Avrin

Still, you are using the SonySDK2.sys driver, which is used to control Hi-MD devices.

I'm afraid that there isn't.

The more I look at this problem, the more I think that you are right. Remember the RH[9]10 that could only charge its gumstick battery to 80% via USB (and that from a 'puter only). And it is not about voltage - it is about current. An RH[9]10 charges its battery to 80% via USB @ 5V, but charges it fully via its adapter @ 3V.

You may download the BeatJam software anytime you wish: http://beatjam.justsystem.co.jp/app/static...amle/index.html - just press the orange "daunrodosuru" button. It IS Japanese only. And the only difference between it and SonicStage is the interface. It still installs OpenMG (and an old version of it), etc.

The 6V circuit is used just to power the unit (has anyone ever told you that an E10, after its built-in battery is dead, may be fed by 3V DC forever?). The charging circuitry is separate from all this. Looking at their documentation, we see that both the RH1 and the NH3D are supposed to play Hi-SP from a 1Gb disc for 15.5 hours. But instead we see, that an RH1 plays for about 14 hours, and an NH3D may actually play for up to 20 hours. And it only takes a sufficient current pattern to fully charge a LIP-4WM. The actual voltage is lower than 4V.

The NH3D charges from its 6V input only. I am not sure that the RH1 doesn't fully charge its battery for safety reasons - Li-Ion batteries are quite safe to charge. USB voltage and current are enough to fully charge a LIP-4WM. The fact that it doesn't discharge it completely, and the fact that it doesn't "see" a batery fully discharged by an NH3D indicate misadjustments, IMHO. It would be interesting to compare the battery life of a European RH1 (about 14 hours when playing Hi-SP from 1 Gb discs) to that of a Japanese one.

Has anyone else noticed that, if you remove the LIP-4WM from a European MZ-RH1, put it into an MZ-NH3D, discharge it completely, fully charge it, and put it back into the MZ-RH1, it lasts about 4 hours longer (playing Hi-SP from 1 Gb discs)? Looks like the European (not sure about other models) MZ-RH1 is seriously misadjusted in its power circuitry. So it doesn't fully charge the battery, and doesn't even discharge it completely (a battery considered empty by a European MZ-RH1 is still able to power an MZ-NH3D for quite some time).

Probably it's the SI Restore Tool. Since there's no such folder right after SS installation.

My installation had two 4-byte files there. After having deleted them and trying to run SS, the usual error message was displayed, and the System Information Restore Tool was started, in which I pressed the Cancel button. Copying DAT files from the "restorable" subfolder helped immediately. Two new 4-byte files appeared in the OMGRIGHT folder again. And SS works.

Still, it looks to me like the tool is unable to connect to openmg.com to restore the bloody useless DRM keys. Do you have any files in the "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sony Shared\OpenMG\restorable" folder? If yes - try copying them to "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sony Shared\OpenMG" - this may help to get the keys back without using the tool.

Not quite. I am updating my Windows 2000 Professional system monthly. And the MSRT isn't big at all (despite taking time during monthly updates and being really useless). It can't be uninstalled for the simple reason that it is never installed - Windows Update just downloads and runs it every month.

Welcome to the Forums! The message should actually say "Cannot connect to the Internet." Make sure the tool is allowed to connect to the Internet (is not included in a firewall stop-list). The actual executable file is called Ojbsir.exe, and is located in the "C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage" folder.

When and where (well, unless I was really drunk) have I done this? Or was it about SS43 creating new glitches just by running itself?

Somehow I don't think is has ever been possible to download real SP. AFAIK, the entire problem arose because Dolby Laboratories never allowed SONY to create a computer SP codec (SP is based on several Dolby patents). And I don't think that old SS actually downloaded WAV or PCM to older machines (to encode to SP in the unit), since it would have taken ages at their speeds (maybe even longer than realtime).

A full installer for European English SS4.2 is here: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?s=&am...st&p=117697

Looks like a software glitch. May be a complete SS reinstall will help.

A web installer for 3.4 will only install version 3.4. If 4.3 is doesn't give you any problems, you may keep it. In case you need 4.2, you may get it here: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?s=&am...st&p=117697

This looks like the unit has partially reset its calibration settings (power and laser). Check address 1931 in service mode, and try setting its value to FF. Trouble is, even if the error goes away, setting may still be wrong.

I don't think SS4 is worth installing if you are only using [Hi]MD devices. The only new things there, compared to SS43, are HE-AAC support, and drivers (modified INF files, actually) for new Japanese-only ATRAC-compatible flash players. But it is interesting that it uses OpenMG version 5.0 (compared to 4.6 in SS42 and 4.7+patch in SS43). I actually tried installing OpenMG 5.0 for my SS42. It worked, but nothing was added or changed, so I returned back to 4.6.

GREAT! Here's the correct order of what you need to do with them, including command lines highlighted in blue, to get a French version (remove copy protection from your music, backup your library, and remove any previous versions, including OpenMG and any of its patches before installing): 1. Unzip wmf.zip, and run wmfdist.exe. 2. Unzip wmf95(ie 10).zip, and run wmfdist95.exe. You may get an error in Step 1 or Step 2, but this is normal, since these files are for different operating systems. 3. Unzip msc.zip, and run setup.exe. 4. Unzip setupreg.zip, and run setupreg.exe. 5. Unzip openmgsetup.zip, and run setup.exe /v"OMGCOREINI=OmgCore_GA.ini". 6. Unzip ss_french.zip, and run setup.exe. 7. Unzip ss_add_french.zip, and run setup.exe. 8. Unzip pa_driver.zip, and run setup.exe. 9. Unzip pasupport.zip, and run pacaddon.exe /fAE.ini. 10. Restart your computer.

It's been available from the very moment it was released, but in Japanese only. Here's the web-installer: http://dl1.aii.co.jp/contents/connect/_dat...geInstaller.exe . The full installer is somewhere on the Japanese VAIO FTP server, but I don't remember the link.

Yes, that's the version. Which ZIP-files do you actually have? I don't think so. Many people here, there, and everythere have described problems arising after installing SS43 under various operating system versions (including Windows XP SP2, as the most popular version at the time of SS43 release). And yes, some (but much less) people actually have it working properly. Under Windows XP, why would you want a version, which has Vista support as the only new feature? And needs a patch for OpenMG? SS42 and SS44 don't need any patches.

No. Software/hardware ones. Sorry. I'd never thought that SONY was going to remove the most stable version of all times from their servers. So I have only been able to keep an installer for the English version (and that thanks to a member of a Russian forum, who uploaded it to RapidShare.com).

Me too!

All USB cables that came with my units have 5 pins at the mini end. The cable from my camcorder, which I am actually using with my Hi-MD units, also has 5 pins there. And here's the pinout: http://www.connections-usa.com/usb_pinout.html.