Avrin

Addresses 0211 and 0212 seem to control laser parameters for reading gigabyte discs. Check the service manual for the RH1. Probably, fiddling with address 0211 may help. But don't forget to write the original value down!

Yes, the INF files (and SYS files, for that matter) are identical. But OpenMG components, including the ones used to interface with devices, are new. Probably now they are using NETMD052.sys in a different way.

Address 0124 only affects reading standard minidiscs. It has no effect on 1 Gb Hi-MDs.

Everything should happen exactly as if you were upgrading to the official SonicStage 4.3, the only difference being that drivers and OpenMG will be updated to more stable versions than the ones originally included with SonicStage 4.3. I have tested upgrade scenarios from SonicStage 3.0, 3.4, and 4.2 to 4.3 "Ultimate" - everything seems fine. It even looks like the "Ultimate" version has no trouble installing over previous ones without first removing them. Even when the older version contains an OpenMG Limited Patch, which seemed to have caused trouble when upgrading to the original SonicStage 4.2. But still a clean install is always better.

Just thinking aloud: do you actually disconnect the external hard drive after restoring the backup, but before importing new MP3s? Disconnecting it may lead to two possible problems. First, SonicStage may consider it a "major hardware change", thus requiring reauthentication. And second, it may "remember" some paths on the external drive, and freeze because of their inaccessibility

My configuration is Windows XP SP3 English and SonicStage 4.3 "Ultimate". I don't think Vista or the original SonicStage 4.3 correct any problems - they create new ones instead. But OpenMG 5.0 and new Personal Audio drivers used in SonicStage 4.4 and "implanted" into SonicStage 4.3 "Ultimate" seem to solve some issues, including slow SP upload.

As it turns out, the topic has become obsolete. Yesterday, when testing ATRAC frequency characteristics, I actually connected an RH1 to the PC that I am regularly using with my RH10 and one of my NH600s. And the RH1 uploaded at full speed. I've rechecked this today by reconnecting devices in various order, removing/reinstalling drivers, etc. - it still does, no matter what. Windows Device Manager shows that both NETMD033.sys and NETMD052.sys are loaded for the RH10 and the NH600 (after using the RH1), but only NETMD052.sys is loaded for the RH1. And yes, the system is running SonicStage 4.3 "Ultimate".

We need to obtain a frequency response of white noise encoded by a non-Type-S machine to check this. But I don't have one. Exactly! Especially when listening through headphones. But when using good loudspeakers higher frequencies may create additional harmonics in the environment, which add naturality to sound. One the other hand, the less information remains to encode after filtering out higher frequencies, the better the remaining frequencies may be encoded. But listening shows that software-encoded ATRAC3plus 256 kbit/s sounds quite a bit better than hardware-recorded Hi-SP. This may be simply because a PC has much more processing power than a Hi-MD unit, and uses more advanced encoding algorithms.

IIRC, Type-S is used for both playback and recording in LP modes, same as Type-R is used for playback and recording in SP.

I think that this is a function of the ATRAC Type-S chip in the RH1.

Only links to SonicStage 4.2 are broken, links to SonicStage 4.3 are still working.

There already were attempts to analyse frequency responses of various ATRAC bitrates using various material. Now I decided to put it to the heaviest possible test by using white noise. I tested both hardware and software encoding. Equipment used: 1. eMachines D620 laptop PC running Windows XP SP3, SonicStage 4.3 "Ultimate", and Adobe Audition 1.5, for software encoding, uploading, and analysis. 2. Panasonic DVD-S75 for direct playback via optical out (no enhancers). 3. SONY MZ-RH1 for recording via optical in @ manual rec level 23, and for uploading. The track used was 12 seconds of 44.1 kHz/16 bit stereo white noise generated in Adobe Audition, and burned to a CD-RW using EAC 0.99 prebeta 4. Let the pictures speak for themselves: PCM (green), Hi-SP (red), and Hi-LP (blue) recorded via optical in PCM (green), ATRAC3plus 256 kbit/s (red), and ATRAC3plus 64 kbit/s (blue) ripped and encoded by SonicStage in High quality ATRAC3plus 352 kbit/s (green), 192 kbit/s (red), and 48 kbit/s (blue) ripped and encoded by SonicStage in High quality SP (green), LP2 (red), and LP4 (blue) recorded via optical in ATRAC3 132 kbit/s (green), 105 kbit/s (red), and 66 kbit/s (blue) ripped and encoded by SonicStage in High quality ATRAC3 132 kbit/s (green), 105 kbit/s (red), and 66 kbit/s (blue) ripped and encoded by SonicStage in Normal quality

Your system probably had another driver or filter on USB controllers that prevented RH1 from uploading at full speed. Uninstalling all USB controllers also removed this driver.

My versions, except the Ultimate one, are nothing but original SONY versions with Microsoft pre-requisite components removed (since most people already have these components installed). The Ultimate version has its OpenMG module replaced with a more stable later version. All original functionality is fully preserved, including device connectivity. I don't actually know what to recommend for importing a 50+ Gb folder. If the folder is separated into albums, it may be easier to import it. But if most files are in the "Optimized Files" folder, it may take ages to rearrange them. You may actually try using some other, more convenient, MP3 management software to arrange files into separate folders, and them import them into SonicStage. AFAIK, SonicStage requires that Artist, Album Name, and Year tags be the same to import all songs into a single album. But you may still run into trouble when importing compilation albums, since the compilation token must be specified in SonicStage itself, otherwise it may split a compilation album by artist.

If a clean gumstick refuses to charge properly, most probably it is dead.

Here: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?s=&am...st&p=117697 But these versions contain OpenMG 4.7, which makes them quite glitchy.

I see what you mean. All trouble arrives after using the Backup tool to restore your Library. My idea was to simply avoid using this tool anymore. Import your old files (if you need them) by simply importing them from a copy of your backup, this should not affect SonicStage functionality. Then you may rip CDs and/or import other MP3 files as usual

Welcome to the Forums! The Backup Tool tries to connect to the authentication server, which is down for good. So, the tool won't work properly anymore. Try copying the content of your backup disk to your hard drive, and then simply importing this folder w/subfolders. MP3s are not supposed to be protected in any way, so they don't require any keys to play/transfer them. Not sure about rights for your device, though.

Microsoft's Virtial PC has no USB support, so it is useless for MD people. And I wouldn't be very optimistic about the new "XP compatibility" mode in W7. They won't be making full hardware/driver compatibility for older devices.

Gumsticks used in RH[9]10/M10[0] tend to have their contacts oxidized quite quickly, even when not in use, and this leads to a seeming loss of capacity. So I would recommend cleaning the contacts with a cotton cloth before using the battery. Then discharge it completely, and fully charge/discharge it again three times. This should give you optimal capacity. And don't forget to clean the contacts on a regular basis.

All Hi-MD units have basically the same recording circuitry.

Are you logged in as the local Administrator when installing? This is required for proper installation. You may also try the following suggestions: 1. Download and run this official SonicStage uninstaller: http://depositfiles.com/files/m5i85dmrg - it is from the Japanese version 4.4, so on the first screen press the left button, and on the second screen set the lower radion button, and also press the left button. This is supposed to remove all SonicStage/OpenMG files, and their installation records. I strongly recommend using a good registry cleaner after that. A trial version of Tune Up 2008 may help: http://www.tune-up.com/download/tu2008/ 2. Install the experimental "ultimate" version of SonicStage 4.3 from Post #5 here. It contains OpenMG 5.0, which seems to install more reliably in place of other versions.

Such crashes are still possible, and there is no way to avoid them, since the new drivers (used for SonicStage 4.4) are basically the old 4.0 ones repackaged by SONY with some new installation scripts. But the new OpenMG "kernel" is actually updated, which makes it more stable, and prone to less conflicts with the drivers.

IIRC, the person who claimed to have reverse engineered the OpenMG protection, said that any OpenMG file by itself contains all keys needed to fully decrypt its content. So, it seems that SS uses keys for control only, and not for any actual decryption.

The US Connect version is the same as the Sony Europe and VAIO ones, the only difference being that it connects to the US Connect server instead of the European one. This is specified in the SSAddOpt.ini file for the SonicStage Add-on installation program, and may be changed/removed as needed.