Hi-MD not recognized

[kadrash]

Hi,

First of all I want to say that I've searched the internet, including this forum, and tried multiple ways to solve this problem, but I never got it solved.

The problem is that SS doesn't recognize my MZ-NH700 when it's got a minidisc inserted in the Hi-MD mode, it does however recognize a minidisc inserted in the regular good old fashioned MD mode.

So now I can't record my 1G minidiscs anymore, but I can record old 74' or 80' mds in LP4 mode.

I've tried clean installs, regular installs, initializing the minidisc, formatting the minidisc, installing old versions of SS and both SS 4.2 and SS 4.3, I've deleted drivers, I've reinstalled drivers, I've tried forcing the OS to use certain drivers, I've cleaned up my registry... I've done practically everything a sane person would do and some things a sane person wouldn't do

Just to say how desperate I am for a solution.

I'm running Windows XP SP2 and currently having SS 4.2 installed.

Maybe also worth mentioning is the fact that when I've got an old MD inserted windows uses a sony driver to communicate with the device, but when I've got a Hi-MD inserted it uses a microsoft driver, that's why I've tried forcing it to use a sony driver, but I didn't succeed in that. Oh and windows seems to recognize my md recorder when a Hi-MD is recorded, because it shows up as a removable disk, the properties of that removable disk show it's got a capacity of 0 bytes though.

I hope that someone can help me to force sonicstage to recognize my minidiscs.

[A440]

My guess and only a dim guess is that it's something to do with a SonicStage setting. Open SS and look around Tools/Options/Transfer. Is Hi-MD listed? Are there settings you can play with there?

[sector001]

which version of windows are u running? maybe u should upgrade to the latest SS?

[A440]

which version of windows are u running? maybe u should upgrade to the latest SS?

SS 4.2 and XP should be working just fine together. SS 4.3 is for Vista, and XP users have reported problems with it.

[kadrash]

Yeah so I've read, but I've tried them both so I already knew it's not that

And in Tools>Options>Transfer only 'Net MD' shows up

I'm still assuming it's got something to do with the wrong driver being selected by Windows XP when a Hi-MD is inserted. Which driver should show up in the device manager under usb-controllers? on my pc it shows 'USBSTOR.SYS' from microsoft and under disk stations it shows 'disk.sys' also from microsoft. Shouldn't at least one of them be a sony driver?

Edited April 6, 2008 by Kadrash

[A440]

Which driver should show up in the device manager under usb-controllers? on my pc it shows 'USBSTOR.SYS' from microsoft and under disk stations it shows 'disk.sys' also from microsoft. Shouldn't at least one of them be a sony driver?

How about uninstalling those device drivers in Device Manager?

[kadrash]

How about uninstalling those device drivers in Device Manager?

I've tried that, but whenever I plug in the md recorder with a Hi-MD inserted, those drivers install themselves again. It seems that first it installs the right driver, but immediately after it the microsoft drivers installs itself over the Hi-MD one. I've made that up from the text balloon that appears in the bottom right corner of the pc screen. I don't know if that's really the case, it's just what I make of it.

[A440]

You've probably tried it already, but how about uninstalling device drivers, then opening SonicStage, then connecting the unit. Hoping that would make SonicStage install its own drivers first....

[kadrash]

Yeah you've guessed it right, I've already tried that too. With and without SS being active, makes no difference, the same drivers are being installed.

I've even tried this:

inserted an old 70' md that was recorded in LP4, so that SS would recognize my md-recorder

then told SS to switch the md to Hi-MD mode, it said the the disc would be erased and initialized and I clicked ok...

as soon as the disc was transformed to Hi-MD mode, my minidisc recorder wasn't recognized by SS anymore.

it's like it's taunting me

I really appreciate that you're trying to help me, please continue posting ideas, if you have any

Maybe it's something obvious I've overlooked.

[A440]

This is really a stumper. Do you have other music software installed: Winamp, iTunes, etc.? How about uninstalling them?

[kadrash]

I've got Winamp 2.95 and ofcourse windows media player too, but no iTunes. Some other media players such as BS player and AverTV are also installed.

Tomorrow I'll try uninstalling Winamp, but can't do that right now. Afterwards I'll post the outcome.

[kadrash]

I've left my coat at home with my minidisc recorder in it's pocket, so testing it won't be possible for a week. I tend to be forgetful from time to time. But if anyone has any other ideas, please post them, I'll try them as soon as possible.

[Syrius]

Uhmm.. try another computer? It sounds stupid, but when it comes to SonicStage, some computers are plain lemons. (My laptop will slow to a crawl when transferring old MD tracks with the RH1, but the desktop will break the sound barrier, same unit, same cable, same disc, same track.)

[Avrin]

on my pc it shows 'USBSTOR.SYS' from microsoft and under disk stations it shows 'disk.sys' also from microsoft.

This is exactly as it should be. Hi-MD units in Hi-MD mode are using the USBSTOR.SYS driver from Microsoft, with some additional settings provided by SONY in the SonySDK2.INF file. If you do not install any drivers from SONY, then the USBSTOR.SYS file will also be used for Hi-MD mode, but you'll get the "Unsafe device removal" alert everytime you disconnect the unit, and the NetMD mode won't work at all (it works with SONY drivers only - NETMD052.SYS for the RH1, NETMD033.SYS/NETMD031.SYS for older units, and NETMDUSB.SYS for really old ones).

Maybe something is "stealing" the Hi-MD unit from SonicStage. The thing is that a unit in NetMD mode is recognized as a "device" only, but when the unit is in Hi-MD mode, it also acts as an external drive, and is seen by the OS and programs as such. And some program, like anti-virus or other protection software may overtake it and not give SonicStage full access needed to work with the unit.

1. See if the unit is seen and accessible as an external drive by the computer when SonicStage is not started.

2. Try disabling anti-virus and other similar software (reconnect the unit and restart SonicStage after that).

Edited April 8, 2008 by Avrin

[kadrash]

In reply to Syrius, the thing is it used to work on this computer, but my computer crashed during a defragmentation and all files got corrupted, so I was forced to format my pc and reinstall everything. Now was the first time that I wanted to record on my minidisc after the incident and that's when all the trouble started. Besides I really want it to work on this computer again.

In reply to Avrin,

1. Yes, as I recollect, it did show up as a removable disk, although when you checked the properties it only displayed 0 bytes capacity and I couldn't drag files on it.

2. Never tried that, so good idea, I'll give it a try as soon as I can.

Thank you for checking the drivers, now at least I know that's not what's causing the difficulties.

Did anyone ever say this is a very friendly, willing and helpful community? It really is, I hope I can reward it by saying the problem's solved in a week

[Avrin]

Yes, as I recollect, it did show up as a removable disk, although when you checked the properties it only displayed 0 bytes capacity and I couldn't drag files on it.

This is exactly how it should behave when SonicStage is loaded (it locks the drive). As soon as you close SonicStage, the drive becomes accessible.

Edited April 8, 2008 by Avrin

[kadrash]

Ok, we're a week further and I tried uninstalling Winamp, disabling my firewall and my anti-virus program, but still no change.

I did exactly what you said Evrin, I even checked the external drive aspect again, but my recollection was right, my minidisc recorder (with hi-md inserted) does show up as an external drive, however it is locked, since I cannot drag files on it and it has 0 capacity, with or without sonicstage being loaded.

However I also noticed that when I remove the drivers and connect my md recorder to the computer with sonicstage being loaded, and when hoovering above the transfer button in sonicstage, for a brief moment a 4th blank option appears. (somewhere between the walkman driver installation and the disk station driver installation)

So you could be right about some program 'stealing' my md recorder from sonicstage, however I don't have a clue on which program that would be.

edit: Should I try uninstalling anti spyware programs like search & destroy, adaware, spyware blaster,... ?

btw I don't really now when it happened, but now in Tools>Options>Tranfer Hi-MD does show up, and I can play with the settings, although that doesn't seem to have any effect

Edited April 14, 2008 by Kadrash

[Avrin]

I think you should try disabling or even uninstalling anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall programs. To make sure the computer is not infected during this, disconnect from the Internet.

Another option would be to check you computer with your anti-vuris program to make sure you are not already infected. It is possible, for example, that the boot sector of the Hi-MD disc is actually infected, so the computer sees the drive but the anti-virus program blocks any access to it.

[kadrash]

I'll try the uninstall everything scenario some time soon, but meanwhile I tried to reboot in safe mode (don't know why I never tried that before) and guess what, it all works there, sonicstage immediately recognizes my md recorder and the disc isn't locked when sonicstage is not loaded

fabulous, so worst case scenario is that I have to reboot in safe mode everytime I want to record a new minidisc, but since I don't do that very often, that's not much of a problem

I'm still curious which application is causing this mess though, I'll post it if I ever discover it

[kadrash]

I found it! I ******* found it!

it was some remnant from Sandisk's U3 launcher software, I thought I had removed it all, but it still showed up in the startup list, so I removed it and voila!

(too bad I figured that out after uninstalling various other applications)

I'm really starting to hate Sandisk, why can't they just make plain simple usb sticks, I don't need all that other junk

Thank you so much Avrin, you didn't show me the exact solution but you sure guided me on the way to it, would never have found it without your pointers.

You are my hero