discs spontaneously loosing formating/data

[joseph]

not sure if this a software issue or not but it keeps happening. SS and the unit freeze and the disc looses its format (and content)...

SS says it cannot use the disc as it was formatted by another problem and the unit just asks format? yes/no

how can i determine whether this is a software or hardware problem?

[A440]

One way to tell if it's a software problem is to thoroughly uninstall and reinstall. As explained here:

http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=8071

If you have anything in My Library, before uninstalling it is ESSENTIAL that you run the Backup Tool (in Programs/SonicStage, outside of SonicStage itself) so you can restore the files. Make sure you do that.

And by the way, if you have a Sony computer, don't delete all of Sony Shared, just the OMG folder.

With a good internet connection, use Sony's online installer; second choice is the MDCF offline installer, both in Downloads.

Otherwise, it's hard to tell what's going on without a more detailed description.

What version of SonicStage are you using? Anything before 3.2 is temperamental, so reinstalling is a good idea anyway.

What are you trying to do? Transfer music to MD? Upload from MD? When do things go wrong?

Try using SonicStage without the MD connected, just to play back some mp3s. Does that work correctly?

Some other programs fight with SonicStage, particularly Windows skinning applications like Windowblinds. Shut them off. Some codec packs like ffdshow (look in Add/Remove Programs) can conflict with SonicStage. Do you have that installed?

Also try disconnecting from the Internet and then disabling any security/antivirus/firewall programs that are running.

Right-click on a blank space on your taskbar and look at Task Manager for applications and processes. Is there a big load on your CPU (like over 50-60 percent) when SonicStage is on? You might have something the background that's trying to take too many resources. Shut down any applications you don't need and try again.

Do you get any error messages? Does it freak out when you try to perform a certain operation?

Any further description would help. And yes, depending on how old or worn the unit is, it could be hardware too. Do discs play back and record correctly in the unit by itself?

[joseph]

thankyou for taking the time to reply A440

I will try yet another full re-install and also disconnecting from the Internet and then disabling any security/antivirus/firewall programs that are running - i didnt realise that this might cause problems

I had problems last time i tried to re-install though and was unable to remove/delete all of the directories listed in the instructions... what do i do when it says 'cant delete'?

im starting to think its this laptop thats the problem... its been doing some funny things recently!

[A440]

With the laptop acting funny, the first step you should take is a good virus/spyware scan.

Kurisu recommends this free one, which runs from Internet Explorer:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

See if that finds anything.

How about some of the other questions? Does SonicStage ever work properly?

If you find a "can't delete" it means some piece of SonicStage is still running.

MD Simple Burner may be loading on Startup--go into CONFIG (top right) and tell it not to load on Startup.

Otherwise, use Task Manager (right click a blank spot on the taskbar) and look at Processes and see if there's something obvious that you need to shut down. (omg.exe, perhaps). You can use Google to figure out what some of the running processes are--there will likely be 30-50 of them, most of them Windows processes (scvhost.exe, for instance) that aren't related to SonicStage.

[atrain]

it runs in firefox too these days & has a choice of ativeX or java plugin