jadeclaw

The TOC isn't encrypted. It is simpler, it is a multisession CD-ROM. Audio-CD-Players are single session, they take the first session, containing the Audio-tracks. PC-Drives read in all sessions, it is then the task of the operating system to take the right one. MS-Windows takes the last session per default. But that one doesn't list the Audio-Tracks. Software like CDRoller or BadCopyPro can select any session present on the disc and thus extract the data. However, before paying for that, you might check, what is included with your CD-Writer software. I think, Nero has a session selector included in the package.

No, SonicStage has nothing to do with that.

Yup. And if all fails, there is still the CD-player with digital out. But it looks like, that F4I and SonyBMG are steering rapidly into very hot legal waters: Muzzy's page about the whole thing ( Look under: ECDPlayerControl.ocx (violates LGPL, GPL, DMCA, EUCD) ) The gory details: Proof, that F4I violates the GPL Yes, we have a full blown GPL-violation here. What does that mean: Since neither F4I nor SonyBMG had followed the obligations of the GPL, they had no licence to distribute. In other words: It is the same like selling pirated music or software - a full violation of copyright law. Yes, a criminal offence. Let's see, how the management explains that away. Oh, and before the 'The GPL hasn't been tested in court'-Trolls descend down here, this is not necessary: The GPL is a licence, not a contract. If you don't follow the rules laid out in it, the licence is simply invalid. For you and you alone. And if you don't have a licence, what is in effect? The copyright law. And we all know, what that allows, if it's not your own stuff. @rirsa: As usual, Bruce Schneier hits the nail on the head. Can we really trust the vendors of security software? [EDIT]: There are now websites online, that use the Rootkit-uninstaller-control to infect a computer with malware: http://www.websensesecuritylabs.com/alerts...php?AlertID=340

Should be no problem, but to be safe, use the backup tool to backup your library before upgrading the software. My library survived all updates from 2.0 to 3.3 without needing a restore after doing the upgrade, but it is better to be on the safe side. @Mikey_P: The biggest advantage of the 3.3 compared to 3.2 are things, that have no use on a NetMD unit. So, if your current install works fine, there is no need for you to upgrade.

Actually, there is no HiMD-unit on the market with digital out. The standalone decks have no digital out, the bookshelfs seem to switch off the digital output, when playing from MD. See the report on the FR-N9 in another thread. ( Post #25) So, digital out only via PC-Soundcard.

Transferring is possible by doing a backup on one machine and restoring from that backup onto the second machine. However, the existing library on the second pc will be deleted in that process. So, uploading only on one machine! And I do see problems, if the library to be restored contains music purchased from the connect store, as it is verified online during restore. SonicStage does not run on MacOS. You might try it in a VMWare-session. VMWare emulates a different hardware-architecture, so it can run Windows on a Mac or a Mac on Linux etc. However, that is slow.

Try recording from LineIn or optical. If that works, I would try reinstalling the application, if standalone recording doesn't work, check if the recording head has collected a load of dirt (dustball). If that isn't the case, the recorder might need service.

That's would I ask as well, it is pretty solid now and I use it daily. On the other paw, we all know, that MS-Windows suffers from bit-rot. Windows-installations deteriorate over time, I used to reinstall Win98 every three months. However, with Win2k or WinXP that improved, so you should get atleast 6 to 9 months lifetime from a Windows-install. Or considerably more, if you have only a few office applications running. And in my case, the presence of SonicStage had no influence on that. Not even the buggy 2.0 . 1 to 2 months is not normal, there must be something else. Played any copyprotected CDs recently? Used the Internet Explorer for websurfing despite all warnings? (Remember: Certain Browser like Neowin use IE for rendering and are susceptible as well) Even used Outlook Express for E-Mail? And installing 32768 million programs isn't really improving the systems stability. What about the security updates and Service Packs? That's only a few of the problems I encounter regularly, when someone asks me for help in fixing the PC. In one case, I found close to 20 viruses and nearly 400 infected files on a laptop...

Compared to my NH700, it changed with (IIRC) SS2.3, especially at LP2 and lower. However, newer rigs like the RH10 or the Onkyo home decks could have reversed that again.

Would be great to have olive back.

Mark Russinovich already pointed to the fact, that the ActiveX-Control used has more properties and functions than necessary. Looks like the F4I-programmers just took an off-the-shelf control without checking first. And the fact, that the rootkit and this control possibly too on half a million networks as pointed out here, operators of botnets will have a field day infecting machines by the thousands. Plus, SonyBMG was definitely illegally distributing LGPL-code along with the rootkit. First, Muzzy found a bunch of LGPLed libraries on the CD in one of the install packages, then Sebastian Porst found LAME-Code inside an ActiveX-control used by the player application. Atleast, SonyBMG starts recalling and exchanging the CDs Oh, and Suncomm-protected CDs are dangerous as well. Even if you decline the EULA, your machine is infected. And finally on a different front, Sony faces trouble from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the European Commission: Sony in internet 'price-rigging' rumpus. So, that's it from todays tour of the wibbly wobbly web. My advice to Mr. Stringer: Get a real big broom and clean out middle and upper management levels. Something up there really stinks.

Customers won't put up with that, to be frank, that will be a gigantic failure, just like DivX. (Not the codec, the pay per view limited DVD that was) No, prerecorded Minidiscs were made like prerecorded CDs. They had no writable area, so they could not locked onto one unit. One thing is sure, the longer this affair is cooking, the more damaging it will be for the music industry. Expect a serious drop in sales of protected CDs. Sony will have a lot of explaining to do in the months to come.

Two possibilities: 1) Processor hangs. Remove ALL power sources and wait a few minutes, then put the battery back in. 2) Laser defective. Try the reset procedure, if that doesn't helps, it's off to Sony.

Thanks Rirsa, looks like Sony comes to its senses. However, Sony seems to think, if the reputation is going down the drain, why not speeding up the process. This time it is Sony Pictures engaging in unethical behaviour. They had the splendid idea to insert links to the website of the movie 'Emily Rose' into exorcism-articles at Wikipedia. Add guestbook- and comment-spamming and you're set. However, Sony underestimated the community again: The Wikipedia-articles had been corrected in no time and the german blogger scene is buzzing with negative comments. But it is possible, that Sony finds themselves back on the wrong bench in a courtroom. Article 13 of the medialaw in germany requires, that any advertising has to be marked as such. Neither the guestbook spam, nor the website for the movie has been marked as advertising. Oh, and do I have to mention IP-violations too? Wikipedia-articles had been used on the movie-website without proper attribution. Article on Telepolis (German)

This topic is already discussed here. I suggest continuing there.

Don't say that too fast. Currently on sale here are cheap MP3-players for 20 Euros. Add a SD/MMC-Card with up to 2GByte and you're set. If you don't need the long term storage MD provides, this is a cheap alternative. And the cards aren't that expensive either, 256MB = 20 Euros, 512 MB is 33 Euros, including sales tax. Need more space? Add more cards. Soundquality is a different matter...

We all know, on which side of the fence the bushies are normally standing, but when a government official reacts critical towards RIAA/MPAA, then you know, someone has gone too far: DHS Official Weighs In on Sony. Plus, The Inquirer has a nice commentary about Microsofts and other security software vendors slow reaction: Microsoft removes Sony malware with implications. Yes, it was whimper... But atleast, one rootkit is now off the list.

I guess, they will wait until people forget, then comes the next round. Unless the lawsuits leave a nice dent in Sonys pocket. Illiads take on this: User Friendly

Better not. There is a nice commentary on Groklaw about the issue and corporate ethics and bloggers in general. Good read and it put things a bit in perspective. Advice to Sony: Deliver quality and value for money, then you don't need any copyprotection on your CDs.

Because of the physical size, you need BlueRay-Tech for that. And it will take a few years, until that is downsized for MD use. Until then, check out some of Sonys XDCam series.

Well, it keeps up. According to the BBC (at the bottom), there are now 6 (six!) class action lawsuits running. According to TechTree, the first trojan has been debugged and is now fully operational. And finally, ZoneAlarm 6.0 claims to detect and block the rootkit and associated trojans: BusinessWire Finally, Sony-BMG thinks, Europe should have some rootkit-fun as well. German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle reports, that the XCP-copyprotection will be used in Europe from 2006 onwards. That wraps up the newscast for today, for earlier news and links take a look here. To discuss, come back here into this thread. @kurisu: If I remember correctly(too lazy to look it up now), the musicbusiness adds only a small part to the revenue ( less than 10% ). To be frank, Sony would be much better off, if the musicbusiness is sold or closed down. I'm inclined to guess, that the financial damage, that Sony Electronics suffers from this brouhaha is bigger than the revenue gained from the musicbusiness. [EDIT 3:30 PM ET] And Reuters reports now, that Sony temporaily stops manufacturing CDs with the controversial XCP-Technology (aka rootkit). See: Sony BMG pulls CD software

Correct. Think 10-Megapixel SLR cameras. In RAW-mode, that's 30 MBytes per picture. In other words: 66 pictures and a 2GByte-CFCard is full. To the chip itself, depending on the case used, I guess six of them would fit along with the controller into one Type-1 case, giving 12 GByte. But I don't think, that CF-cards or SD-Cards become a competitor to MD/HiMD in the near future. They are simply too pricey. Btw, 8GByte CFCards are already available - for a whopping 950 Euros (1300US$)

Sony-BMG violating copyrights and distributing stolen software? According to the dutch Magazine Webwereld, parts of the LGPL-licensed LAME-MP3 codec have found their way into the software, installed from the XCP-protected CD. Despite the requirements set forth in the LGPL, Sony hasn't included the sources of the libraries used and hasn't informed the end user about the rights the LGPL provides. By searching around, an unnamed individual found these strings: "http://www.mp3dev.org/", "0.90", "LAME3.95", "3.95", "3.95 " from the version.c source inside the Sony software. Also data structures from Lame's Tables.c are found back in the Go.exe application. Looks like Sony-BMG has dug themselves into a real deep nasty hole. For those able to read dutch, the original article is here: Spyware Sony lijkt auteursrecht te schenden Let's see, what kind of excuses we get now. Possibly not. Rich people and corporations have better lawyers.

More news: First, Mark Russinovich reports about his experiences with the uninstaller. Yes, it is nasty... Sony’s Rootkit: First 4 Internet Responds Looks like the First4Internet-Programmers cannot program their way out of a very soggy paperbag. Second, the first trojan using the Sony rootkit has appeared in the wild: http://news.bitdefender.com/NW193-en--Firs...M-Detected.html And Sony-BMG still claims, it is no security risk. *BARF* The trojan info: http://www.bitdefender.com/VIRUS-1000058-e...IRC.Snyd.A.html Now things get ugly. And even uglier: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004145.php Btw, EULAs like this are illegal in Germany.

Yup. Aside from the blatant ineptitude displayed by Mr. Hesse in the NPR-interview, a lot of what we hear from Sony-BMG and First4Internet could be attributed to the legal implications in this case. Anything they say, can be used in a lawsuit against them, so they naturally dance around the issue. Remember the SCO vs. IBM lawsuit? Remember the loudmouthed CEO of SCO, Darl McBride? Remember his publicity stunts? That will come back soon and will bite SCO in a real nasty way.