Who Is Actually Using A Himd Player With Mac Os X?

[shiz]

Since some people say HiMDs work as mass storage devices on OS X and some say they don't, what I'd really like to hear from people who connected their Player to a Mac is, what happened? Did it work or not? Or maybe those of you who have access to a Mac, can you try this for the curious and tell your experiences here?

[MiniMossMan]

Hey,

I've just tried this on my Mac running OS X 10.3.7 and it works fine. The only thing to consider is that if you write files from your Mac to your Hi-MD the Mac will create a .Trashes directory which isn't visible from the Mac (files that start with a "." aren't visible by default). If you use your Mac to delete files they will be copied into the .Trashes directory (actually a sub-directory of this) so the file will look like it has been deleted but your disk space won't be freed up until you empty the trash folder. The Mac will also create very small ._yourfilename files in addition to the files you copy on (I think this is because files on the Mac have two forks, resource and data, one of which is your file the other can hold custom information like icons and preferences).

Actually I am making it sound a lot more complex than it is, the best thing to try is to copy files from your Mac to your Hi-MD then take a look on your PC which will show all the files that the Mac hides from you.

MM

[eMDe]

But what MiniMossMan mentioned is not depending on the Hi-MD.

It's normal for using storage by OSX.

[shiz]

Hey,

I've just tried this on my Mac running OS X 10.3.7 and it works fine. The only thing to consider is that if you write files from your Mac to your Hi-MD the Mac will create a .Trashes directory which isn't visible from the Mac (files that start with a "." aren't visible by default). If you use your Mac to delete files they will be copied into the .Trashes directory (actually a sub-directory of this) so the file will look like it has been deleted but your disk space won't be freed up until you empty the trash folder. The Mac will also create very small ._yourfilename files in addition to the files you copy on (I think this is because files on the Mac have two forks, resource and data, one of which is your file the other can hold custom information like icons and preferences).

Actually I am making it sound a lot more complex than it is, the best thing to try is to copy files from your Mac to your Hi-MD then take a look on your PC which will show all the files that the Mac hides from you.

MM

←

ok, that sounds worse than it is. You can do a finder search (cmd+f) for invisible files on a certain volume on os x, so there you'd find the deleted files. But the good part of your post is that it seems to work! So I'll go and get a MZ-NH900 now! Yippie...

[MiniMossMan]

I didn't realise you could specifically search for invisible files in OS X - cool. Thanks for the info.

[antiorario]

I am sensing that what shiz wanted to know was whether or not it actually makes sense to use the Hi-MD as a mass storage device on Mac OS X. The technical details on how Mac handles the files and folders are exactly the same as for any other file and folder.

My personal idea is that using the Hi-MD as a storage device is unpleasant enough on Windows XP, but on Mac OS X (also I am using 10.3.7) is definitely annoying. First, I noticed that on copying files the unit keeps making noises (i.e. the disc is turning) even after the file supposedly has been transfered. Sometimes ejecting the unit (that is, removing it from the desktop) is a bit tricky, since Mac still sees it as being used.

In the end, it might be alright to use it for very small files, but for moving larger files I'd suggest using an external hard drive (LaCie makes very fancy and very portable 40GB and 80GB pocket hard drives, powered by the USB 2.0 of your Mac -- at least of my iBook G4).

As I've previously stated in other posts, until Sony releases software specifically designed for Mac OS X (which is, most likely, never), I find little sense in coupling Mac and Hi-MD.

[racingroom]

it's pretty slow

[A440]

Though it's been said many times before, the music functions of the MD, via SonicStage, do not work with a MAC OS.

So why bother getting a Hi-MD for use with a Mac when you can buy a 1G pen drive/Flash drive for considerably less, with the speed of USB 2.0 ? And if you were to use MDs for longterm storage of big files, you'd be better off getting a Firewire DVD burner for under $150. Hi-MD makes no sense with the Mac.

[petertkalec]

Yeah, I agree... the disk drive features of the HIMDs are a little weak (i.e. terribly slow). And flash memory is SO cheap. this past week there was 512MB selling for CDN$30 ($30!) at futureshop here in Canada. Jeez. And it'll only get cheaper.

[1kyle]

Though it's been said many times before, the music functions of the MD, via SonicStage, do not work with a MAC OS.

So why bother getting a Hi-MD for use with a Mac when you can buy a 1G pen drive/Flash drive for considerably less, with the speed of USB 2.0 ? And if you were to use MDs for longterm storage of big files, you'd be better off getting  a Firewire DVD burner for under $150. Hi-MD makes no sense with the Mac.

←

Actually there are several reasons for using MD as external storage --- for starters Professional photographers need to have a backup of images taken with Pro level DSLR's in the field --CF type storage gets full very quickly and for digital cameras carrying too many CF cards is not pratical on a shoot. When the CF card is full just transfer it to minidisc and the card can then be used again in the camera. It saves also having to take a laptop with you on a shoot as well.

Copying to DVD in the field is not praticable --power, size and weight --but a Minidic recorder with a card reader ===> Minidisc works a treat --small, portable and uses easily avaialble AAA and AA batteries. A load of blank minidiscs in your bag doesn't take much space either and are not bulky like DVD's.

USB key storage is quite expensive when you need more than 1GB and it is "volatile" storage --i.e you can easily lose it and you need a computer to retrieve the data.

Other uses are for recording different lectures etc --keeping each on a separate minidisc -- not very praticable with USB key storage.

Many other uses as well --apart from all the music related ideas.

Cheers

-K

Minidisc recorder certainly works on Linux type systems as a generic disk device so in theory should be possible to use an a Mac --otherwise transferring data from a minidisc to a mac should be possible via a card reader or whatever.

[canoir]

Hell I connected my 900 up to my first gen iMac running OS 9.2 and it recognised it! No big surprise really I guess seeing as most USB storage devices work. No Hi-MD obviously. It's a wonder why I bothered posting this...