danielbb90 Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Some of sonys mp3 players NW-A608/A607/A605 ect get firmware updates...Why doesn't sony upgrade the firmware of Hi-MD so the first generation could play mp3s ect?thanks(sorry if this has been covered - I coulden't find anything in the search) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akijikan Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 I will now attempt to read the minds of Sony's Minidisc people................nothing there.All kidding aside, what are you expecting to get with firmware upgrades? WMA support? How about some more stable mp3 support?Only Sony really knows why they don't update their MD devices with more features, but one guess would be the cost of developing newer firmware is not balanced by the profit of selling MD devices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriswyatt Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 This is how I see it:If Sony were to release firmware updates for 1st generation models to improve functionality then people are less likely to buy into the second generation. Not only would Sony lose money on development but they would lose money on sales too.So the chances of a firmware update are pretty small. Does anyone know if the Hi-MD units are capable of firmware updates over USB though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 1st generation players and recorders play mp3's just fine, they are trancoded though. If it is so important that you don't want transcoding, get a second generation,. but remember there is life beyond mp3, and that is the strength of minidisc.Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unignal Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Earlier on there is one model (I forgot the model name) of second generation Hi-MD where there were some problem with displaying the "keyboard" that appears whenever you want to rename your track. So Sony asked those with affected units to check in at the Sony Service Centre for firmware upgrade.So i think chances are we are unable to upgrade the firmware ourselves, although it can be done. Maybe that has something to do with the EPROM they use.If you like to have a device with tonnes of firmware update regularly, get iAudio Mp3 players from Cowan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDGB2 Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Just get hacking.Mine can now make coffee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unignal Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Just get hacking.Mine can now make coffee! And mine can chop up iPod nanos into small small pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielbb90 Posted December 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 (edited) And mine can chop up iPod nanos into small small pieces. Sound good give me the hack! jkThanks for the replyes... Edited December 30, 2005 by danielbb90 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unignal Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Sorry, i sold it to the Association of Enrage iPod Consumers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielbb90 Posted December 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Sorry, i sold it to the Association of Enrage iPod Consumers. thinking of it you probabily don't need a hack to do that...I should do it anyway Minidisc beats ipods into a pulp with there greatness anyway! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriswyatt Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 1st generation players and recorders play mp3's just fine, they are trancoded though. If it is so important that you don't want transcoding, get a second generation,. but remember there is life beyond mp3, and that is the strength of minidisc.BobCorrection, 1st generating players cannot play MP3s, because they need transcoding first.Sony claim that their Minidisc units can play MP3s, WMAs etc., when they actually can't and need to be transcoded first. Personally, I find the information Sony provide to be misleading and innacurate (perhaps, reading closely, it isn't such innacurate but it's very sneaky indeed!)Correction, I meant generation, sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unignal Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 Correction, 1st generating players cannot play MP3s, because they need transcoding first.Sony claim that their Minidisc units can play MP3s, WMAs etc., when they actually can't and need to be transcoded first. Personally, I find the information Sony provide to be misleading and innacurate (perhaps, reading closely, it isn't such innacurate but it's very sneaky indeed!)Correction, I meant generation, sorry Nah. I think its a matter of reading careful. I read and discovered that Sony mentioned popular file formats like Mp3, wma, wav are SUPPORTED. While it says that Atrac3plus can be PLAYED on the unit. They are just playing with words. As consumers, we should also be more careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombi3 Posted January 4, 2006 Report Share Posted January 4, 2006 The best case scenario would be an open ended system like the PSP's, which people have hacked to hell to cheat the system. Now I realize we're talking about two different things here, but we also have to take into account that Sony sells more PSP units than Minidisc units, yet Minidiscs get the lockdown. With the right people, i'm sure the Minidisc commmunity could break through the technological gates Sony set up inside of the MD format, and crack it wide open. With the right info, we could create an alternative browswer, create our own firmware, even improve performance! Some hacks (The battery hacks for one) are already realized and put into motion. But most of these don't actually have anything to do with what makes the Minidisc run. It is a dream, but it may not be too far off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Eddie Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 (edited) It is a dream, but it may not be too far off.I truly hope some like that would happen. But when it comes to Sony, my hopes are over. Edited January 6, 2006 by El Eddie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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