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Hi-MD/NetMD SonicStage Software FAQ.

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Introduction

Welcome to the software section of the MiniDisc Community Forums. This area is reserved for questions that you may have regarding Hi-MD/NetMD software problems. If you are experiencing hardware-related issues, please post in the forum relevant to the model that you're employing.

Note: OpenMG 2.x, Sonicstage 1.x, Sonicstage 2.x will not be supported by this forum. Moderation is unable to assist with any errors that you encounter with the outdated software. You are suggested to uninstall OpenMG using the procedure below and to upgrade to SonicStage 3.4 or 4.x.

Before posting a new topic regarding a problem with software, please attempt a clean reinstallation of the newest version of the software available. Most Hi-MD + NetMD software errors can be fixed by following the following procedure. This is the only known way to resolve Hi-MD/NetMD software, as Sony has been less than helpful in terms of support.

How to properly reinstall NetMD/Hi-MD:

1. Backup any existing tracks in your library via the Sonicstage backup tool. Unplug your NetMD or Hi-MD unit. Uninstall all OpenMG related software via the Add/Remove Programs control panel and reboot as necessary. This includes, but is not limited to, OpenMG 2.2, related 'Limited Patches' and the 'Secure Module', SonicStage 1.x/2.x/3.x, Simple Burner 1.x/2.x, and software by RealNetworks.

2. If you run Windows XP/Windows 2000 Professional, proceed to delete the following directories:

  1. "Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/Sony Corporation/Sonicstage"
  2. "Documents and Settings/All Users/Sonicstage"
  3. "Program Files/Common Files/Sony Shared"
  4. "Program Files/Sony/Sonicstage"
  5. "Program Files/Sony/Personal Audio Driver"
Similiar directories should be found in lesser Windows operating systems.

3. Start -> Run -> regedit. The 'Registry Editor' utility should appear on your screen. Delete the references to OpenMG located under 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Sony Corporation/Sonicstage' and 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Sony Corporation' by right-clicking on the entries.

4. Disable any anti-virus software that is running in the background to free up some resources [if necessary]. Update your installation of Windows at Microsoft Windows Update. For Windows 2000 Professional users, you are recommended to upgrade to Service Pack 3 or later, for Windows XP users, make sure you have Service Pack 2 [this is a must]. Make sure that your unit is disconnected and install the latest build of SonicStage 3.x from Sony Connect. The drivers for Sony units will automaticaly be installed. (If you use a Panasonic or Sharp Hi-MD/NetMD unit, install your drivers before you install Sonicstage!) Once you get back to your desktop, plug in your unit, and start SonicStage 3.x.

NOTE: If you are still unable to update or reinstall the latest version of SonicStage, you may need to consider rebooting your Windows in SAFE mode and proceed to uninstall previous version of SonicStage accordingly. Many users have reported success with this method.

KNOWN ISSUES:

Codec Packs:

Previous installations of codec packs [namely, FFDSHOW] may affect playback of ATRAC3/plus files. To fix this, try uninstalling the codec packs. In the future, don't install codec packs. Rather, install the individual codec by itself - codec packs are bad for your system!

Desktop Customizing:

Some desktop customizing utilities (such as WindowBlinds) are known to be in conflict with SonicStage (i.e. error message: "Omgjbox.exe has caused an error and must be closed by windows"). Disable the utilities in question or install those that are not in conflict (e.g. StyleXP) with SonicStage accordingly.

"error Code: 0005e30″:

Please run the MDAC database repair utility to resolve this database problem. For your convenience, the utility can be acquired from our "Download" section of the forum.

"error Code: 00007180″:

Where are those music files located? Is it within the default folder of SonicStage "My Library" or elsewhere? If it's the former, you may want to consider importing "new" music (e.g. wav or Mp3) into SonicStage from another folder. If you just attempt to drop those new music into the default folder and attempt to import, that error message: "Cannot find files that are not registered to Sonic Stage. Error code 00007180″ will appear.

"error Code: 00004e2e″:

This is a registry issue and it can be resolved by running TuneUp.

An ATRACLife forum member (Avrin) explains in this post:

This problem is most probably the result of automatic registry cleaning. SonicStage creates a "fake" CLSID in the registry to store your key. A registry cleaning program removes this CLSID, since it does not reference a real library.

I had this problem a few times after running TuneUp Utilities. The solution to this is to put the CLSID into the exclusion list, if the program has one. The way I did it:

1. Cleaned the registry completely with TuneUp.

2. Started SonicStage immediately after this, and let the Wizard do its job.

3. Started TuneUp Utilities again immediately after this, and analyzed the registry once again (without cleaning). Put all newly-found problems to the exclusion list.

No problems ever since.

If you reinstall SonicStage completely, it creates a different CLSID, and you will have to put it into the exclusion list again (you may remove the old CLSID from the list, since it is not used anymore).

"Omgjbox.exe has caused an error and must be closed by windows"

Because SonicStage's error messages are generally not very informative, we suggest that one attempt to run a registry integrity scan with a registry cleaner such as CCleaner. This method is especially appropriate for the aforementioned Omgjbox.exe error message. In addition, please review the following steps:

  1. Make sure that you are using a computer with an account that has the administrator rights.
  2. Make sure that you have downloaded the latest SonicStage version available from the download section of our website.
  3. Make sure that you have updated your computer and your operating system with the latest updates. Please contact the manufacturer of your computer / operating system.
  4. Make sure that your computer is free from spyware: for more information, please visit the Microsoft security website.
It may also be helpful to Disable the DEP (Data Execution Prevention) settings. Proceed accordingly as outlined below:
  1. Click Start, right click My Computer, and then click Properties.
  2. On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Performance.
  3. On the Data Execution Prevention tab, select Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select, and click Add.
  4. In the Open box, browse to the C:\Windows folder, double click Explorer, click OK, and then click OK.
error message: "Cannot find OpenMG secure module" appears during installation of SonicStage CP.

To resolve this issue, please check and proceed with the following:

  1. Make sure that you are using a computer with an account that has the administrator rights.
  2. Make sure that you have downloaded the latest SonicStage version available from the download section of our website.
  3. Make sure that you have updated your computer and your operating system with the latest updates. Please contact the manufacturer of your computer / operating system.
  4. Make sure that your computer is free from spyware: for more information, please visit the Microsoft security website.
  5. Click Start, Settings, then go to the Control Panel and select Add/Remove Programs, and remove SonicStage.
  6. Download, install and run the Microsoft Windows Installer CleanUp utility (click here) or a registry cleaner usch as CCleaner. (click here)
  7. Click Start, Settings, then go to the Control Panel.
  8. Open the Administrative Tools and make sure that your Windows Installer is set to automatic and is running. If not, run it.
  9. Install SonicStage (make sure that no other program is running background) and follow the onscreen instructions.
  10. Restart the computer if asked so.
Windows XP system Restore may corrupt tracks in My Library.

If you attempt to use the System restore function provided by Windows XP, the tracks managed by SonicStage may become corrupted and unusable. Before executing a System Restore, it is strongly advised that you backup your tracks with the SonicStage Back up tool. After the system restore is completed, recreate your music library.

An error message may appear when tracks become corrupted with the System Restore. In this case, follow the onscreen instructions.

Poor playback quality (sound sometimes skips) with CD ripped at ATRAC advanced Lossless.

Using the ATRAC Advanced Lossless while ripping requires a lot of CPU usage. We recommend that you rip your CD's with the ATRAC Advanced Lossless with a 1 GHz or more computer.

Device Detection Issue - WALKMAN device not detected by SonicStage CP, although it is detected by the computer.

The WALKMAN device in question was probably formatted via the computer rather than the software or via the menu of the WALKMAN (Note: If your WALKMAN was formatted with Windows Explorer it will not be detected by SonicStage). To resolve the device detection issue, you will need to initialize the WALKMAN. To do so, please refer to the user manual of your WALKMAN.

Walkman Device Detection Issue

*the following solution is especially useful if the problem occurs after an update of SonicStage. Special thanks to forum member, Avrin for the tips.

  1. Disconnect any ATRAC devices from your PC and close SonicStage.
  2. Go to Control Panel->System->Advanced->Environment Variables.
  3. Under the "User variables for [your username]" field, press the New... button, and create the variable (exactly as shown, without quotation marks): "devmgr_show_details", set it equal to 1, press OK, press the New... button again, then create the "devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices" variable, and also set it equal to 1 and press OK. Press OK again to save the variables and exit the window.
  4. Go to Device Manager, and enable the View->Show hidden devices option.
  5. Find and remove all "phantom" (semi-transparent) instances of "Net MD", "Sony USB Device" (in Universal Serial Bus controllers), "SONY Hi-MD WALKMAN USB Device" (in Disk drives), and "Generic volume" (in Storage volumes). Do not remove any Generic volumes which are not semi-transparent - these are your hard drives!!!
  6. Go to C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS (or C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS under Windows XP), and manually delete the following files (be very careful in that folder!!!): NETMD031.sys, NETMD033.sys. NETMD052.sys, NETMDUSB.sys, SonyMSDK.sys, SonySDK2.sys, and SonyUSBF.sys.
  7. Restart your computer.
  8. Download the stable SonicStage 4.2 driver package: click here, unzip it, and run Setup.exe. Restart the computer again, if prompted.
  9. Plug the unit in again. Remember to always plug in the older unit first. And avoid plugging two units simultaneously.

Problem with Creating ATRAC CD.

As for the problem with creating ATRAC CD, one may need to re-install the latest PxEengine version for SonicStage. To download the latest version of PxEngine, please click here. (*PxEngine is basically a writing engine which relay tasks between a given software and your CD/DVD writer)

Database problems with Sonicstage?

Please review the following instructions:

If you are running Service Pack 2 please follow the instructions in Section 1, else go to Section 2.

Section 1

* Click on the [start] button and select [Run...]. In the dialog box

type explorer and click on [Ok].

* Click on the [Tools] menu and select [Folder Options]. Click on the

[View] tab.

* In the [Advanced settings:] section select the option to [show

hidden files and folders]. Click on [Apply] [Ok].

* Go to the folder [C:\Windows\Inf].

* Right click on either [MDAC.INF] or [MSACINST.INF], whichever file

is present, and then click on [install].

* If you are prompted for your Microsoft Windows CD, insert the

Windows CD into your CD drive, click on the [browse] button and go to [C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles\I386] folder on your hard disk and click on [Open]. Click on the [Ok] button.

* If at any time you are prompted for the Windows XP CD, click on the

[browse] button and go to either the [C:\I386] or the [C:\Windows\I386] folder on your hard disk and click on [Open]. Click on the [Ok] button.

* Restart your computer.

* Re-try starting Sonic Stage.

Section 2

* Click on the [start] button and select [Run...]. In the dialog box

type explorer and click on [Ok].

* Click on the [Tools] menu and select [Folder Options]. Click on the

[View] tab.

* In the [Advanced settings:] section select the option to [show

hidden files and folders]. Click on [Apply] [Ok].

* Go to the folder [C:\Windows\Inf].

* Right click on either [MDAC.INF] or [MSACINST.INF], whichever file

is present, and then click on [install].

* If you are prompted for your Microsoft Windows CD, insert the

Windows CD into your CD drive, click on the [browse] button and go to either the [C:\I386] or the [C:\Windows\I386] folder on your hard disk and click on [Open]. Click on the [Ok] button.

* If you are not prompted for your Windows CD, click on the [browse]

button and go to either the [C:\I386] or the [C:\Windows\I386] folder on your hard disk and click on [Open]. Click on the [Ok] button.

* Restart your computer.

* Re-try starting Sonic Stage.

What are the methods to transfer to my Hi-MD/NetMD unit?

1. Valid for both NetMD and Hi-MD. SonicStage 3.x

Advantages

Easy, user-friendly interface for transfering

Unlimited check-out/transfer from computer --> MD

Better authoring control over tracks on disc and in "My Library"

Disadvantages

Read this thread for more information on bugs and so forth. Additionally, this forum speaks volumes of fallacies within the software.

1.1 Valid for both NetMD and Hi-MD. Simple Burner 2

Advantages

Easy, user-friendly interface for transfering

Quick CD to MD rips without the need to make a copy for "My Library"

Disadvantages

----------

How do I upload live recordings from my NetMD/MDLP/SP-only or Hi-MD unit to my computer using the USB connection?

If you employ a Hi-MD unit, please read this thread. If you use a NetMD/MDLP/SP-only unit, please read this thread.

Can my NetMD [pre-Hi-MD] unit play ATRAC3+ files? What about this new 256kbps ATRAC3+ functionality in SonicStage 3.0?

Pre-Hi-MD MiniDisc units are unable to play ATRAC3+ files of any bitrate. Using SonicStage, you are limited to LP2, LP4, and "false-SP" modes with an older generation NetMD unit. Only Hi-MD [and reportedly, Sony ATRAC3+ PDCPs and Network Walkman units] are able to utilize files encoded with ATRAC3+. [original thread: ATRAC3+ What's the point?]

I use a Macintosh, how can I record to my NetMD unit?

It has been reported that NetMD works properly under VirtualPC when installed in OS9 [not "classic" mode]. Otherwise, you will need to copy to your unit in real time by utilizing a digital or analogue output on your Macintosh's soundcard. Hi-MD users can enjoy transferring data to discs and also even booting off a Hi-MD device!

How about Linux?

Very unlikely, but you may be able to get NetMD related software working by running Windows inside VMWare Workstation [not free]. If you run into trouble, try recompiling a kernel from scratch and try compiling USB/SCSI as either modular or into the kernel, depending on which you had chosen before. Try experimenting around with settings. It is recommended that you make clean (2.6.x)!

Will my Sharp NetMD device work with SonicStage and/or Simple Burner?

Yes. Provided that you install the drivers before you install SonicStage and other NetMD related software and connect your device after a proper installation and reboot.

How do I transfer protected AAC/MP4/etc. files purchased from the iTunes Music Store/Napster/etc.?

To transfer such files, you must first convert them into a format that is understood by SonicStage and/or SimpleBurner. The most commonly supported formats are .wav and .mp3. You are recommended to convert your AAC/MP4 file to .wav [original topic: audio conversion question...AAC > MP3?].

To transfer your protected files, burn your files to a CD in a "Standard AudioCD format" using iTunes, and then proceed to use Simple Burner/SonicStage to copy directly to your unit. Otherwise, search for methods to "unprotect" your file, and then convert the resulting file into .wav format, and then proceed to use "dino"'s Simple Burner trick (or import the .wav into SonicStage for conversion). Note: the use of such programs is not supported by MDCF, and may be illegal for you to use depending on your country's current laws regarding DMCA/etc.!

Copyright 2004 "iceeedtea" + "kurisu"/MiniDisc Community Forums (MDCF) + "Ishiyoshi"; referenced text belongs to its respective owner(s).

The contents of this document are licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.

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