copyright trick ?

[puki]

hello

a few years ago i bought a MZNH600D in the US when i was on holiday there. Immediatly after i bought it , i lost my SS installation CD, so i had to download sonicstage 2.0 ( i think it was 2.0).

I used it for about 2.5 years or so without any problem

a few weeks ago , some songs i downloaded wouldn't work, so i thougt lets reinstall SS.

But i couldn"t find the installation file so i downloaded SS4.0 and now i notice that there is a copyright protection on SS4.0 , most of my files are just downloads from sites er peer to peer downloads(i am a student and ik have almost no money so i cant afford to buy legal downlaods). Now i have a big problem, i cant transfer those files to my MD so its completely useless

does anyone know a trick to cancel the copyrightcontrol or so ?

please help me

[Syrius]

There is no copy protection (copyright is another thing, dude.) on your original files, so Sonicstage should not complain at all.

What format are your original files? You may need to reimport them again.

If you want to be on the safe side (meaning, you have converted your files to OMA/OMG format and don't want to lose them, just use the backup tool provided with SS 2.0)

What do you mean when you say "they don't work"?

[puki]

i have reinstalled sonicstage several times , imported all my files again (all my files are MP3 or wma) and only a few of them work , i have about 5000 files , and only 100 of them still work.

but the files are ok because other programs still play them fine. I am not able to install sonicstage 2.0 again because i lost the installation CD.

so almost none of my files work in sonicstage, i have tried reinstalling, but they just wont work, and when i import them i sometimes get an error files not registered or something like that

[Syrius]

Holy smokes. I'm at a loss. Anyone got a suggestion?

[A440]

Could it be a codec problem?

If there is a codec pack--K-Lite codec pack. FFDShow, or anything else with "codec pack" in the name--showing in Add or Remove Programs, first set a Restore Point. Then uninstall the codec pack and try reinstalling SonicStage 4.0 one more time. Perhaps SonicStage is trying to play .mp3 with a codec it doesn't like.

However, uninstalling the codec pack may lose playback of some formats, like maybe xvid .avi files (which is why you have the Restore Point as a last resort). Should that happen, it's best to download individual, up-to-date codecs rather than a codec pack that could have old or incompatible ones. Codec packs try to be one-size-fits-all, but don't always succeed.

[puki]

so if i am not mistaken , you are all saying that sony hasn't really activated copyright issues or so? I thought my files didn't work because they are 'illegal' downloads, but now you are saying i have to delete my codecs and try reinstalling sonicstage ?

[A440]

Mp3s do not contain digital-rights information, and Sony doesn't know where you got them. Sony can't activate some secret code in .mp3s--if it could, Sony's record companies would be very happy. (And actually, newer versions of SonicStage have less encryption than 2.0 did.)

Some .wma files do contain digital-rights information, but if they are playing back correctly in other apps they should also play back in SonicStage.

That's why I think it's a software problem with the codecs.

[puki]

i will try uninstalling them

thanx

[puki]

at first i just uninstalled all my codecs , all of them. Then i uninstalled sonicstage.

when i reinstalled ss4.0 again, none of the files would work,i don't know why.

so i uninstalled ss again, this time i removed every file of sonicstage or sony from my computer. Now i am trying to reinstall it , but i get an error about nog having a folder containing the openMG secure module.msi file.

So now i cant even install sonicstage anymore

can someone help me ?

[A440]

Uninstalling everything at once was overkill, and apparently removing all things Sony removed the .msi file that tells SonicStage how to install itself.

We're trying to isolate a specific problem, which means you want to make changes one by one and see what happens. One codec pack at a time, or one codec at a time.

Codec means coder-decoder--it's the software that tells your computer how to read a media file. Getting rid of them all at once means your computer doesn't know how to read them any more.

So, please, no more full-scale annihilations.

Did you set a Restore Point? If you can, go back to it:

Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore

Otherwise, first thing to do is get SonicStage back.

If you have a broadband connection, go to Sony and download and run its online installer file for your country.

http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=9586

If you have a slow connection, then use the full installer for 4.0 from Downloads:

http://forums.minidisc.org/downloads/details.php?file=21

[nuotaika]

I dont think a problem is with codecs, because SS plays the songs but dont transfer them to the device : "Transfers are not allowed". Some mp3's transfers without any problem, some doesn't. This means the problem is with the mp3 songs, they are different in some way.

[A440]

I dont think a problem is with codecs, because SS plays the songs but dont transfer them to the device : "Transfers are not allowed". Some mp3's transfers without any problem, some doesn't. This means the problem is with the mp3 songs, they are different in some way.

Looking back on this, it could also be that they were low-bitrate .mp3s, below 48kbps, which SonicStage doesn't like. They could also have unconventional ID3 tags, which we have learned that SonicStage 4.x has trouble digesting, or variable bitrate (VBR) .mp3s, which sometime give SonicStage trouble.

If they're low-bitrate or VBR mp3s--you can tell by looking at Properties--then get dbpoweramp from Downloads and convert them to mp3 at a constant bitrate (use 192 kbps or above to preserve as much quality as possible).

If the ID3 tag fields have characters that aren't letters or numbers, very long titles or huge amounts of Comments, edit them to make them simpler. Winamp has a tag editor under View File Info.

[nuotaika]

Looking back on this, it could also be that they were low-bitrate .mp3s, below 48kbps, which SonicStage doesn't like. They could also have unconventional ID3 tags, which we have learned that SonicStage 4.x has trouble digesting, or variable bitrate (VBR) .mp3s, which sometime give SonicStage trouble.

If they're low-bitrate or VBR mp3s--you can tell by looking at Properties--then get dbpoweramp from Downloads and convert them to mp3 at a constant bitrate (use 192 kbps or above to preserve as much quality as possible).

If the ID3 tag fields have characters that aren't letters or numbers, very long titles or huge amounts of Comments, edit them to make them simpler. Winamp has a tag editor under View File Info.

Thanx for good ideas. I tried all of them, but surprisingly none changes the situation. i have transfered a song with VBR and a strange name INCOMPLETE~02 Donna Summer - I Feel love.mp3. but i cant transfet a son 1.mp3 with CBR. i'll try to dl an older ersion os SS. i find it the only way, because im not going to change most of my song even if that would work. THANX SONY FOR MORE EXPENSIVE BUT SHITTY DEVICES (battery has very lonf life tho )

After all i discovered how to transfer songs. You must not convert them into atrac format, but transfer as mp3.

[A440]

After all i discovered how to transfer songs. You must not convert them into atrac format, but transfer as mp3.

Are you using the MZ-NH600D? That doesn't play mp3, so the files must be getting converted to ATRAC. Maybe SonicStage thought you were trying to convert them twice ? Only the RH units will play mp3 without conversion.