iceeedtea

It sounds more like a hardware problem to me. I've never heard of such an occurance happening to a NetMD unit. If it's still under warranty/extended warranty, send it back to Sony/take it back to the store.

Run 'Ojbsir.exe' in your OpenMG directory. Better yet, upgrade to SonicStage. OpenMG 2.2 is outdated and buggy.

Yes, definitly wait until the release of Hi-MD. The current NetMD units require lots of effort to upload music up to a computer [and recording in real-time]. With Hi-MD, all you should need to do is tell SonicStage what to do, and it'll do it at high speeds. Re: Sony vs. Sharp, I don't know.

:wink: I agree with you 100% in this. With a good drive, you can bypass some forms of copy protection [Avex's CDS200 - illegal 2nd session]. In addition, if you were to use a USB -> Digital converter like the one stated in the first post, what would you do if your drive could only play music files in low-quality .wma using the 'secure audio player' on the disc? You'll end up copying junk quality over.... :pfft: Which reminds me, I need to buy a Plextor Professional when I build up a new system this summer.

T-Board is back online.

Heh, not bad. 21.7MB, how'd you get it down so much? Is it your custom extractor? Mine [compressed] is about the same size as yours [uncompressed] Then again, I am providing WM9 update file and Sony UI/updates, which you removed....

Avatar uploading is now fixed. Registered users should now be able to upload images to represent themselves, as long as they are no larger than 150x150 and 17KB. And please, keep it within tasteful and acceptable limits?

I think this can be attributed to the fact that when you 'delete' a track, the entry in the disc's Table of Contents is deleted, and the actual track is not actually removed until it is recorded over. To fix this, check-in all of your NetMD tracks, and then proceed make sure that the disc is empty. Unplug all cables from your unit [AC, USB, any optical/analogue cables], and push the 'record' function. Allow it to record [silence] for a few seconds or so, and then proceed to stop recording. Afterwards, send your disc the 'Erase Disc' command, which should be buried within the unit's menu structure. This should fix that problem. This thread over on T-Station deals with a user and his experience with 'ghost' recordings. In addition, take a look at this thread as well, where members discuss the structure of a MiniDisc, and what happens when files are 'deleted'.

Moving to MDCF: General non-NetMD Recording. Please post in the correct section in the future. If I recall correctly, changing the recording volume applies only to analogue recordings, not digital.

I'm surprised that the Creative's tech support knows anything beyond telling users to reboot. :laugh: This 'iceeedtea' fellow....he sounds quite familiar. I don't like him. :pfft: Anyway, yeah. Take a look at that link that Chris posted, for instructions on how to do a 'clean reinstall'. The 'older' NetMD software is pretty buggy; lots and lots of issues. The easiest [but longest] way to go about fixing SS1.5 is to uninstall all NetMD related files, with your unit unplugged. This means, SonicStage, OpenMG [and related 'Limited Patch' and 'Secure Module' entries], SimpleBurner, RealOne. Install your NetMD driver, then SonicStage, then plugging your unit back in. The Sony support forums state that this problem is fixed by installing an updated version of Jet 4.0, however, others have complained that it does not help. Your milage may vary. Something that may be of interest to you is SonicStage 2.0 instead of 1.5; a user on T-Station has provided a full .iso that was ripped from the ATRAC3+ PDCP version, but it has been shown to work well with transfers. A lot less bug-ridden; all you would have to do would be to install SonicStage, nothing else [perhaps your driver, but that is still unverified]. However, it is quite large, with a filesize of about 237MB. And, yes, let us know if you have any additional issues, or if the problem is not fixed.

Yes, to transfer/transport data files such as MP3/MP4/OGG/etc. by means of a 1GB Hi-MD disc would be possible. You will be able to simply 'drag and drop' any type of file to the disc under Windows Explorer, and supposedly be able to plug your Hi-MD unit into another computer, have it recognize it as a 'media storage' device, and be able to access files. It is quite a nice touch for Sony to finally include this ability into the format :happy: I am personally considering ripping my CDs to .wav and storing them on Hi-MD discs, once newer blanks with better designs are released. However, on a side note, Linux and Apple users are left in the dark; obviously, SonicStage/transfering audio will not work, but it is unclear whether or not the 'data storage' ability will be able to be utilized. I wonder what would happen if a Hi-MD disc were to be formatted with ReiserFS or HFS+....

That is true; however, EAC does not always help when ripping CDs. The ability to rip CD -> .wav depends on how well your drive can preform; for example, my TEAC DW-28E is unable to read past the illegal 2nd session on Avex discs, even when sent the command to manually detect the TOC [EAC0.95pb3]; thus, EAC is unable to correctly display the audio tracks. However, my Hitachi/LG drive preforms incredibly well, in comparison; upon insertion of the disc, tracks are displayed correctly. Thus, if your drive is unable to read a disc, try another drive. Although, I must agree with you on using EAC. It is quite fast, when in 'secure' mode on my LG drive :happy:

Moving to MDCF: Marketplace. Please post in the correct section in the future. On-topic: Try Audio Cubes first. If they do not have what it is of which you seek, try contacting them via e-mail to see if they are able to special-order a unit for you, if you have one in mind. They ship worldwide; however, as you are in the UK, I must warn you about being slapped with import fees, as many members of T-Station's forum have suffered when importing.

The best place to obtain music is still from CDs. Although more costly than the alternatives [downloading from the iTMS, Napster 2.0, etc.], you are likely to have less restrictions on the files and greater quality than the lower-bitrate, 'optimized' downloads for sale. However, if you decide to buy music from the iTMS, you'll have a somewhat more complex time transfering music to your MD. Since you lack a NetMD unit, you'll need to record via optical; thus, you shall either have to burn the tracks to a CD in standard 'AudioCD' format [via iTunes, if you buy from the iTMS], and record in real-time from a source equipped from 'optical-out'. Yes, there are PDCPs out on the market today which are equipped with this feature; however, you could always use a DVD player's [if you have one] instead and save money. Or, check to see if your computer already comes equipped with an optical-out in the back, whether on the soundcard of on the board itself. Then again, transfering this way results in a loss of audio quality: .m4p -> (decompress to) 'AudioCD'/PCM -> (recompress to) ATRAC. 'The best place to buy legal music online': There is none, in my opinion. However, what you should consider, is that Apple's iTMS is less restrictive with its files than Napster is. If you really want to just be able to download audio files from the internet and transfer them to MD, you may want to wait a few months until the release of Hi-MD in the states and purchase a Hi-MD unit; at which point, Sony's Connect music service will be online and functional. Connect -> Hi-MD, in one step.

I have no idea why SB suddenly decided to stop working. However, did you try doing a complete uninstall of all OpenMG-related files, then a complete reinstall?

I'm not too sure, but I think that turning off 'Sync Rec' in the N10's options menu will turn off auto track-marking. Give it a try, perhaps? Other than that, that's my only suggestion to try. Oh, yes. Welcome to the MiniDisc Community Forums, please register, so we can better help you!

I just tested this by trying to upload an avatar from my computer, and I can confirm that. Uploading seems to be broken.

There is a stickied thread at the top of this forum section for a full OpenMG 2.2 download provided by Sony Canada. There is also another stickied thread at the top of this forum section for a full SonicStage 1.5 (which is newer than OpenMG 2.2) download provided by my-minidisc.de.

If you mean you want to convert a LP2 file into LP4, you can't. You shall need to re-import the file from the original source and convert it into LP4.

Tools -> Options -> Import

No, you cannot; my assumption is that since the new discs are quite different than the original discs, your player will be unable to write to them. An example of incompatible media is comparable to the 'Iomega Zip' drive series; Zip100MB media is able to be read by the entire line of 'Zip' drives, from 100MB to the new 750-or-whatever-MB model which is currently out. However, non-100MB discs cannot be read in a 100MB-only drive. Please read the FAQ which was linked above; it explains many of the most commonly asked questions of the new format.

That's not entirely true. iTunes-encoded MP4 files are different from Nero-encoded MP4 files. iTunes seems to put more emphasis on sound quality, while Ahead/Nero seems to put more on (something, I am not quite sure yet, by the way their .mp4 files turn out to sound to my ears :smile:) Yes, they are all MP4/AAC, but they differ greatly. Apple's iTMS uses MP4/AAC, yes, but files are DRM'd; they have restrictions. Files ripped by iTunes using a disc you own will not. Apple = .m4a (unprotected), .m4p (protected) [breaking the standard with the file extensions?], stick to a smaller range of bit rates (not true variable bit rate). Nero (and others) = .mp4, and the possibility of true VBR. Nullsoft/Winamp (breaking the standard) = .AAC (which you should stay far, far away from.) Different encoders, different companies, etc. Then, you get into the new extensions to MP4/AAC that Ahead (Nero Digital) is making like HE-AAC, and the problems between Apple's and Ahead's files playing in different players and tagging differences and iPod incompatibilities....confusion, all around. Least, that's how I percieve it, after being on [unnamed audio enthusiast forum] for a little while, lurking around. I like to think of it as a work in progress :smile: Until things get settled out, I'll stick with my GTb1 encoder for encoding .wav files ripped from EAC -> .OGG for files stored on the computer. However, you need to remember - by burning tracks downloaded from the iTMS to a CD in standard 'AudioCD' format, then using SimpleBurner/SonicStage/etc. to transfer to your MiniDisc via NetMD results in quality degradation. Why? This is called 'transcoding'; you are taking already-lossy (compressed) music (then de-compressing to PCM to be on the 'AudioCD'), and then re-compressing it. Thus, your end result will sound much worse when compared to the original 128kbps file. My suggestion to you: if you wish to transfer iTunes files and to retain quality, buy an inexpensive sound card which has optical output to transfer to your NetMD unit in real-time. Even the inexpensive Creative Sound Blaster MP3+ will do; I purchased one for $30USD recently, and it does its job fine. Of course, if your unit doesn't support optical input, you could always purchase a cheap unit which has optical input from a store or an online auction :smile: Or, you could wait until Sony launches their Connect service, which will offer ATRAC3 files at 132kbps. Direct transfer from your computer to your NetMD unit, without transcoding. What is quite amusing to me, however, is how Sony has not announced support for MP4/AAC. If I recall correctly, they were one of the companies that funded development of the new standard. I've tried the 'QTFairUse' program once on an associate's computer (note: I do not condone piracy). It's not great. I believe that Apple was working on a way to patch the exploit up that allows for this to be used. Now, I'm not saying that you should do it this way; I only recommend this, since I know that if I were personally to encode MP4 -> AudioCD -> SimpleBurner -> NetMD, I would be in great pain, due to lack of quality. (Hence, I only record via an optical source directly from the original CD in SP mode. Why am I the NetMD moderator, then? :smile:) Try it, and if the quality is bearable to you, then, go for it. I believe it was the character named "Cypher" from The Matrix who stated, "Ignorance is bliss." Just my $0.02. Feel free to play a game of 'Bash the moderator', if you so choose, if you disagree with any of the points, or if I'm incorrect in something I said. :happy: Not like I'm actually going to have to use moderator powers, here....

Welcome to the Minidisc Community Forums. Please register, so we can better help you! :smile: Can you elaborate more on what particular error you are recieving with OpenMG? Without knowing, I am unable to determine what specific route of action to take to solve your problem. "It just doesn't copy" won't suffice; is there any way you can type out the entire error message? Take a look here for information on the Nero/SB method as an alternative to using OpenMG/RealOne. RealOne is a nasty piece of software; bloated, and included with ad-ware. Note: I edited your double/triple posts and added them into your initial posting. Edit: Problem has been resolved. "pasey" had to connect his MZ-N505 into an AC-outlet for power. Problem was resolved via AIM.

Yay! Thanks for adding the new smilies, Chris! :happy: Much better than the older ones, I think. I shall do my best in the NetMD forums. :happy:

If you want (higher-quality) recordings from MD -> PC, I suggest that you look into purchasing a deck that has optical out. Then, you will need to have an optical input on your computer (soundcard - even cheap ones will do; I currently employ a $30 SBMP3+ with opt-in). However, if you want to reduce cost and still get high quality recordings by means of analogue, make sure that you use a higher-grade cable. In addition, if you have the ability to, set the unit to 'Line Out' and not 'Headphone' before recording. I've heard some things about win nmd and Rosoft Audio Recorder, although I haven't tried them yet. Sound Forge 7.0 is comparable to Adobe Photoshop - overpriced, but suited for professionals. I have tried this [free copy from a friend], and it is quite nice, but pricy.