peterjf

The trouble with this conversion is that it will not work if you have files with corrupted DRM information. What is needed is some utility within the SonicStage programe suite to repair such corruption. Such a utility seems to exist (called ojbsir.exe in the same folder as the main program) but does not seem to work - the only effect it had when I tried it was to make my usable music unusable (and most of this usable music was ripped without adding copy protection).

I recently came across a program called Ojbsir.exe in C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage (which, as I remember, is the default folder for installing SS). This describes itself as a tool to restore tracks which are unplayable for one reason or another (eg after a Windows system restore). As I have still got some tracks in my library that I was unable to re-import last year when the rights to my library tracks were corrupted, I tried using this restore tool. Even though I connected to the Internet as the program requires and successfully authenticated the music database online, all that happened was that my previously playable tracks were rendered unusable (let's hear it for the backup tool - at least this works correctly). I currently use SS version 3.4 on a PC with Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2. Before I install SS 4.0 to see if this version of the the restore tool works, has anyone else tried using it (in any version of SS), and how did you get on with it? Thanks in advance.

I have noticed an issue when I have deleted albums from my HD1 and HD5H when in 'Groups' view. (I still use SS 3.4 because of the 'feature' of SS4.0 that does not list albums in any logical order on the player.) On occasions, the tracks are all deleted but the name of the group remains in the list view on the PC. However, on disconnecting the player from the PC, the group does not appear in the list on the player. If, for any reason, I want to put the music back on to the player on a later occasion, this means that the same group appears twice on the list view, and can cause some confusion. The reason I have put this onto this forum is that if this happens, and you are stuck with an 'empty' album in Group view, it is best to leave it there. I have tried deleting such an empty group on a couple of occasions, and the database on the player has corrupted on disconnection from the PC - needing a re-initialisation of the player and a re-transfer of all the music. This has not happened when I have left the 'empty' albums in place, and I cannot think of anything else that I have done that may cause this to happen. Has anyone else noticed this?

If you have got a backup of your music library, have you tried using the SS backup tool to restore it? I think the utility in the screenshots only runs when your library is corrupted (and no, I could not get it to work either, but a database restore solved the problem I was having at the time).

I have the same problem with my HD1 and HD5. I suspect that this is because I had DRM issues last year and had to re-import all my music. I think there must be some remnant of my old library somewhere on my PC. I got round this by creating a dummy SS database on another PC, and only putting one CD on it. I then use the SonicStage backup tool to back up my main library, use the SS backup tool to 'restore' the dummy library and use this to re-initialise the player. I can then restore my main music library and re-transfer to the player. This may be long-winded, but it is a good temporary measure and it does work if you do not want to take a chance by manipulating files on player or PC. [Edit] The reason that the problem must be something to do with the SS database is that it occurs on more than one player (both 'fed' from the same database) and, more importantly, the issue is also showing up on my new PC. I transferred the SS library across by using the backup tool.

I often have the same issue with 'untitled' tracks when transferring tracks to (and deleting tracks from) my HD5 and HD1. I suspect that a related issue sometimes causes database problems on my players, in that transferred albums sometimes will not play ('cannot play track error' or similar words display on the player). If this happens, I have to delete the affected albums and re-transfer them, which usually sorts out the problem. When I had to re-initialise the HD5 a few weeks ago, this issue also stopped me from transferring the music to the player. The player was checked on re-connection (which is normal), but the check would not complete. The only way I could get round the problem was create a new SS library with one CD in it, connect the player to enable the check to take place, and then restore my main library using the SS backup tool. (Incidentally, on the subject of the backup tool, has anyone else ever experienced the situation of the online verification server not responding, and therefore being unable to restore? A bit of a pain if you plan a restore at a specific time - for example, overnight.) I suspect that there is a gremlin somewhere in my SS music library, as I had to re-import everything when I had DRM trouble last year. I suspect that one of the old albums did not delete properly although all the old tracks were deleted, and that this is somehow throwing a spanner into the works. (Edit) - I should have added that all mu music is in ATRAC 64KB/s

Me again. Agreed, this is an issue - but this is how the comtents of my NW-HD1 have always been displayed on the PC screen. While a minor inconvenience, it is still infinitely preferable to the artist view.

I have just copied the XML files to my work PC, which has SS4.0 installed. This is not the PC that has my music collection on it - my music is at home. The issue I have had is that my NW-A608 is only showing one group (called 'Untitled'). Having said that, the tracks within this single group are listed in a logical order - ie tracks in sequence order within albums in alphabetical order, which means that it is much easier to delete unwanted tracks from the player. Has anyone else seen this and, if so, is there a way round it?

I found the same issue on my NW-A608 when I installed SS 4.0 on my PC at work. While it is less of an issue on this player than it would be on my NW-HD5H, it is still an inconvenience. As I am not really bothered about missing things like Artist Link (and as my two HD players do not support the extra features anyway), I have not installed SS 4.0 at home. Hopefully the next generation of players will go back to listing contents by album (as the HD1 does), but I am not holding my breath...

I put a message in the 'Ideas and requests' thread below, mentioning the view of the tracks on my NW-A608 that appears on the PC window. (For those who have not seen this message, it was a moan that the artists are no longer listed alphabetically in SS 4.0). I now notice that, since connecting the NW-A608 to SS 4.0, the albums on the player no longer appear in the display of the player itself in alphabetical order, nor does there seem to be any logic to the order in which they appear - for example, they do not appear in the order they were imported into the player. The player has previously been used with a PC that had SS 3.4 installed on it - I have never used the old Connect Player software. Has anyone else seen this, or does anyone know a way round it? Thanks in advance.

My NW-HD5H and NW-A608 both display tracks by artist on the PC screen. This is inconvenient at best, but I realise that this is a 'characteristic' of the player itself, as oppposed to being a SonicStage feature. Up to SS 3.4, all the artists were listed in alphabetical order. However, SS 4.0 lists the artists on my NW-A608 by album. This is less of a problem on the A608 (with about 700 tracks on it) than it will be on the HD5H (about 14,500 tracks on it - I have not connectrd this to the PC since installing SS 4.0). There appears to be no logical order in which the albums are displayed. In theory, this should make it easier to delete a compilation album from the player, but there are two drawbacks. Firstly, in the case of the HD5H, the sheer number of albums on the player increases the time taken to find any artist. Secondly (and this will be the real pain) is that there are many artists who have tracks on more than one album. I can see it taking ages to find these. I would therefore 'suggest' to Sony that, for the next generation of players, the option to view albums on the PC screen that is present on the NW-HD1 be re-instated.

I have to agree on this - my first tests have revealed that it takes twice as long to import a CD as version 3.4 did - this is on a PC that has had no changes made other than installing version 4.0. This is not all I have noticed. Version 4.0 does not appear to support CD text information (ie CDs that include track titles and artists). Has anyone else noticed this?

Thanks again. (Waits with bated breath...)

Does anyone know when the European version will be available for download? Thanks in advance.

Does anyone know if this download is the correct one to use whatever country you are in? Or can we expect a separate European version? Thanks in advance.

There are rumours going around that a NW-A3200 with 40GB capacity is expected around May (have a look at Dapreview - I think it is mentioned in the section called 'New Stuff' or something similar). Hope this does happen as my HD5H is getting very close to its capacity (at present about 14,700 tracks in ATRAC 64KBps).

True enough Stuge - while a 30GB version of the A3000 is better than what is currently available, something with a higher capacity would be better still. Harold, I am in UK. As I remember, the 30GB HD5H was available via the Sony UK site if that is any help to you.

My local Sony Centre have heard rumours that a 30GB 'limited edition' version of the NW-A1000/A3000 is in the pipeline - they say it could be as soon as the end of March when there is more news.

Fotel, this is a 'characteristic' of the HD5, and is not a feature of SonicStage. The HD1 that I still use lists the albums on the player in the SS window in the order in which they were imported, which, while still not ideal, is much easier to use than the artist sorting that the HD5 displays. This is the major gripe that I have with the HD5, as I am in the same position as Stewartb with probably 70% of my music being compilations and mixes. This is made worse by the need I have encountered to re-import all my CDs into SS as a result of Sony and their DRM policy which has corrupted all my old music files. I now have hundreds of re-imported CDs that appear in the auto-transfer window every time I connect the player to the PC as it takes so long to remove a single compilation from the HD5.

Got mine on Ebay as well, but it has not given me any problems. (Is there any other place to get hold of one in this country?) The limitation on its use is that you cannot browse through the albums on the player while a track is playing - if you do, it simply skips to the next album and starts playing that. You can, however, browse through the albums while the player is not playing. I think that is intentional, as it is the same design and works the same way as the remote that was supplied with my old Sony CD Walkman. On the subject of remotes, you often see a sleek remote in a similar design to the A1000/A3000 in photos of the player - does anyone know if you can actually get hold of these remotes?

I haven't got the A3000, only an HD-1 and HD-5H, but I hope this helps. If the A3000 is anything like the HD1/5, the maximun battery life is easily achievable if you use the ATRAC format, keep the backlight switched off and avoid moving from track to track. (Both the HD-1 and HD-5 cache about 25 minutes of music at a time to avoid having to keep activating the hard drive.)