Tricia Posted March 15, 2006 Report Share Posted March 15, 2006 Hi all. I'm a new poster. I've had my Sony Hi-MD NH900 for about a year, happily downloading CDs, podcasts, etc. Filling up, deleting and refilling the same 1GB disc. About a week ago I put on a few songs, went out jogging, came back and tried to put the rest of the batch on, about 60 minutes after the first few songs. I got an error message "The device is write protected" - I checked the little white/grey tab - thought "hmmmm .... no, it's not". Couldn't get anything new to load on, with over 20% of the disc left. I did a few google searches, found someone who was able to use Simple Burner with the same problem, so I tried. I can download with SB using commercially produced CDs, but I can't load any other mp3's, or CDs that I've made from digitally recorded LPs and tapes. I took out the old disc, thinking I may have downloaded and erased a few too many times and confused SonicStage into thinking it was full (or something)....tried a new 1GB disc, that worked. Once. Trying to load anymore music onto it got "The device is write protected."I tried to search minidisc.org forums, but I can't narrow down the search function - if there is a thread on this problem already, I would really appreciate a link. Or any suggestions.Thanks for any help!Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadeclaw Posted March 15, 2006 Report Share Posted March 15, 2006 This problem had been reported before.Check, if the internal Battery has bulged out.Take out the battery and try again without battery, the recorder is powered through the USB-Port.Swollen or dented batteries should be replaced.If that isn't the case, then the the recorder might need service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazyIvan Posted March 15, 2006 Report Share Posted March 15, 2006 The other thing could be that you reached the max limit for the song title character storage. I can't remember what the limit is (10,000 characters??) but it is possible you may have reached it if you have particulary long titles. You can also reach the limit faster if you are recording at lower bit-rates because with more room you just fill it with more songs, reaching that character limit a lot sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricia Posted March 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 Thanks. The battery doesn't seem to be the issue. Like I said, I can still transfer pre-recorded CDs onto the device with Simple Burner, but nothing with SonicStage. For some reason, SonicStage stopped working from one hour to the next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmp64 Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 This problem had been reported before.Check, if the internal Battery has bulged out.Take out the battery and try again without battery, the recorder is powered through the USB-Port.I can confirm this is what happened w/ me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazyIvan Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 Okay. What version of Sonic Stage are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny mac Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 Try re-installing Sonicstage. If Simpleburner works then it must be a software/computer issue of some kind so that may well help. Sonicstage 3.4 is the latest version. I also get this message sometimes with my NH900 but I'm pretty sure that's because I dropped it and now it's a little bit broken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricia Posted March 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 I really appreciate all the advice! Sorry, I should have made myself more clear - I did try to transfer with SonicStage after taking out the battery as suggested here, but it didn't make any difference. And like I said, SimpleBurner still works for prerecorded music, with or without the battery. I do have the version of SonicStage that came with the device last year - V2.1. I'm not really willing to upgrade to the version offered at this site, after reading the problems people had here with it. Software problems freak me out, and this was working fine for me.Like I said, it worked moments before I went for my run, then didn't work afterwards, but I could use it once to load some songs to the second disc I tried. Again, once, then the same message "The device is write-protected". I didn't drop it or anything. It's a complete mystery. I guess I should take it to a shop or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Low Volta Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 as you are having software problems now... perhaps it could be a good time to upgrade to SS3.4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazyIvan Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 as you are having software problems now... perhaps it could be a good time to upgrade to SS3.4Most definitly upgrade. You will get rid of a lot of DRM woes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricia Posted March 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 What are DRM woes? I appreciate some of the reasons to upgrade, in general, but I'd like to try to solve one problem before I create new ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsoul Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 DRM is Digital Rights Management (or Manure )I have had problems with DRM in old version of SS deleting tracks or reformatting my 1G Hi-MDs. I noted the most problems when I mixed the occasional Connect store tracks onto a HiMD with other ripped tracks without DRM. It got ugly a few times. Really suggest the SS 3.4 route. It's removed a great deal of restrictions and in the process made transferring easier and less likely to cause problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazyIvan Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 What are DRM woes? I appreciate some of the reasons to upgrade, in general, but I'd like to try to solve one problem before I create new ones. DRM woes are what you are having right now. I can appreciate where you are comming from and I usually don't upgrade if everything is working. In your case, I would upgrade because it is not working. Version 2.1 has the restrictions (like mrsoul mentions) and may be the cause of your problems. 3.4 removes those restrictions and adds more bit-rates that you can play with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricia Posted March 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 I still don't understand how DRM would be messing things up on my device (probably because I don't really understand DRM) - just before my run, I used SS 2.1 to transfer some music I had just recorded onto my hard drive from a cassette tape, which I have been doing for almost a year. Just after my run SS 2.1 stopped transferring anything, including the very same artist I had transferred minutes before. But like I said, I can still transfer commercially recorded CDs, with SimpleBurner only. I have never downloaded music from an online music store, just podcasts.I still want to figure out exactly what happened from one minute to the next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazyIvan Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Sonic Stage is like that. DRM in the version you are using was limited to transferring a certain amount of times. At least I don't remember which version took that "feature" off but I think 2.1 still had it. Your best bet will be to upgrade to SS3.4 because sony removed the majority of the DRM restrictions that caused the problems you are experiencing now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricia Posted March 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Aaahhhhhhh, I see. I've been thinking on this thread that "DRM" had something to do with stopping one from transferring copyrighted material, blahblahblah, I couldn't see how it was causing MY problem. But if it has to do with limiting the number of transfers - I have done a heck of a lot of transferring-deleting-transferring over the past year. I'll try this idea (thank you ALL for your patient input to this mp3 newbie/non-computer-literate problem) and see how it works. I hope I don't have problems with the new software that some have reported here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Low Volta Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 good luck on upgrading tricia... I'm pretty confident it will go smoothly (it has for me and I've done every upgrade since 2.0)and if it does fail somewhere along the line... we're still here to help you through that as well see you around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricia Posted March 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Sigh. No go with the new version, either. "The device is write protected". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrius Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Could it be that the little spike that senses if the disc tab is open or closed, has been broken with all that jogging? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsoul Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Good idea! Since it's happening to all of her MDs, maybe it is the unit having the issue, not the MDs or the software. Makes sense to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazyIvan Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 But why would she be able to transfer in Simple Burner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricia Posted March 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Alrighty then:1. This morning I couldn't remember if I had erased everything on my spare minidisc, so I popped it in and fired up SonicStage V3.4. On a whim, I decided to use the other USB port on the front of my hard drive. SS started up and it struck me that it seemed to think it was starting up for the first time since I downloaded it, though I have used it a few times as I said here; it displayed a message (something like): "checking to see (something or other) .... deleted rights" (??), then "remaining transfer count will be adjusted". (I'm sorry I didn't write it down exactly, but now I see how the number of transfers can be significant, grrrr!)2. I tried to transfer some podcasts and digitized cassette tape music to the empty minidisc and it worked!3. I disconnected the player and put in my old, fave minidisc, then reconnected and could successfully transfer new podcasts and digitized music to my favourite disc for the first time in over a week! Deleted some old stuff, too.4. All the time this was going on, I was not connected to the internet. I started up the internet connection to look something up, and tried to transfer something while I was connected, and got "The device is write-protected". I disconnected from the internet and then I could transfer. (I'm 99.9% sure this wasn't the problem before, as I almost never connect while I am transferring music). Is this a basic no-no that I was just unaware of before? Is it okay to be hooked to the internet while transferring?5. I went for a run, and came back and transferred more stuff back and forth!6. I don't seem to be having any problems whatsoever with the new SS version.So for now, most everything seem to be working okay, and I don't feel sad every time I look at my Walkman, lol. You guys (and gals?) have been so patient and helpful, you rock!And thank you for your kind words, Volta! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Low Volta Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 glad to hear all's working... enjoy your MD and see you around here on MDCF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny mac Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 I've never heard of the internet preventing Sonicstage from transferring, it's a new one. At least you've got it working now so all is well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.