

Thanks to your guys

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Hi Jaywars,

I'm also a user of Sony Minidisc Recorders (MZ/N10 and MZ/RH1) and had the same problems as you.

On internet I found the following solution:

1) Browse to the directory C:\Program files\Common files\Sony Shared\OpenMG\restorable, then you will find two files, namely icv.dat and maclist.dat;

2) Select both these files and copy them to the parent folder C:\Program files\Common files\Sony Shared\OpenMG;

3) After closing these directories etc. launch the SonicStage icon on your screen;

4) I have executed these procedure for both Windows XP (desktop computer) and Windows 7 Ultimate (notebook) and in both cases it was succesfull.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi everyone,

I have just spent the past day re-installing SonicStage after a complete XP crash and re-install. I had all the error messages above, including

"sonicstage cannot locate c error code 00004e22"

After numerous attempts of reinstalling - and remember this is a new fully updated XP with SP3 install - very clean, I could still not get SonicStage 4.3 to install from a full file. I also searched and found a European Full Install of SonicStage 4.2, as well as having a 4.0 CD, neither of them installed, always unable to locate the "sonicstage cannot locate needed files related to windows media format". I also downloaded version 3.3 full install SonicStage, but realized I needed to somehow "locate" those "needed Windows Media Format" files.

It occurred to me that the cutting edge codecs might not include the older ones needed.

I fixed it by using Revo Uninstaller Pro (also free, using a fully functioning demo),

I Uninstalled OpenMG,

I deleted the following folders within Program Files/Sony/ : SonicStage, OpenMG Jukebox

Uninstalling Windows Media Player 11, rolling back, then removing the factory install of 10, then installing WMP 9, and scoured the web for Media Player XP codec packs from the period that would be when SonicStage active. I installed the following, all free, codec packs:

Essentials Codec Pack,

InstaCodecs,

Cole2K Media - Codec Pack

I also installed DirectX Runtime End User from 2006

And after the requiste reboots, I installed the SonicStage 3.3 and set the file location to my substantial "SonicStageLibrary" folder, and then ran the Import Folder option; and deselected everything but the ATRAC format files, and only directed it to my SonicStageLibary Folder.

It processed all the files,

And they play!

No "authorization" errors!

If I'm brave I'll update to the later versions of SonicStage, but for now, this is working!

Hope this helps. If you have any questions, please ask!

Scott

www.scottmusic.net

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  • 5 months later...

Stephen,

thanks for your great advice about moving mp3's. I couldn't install SonicStage until I moved the MP3's to a separate drive.

Another thing I noticed was, I still had some MP3's compressed in ZIP files and SonicStage installation wasn't affected by them there.

thanks again, Phil

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I'm not exactly sure where I said that, but if that's what works, all power to you Phil. I do know that it becomes necessary to eject and re-add MP3's and WAVs if they change in any way at all after they have been added to the SonicStage Database. So maybe moving them forces the DB to treat them as a completely "new" file.

Stephen

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  • 1 month later...

Hi

I know this is an old thread but I really hope that someone can help me. I still have Sonic Stage on my old laptop, the files are .oma files so I've been unable to transfer them to anything. Somehow I'm now blocked from getting onto Sonic Stage at all. I'm getting the message 'the selected music file cannot be played back because the system information has been changed, error code 00004e2e. It suggests that the Sonic Stage restore tool won't work, so I've lost access to all my music.

I only keep this laptop as a music player because I've never been able to get these .oma files converted or moved in any way. I don't have access to my original CD collection as I now live abroad and they're in storage.

If anyone can help me I will be very grateful!

Roisin

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  • 3 years later...
On 5/8/2012 at 3:12 PM, rois said:

Hi

I know this is an old thread but I really hope that someone can help me. I still have Sonic Stage on my old laptop, the files are .oma files so I've been unable to transfer them to anything. Somehow I'm now blocked from https://dudehung.com/vigrx-plus-review-results-2016 this vigrx review getting onto Sonic Stage at all. I'm getting the message 'the selected music file cannot be played back because the system information has been changed, error code 00004e2e. It suggests that the Sonic Stage restore tool won't work, so I've lost access to all my music.

 

I only keep this laptop as a music player because I've never been able to get these .oma files converted or moved in any way. I don't have access to my original CD collection as I now live abroad and they're in storage.

 

If anyone can help me I will be very grateful!

 

Roisin

Is anyone else still getting this error code? I'm getting it now.

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  • 3 years later...
I installed SonicStage on Windows 10 64 bit for the first time using the 4.3 ultimate from this site as well as the 764 NetMD drivers (for a MZ-M200). I had this problem with the error 00004e2e and it having to do this restore thing on every second time opening SonicStage. This is even before I put any music or tracks of any kind into SonicStage.
 
After I transferred tracks from the MZ-M200 to the PC for the first time, things seemed okay. Until after I had closed SonicStage, then next re-open it had to do that restore thing. Suddenly, none of those imported tracks could be played anymore. Some error about missing rights information. So basically I had one shot at importing files then converting them to some other format. This didn't seem like a good solution.
 
After looking into the error, I came across this post about copying those two files from the restorables folder. That seems to have done the trick without any other actions. UPDATE: Oops, the fix didn't hold. I imported my tracks again after restarting SonicStage several times to see that the error and restore process did not come up again. But after I imported the tracks then exited SonicStage, the error returned. After restoring, I cannot play those files I just imported. This is @#$$%%#!
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There's another possible problem IIRC. Check that you have OUR version (created by the legendary Avrin) that does not try to go to the Connect Store. Somewhere (I'll have to scrape my memory banks to figure it out) there's a URL saved that points to "Connect" that you need to get rid of.

Tell us about "this restore thing". What exactly have you done, and where are your files now? Did you back them up using the Sony Tool, or simply hope that SS would be able to play them? The latter is almost certainly NOT possible unless every last one of them was "converted" (in fact decrypted) by the File Conversion Tool. Backup and Restore (Sony's) gets around that, but you have to do it right. There are people who have more experience than myself.

My trick is always to put the files so that they have the same address in the database (eg K:\sonicstage\imported files\) in the new system and the old. That way you can change hard disks at least.

If your problem is you cannot play back a particular file, you will have to try ffmpeg (or VLC) on it.

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Thanks. I'm actually a software developer, and what I wouldn't give to get the source code to SonicStage so I could re-write it into something that works!
 
I have only tried the 4.3 Ultimate r2 SS install that I found here. I've used the instructions here to be able to install the Net MD driver here, and the Net MD driver appears to work perfectly well.
 
It would appear I get the error only if I have Net MD uploaded files in my library. I started off with no files at all, just really trying a clean install and not putting anything into my SS library. So after I import tracks from my old SP MD (live recordings), and I've tried this using the ATRAC 256 or the PCM upload modes, then I exit SonicStage and then re-open it, I get the 00004e2e error ("The selected music file cannot be played back because the system information has been changed. Click OK to automatically close SonicStage and open the SonicStage System Information Restore Tool."). So when that tool comes up, it goes to Step 1: Database authentication. I click Next and it performs the authentication (which I cannot imagine what that is). Step 2: Run the restore option. I click OK and the restore option takes almost no time. Then I can re-open SonicStage. I can play any mp3 files in the library, but the imported MD tracks will not play. It says "There is invalid rights information in the OpenMG content (error code 000065f9)." The imported tracks are now useless, and I have to re-import the tracks if I want to do anything with them. Oh, and now after even deleting the errant track, every second time I open SonicStage it gives that error and has to go through the authentication and restore process. Presumably because the messed up rights info about the deleted file is still in the database or something. There is no HomeURL to delete in the registry under the SonicStage/EMD key in both in HKCU and HKLM registry areas.
 
I've gone through and set all the executable files for SonicStage to Windows XP Sp3 compatability mode, and then the OpenMG shared folder execs as well. The results remain the same. I've run SonicStage as administrator and then as normal, same results.
 
I did some testing. I imported only mp3 files into the library. I was able to exit and re-open SonicStage repeatedly with no errors. Then I added some WAV files and encoded them to ATRAC Lossless (which apparently has no DRM). I was again able to exit and re-open SonicStage repeatedly with no errors. It seems to be with files transferred from MDs, which implies it has to do with the DRM mechanism of the ATRAC files created by the transfer process. Even though the Rights tab on the imported track file's properties indicate Unlimited transfers and None on Playback restrictions.
 
I'm kinda at a loss here. Seems like the best way to save my tracks was to import them as PCM ATRAC files then export them to WAV files. I could then also convert those WAV files to lossless ATRAC files which don't seem to have the problem with the 00004e2e error and losing rights info. I'll keep looking into it, but I'm hoping someone has seen this before. I have tried to install all this according to the downloads and instructions I've found on this site, and this computer never had any of this installed before this attempt. Thanks.
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Ah yes, one more thing: if you descend to hacking (or cleaning) the registry, remember that SonicStage is a 32-bit application. Therefore you will have to tweak the entries in SysWOW64 rather than the main part of the registry. This could be why restore is not working, I suppose.

Are you able to revive the setup up your database of music files was contained in BEFORE the SonicStage Backup? (usually the answer is: sorry, no, that machine died) If not, the answer might be to get hold of a 32-bit version of anything (XP, Vista, 7, 10) and restore to that. I know it's a nuisance but if you're really stuck (and the backup is valid) then it may work where it doesn't under 64-bit Windows.

(edit) Wait a second. The copy-MACLIST.DAT fix worked? Try turning off System Restore on that drive first.

Finally, a note about WAV files. Sonic Stage is rather stupid about files which it has in its database. As soon as you touch a file, SS says it's no good. So you CANNOT edit files and expect them to play without deleting them from and readding them to SS.

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..... (continued). Another reason all this stuff happens has just hit me. Between Windows XP and Windows 7 (when all this stuff started going wrong) and most definitely for Windows 10, there has been a shift by Microsoft in the security settings on files stored under the individual user's ID. Things have toughened up.

The default location for the .oma files is currently C:\ProgramData\SonicStage\Packages

This is settable from SonicStage main menu under Tools->Options->Location to save imported files

I highly recommend you move this option to somewhere where:

a. you are not storing these files in a system location or under your own username
b. you set the security descriptors to something that does not involve your user and does not lock out everything except Sony's programs. For example D:\SonicStage\importedfiles

It's up to you of course, but simply choosing D:\SonicStage\importedfiles (if you have a hard drive at D: - modify if you don't) will do the trick. The program even gives you an option to copy the files (but see below).

The other useful trick is to create a link/junction/reparse point to point to the files. I leave this to the technicians among you to implement as it's not for the beginner. It works like this: suppose you move (copy) your files onto an external drive at H:\SonicStage\importedfiles. You can make a (directory) link to this at D:\SonicStage called "importedfiles" that points to the H drive, instead of the directory "importedfiles". The beauty of this is that if your files are at X:\SonicStage\importedfiles or C:\SonicStage\importedfiles or some other place entirely, the program and database think they are still at D:\SonicStage\importedfiles. This of course saves you from having to re-add or move every music file in Sonic Stage. It also allows you to grow your library when a disk gets full (very common complaint).

I don't think this is such a good idea when the storage location is C:\ProgramData\<blahblahblah>, though.

Once your files are not stored under C:\ProgramData, you should have a lot less problems in Windows 7 and 10. For starters, System Restore will not mess with your files.  Also anything Sony decided to make specific to your own user will not show up there, and it should be possible to change users without hassle (not sure if there is any locking of files to your user name but nothing would surprise me). This is a general observation about recent versions of Windows and your data.

Finally, remember "File Conversion Tool is your friend". Files imported by most means (especially RH-1 uploads from MD) are locked to a particular installation of Windows on a particular machine. Running FCT allows you to unlock them.

 

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The File Conversion Tool only converts ATRAC files created by earlier versions of SonicStage (according to what the app itself says), is that not correct? Does it do something to the files created by the transfer from MD (even as ATRAC PCM files)? I can try that hopefully later tonight. Big question: does the FCT perform a re-compression of files (leading to possible added lossiness)? Also, one of the replies above mentioned backups: I never used the backup utility at any point just FYI. What I've been able to read says it's more harm than good anyway. Also, my notations about the HKLM registry have been in the WOW6432Node area, which is where the SonicStage (32-bit app) HKLM reg entries live (as has been noted).

Also, about the import file storage folders. That was one of the first things I did actually, move the library import folders to my user folder structure. Just based on my experience as a dev and with Windows it seemed like a much better location than system file space. I did try moving it back to the default folders (in ProgramData), but the results were the same either way.

To clarify the MACLIST and ICV dat files "fix": the only thing that did was end the cycle of 00004e2e errors ONLY in the case where I had no imported ATRAC files in my library. I would delete the imported files so that there were none in my library (even an empty library) and still get the 00004e2e error every other load of SonicStage. After copying those files down from restorables all was well. UNTIL files get imported.

So far, the procedure I have for saving these live recordings is as follows: (1) Import files as ATRAC PCM (they are all MD-SP recordings); (2) Convert those to WAV files; (3) Use a 3rd party program to convert those files to high-bit-rate MP3s for archival. Of course, I have to manually enter track/album information (which I do after step 3 using mp3tag). This procedure is clearly more complicated than desired. Hopefully I can remove a step or two from this. I'm not sure I want to keep archival files as ATRAC format files just because who knows how much longer the codecs will be available.

I always loved the concept of using MDs as simple removable storage media. Hi-MD seemed to make this a reality; it's a shame nothing else happened after that. It's really a perfect sized optical random-access storage medium. *sigh* oh well... I still have all this kit, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let it all go to waste! I very much appreciate all the information on this site and your responses here! :)

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You never did a backup/restore! No wonder I am confused. Please go ahead and try VLC (anything newer than 3 years ago) to make sure the ATRAC files can be played (it doesn't handle AAL Lossless).

The FCT's sole function (as far as you and I are concerned) is to remove the encryption. Yes, it deals with "old" files from previous SS, but that's irrelevant. Converted files will have the extension .OMA instead of .oma (neat way to monitor which ones are not converted).

1. It will not make the files larger
2. It will not expand and re-compress anything

So I would say, import the ATRAC files, make sure (however you did that) that they ALL play, run the FCT. You should be good to go. At this stage I still have no idea why it keeps reverting, but:

a. Never edit a WAV file that's known to sonicstage, always use a copy
b. Turn off system monitoring of the whole drive
c. Make the folder(s) with the ATRAC files in at least READABLE, and possibly writeable too, by Everyone. I know this is a drastic step to take. If you're in a domain, set for full access by Domain Users for now, or Domain Admins if you are one yourself.

If none of that works, try reinstalling SS 4.3 Ultimate (ie ours) out of the box. Don't try to uninstall the old version, merely do it right over the top

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I was able to play files using other media players as long as I did not go through the 00004e2e error process that includes that restore process. It may be that the one missing part I've had all along is the File Conversion Tool. I haven't run that before only because I didn't think it had any effect on new files. I haven't had any problem with read/write permissions either in my user folders (which have full control permissions for my user of course) or in the ProgramData default folders. But the User folders is of course the preferred location.

I went and grabbed the MZ-M200 from home while out on an errand; I'll find out shortly with a completely new install on my other laptop whether it all works! Thanks.

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No luck with the File Conversion Tool. It said it could not convert my imported tracks. The conversion tool had a note saying it could not convert Hi-MD imported tracks, but these are old MD-SP tracks imported in Net MD mode. I tried the process importing as both ATRAC 256 kbps or ATRAC PCM formats.

If that won't work, I'll have to import to WAV files and then convert those to some other format. Am I missing something still perhaps? Thanks again.

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Something else I learned trying the File Conversion Tool. I am able to play the imported tracks using another media player after importing them then exiting SonicStage. As soon as I attempt the FCT, however, the track no longer plays. I wonder if the same "system information has changed" 00004e2e check that causes the problem within SonicStage happens without notification when the FCT runs? Might explain why it "failed to convert" any of my imported tracks.
 
I do wish there was some way to get a hold of all the source code for this. I would be able to create something much easier just to get the files in at the very least without so much fuss. And I'd leave it open source. It's just maddening the state Sony left this stuff in. :( Thanks again to you guys for all the help.
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There's no hope you would be able to understand how it worked. It's already been established that the software was written very carefully to be tamperproof, and as such was created with rather strange modules that talk to each other in a cooperative way - sounds a lot like co-routine construction, which is mostly avoided by C++ programmers.

I'll try and find the reference, but don't hold your breath.

This stuff works. It has known properties. Follow the yellow brick road and all will (eventually) be well.

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I haven't been able to get back to this in a few days, but I am eager to find out why I can't seem to get it working consistently. I'm scouring the forums to find any clues that could show anything I've missed. It seems no matter what I run (SonicStage, FCT), if it is a SonicStage component, the database has its rights messed up on every second load. So if I import tracks from MD to PC using SonicStage, I can play them just fine. But when I close and go to FCT, the files suddenly don't work just the same as if I run SonicStage again. For some reason, SonicStage's security checker seems to think my system information changes on every check, so it appears to be locking out access to the imported files that still have rights-management associated with them. I suppose at this point I could attempt a complete purge and re-install from scratch. Of course, I started all this from scratch originally using the driver and SS downloaded from here. I sure appreciate your help; it seems there is just some missing piece that will fix the problem I seem to keep having.

As far as the source code is concerned, if there is a way to get to it, it's definitely worth a shot. A lot of work I have done has been to read and decipher old code to create a new system based on it. I've read languages I haven't even programmed in before but could gather enough to learn what the software was doing. My initial thought is that if I can work out the interactions with the Net-MD and Hi-MD drivers as well as the interactions with the codec then that might give me enough to start from. I've had to go through some pretty strange code in the past as well lol.

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Ok I did a complete reinstall using the instructions on the "Guide to getting your Net MD Walkman working on Windows 10", but I get the same result. I can import and play the tracks until I exit and re-open SonicStage, or until I attempt the File Conversion Tool. The FCT says that it failed to convert all the imported tracks. The Net MD device driver works perfectly with no issues. Something about SonicStage at this point. I've only set compatibility mode on the omgjbox.exe file this time, and I set it to XP SP3 as instructed. I set the library files to save to my user storage folders, and they save without any problems. I'm running into a wall; I've tried everything I can find here, but the result continues to be the same. I can see that it seems to work fine for others; I can't think of what I may be doing differently at this point. I'm going to try some different things and experiment, but at this point I can't help but be less than optimistic. :(

Thanks.

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