ROMBUSTERS Posted November 29, 2004 Report Share Posted November 29, 2004 I was just reading on another forum a thread about other uses for MD (reformatted) and HiMD now that they can be used as storage devices. Like we're talking about thinking outside of the box here. One example: Using Hi-MD as a bootdisc for your PC (and PC repairs) I think the best one I read though was using it to store DivX movies and a DivX Application/Player. Because the MD player has to be able to read in a PCM bitrate (1.44Mbps). Even with the maximum quoted 11~9.8 Mbps of throughput of USB1.1, which is at the theroretical limit, so say even taking half of that, 5.5~4.9Mbps is still fast enough to stream the movie data through the USB connection to the PC for playback of the movie. A new movie storage format is born lol. I want to know what weird and crazy things you have done or can come up with for other uses for the HiMD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiebecks23 Posted November 29, 2004 Report Share Posted November 29, 2004 it wud be a good idea if u could plug the usb into the ps2 and watch them through that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROMBUSTERS Posted November 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2004 well both PS2 and Xbox use USB prots for controller connections and both have been hacked to run linux so there is a real possibility of that being done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksandbergfl Posted November 29, 2004 Report Share Posted November 29, 2004 Like we're talking about thinking outside of the box here. One example: Using Hi-MD as a bootdisc for your PC (and PC repairs) Since I carry my HiMD Walkman with me everywhere, I thought to myself "Wouldn't it be nice to put phone numbers/addresses on it, so I could have them with me in case I needed them?" Well, I played around and this is what I came up with-- * Using your favorite WAV editing tool, create a small WAV audio file (I used 1/10th of a second). * Import the WAV file into Sonic Stage. * Using Sonic Stage, go to "My Library" and rename the Title of the track to a name and phone number, like "Hardy, Oliver - (321)555-1212". You could put the address, or other info in the Artist field, if you wish. * Create a Group on your HiMD called "Names and Numbers". Transfer your track onto the HiMD, into this Group. * Back in Sonic Stage, right-click on the file and select "Properties->File Info->OMA". Delete your OMA file.... leave the original WAV in your SonicStage library. (You need to do this, so that SonicStage creates a new OMA file for your next phone number when it transfers). * Go to "My Library" and rename the track to your next phone number, like "Laurel, Stanley - (407)555-1212". Transfer to your HiMD. Repeat the last two steps as needed. Now, if you need a phone number, you can whip out your HiMD and go to your "Name and Numbers" group, and the phone number will scroll across the LCD display for you. PS: I have an NH-600D. I don't know if this will work on the other HiMD units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROMBUSTERS Posted November 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 That's pretty ingenious. A waste of space but another cool addition to your phone book is that you use 5-15sec clips of a song that reminds you of that person instead of a blank file. Anyone else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffS Posted November 30, 2004 Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 better yet, use touchtones so that you can play from the earphone into the handset and have the himd actually dial the number... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROMBUSTERS Posted November 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 lol that'd be crazy if it works. Someone try this! lol anyone else have any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted November 30, 2004 Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 Jeff's idea will work, unless you're on a digital payphone then you may have some issues. Additionally, one of my first MD endeavors was putting the tones of a quarter, nickel and dime on a MD in SP mode so I could get free phone calls via a payphone [it's called red-boxing, google it]. Ah, those were the days.. Additionally, be sure that if you use ksandbergfl's idea, put it in Hi-LP. :happy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksandbergfl Posted November 30, 2004 Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 Additionally, be sure that if you use ksandbergfl's idea, put it in Hi-LP. :happy:you phreak, you. red boxing, indeed. I haven't heard that term for 20 years. actually, with a 1/10th second WAV file as the source (about 4K bytes), Hi-SP, Hi-LP, and 48Kbps OMA files are all about the same size, and eat up the same amount of space on the HIMD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDGB2 Posted November 30, 2004 Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 To add to the PS2 idea, how about if you could use Hi-MD discs as you would memory cards? You could store LOADS of data on a single disc, probably enough to last the console's lifespan! I think its a shame that Sony didn't try and include Minidisc with PS/PS2 somehow, it would have given the format a much needed boost in the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyena Posted November 30, 2004 Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 I think its a shame that Sony didn't try and include Minidisc with PS/PS2 somehow, it would have given the format a much needed boost in the market.They did actually. Using "Playstation Browser", you were able to connect your NetMD recorder to the PS2, and using a SimpleBurner-esque program, you were able to rip CDs to your NetMD device. Shame it never came to the states though. Here's a game watch page about it. Admin edit: Fixed url. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROMBUSTERS Posted November 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 To add to the PS2 idea, how about if you could use Hi-MD discs as you would memory cards? You could store LOADS of data on a single disc, probably enough to last the console's lifespan! I think its a shame that Sony didn't try and include Minidisc with PS/PS2 somehow, it would have given the format a much needed boost in the market.technically you can but it requires a transfer memory card to do it (which kind of defeats the purpose). I believe it was action replay or some other type MC which allowed you to store your game saves on your PC and free up memory card saves. You could then theoretically transfer them to MD (why you'd want to Im not sure). Although Im sure someone with enough skill can hack something out in Linux to allow straight plug-and-play save to MD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksandbergfl Posted December 3, 2004 Report Share Posted December 3, 2004 how about if you could use Hi-MD discs as you would memory cards? You could store LOADS of data on a single disc, probably enough to last the console's lifespan! I like this idea... would it be feasible to make a "minidisc reader", along the lines of the USB multi-card readers that read SmartMedia, CompactFlash, etc? It could be an external USB drive that accepts minidiscs and allows fast USB2.0 transfers of data between the PC and the disc. Kinda like a Zip drive only with USB 2.0 and HiMD-formatted minidiscs. However, I thought I read (in another forum here) that the physics behind reading/writing to a minidisc prevents I/O speeds much faster than USB1.1? And that's why Sony only put a USB1.1 interface in the HiMD, instead of a USB2.0.... is that accurate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadeclaw Posted December 3, 2004 Report Share Posted December 3, 2004 I'm still waiting for a real Hi-MD-PC-Drive myself... RE: USB: First, USB1.1 is still faster than Hi-MD can read or write. Second, USB1.1 devices are more compatible with older USB-capable machines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROMBUSTERS Posted December 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2004 speaking of which what happened to zip drives? lol and does anyone know how they compared to HiMD? anyways i'll post back on here but I think i found something that might interest some of you regarding other uses for HiMD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n0g0THEf0li0 Posted December 3, 2004 Report Share Posted December 3, 2004 I worked as an assistant audio engineer for a regional theatre and we used MD audio as the orchestra for staged musicals. We created the music as Midi Files in Finale, put them through Sound Forge to tweak the samples, and burned them to MD's. Since high-end MD decks can pre-load audio in buffered memory, we created "vamp" tracks that could be repeated endlessly for scene changes, etc. Then, we used a keyboard connected to the MD machine to quick-swap the audio files. I know, I know...nothing sounds better than real musicians...but it was a very easy way to access the audio quickly. No other format has the same capabilities. With Hi-MD and a 1GB disk, instead of compressed audio, we could do the same thing with the PCM data=better fidelity. I know an actor who keeps his headshot and resume on a 1GB Hi-MD disk in case he needs to give it to someone. I don't know if he's ever DONE it, but he carries it... My brother uses his to hold college papers...now he has an excuse for carrying a music player into class. -N- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadeclaw Posted December 4, 2004 Report Share Posted December 4, 2004 speaking of which what happened to zip drives? lol and does anyone know how they compared to HiMD?Zips are dirt cheap on ebay... Iomega produces only the 750MB version. Speedwise, the Zip250 is about 25% faster than Hi-MD on big files, on small files the Zip is 2 to 4 times faster, depending on the filesize. Reason: the slow positioner in current Hi-MD units. I guess, that will change with home/pc-units... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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